Employee Eng Antecedents

8/12/2019 Employee Eng Antecedents

1/173

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT:

ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES

By

Melanie Kacho Clifford

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to

H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship

Nova Southeastern University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

2010


2/173

UMI Number: 3419911

All rights reserved

INFORMATION TO ALL USERSThe quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.

In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscriptand there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed,

a note will indicate the deletion.

UMI 3419911 Copyright 2 010 by ProQuest LLC.

All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected againstunauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.

ProQuest LLC789 East Eisenhower Parkway

P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346


3/173


4/173


5/173

ABSTRACT

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES

by


This dissertation examined the relationship between the antecedents andconsequences of employee engagement in a defense acquisition organization. Theobjective of this study is to determine whether or not the eight satisfaction facets of theIndex of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1976) could be used as antecedents,engagement and consequences constructs in place of the antecedents, engagement andconsequences constructs of the Saks (2006) model of employee engagement. This study

used the following three research questions: 1) Are the antecedents of the IOR (kind ofwork, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards)related to employee engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers)? 2)Are the antecedents of the IOR model (kind of work, amount of work, physical workconditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to consequences (career future)? 3)Are the employee engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers)related to consequences (career future)?

This study utilized the Index of Organizational Reactions (1976) to sample adefense acquisition organization ( N = 177) to assess the proposed empirical model. Thequantitative data from the study was used to perform Pearson correlation on 17hypotheses. All hypotheses were supported and indicated positive relationships were

present among the variables representing the antecedents, engagement and consequencesconstructs of the empirical model. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis was utilizedas was done in previous studies performed by Dunham, Smith and Blackburn (1977) andLee (1984). After the initial component matrix was obtained, a varimax rotation withKaiser normalization was applied and indicated that the same factors found in theDunham et al. and Lee studies were found in this research, providing additionalconfirmation for the original validation of the IOR. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) wasused in this research and the results indicated that gender was a significant effect on theresults of this study.

This study utilized qualitative responses to the survey items to provide additionaldata to determine whether or not there were common themes amongst the comments andwhether or not the comments were in agreement with the quantitative responses. Resultsindicated that further study is needed in the areas of supervision, kind of work, co-workers, physical work conditions and career future.


6/173


This study has possible implications for practitioners and researchers with the breadth of knowledge that can be obtained through the use of the Index of OrganizationalReactions survey instrument. The survey can be used as a supplement to the morerecently developed Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) developed by Schaufeliand Bakker (2004) or the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) developed by Maslach andSchaufeli (1993).

This study recommended several avenues for future research in employeeengagement, including the use of variations of the empirical model to test differentrelationships of the antecedents, engagement and consequences constructs. In addition,this study was specific to a defense acquisition management organization within the

federal government workforce and future efforts could expand research into otheracquisition organizations, economic sectors or even into public corporations. Also, someof the demographics indicate potential areas of research such as age distribution or theuse of the status demographic to explore further the differences between government,military and contractor personnel. These areas of future research will provideopportunities to enhance our understanding of employee engagement from perspectivesother than those identified in current literature.


7/173

DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this work to my husband and best friend, John, and to my

son, Ian. Without their love and support, this work would never have been completed.


8/173

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Without the support of many people, I would never have been able to complete

my research and my dissertation. First of all, the support from my family has beenimmeasurable, and I can never thank them enough for standing by me when I was at mylowest. Not only were John and Ian there to support me, but also other family members,Emily, Greg, and Stacy kept me going with the feeling that they truly cared about how Iwas progressing with my work. My parents Alex and Dorothy Kacho, and my brothersAlan and Jay always believed in me and were there to provide encouragement through allof my years of education. I thank them for their support and I hope they are proud ofwhat I have accomplished.

