DRIVERS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT-A CONCEPTUAL STUDY

Shivani Chaudhary-Research Scholar Bharthiar University,Coiambatore

Dr.K H Anil Kumar Associate Professor ,Department Of Management studies, MS Ramaih

Institute Of Applied Science, Bangalore,India

Correspondance Address:

Block H-402, Purva Panorama, Kalena Agrahara

Banerghatta Road,Bangalore-560076

MBA Department, AMC Engineering College

18th KM Bannerghatta Road

Bangalore-560083

DRIVERS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT-A CONCEPTUAL STUDY

ABSTRACT

Employee engagement is an important construct in today’s increasingly competitive world

with demonstrated organizational benefits .In such a scenario it becomes important to identify

drivers of employee engagement to enable practicing managers to increase engagement in

their organization. A structured literature review is carried out to identify drivers of employee

engagement. Literature from both consultants and academics was reviewed to identify the

drivers. The purpose of the study is to identify drivers of employee engagement in general

and with specific reference to hospitality industry

INTRODUCTION

Employee engagement is an emerging concept in the field of Human Resource Management.

Numerous studies have demonstrated that engaged employees lead to greater customer

satisfaction, are less likely to quit the organization and have lower absenteeism rate. In order

to reap the benefits of employee engagement it is essential that managers become aware of

the various drivers of employee engagement. Engagement drivers are the factors that have an

influence on creating employee engagement The study throws light on the various drivers of

employee engagement .The study takes into account the drivers of employee engagement

which have emerged as a result of research conducted by academicians, and consultant firms

across the globe.

Objective: To identify the drivers of employee engagement.

METHODOLOGY:

A structured literature review was done to identify the various drivers of employee

engagement The articles were sourced from electronic data base Proquest, KNimbus ,Ebsco,

Jgate and various ,journals and periodicals.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Kahn (1990) defined Employee Engagement as the “simultaneous employment and

expression of a person’s ‘preferred self’ in task behaviors that promote connections to work

and to others, personal presence, and active full role performances” Maslach(2001)defines

engagement as” persistent, positive affective-motivational state of fulfillment in employees

that is characterized by high levels of activation and pleasure” Shuck and Wollard(2010)

define Employee Engagement as “an individual employee’s cognitive, emotional, and

behavioral state directed toward desired organizational outcomes.”

DRIVERS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Josh Bershin(2015) in his article titled “ Becoming irresistible a new model for employee

engagement” identifies - meaningful work, hands on engagement ,positive work

environment, growth opportunity and trust in leadership as the five elements that drive

engagement. Work can be made meaningful by doing job enrichment, the right fit between

the person and the job, giving tools and autonomy as well as leisure time to rest and create.

The hands on element of employee engagement driver includes hands on management

wherein employees have clearly defined goals which are simple clear and transparent are

followed up regularly, coaching-leveraging the strength of the workers and enabling them to

be successful at their jobs and developing people .Modern performance management system

also aid in making employees engaged Positive work environment which includes a

supportive and flexible work environment,recognition,diverse and inclusive work culture

also drive people engagement. Opportunities for growth and development are another

important driver of employee engagement.

Jung Hoon Lee,, MichaelOkh (2015) on a study done among 394 hotel line employees and

managers in the Unites state provided empirical evidence on employee core self-evaluations

and perceptions of organizational work environment that is the psychological

climate( comprising of customer orientation of the management, managerial support for

service ,internal service and information sharing communication)being positively associated

with employee engagement .The theoretical frameworks used were of Kahn comprising of

three psychological conditions and Demerouti job demands–resources model. The data was

analysed using hierarchical multiple regression analysis

Lai P, lee J(2015)in a study carried out among a convenience sample of 400 employees

working at three to five stars hotels in Penang, Malaysia found that that Training

development and coworker support have a positive relationship with employee

engagement .and finding of the study point out that training and development and coworker

