Employee Engagement Among Millennial Workforce: Empirical Study on Selected Antecedents and Consequences

Jolly Sahni

doi:10.1177/21582440211002208

Abstract

Although employee engagement has been investigated by many scholars, there has been minimal research on this subject for millennial workforce. To bridge the research gap, the present study intends to examine employee engagement among millennial workforce of Saudi Arabia. In addition, the mediation effect of employee engagement on the relationship between antecedents; job characteristics, job satisfaction, and consequences; organizational commitment and intentions to quit is explored with social exchange theory (SET) as a theoretical underpinning. It tests the hypothesis by using data from 408 employees working in private sector companies located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia through a self-administered questionnaire. SPSS Amos 25.0 was used to analyze the data. The results suggest that there exists a satisfactory condition of employee engagement among Saudi youth. Findings propose a significant positive relationship between job characteristics, job satisfaction, and organization commitment. Employee engagement was found to be a significant and partial mediator amid job characteristics, job satisfaction, and organization commitment. However, the results were not significant for the variable turnover intentions. There is a dearth of research on millennial workforce of Saudi Arabia, and this study would be perhaps, the first one to explore employee engagement in this context. It contributes to the current literature and theory development of employee engagement. Since the findings are based on limited millennial employees’ responses, there is no universal claim for generalization.

Highlights

Employee engagement has been studied and discussed by practitioners as well as academicians in the recent past (Lai et al, 2020; Mone & London, 2018; Saks & Gruman, 2014)
The human capital in the form of employees is vital for any organization and retaining employees is a challenge in the present era which is characterized with high employee turnover and increased levels of absenteeism (Reijseger et al, 2017)
The present study examines the mediation effect of employee engagement on the relationship among antecedents; job characteristics, job satisfaction, and consequences; and organizational commitment and intentions to quit with social exchange theory (SET) as a theoretical underpinning

Summary

Introduction

Employee engagement has been studied and discussed by practitioners as well as academicians in the recent past (Lai et al, 2020; Mone & London, 2018; Saks & Gruman, 2014). The human capital in the form of employees is vital for any organization and retaining employees is a challenge in the present era which is characterized with high employee turnover and increased levels of absenteeism (Reijseger et al, 2017). Employee engagement is vital and essential as past studies suggest that high employee engagement results in higher productivity, higher level of citizenship behavior, employee satisfaction, and higher performance (Bakker & Albrecht, 2018). Studies conducted globally suggest that disengaged employee have a negative impact on the organization and on the country as well. Another study conducted by Hooper (2006) in Australia suggests the high cost of disengaged employees (US$31 billion) for the economy. Engaging employees from all generations and backgrounds is imperative; the most challenging task is to retain and engage the millennials

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Conclusion