I would also like to thank my dissertation committee. Dr. Regina Greenwoodgraciously accepted my request to be my chair and her support has been invaluable with

her feedback and suggestions to make my dissertation a much better product. Dr. EdMurphy was very supportive as my methodologist and I appreciate what he has done tohelp see me through this research. Last, I would like to thank Dr. Barry Barnes, not onlyfor serving on my committee as my reader, but also for the guidance I received during myHR/Org Behavior and Strategy classes. Without his belief in me through those classes, Iwould never have made it to the point of completing my dissertation.

I would like to thank Ron Borta for handling the setup and administration of myonline survey. His assistance with the survey made that part of my research much easierto accomplish and I appreciate his suggestions on the setup of the survey itself. Thanksalso are given to Harry Oldland for helping me find the organization to use for myresearch. Without Harrys persistence and the permission of Colonel Keith Moore to usehis organization, I would still be looking.

Last, I would like to thank all of my friends and co-workers that have been therethe last seven years to provide support that gave me the confidence to complete myresearch.


9/173

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. X

LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... XI

CHAPTER I .................................................... ....................................................... ............. 1

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ......................................................................................... 1BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION ................................................... ............................... 2DEFINITION OF TERMS ..................................................................................................... 6DELIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................... 8ASSUMPTIONS ....................................................... ....................................................... .... 9R ESEARCH APPROACH ..................................................................................................... 9SUMMARY ................................................... ........................................................ ........... 12

CHAPTER II .................................................. ........................................................ ........... 14

REVIEW OF LITERATURE........................................................................................ 14I NTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 14HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF E NGAGEMENT ..................................................... .................... 15JOB E NRICHMENT TIES TO E NGAGEMENT ...................................................................... 19COMMITMENT , I NVOLVEMENT AND ALIENATION TIES TO E NGAGEMENT ...................... 21EXHAUSTION , CYNICISM AND I NEFFICACY TIES TO E NGAGEMENT ................................ 23VIGOR , ABSORPTION AND DEDICATION ASPECTS OF E NGAGEMENT .............................. 25

MEANINGFULNESS , SAFETY AND AVAILABILITY CONSTRUCTS R ELATIONSHIP TOE NGAGEMENT ................................................................................................................ 27R ELATIONSHIP OF SOCIAL EXCHANGE TO E NGAGEMENT ............................................... 30A NTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF EMPLOYEE E NGAGEMENT ............................... 32SUMMARY ................................................... ........................................................ ........... 38

CHAPTER III ................................................................................................................... 40

METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 40I NTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 40R ESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES ................................................. .................... 40TARGET POPULATION .................................................................................................... 42

R ESEARCH DESIGN ........................................................................................................ 45I NSTRUMENTATION ........................................................ ................................................ 45VALIDITY AND R ELIABILITY ................................................... ....................................... 46OPERATIONALIZATION OF VARIABLES ....................................................... .................... 47DATA COLLECTION ........................................................ ................................................ 49DATA A NALYSIS AND STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES ............................................... ........... 50LIMITATIONS .................................................................................................................. 51SUMMARY ................................................... ........................................................ ........... 51


10/173

ix

CHAPTER IV ................................................ ........................................................ ........... 52

ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS ................................................. 52I NTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 52DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES ..................................................... ............................. 52DATA PREPARATION ...................................................... ................................................ 53DEMOGRAPHICS .................................................... ....................................................... .. 53R ELIABILITY .................................................................................................................. 62CONFIRMATORY FACTOR A NALYSIS ................................................. ............................. 63A NALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) ................................................. ............................. 70HYPOTHESES TESTING ................................................................................................... 72QUALITATIVE A NALYSIS ................................................................................................ 95SUMMARY ................................................... ........................................................ ......... 104

CHAPTER V .................................................................................................................. 106

CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................ 106I NTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 106

DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 106IMPLICATIONS ....................................................... ....................................................... 110R ECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS ................................................. .................. 112LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE R ESEARCH ........................................................................ 112CONCLUSIONS ....................................................... ....................................................... 114

