Predictors Of Employee Engagement Research Articles

Ubuntu leadership as a predictor of employee engagement: A South African study

Orientation: Ubuntu leadership is increasingly being promoted as a suitable leadership philosophy for South African workplaces, necessitating further exploration of its application and outcomes.Research purpose: This study thus investigates Ubuntu leadership as a predictor of employee engagement (EE) in the South African context, considering ethnicity, age and tenure as moderating variables.Motivation for the study: The necessity to study perceptions of Ubuntu leadership and its influence of EE lies in the need to understand how this culturally rooted leadership style can enhance organisational performance, employee well-being and inclusivity in diverse workplaces.Research approach/design and method: The study adhered to a positivist philosophical perspective, employing a descriptive research design with a quantitative approach. Data were collected from 193 South African participants through a self-administered online questionnaire.Main findings: The study findings indicated that the practice of Ubuntu leadership, as perceived by employees, significantly predicted EE.Practical/managerial implications: Organisational leaders and managers hold a crucial role in shaping the workplace environment, and their acknowledgment of Ubuntu leadership’s fundamental principles, such as fostering authentic relationships, empathy, collaboration and respect, has the potential to boost EE.Contribution/value-add: The research outcomes offer valuable insights into how Ubuntu leadership can enhance EE and provide proactive measures for its implementation

Drivers of Employee Engagement in the Nigerian Public Media Sector

While much has been written on employee engagement, this research was prompted by the dearth of data on drivers of employee engagement in Nigerian public media corporations. Consequently, drawing on relevant literature, eight drivers of employee engagement viz. Leadership, Communication, Compensation/Recognition, Learning and Development Perceived Organisational Support (POS), Career Development, Job Crafting and Work Environment were selected. A mixed methodology research design involving both quantitative and qualitative techniques was used to generate data extracted from the expanded Gallup Q12 questionnaire. The data generated was analysed using mean, ranking method, regression analysis, Kendall tau-b correlation, and thematic content analysis. Empirical findings showed that the eight elements were predictors of employee engagement in the study population, with Perceived Organisation Support being the highest predictor, followed by Compensation and Rewards, Work Environment, Job crafting, Leadership, Communications, Career Development, Learning and Development (β=0.245, 0.223, 0.220, 0.214, 0.176, 0.142, 0.116 and 0.110) respectively and adjusted R2 was 0.998; P<0.0001. The study findings revealed a great need for the government as an employer of labour to devote more attention to the drivers of employee engagement in the workplace to achieve improved performance and efficiency.

Enhancing the employee experience: exploring a global positive climate to influence key employee outcomes

PurposeOrganizational climates reflect employee perceptions of the way organizational culture is actualized and most studies explore one or two climates only. The present study uses a positive organizational behavior approach and conservation of resources theory to explore a global positive climate (GPC) encompassing five climates: perceive organizational support, psychosocial safety climate, organizational mindfulness, worthy work and inclusion climate. The GPC is used to predict employee engagement and job satisfaction, with psychological capital as a mediator. Beyond this, high performance work systems (HPWS) are included as a moderator of GPC to test the potential way HR practices might interact with positive climates to achieve superior outcomes.Design/methodology/approachA large sample (n = 1,007) of New Zealand workers across a wide range of occupations and industries. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the data was used and moderated mediation tests were conducted.FindingsGPC is significantly related to psychological capital, employee engagement and job satisfaction, and while psychological capital also predicts the outcomes, and has some mediation effects on GPC influence, GPC remains significant. HPWS is significantly related to psychological capital only and interacts with GPC leading to the highest psychological capital and employee engagement. Significant moderated mediation effects are found, with the indirect effect of GPC increasing as HPWS increase.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is important because it provides empirical evidence around a GPC and shows how organizations and HRM managers can enhance key employee attitudes through building a strong climate and providing important HR practices.Originality/valueBeyond unique effects from GPC, the findings provide useful theoretical insights toward conservation of resources theory.

