Employee engagement in Marks and Spencer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Employee engagement in Marks and Spencer - Essay Example The paper tells that the structure and the elements of organizational policies depend primarily on the needs of each organization. At the next level, the potential of an organization to respond to the demands of a particular plan needs to be carefully measured in advance, i.e. before implementing the initial phase of the plan. On the other hand, the response of employees to organizational changes cannot be precisely estimated in advance. This problem has been critical in the context of modern organizations; indeed, employee resistance to change is among the key problems of businesses in all industries. In practice it has been proved that when employees are urged to participate in organizational plans, their resistance to the changes initiated is limited. In this context, the use of various strategies for promoting employee participation can be characterized as unavoidable. Employee engagement is a concept reflecting the promotion of employee participation in critical organizational a ctivities. Employee engagement has been described as ‘an individual’s sense of purpose and focused energy, evident to others in the display of personal initiative, adaptability, effort and persistence directed towards organizational goals’. In accordance with another definition, employee engagement should be considered as ‘a work – related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication and absorption’. From another point of view, employee engagement has been characterized as the view that each employee has in regard to his work experience. (Finney 2008, p.204) The role of employee engagement in modern organizations is examined in this paper. Reference is made to the employee engagement policies of Marks and Spencer, a well-known British firm. The efforts of the firm to promote employee engagement across its departments are evaluated using the literature developed in the particular field. 2. Marks and Spencer Overview Marks and Spence r is a major competitor in the global retail industry. The firm’s employees are estimated to 78,000, referring to the firm’s stores in UK and worldwide (Marks and Spencer, About us, 2012). The organization is quite expanded in UK, with a network of about 700 stores, but also internationally (Marks and Spencer, About us, 2012). The firm operates in the food sector, with a percentage of 51%, while the activities of the organization in the clothing and homeware represent the 49% of the firm’s sales (Marks and Spencer, About us, 2012). The organization has been in the British market for quite a long period of time, being established in 1901 in Derby (Marks and Spencer, History 2012). Through the decades the growth of the organization has been impressive, as proved through its current position in the international market. 3. Employee engagement in Marks and Spencer - Plan A Employee Engagement scheme 3.1 Key aspects of employee engagement in Marks and Spencer  œ Presentation and analysis of Plan A Employee Engagement scheme Employee engagement in Marks and Spencer is promoted through a scheme known as Plan A. The specific scheme was introduced in 2007 and is based on 100 targets, which need to have been achieved within 5 years, meaning the period from 2010 up to 2015. The particular plan aims to increase the firm’s competitiveness by promoting the cooperation among employees in regard to the improvement of the firm’s performance in the following sectors: ‘Raw materials, ethical trading, climate change, health, and waste management’ (Marks and Spencer, Plan A, 2012). The above sectors are characterized as the ‘pillars’ (Marks and Spencer Plan A, 2012) on which the firm should focus in order to face all challenges related to the retailing industry. Up today, the performance of the firm’s specific initiative can be characterized as quite important, a view verified by the following fact: In the 6 th