support have significant relationship with Employee Engagement

Tower Watson(2014) measures employee engagement on the parameters of sustainable

engagement which includes three components Engaged, Enabled and Energized. According

to the global workforce study 2014 conducted by Tower Watson the top drivers of employee

engagement are:1 Leadership(which is defined by interest in wellbeing, of employees, leaders

behaving in accordance with organizations core value and interest in job being

done. )Followed by Goals and objectives(an understanding about how ones job contributes to

the organizations goals),Workload and Worklife (balance between work and personal life,

flexible work arrangements, reasonable amount of work to be done and optimum number of

employees to ensure that the job gets rightly done)Image of the company wherein

organization is highly regarded by general public and empowerment of employees where in

organization involves employees in decisions concerning them and seeks their suggestion and

acts on them

Handa Meenakshi,Gulati Astha (2014) explore the relationship between personality and

employee engagement amongst frontline personnel in the organized retail industry in India

The findings of the study were that there is a positive relationship between extraversion and

conscientiousness personality traits and employee engagement. The study revealed that

personality is a significant predictor of employee engagement among frontline employees.

Harvey Bonnie,Micheal Houlihan(2014)The founders of barefoot cellars in their

article”Greenest pasture : How to create real employee engagement” state that The

organization’s hiring policy, compensation plans, orientation program were some of the key

drivers. The organizations appreciation for employees as well as allowing the freedom to

make mistakes also went a long way to increase employee engagement in Barefoot cellars.

Abu Khalif and som (2013)conducted a study on antecedents of employee engagement in

food and service department in Jordan hotel industry the finding of the study revealed

employee development as the highest contributing factor to employee engagement in the food

and service department. The findings of the study suggests that Antecedents of employee

engagement like employee communication, reward recognition, employee development and

extended employee care have significant impact on the level of engagement among

employees

Dharmendra and Naveen (2013) stated that relationships among co-workers and team

members, employees’ pride in their organization ,clear career growth opportunities, nature of

the job, managers’ trust and integrity and the clear contribution of employee performance to

the organization’s performance lead to employee engagement.

Shee Mun Yong,Suhaimi Ndzil etc(2013)studied the antecedents of employee engagement

such as job autonomy, strategic attention ,role benefit and goal setting in private sector in

Malaysia .Data is collected from employees working in telecommunication, finance, IT,

property and plantation . Regression analysis was used in the study. The result of the study

revealed that goal setting, job autonomy, role benefit is having positively significant effect on

employee engagement in privates sector.

Suharti Lieli and Dendi Suliyanto(2012) in a research conducted in hotel sector in Indonesia

found out that organizational culture and leadership style have effects toward employee

engagement .

According to Glen(2006) organizational processes,rolechallenge,values,work‐life balance,

information, reward/recognition, management and environment drives engagement in

organizations.

Rigg Julaine(2012) phd examined the drivers of employee engagement in the Jamacian Hotel

industry and studied their relationship with organizational and demographic characteristics

Jose Geeta,,Mampily Sebastian(2012) proposes that the degree of employees’ satisfaction

with human resource practices is an antecedent of employee engagement

Wang Yiran(2011)The study tested the model of antecedents and consequences of employee

engagement The results pointed that working life, management leadership communication

and attitudes to work positively influence employee engagement and employee advocacy to

the hotel. It also revealed that employee engagement predicts job satisfaction and advocacy

The results of the study revealed that top drivers for employee engagement in Jamaicans

hotel industry were organizational benefits, fairness and justice, good working conditions,

developmental opportunities and job security. It was found that Employees' age and

department were related to engagement. Also demographic and organizational characteristics

influenced engagement.

Mani(2011)listed employee welfare ,employee empowerment, employee growth and

interpersonal relationship as drivers of employee engagement.