Leadership styles as predictors of employee engagement at a selected tertiary institution

Orientation: The study examined transformational leadership (TFL), transactional leadership (TSL) and servant leadership (SL) as predictors of employee engagement (EE) at a tertiary institution in Cape Town.Research purpose: The study empirically investigated the predictive role of TFL, TSL and SL in EE among a university’s staff in Cape Town.Motivation for the study: The workforce disruption known as ‘The Great Resignation’, in which many Americans voluntarily left their jobs during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, provides evidence of the necessity for this investigation.Research approach/design and method: The study adopted the positivist philosophical view using an explanatory survey research design and a quantitative approach. The researchers sampled 198 administrative and support staff via a validated questionnaire.Main findings: The study showed a statistically significant collective impact of TFL, TSL and SL on EE (R2 = 0.268; F = 25.019; p 0.01). Similarly, the study’s findings revealed a statistically significant impact of TFL on EE (β = 0.269; t = 3.115; p 0.01) and a statistically significant influence of TSL on EE (β = 0.254; t = 3.020; p 0.01). However, the results indicated that SL did not significantly impact EE.Practical/managerial implications: Management of tertiary institutions and supervisors should possess TFL and TSL competencies and be swift in engaging their subordinates.Contribution/value-add: The research outcomes provides insight into enhancing an engaged workforce and proactive measures to increase EE.

Can employee engagement be attained through psychological detachment and job crafting: the mediating role of spirituality and intrinsic motivation

PurposeThe present study is to develop an additional perspective on when and why psychological detachment and job crafting behaviors in predicting employee engagement through spirituality and intrinsic motivation. It was hypothesized that spiritual employees are better able to detach themselves from work and craft their job according to their preference and abilities, which would inculcate experience and make them intrinsically motivated and thereby leading to employee engagement.Design/methodology/approachThe sample comprised 408 employees, who are employed in different organizations across India. To test the hypotheses, the author conducted structural equation modeling on SPSS AMOS 22.FindingsThe results highlight the partial mediating role of spirituality in the association of psychological detachment with intrinsic motivation as well as between job crafting and intrinsic motivation. The results highlight the fully mediating role of intrinsic motivation in the association of psychological detachment with employee engagement as well as between job crafting and employee engagement.Practical implicationsThis study has depicted that spiritual employee who are psychologically detached and have proactive job crafting behavior can achieve higher intrinsic motivation and more engaged.Originality/valueOn the basis of the broaden and build theory, self-determination theory (SDT) and the recovery process (i.e. the effort-recovery model), this paper demonstrates that spirituality plays the role of predictor that drives psychological detachment and encourages job crafting, which has the ability to intrinsically motivate the employee and are able to more engaged in work.

Idiosyncratic Deals and Psychological Resilience as Predictors of Employee Engagement among Medical Consultants in Hospitals in Imo State

Medical consultants play significant role in the lives of people. It is unfortunate that in these roles they play for the health and survival of the citizens, they are not usually appreciated and supported by the various governments. Idiosyncratic deals as negotiated by these consultants in most instances become the real way out of the bad situations and circumstances they find themselves. These consultants and their ability to negotiate work agreements become a veritable means of sustaining the work interest and passion. In this circumstance, employee engagement becomes the anchor that defines the level of commitment and interest in the workplace. Psychological resilience is also another important variable that helps in the realization of this assignment as any organization that does not have the requisite psychological capital may not achieve much. Thus, proper idiosyncratic deal is very important in ensuring that the health of the people are safe guarded and the necessary manpower is retained and not deterred by the insincerity and ineptitude of the government . One hundred and ten people participated in the research and they were drawn from hospitals in Imo state. The research adopted cross sectional survey design. Regression analysis was used in analyzing the data. Of note, the results indicate that the variables predicted employee engagement. The implication confirms the relevance of idiosyncratic deals in sustaining the hospitals in Imo State especially in view of the continued lack of medical infrastructure. Psychological resilience programs should be encouraged and intensified so that the wide knowledge and expertise of medical consultants will not be lost in view of the prevailing poor conditions of work of the medical consultants. Efforts should be made by stakeholders and actors in the health sectors in ensuring maximum attention to issues concerning the manpower management, resources and sustenance.

