Abstract
Orientation: Understanding the impact of resilience and perceived organisational support on employee engagement in a competitive sales environment.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between resilience, perceived organisational support and employee engagement among pharmaceutical sales employees in a competitive sales environment; and to establish whether resilience and perceived organisational support hold predictive value for employee engagement.Motivation for the study: Limited research has focused on the unique context of employee engagement as a construct in professional sales. A broader understanding of resilience and perceived organisational support can provide sales organisations with a lever to create an environment where sales employees are more fully engaged.Research design, approach and method: A quantitative, exploratory, cross-sectional survey approach was used. A sample of 125 sales representatives from a South African pharmaceutical organisation participated in the research. The measuring instruments included the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) and the Perceived Organisational Support Scale (POS).Main findings: Perceived organisational support, but not resilience impacted employee engagement in a competitive sales environment.Practical and managerial implications: Sales organisations’ interventions to improve sales employee engagement should focus on perceived organisational support.Contribution: The individual role of each construct provided insight into the sales context. The relationship between the constructs offered a different lens through which the drivers of employee engagement in sales can be viewed. This study contributes towards sales literature by including positive psychology and organisational support in a model of employee engagement.
Highlights
Key focus of the studyUnderstanding the impact of resilience and perceived organisational support (POS) on employee engagement in a competitive sales environment
The second objective of the study was to explore the relationship between POS and employee engagement
Hypothesis 1: Can it be predicted with reasonable accuracy that a relationship exists between resilience and employee engagement in a sales environment?
Summary
Understanding the impact of resilience and perceived organisational support (POS) on employee engagement in a competitive sales environment. Sales employees are often the most important channel through which companies execute their strategies and generate revenue (Morelli & Braganza, 2012). Selling involves constant strain that includes competing with competitors, meeting sales targets and dealing with rejection (Loveland, Lounsbury, Parks, & Jackson, 2015). Sales tasks are often conducted in a competitive environment with sales positions often resulting in emotional exhaustion (Rajan & Srinivasan, 2015). Emotional exhaustion is often viewed as the opposite of engagement, or similar to being disengaged (Bande, FernándezFerrín, Varela, & Jaramillo, 2015). Contemporary organisations need employees who feel energetic and engaged with their work (Albrecht, Bakker, Gruman, Macy, & Saks, 2015).
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