Brad Shuck,Thomas Reo etc(2011)conducted an empirical study to examines the link

between job fit, affective commitment, psychological climate ,and employee engagement

and the dependent variables ,of discretionary effort and intention to turnover. An internet

based survey was administered to organizations from service, technology, healthcare, retail,

banking, nonprofit and hospitality field. The findings of the study were that Job fit, affective

commitment, and psychological climate were all significantly related to employee

engagement, while employee engagement was significantly related to both discretionary

effort and intention to turnover. The employees experiencing a positive psychological

climate were more likely to report higher levels of discretionary effort .Results revealed that

affective commitment and employee engagement predicted lower levels of employees’

intention to turnover . The study found no significant predictive relation between employee

engagement and discretionary effort

Padmakar Ram,Prabhakar(2011) in a study using snowball sampling of 310 samples studied

the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement in the Jordanian Hotel industry.

The result also showed that Job Characteristics, Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards, Perceived

Supervisor Support, Perceptions of Procedural Justice, Perceptions of Distributive Justice had

an effect on Employee Engagement.

Wollard K,,Shuck Brad(2011)using the technique of structured literature review identified

individual and organizational antecedents to Employee Engagement. Available to engage,

copingstyle ,curiosity, dedication, emotional fit ,employee Motivation, employee/work/family

status, higher level of corporate citizenship, involvement in meaningful work ,link individual

and organizational goal, optimism, perceived organizational support, self-

efficacy,selfesteem,vigor,core self-evaluation,vigor,worklifebalance,core self-evaluation,

value convergence have been identified as individual antecedents by the author .The author

classifies authentic corporate culture ,clear expectations, corporate social responsibility,

encouragement ,feedback ,hygiene factors ,job characteristics, job control, job fit, leadership,

level of task challenge, manager expectations, manager self-efficacy ,mission and

vision ,opportunities for learning, perception of workplace safety, positive work place

climate, reward supportive organizational culture, talent management have been identified as

organizational antecedents of Employee Engagement.

Sarangi. S. & Srivastava. R. K. (2012), studied the role and impact of organizational culture

and communication on employee engagement. Results of the study revealed that

Organizational culture has significant positive correlation with vigor of employees and

dedication of employees.. The correlation between organizational culture and absorption is

significant. Organizational communication has significant positive correlation with vigor of

employees is significant, correlation between dedication and organizational communication is

significant and organizational communication and absorption is significant. Results of

regression analysis revealed that organizational culture and communication are significant

predictors of employee engagement.

Kumar and Swetha (2011) proposed four antecedents of employee engagement: job

characteristics, organizational and supervision support, organizational justice and rewards

and recognition

Bijaya Kumar Sundarav( 2011) identifies recruitment ,job designing ,career Development

Opportunities ,Leadership ,Empowerment ,Equal Opportunities and Fair Treatment ,Training

and Development ,Performance Management ,compensation ,Health and Safety ,job

satisfaction, communication and family friendliness as the d rivers of employee engagement.

SlattenTerje,Mehmetoglu(2011) in a study conducted on 279 frontline employee in Hotel

and restaurant in Southern Norway examined the relationship between job autonomy and

employee engagement, role benefit ,strategic attention and employee engagement .The result

of the study found that job autonomy, strategic attention role and benefit are antecedents to

employee engagement which in turn leads to employees innovative behavior The individual

employees perception of career opportunities and professional visibility are crucial to

engagement, autonomy was positively linked to employee engagement and was the second

key variable in contributing to employee engagement, and strategic attention was

significantly related to greater employee engagement.

Keratepe, Keshavarz etc(2010) developed and tested a model that investigated core self-

evaluations as a mediator in the relationship between coworker support and work engagement

The results revealed that core self-evaluations partially mediate the impact of coworker

support on vigor, while it fully mediates the relationship between coworker support and

dedication

Macey and Schneider (2008) suggest that the nature of an organization’s leadership and

management can have an indirect impact on engagement behaviors demonstrated by

employees, through leaders building trust in their staff

.Zen Hui,Zhou etc(2009 )investigated the status of employee engagement and its effect on

service performance in the Chinese hotel industry The results show that the hotel employee

engagement is significantly different with professional characteristics in age, education level,

work position, length of service and salary.

