Tap worker potential to improve economy: Gallup's Paresh Rajgarhia and Priyanka Kohli

Ninety-one per cent of employed Indians are not psychologically committed to their organisations or as productive as they could be, shows a recently conducted Gallup poll. They are not engaged at work.

The poll also shows 31 per cent of employees are "actively disengaged" - not just unhappy, but busy acting out their unhappiness and undermining their engaged co-workers' accomplishments. This should be a pressing issue for Indian leaders. With declining confidence in the job market - only 34 per cent of employed Indians in 2012 say it is a good time to find a job in their areas, down significantly from 41 per cent in 2011 - and fewer job opportunities, many actively disengaged employees may feel they are currently unable to move on.

India's extremely low employee engagement levels not only affect productivity in today's workplaces, but also the potential for innovation in tomorrow's products and services. Companies in every sector are struggling to innovate to achieve competitive advantage against a slowing economic climate. The country's $20 billion Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is a significant example. Research conducted in 2012 and 2013 suggests that over the past five years, Indian BPO organizations lost 10 per cent of the global market to advancing rivals, including China and Brazil. India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) rebranded the industry as Business Process Management (BPM) to help expand its reach outside of basic outsourcing. But to achieve real growth in the value chain, businesses must engage more of their employees, tapping the full extent of their talents, skills, and innovation.

Although numerous external factors influence the economic situation in India, the greatest asset that leaders can measure, monitor, and improve is the nation's "human capital." Leaders in India need to learn from what the best organisations around the world do differently, and start with three core strategic initiatives to begin spreading a culture of engagement throughout Indian organisations:

Focus on the "people" aspects of your Performance Management System: A Gallup analysis of more than 50,000 Indian employees working in 10 major industry sectors in 22 global companies revealed that more than half (54 per cent) felt their company's performance management system was not effective. This perception is likely to demotivate employees, creating feelings of anguish or frustration that negatively affect their performance and engagement. The results make itclear that India's business leaders must not rely merely on"process" elements, such as job descriptions and ratings criteria, to increase workplace engagement. Systems that develop the right people according to their unique talents are essential for creating high-performance workplace cultures.

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, one of India's largest hospitality chains, offers an excellent example of such a culture. The company's 24,000 employees are committed to not just satisfying, but delighting, thousands ofcustomers at more than 100 hotels and resorts every day. In order to sustain that commitment, the company's entire management structure is focused on action plans designed to keep employees engaged and happy."We see engagement as a requirement to survive - and to excel," says H.N. Shrinivas, Taj Hotels' Senior VicePresident of Human Resources. "The dream is to be the most admired and respected hospitality company in the world for the sheer quality of service excellence. And that depends on our employees."

Hire and develop good mid-level managers: Mid-level managers make or break the leadership vision for Indian organisations. No amount of compensation or benefits can fix the ill effects of a bad manager on his or her immediate team members. Gallup's research shows that the direct supervisor or manager has maximum impact on an employee's engagement, and that not all people have the talent to lead others.

Give employees the opportunity to perform at their best: "At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?" This is the single best question Indian organisations can ask their employees. Today, in spite of management teams' best intentions to create a beneficial learning climate, many training and development programs introduced by Indian organizations fail to produce the desired results. These efforts often fall short because they don't factor in employees' talents. Remedying this begins with improving companies' capacity to identify employees' talents, put employees in the right roles, and develop them according to their inherent strengths.