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Employee engagement has become an area of interest among scholars and corporates alike. Employees who are not engaged do not perform at their maximum and this effect productivity. Hence, it is important for organisations to establish factors influencing levels of engagement. This study assesses the impact of selected HRM practices in the Gauteng Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Department. This study employed the quantitative approach using a survey in the form of a questionnaire. A systematic sampling method was used, from the population (N=376). The questionnaire was distributed to a sample of (n=188) respondents and 157 questionnaires were valid. The results indicated a weak positive correlation between (HRM practices) recruitment, appointment and selection; compensation, rewards and benefits, performance appraisal; and employee engagement with p-values of (r=.07, n=157, p=.38); (r=.23, n=157, p=.00); and (r=.20, n=157, p=.01) respectively. The former was not statistically significant, while the latter two were statistically significant. Collinearity between variables was found to be (β=.07, t (.87) =.38, p0.05); and (B=.18, t (2.58) = 0.11, p>0.05). Recruitment, selection and appointment practices did not predict employee engagement whereas compensation, rewards and benefits practices, and performance appraisal practices predicted employee engagement. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) model was statistically significant (F (3.154) = 4.183, p=.01). The R-Squared (R2) was 8% and the Durbin-Watson statistic 1.93. The results contributed to the available literature on employee engagement.

Strategic Planning and Performance: A Quantitative Study

Objective: Employee engagement is a pivotal factor in organizational success, influencing productivity and retention. This study aims to evaluate how role flexibility and employee planning affect employee engagement at Tata Motors, exploring these relationships within the context of an evolving automotive industry. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 350 employees of Tata Motors, using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Role Flexibility Scale, and Employees' Planning Scale. Data were analyzed through Pearson correlation to assess relationships between variables and linear regression to determine their predictive power on employee engagement. Findings: Descriptive statistics revealed moderate to high levels of engagement (M=4.56, SD=0.98), role flexibility (M=3.89, SD=0.75), and planning (M=4.20, SD=0.88). Pearson correlation coefficients indicated significant positive relationships between employee engagement and role flexibility (r=0.62, p<0.001), and employee engagement and employees' planning (r=0.57, p<0.001). The regression model was significant (F(2, 347)=149.58, p<0.001), explaining 46% of the variance in employee engagement (R²=0.46, R² adj=0.45). Conclusion: The findings confirm that both role flexibility and employees' planning significantly predict employee engagement at Tata Motors. These results underscore the importance of adaptive work roles and effective planning in enhancing engagement, suggesting that targeted HR interventions focusing on these areas could be beneficial in boosting employee engagement levels.

Quality of Messages on Employee Engagement in Technical Training Institutions in Kenya

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to establish the effect of quality of messages on employee engagement in technical training institutions in Kenya.  
 Methodology: The study was conducted using survey research design. Study population was all the 3780 trainers in the 102 technical institutions in Kenya out of which a sample of 360 respondents was used. Stratified random sampling, random sampling and stratified proportionate random sampling technique design were employed. Data was collected using a questionnaire which had both closed-ended (Likert type scale 1-5) questions and open ended questions. Questionnaires were distributed to 360 respondents out of which 322 completed the questionnaires giving a response rate of 89.4%. Cronbach’s alpha was used to test for internal reliability of each variable used in the study. Data analysis was done by use of descriptive and inferential statistics.
 Findings: The findings of the study supported that quality of messages has a significant effect on employee engagement and hence, it is a predictor of employee engagement among the trainers of technical institutions in Kenya.
 Recommendation: This study recommends that there is need to improve the quality of messages as it significantly affects employee engagement in technical training institutions in Kenya. This can be done by ensuring that the messages are timely, accurate, adequate and complete.