NancyLockwood (2007) suggests that engagement is influenced by the Culture of the

organization its leadership, the quality of communication, styles of management, level of

trust, respect and organization’s reputation.

Riely Phd(2007) suggested that the engagement drivers senior leadership, team leadership,

work demands, work support, employee empowerment, continuation, customer focus and

financial rewards functioned as positive predictors of engagement

Melcrum (2007) also cites the importance of compensation, benefits and formal recognition

in instilling employee engagement

The result of studied by CIPD (2007) revealed that employee engagement is driven by

opportunities for upwards feedback, effective consultation and communication systems, and a

manager who is fair and visibly committed to the organization.

According to Mazznca Pasquale,Davenport Hamilton (2007) clear expectation regarding job,

career advancement opportunities, learning and development, regular feedback, perception

of value, mission and vision and quality of working relations lead to engaged employees

Brain Heger (2007)conducted an empirical study by using data from 614respondents, to

Find out the relationship among Employment Value Proposition and engagement level of

employee. The results of the study reveal that employee engagement is largely influenced by

an organization’s EVP.

The result of study by CIPD (2007) revealed that employee engagement is driven by

opportunities for upwards feedback, effective consultation and communication systems, and a

manager who is fair and visibly committed to the organization

The Conference Board (2006) ' on the basis of 12 major studies conducted by research firms

such as Gallup, Towers Perrin, Blessing White, The Corporate Leadership Council and others

identified 26 key drivers of employee engagement and found that most common drivers for

driving engagement were trust and integrity ,the nature of the job, the line of sight between

individual performance and company performance, career growth opportunities ,pride in the

company ,relationship with coworker team member

According to Saks Alan (2006)perceived organizational support predicts both job and

organization engagement; job characteristics predicts job engagement; and procedural justice

predicts organization engagement.

Robinson et.al (2005) reported that  job satisfaction, feeling valued and involved and

equality of opportunity are the three strongest drivers of engagement

Schaufeli & Bakker (2004), found a positive relationship between three job resources namely

sperformance feedback, social support and supervisory coaching) and engagement among

employees in a study on employees from different Dutch service organisations.

According to Robinson(2003) training, development and career, immediate management

performance appraisal ,communication, equal opportunities and fair treatment ,immediate

management, performance appraisal, communication, pay and benefits, health and safety,

cooperation, family friendliness are some of the drivers of employee engagement.

CONCLUSION

A review of the literature from both consultant perspective where the focus is on enabling

organization to achieve engagement and academic perspective reveals that drivers of

engagement vary in relation to their impact on employee engagement. Organization should

work at facilitating employee engagement by concentrating on these engagement drivers.

Bibliography

AbuKhalifeh& Som A(2013)The Antecedents Affecting Employee Engagement and

organizational Performance.Asian Social Science; Vol. 9, No. 7; URL:

http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ass.v9n7p

Alan M Sak, (2006) "Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. Journal of

Managerial Psychology, Vol. 21 Iss: 7, pp.600 – 619

Bersin Josh(2015) ,Becoming irresistible anew model of employee engagement, Deloitte Re

port Global workforce study .

Bijaya Kumar Sundaray(2011) Employee Engagement: A Driver of Organizational

Effectiveness . European Journal of Business and Management ,Vol 3, No.8 pp53-59

CIPD (2007),Employee Engagement accessed at www.cipd.co.uk on January2013

https://www.cipd.co.uk/binaries/managing-for-sustainable-employee-engagement

Employee Engagement A Review of Current Research and Its Implications. The Conference Board,

Inc., 18 pages, November 10, 2006

Dharmendra, & Naveen, K (2013). Employee Engagement: A Literature Review.

Economia,Seria Management, 16(2), 208-215.

