The Alignment of Employee Engagement with Human Relations School of Thought

ABSTRACT: Humans are the most valued assets of any organization. The management of these individuals and keeping them engaged in the organization has become a very sensitive topic in the field of management. Thus, an organization’s challenge is not on how to retain talented employees, but how to fully engage them in their jobs and the organization; because engagement promotes employee retention among other benefits. This study examines the relevance of employee engagement to human relations approach. The emphasis is that management of an organization should treat employees with respect and high regard, and have close collaboration and relationships with the workers. Related journals, textbooks and other online publications written by renowned authorities in Management, Psychology and other relevant fields were reviewed. Our findings showed that Employee engagement has strong alignment with human relations management theory. It is the application and practice of human relations management theory that brings about employee engagement at work. A company that applies the human relations theory will have a higher level of employee engagement; this will then improve the firm’s productivity and give positive bottom-line results (profitability). It is therefore recommended that top echelon management should fully practice the theory of human relations management; this will birth worker engagement in the workplace.

Keywords: Management, Organization, Engagement, Productivity, Collaboration.