Factors affecting employee engagement in higher education institution-An empirical study in NCR

Purpose: The present study was aimed to evaluate the factors that affect employee engagement in Higher Education institutions. It also studied the variance between demographic factors and employee engagement activities. Design/Methodology: This study was designed to analyze the factors that affect employee engagement. To accomplish this, a pilot survey was done on 25 people with the help of a structured questionnaire to ascertain the validity and understandability of the questions (α = 0.83). Further, the questionnaire was distributed to faculty members and staff of different universities and colleges. A total of 280 valid responses were collected. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze demographic characteristics, factor analysis for establishing covariance relationships among many variables, and ANOVA for analyzing the variance between employee engagement activities and demographic factors. Findings: From factor analysis, 6 factors were identified as predictors of employee engagement in Higher Education Institution (HEI). These factors were Job Satisfaction, Leadership, Work-Life Balance, Career Development, Work Environment and Job Characteristics. Also, it was found that age, years of experience, marital status, the position of the employee had shown significant variance in the employee engagement activities. Conclusion: Job satisfaction, Work environment, Leadership had shown a significant impact on employee engagement. Organizations must emphasize and put effort into improving the work environment, leadership style and, they must promote programs that would enhance job satisfaction. Limitation: The present study is done in NCR with a limited sample size of 280 respondents. Hence, the output of the present research cannot be generalized to the entire country.

Human Resource Management Practices as Predictors of Employee Engagement among Independent National Electoral Commission Staff

The study examines human resource management practices (HRMP) on employee engagement among Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) staff in Osun State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study's objectives are to investigate the influence of recruitment & selection, training & development, compensation management, and employee relations on employee engagement among INEC staff in Osun State, Nigeria. Four hypotheses were postulated for testing. A cross-section research design was adopted in the study. The target population was 512 staff across the INEC offices in Osun State. Multi-stage sampling techniques, which comprised stratified, purposive, and simple random sampling techniques, were used in the study to select 160 respondents. Data collected by use of a questionnaire was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. Multiple regression and ANOVA were used to test the formulated hypotheses. The study found a significant effect of recruitment & selection, compensation management, and employee relations on employee engagement. However, the study also found no significant influence of training and development on employee engagement. The study then concluded that engaged employees are the main drivers of the organization's productivity, and human resource management practices are important factors influencing employee engagement among INEC staff in Osun State, Nigeria. The study recommends that organizations revise their HR policies, keeping the above factors in attaining the targeted goals.

Impact of Psychological Resources on Employee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Positive Affect and Ego-Resilience

The main purpose of this research is to examine the role of psychological resources in predicting the engagement of night shift employees. Specifically, it tests how resources like supportive organizational climate, family support, and self-efficacy could help employees stay engaged during night shift work. Additionally, this study explores the mediating role of positive affect and ego-resilience. The cross-sectional data collected from night shift employees ( n = 208) working full-time in Canada, the UK, and the US were collected over a period of 3 months. Results of the statistical analysis confirm the significant direct role of self-efficacy and supportive organizational climate in predicting employee engagement. Furthermore, the indirect role of such resources through the mediation of positive affect and ego-resilience was also found. The impact of family support on employee engagement appears significant only through mediators. The current study extends the existing understanding about the role of psychological resources in determining the engagement of night shift employees. It further adds to the literature by explaining mechanisms using positive affect and ego-resilience as mediators.

Study of Employee Engagement and its Predictors in an Bangalore Public Sector Undertakings

“This is the age of engagement. There is no alternative to engagement except, misunderstanding, threats, intimidation and rage.” This paper presents an assessment of the level of employee engagement among Managers of a public sector undertaking in Bangalore. Besides highlighting the level of Engagement, the study has identified the predictors of organisational commitment, which was used as an important manifestation of employee engagement? The study is based on primary data collected from 84 managerial employees on a number of Parameters relating to employee engagement and its potential predictors. Three factors, namely, Pay, job content and objectivity are found to be the predictors of employee engagement.