Global Trends in Employee Attraction, Retention and Engagement retrieved fromh ttps://www.towerswatson.com/en/Insights/Newsletters/Global/Sustainably-Engag

Handa Meenakshi and Aastha Gulati (2014) Employee Engagement Does Individual

Personality Matter: Journal of Management Research Vol. 14(1)pp57-67

Heger Brian.Linking the Employment Value Proposition to Employee Engagement and

Business Outcomes: Preliminary finding from linkage research pilot study .Organization

Devlopment Journal Volume25(2) 121-132

Jose Geetha, Mampilly Sebestian R(2012) Satisfaction with HR Practices and Employee

Engagement: A Social Exchange Perspective. Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies

Vol. 4, No. 7, pp. 423-430s

Kumar Pradeep ,ShwetaG(2011)A Prognostic Examination of Employee Engagement from

its Historical roots. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance,Vol2 No3,232-241

Lai P, LEEJetc (2015)The linkage between training and development and coworker support

towards employee engagement in hotel industry. International journal of research and

scientific publications. Vol5,Issue5 acessed at

http://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0515/ijsrp-p41115.p onJune2015

LeeJ Okb Michael(2015), Drivers of work engagement: An examination of core self-

evaluations and psychological climate among hotel employees. International Journal of

Hospitality Management,pp84-92

LockwoodNR (2007), Leveraging employee engagement for competitive advantage: HR’s

strategic role ʹ Society for Human Resource ManagementQuarterly,1/4

Mani Vijaya(2012)Analysis of Employee Engagement and its Predictors. International

Journal of Human Resource Studies accessed at s URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/

ijhrs.v1i2.955

Melcrum(2007),The Practitioner’s Guide to essential techniques for employee engagement,

Melcrum Publishing Limited.

Osman M. Karatepe,Shohreh Keshavarzand Shima Nejati(2010)Do Core Self-Evaluations

Mediate the Effect of Coworker Support on Work Engagement? A Study of Hotel Employees

in Iran Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 17, 62–71.

Padmakumar Ram, Prabhakar Gantasala V(2011 The role of employee engagement in work-

related outcomes Interdisciplinary Journal of Research in Business Vol. 1, Issue. 3, (pp.47-

61)

Park, H. J. & Zhou, P. (2013).s t h Park, H. J. & Zhou, P. (2013). Is there a correlation for

companies with a strong employment brand between employee engagement levels and bottom

line results? Retrieved [2/2/2013] from Cornell University, ILR School site:

ttp://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/student/24/

Sarangi, Swatee; Srivastava, R. K. (2012 ) Impact of Organizational Culture and

Communication on Employee Engagement: An Investigation of Indian Private Banks|South

Asian Journal of Management,19(3),18-33

Schaufeli, W. B. and Bakker, A. B. (2004), Job demands, job resources, and their relationship

with burnout and engagement: a multi-sample study. Journal Of. Organizational. Behavior.,

25: 293–315. doi: 10.1002/job.248

ShuckaBrad,. ReioThomas G etal (2011) Employee engagement: an examination of

antecedent and outcome variables. Human Resource Development International, Vol

14,No4,427-445

Slåtten Terje, MehmetogluMehmet (2011):Antecedents and effects of engaged frontline

employees: A study from the hospitality industry Managing Service Quality, Vol. 21

Managing Service Quality, Vol. 21 pp88-107

SmceyWH,SchneiderB(2008),ʹThe meaning of employee engagement.Industrial and

organizational psychology,1,3-30

Suharti Lieli and Suliyanto Dendy (2012) The Effects of Organizational Culture and

Leadership Style toward Employee Engagement and Their Impacts toward Employee

Loyalty.

World review of Business Research, 2(5)Pp. 128 – 139

Yiran Wang(2011) Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Engagement: A Case Study

of Five-Star Hotels, Malaysia. TEAM Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, Vol. 8, Issue 1

Yong SheeM un et al.(2013): Employee Engagement: A Study from the Private Sector in M

Malayasia.Human Resource Management Research,3(1):43-48