Remote internal crisis communication (RICC) – role of internal communication in predicting employee engagement during remote work in a crisis

ABSTRACT Based on theories of relationship management and job demands and resources, this study offered a conceptual framework, the Remote Internal Crisis Communication (RICC) framework, and empirical data to examine the antecedents of employee engagement during remote work in a crisis. Based on an online survey with 304 employees who worked remotely during the Novel Coronavirus pandemic that began in 2019 (i.e., COVID-19), findings revealed that two-way communication and internal crisis communication content predicted employee engagement the most among all the predictors, which included two-way communication, internal crisis communication content and objectives, and new ways of working. The study also found that social connection mediated the relationship between new ways of working and employee engagement.

Using Organizational Social Networks to Predict Employee Engagement

Employee engagement (EE) has been shown to have important implications for the success of organizations. Most researchers have discussed employee engagement in terms of factors in a top-down, hierarchical model of the organization. However, there may also be contributing factors from an employee‟s intra-organizational social network. (IOSN). In this paper, we show that an employee‟s social network attributes can contribute to the prediction of engagement, primarily through centrality and homophily in a large, multinational company. Our research expands the range of theoretical factors that can predict employee engagement from a top-down vertical model to a mixed-factor horizontal model. We discuss how this work points toward a richer set of methods to predict engagement, as well as new ways of thinking about organizational networks.

From the Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs (BMPN) to Employee Engagement: Indicators that Matter

The purpose of this study was to investigate if confidence, interest, authenticity, and loneliness as independent variables, could help predict employee engagement, the dependent variable. In this setting, the independent variables were indicators of the Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs (BMPN) and the dependent variable was obtained using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9). After surveying 151 participants in the United States, 17 responses were removed from the final dataset during data and assumptions validation. A multiple regression model was created using the remaining 134 valid cases. Our findings confirmed the existence of a statistically significant relationship between confidence, interest, and authenticity in predicting employee engagement. Only, we could not establish a statistically significant relationship between loneliness and engagement, in contrast to some prior research studies. These findings have significant implications for practitioners and researchers as documented in this article. For example, the findings can be useful for employees in determining their future career path, as they need to first look at what interests them. Indeed, interest was identified as the greatest determinant of engagement as compared to the other three predictors. These findings also suggest that managers can keep their employees engaged by assigning them functions or tasks that are aligned with their interests.

Distributed leadership as a predictor of employee engagement, job satisfaction and turnover intention in UK nursing staff*

To investigate how distributed leadership via the Shared Governance programme influences employee engagement, empowerment, job satisfaction and turnover intentions among direct care nursing staff in a large UK hospital. Increasing turnover rates and shortages of health care staff in the UK has called for interventions to improve employee engagement and job satisfaction. 116 direct care nursing staff were sampled in a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design. A maximum variance sample of 15 participants were subsequently interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of the motivations and attitudes that influenced employee outcomes through distributed leadership. Higher levels of distributed leadership predicted increased employee engagement and job satisfaction, and lower turnover intentions. Staff also felt more empowered and committed to the organisation despite some challenges experienced in implementing the Shared Governance programme. Distributed leadership was found to be beneficial in promoting employee engagement and empowerment, increasing job satisfaction and organisational commitment and reducing turnover intention in the UK health care setting. By encouraging the practice of distributed leadership at work, health care staff can become more engaged and empowered, leading to higher rates of job retention, job satisfaction and organisational commitment.

Work-nonwork balance: Development and validation of a global and multidimensional measure

Based on Casper et al.'s (2018) definitions of global balance and involvement, affective, and effectiveness dimensions of work-nonwork balance, we developed and validated a measure, with a total of 20 items – 5 items for global balance and 5 items for each dimension. Using 3 studies, we established the content adequacy, factor structure, reliability, and gender and parental status invariance of the measure. Moreover, we show that our measure converges with prior measures of balance (Carlson et al., 2009; Valcour, 2007) and is distinct from role-specific measures of involvement, satisfaction, and performance, as well as life satisfaction. Finally, we demonstrate that global balance and its dimensions uniquely predict employee engagement, citizenship behaviors, organizational commitment, turnover intentions, emotional exhaustion, and/or health, above and beyond existing measures of balance. Thus, our research provides a comprehensive, validated, multidimensional measure of work-nonwork balance and offers unique explanation of valued attitudes and behaviors. Future theoretical, research and practical implications are discussed.

Predicting employee engagement with micro-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in the public accounting firms

PurposeThis research aims to examines the impact of micro-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on employee engagement within the public accounting firm setting.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a quantitative approach with a survey instrument as the data collection tool. A total of 269 complete responses were collected from employees working in the public accounting firms. Micro-level CSR practices were analysed with a hierarchical component model (HCM) in partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to examine the influence of such practices on employee engagement. A predictive performance metric was applied to assess the out-of-sample prediction.FindingsThis study uncovers a positive and significant relationship between micro-level CSR practices and employee engagement. Furthermore, the PLSpredict results indicate that the current model possesses high predictive power with all indicators in the PLS-SEM analysis demonstrating lower root mean squared error (RMSE) values compared to the naïve linear regression model benchmark.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the methods applied in this analysis are at the frontier of CSR research, the present study has not explored the heterogeneity amongst groups of respondents and size of accounting firms. Sampling weight adjustment for the purposes of representativeness was not used in the current research. These could be the subject of future work in this area.Practical implicationsThese research findings shed light on the positive manifestation effect of micro-level CSR practices at firm level as well as individual level. Through micro-level CSR practices, firms can reap the benefits of enhanced employee engagement, which leads to productive workforce while also facilitating increased employees’ intrinsic job satisfaction.Social implicationsMicro-level CSR practices address the needs of the millennium workforce, whereby employees are no longer solely focussed on pay checks as their compensation. Employees are seeking out employers whose CSR practices appeal to their social conscience. Micro-level CSR practices meet the needs of the contemporary workforce yet enable companies to attract and retain skilled employees.Originality/valueThe originality of this research is attributed to the vigorous statistical analysis by the use of HCMs and PLSpredict in PLS-SEM context for the assessment of predictive performance. Also, micro-level CSR practices are conceptualised in HCM for parsimonious purpose.

Associations between culture of health and employee engagement in social enterprises: A cross-sectional study.

The aging of staff and skill shortage are major challenges for social enterprises. Nurturing a workplace culture of health and fostering employee engagement could be starting points to combat these challenges. The associations between these two factors have received comparatively little attention from the scientific community, in particular with regard to social enterprises. Hence, this study aims to examine those associations, drawing on the job demands-resources theory and the social-ecological workplace culture of health model. It is hypothesized that employees' self-rated health acts as a mediator in the relationship between culture of health and employee engagement and that health as personal value works as a moderator. The study used the Workplace Culture of Health scale to measure culture of health in social enterprises and UWES-9 to assess employee engagement. Data was collected administering a quantitative online survey among employees of social enterprises in Germany. The dataset for analyses comprised N = 172 employees in total. Data analyses included Pearson's correlations, regression analysis, as well as mediation, moderation and moderated mediation analyses. Culture of health is a predictor of employee engagement in social enterprises. The analyses demonstrate a moderate association between culture of health and employee engagement. Indications were found that employees' self-rated health acts as a mediator and that health as personal value acts as a moderator between culture of health and employee engagement in social enterprises. This study suggests that fostering a culture of health in social enterprises does not only have a positive effect on employee health, but also on employee engagement. This applies in particular when employees attribute great value to their health, which is to be expected even more in future. Hence, nurturing a culture of health becomes a pivotal management task in social enterprises. Moreover, a comprehensive assessment of the benefits of health promotion programs in social enterprises should not only consider their health-related outcomes, but also factor in their impact on employee engagement.