APPENDIX

A. I NDEX OF ORGANIZATIONAL R EACTIONS ............................................................... 117B. COVER LETTERS ..................................................................................................... 125

C. CODE OF DATA SET ................................................................................................ 129D. CONSISTENCY MATRIX ...................................................... ..................................... 133E. TIMETABLE ............................................................................................................. 137R EFERENCES CITED ..................................................................................................... 139BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 150


11/173


12/173

xi

LIST OF FIGURES

1.1 Saks Model of Employee Engagement... 10

1.2 Proposed Model of Employee Engagement 12

2.1 Job Enrichment Model of Hackman, Oldham, Janson and Purdy... 19

2.2 Research Model of Schaufeli and Bakker... 25

2.3 May, Gilson and Harter Framework of Engagement.. 28


13/173

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces the current research study of employee engagement. The

first section of this chapter introduces the statement of the problem followed by the

background and justification for the study. Next, the definition of the important terms

associated with the research study, delimitations, assumptions, literature reviewed, and

the conceptual empirical design that Is the basis of the research study is presented. A

summary concludes the chapter.

Statement of the Problem

Current organizational behavior literature focuses on the extent to which people

are involved in their roles within their own organization and how committed employees

are to the success of their organization. Kahn (1990) advocated that engagement can be

defined as the way in which people connect themselves to their work roles and express

themselves physically, cognitively and emotionally during the performance of their roles.

When people do not engage themselves in their work the result can be withdrawal and

defensive behavior (Kahn, 1990). May, Gilson, and Harter (2004) suggested that

engagement pertained to how individuals apply themselves in the performance of the job

and the active use of emotions and behaviors as well as cognitions. Shaw (2005)

defined employee engagement as the emotional and intellectual commitment to the

organization, while Baumruk (2004) defined engagement as a state in which individuals

are intellectually and emotionally committed to the organization.


14/173

2

Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001) posited that job engagement was the direct

opposite of burnout when burnout was defined as the erosion of engagement with ones

job. Maslach et al. related six areas of work life to burnout and engagement: workload,

control, rewards and recognition, community and social support, perceived fairness and

values. The research done by Maslach et al. built on the previous Kahn research and

posited that job engagement relates to a sustainable workload, relevant recognition and

rewards, supportive work environment and valued work. However, the Maslach et al.

model of burnout as it related to engagement had not been empirically tested until Saks

(2006) viewed engagement from the perspectives of job and organization and developedhis model of the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. None of the

previous research has shown whether the Saks model constructs of antecedents,

consequences and engagement are the same as the constructs of other models that

measured employee engagement from the perspective of specific categories of job

satisfaction aspects. The Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) identified satisfaction

facets in eight different categories pertaining to kind of work, amount of work,

supervision, physical work conditions, financial rewards, co-workers, company

identification and career future (Cook, Hepworth, Wall & Warr, 1981). The purpose of

this research is to explore the constructs of the Saks model in relation to the satisfaction

facets of the IOR.

Background and Justification

In academic literature reviewed for this research study, most of the theory or

model development regarding employee engagement began with Kahn in the early 1990s.

Kahn (1990, 1992) found that there were three psychological conditions associated with


15/173

3

engagement in the workplace: meaningfulness, safety and availability. Kahn (1990)

suggested that people were engaged when they had work that was more psychologically

meaningful. May, Gilson and Harter (2004) have thus far provided one empirical study

to tie meaningfulness, safety and availability to engagement, showing that job enrichment

and role fit were positive predictors of meaningfulness. In addition, May et al. found that

relations with supportive supervisors was a positive predictor of safety and resource

availability was a positive predictor of psychological availability.

Saks (2006) conducted a study of employee engagement in which he explored the

relationships between antecedents, consequences and employee engagement. In hisstudy, Saks used antecedents such as job characteristics, perceived supervisor support,

rewards and recognition and procedural justice, while he addressed consequences such as

job satisfaction, organizational commitment and intention to quit. Engagement was

looked at from both the individual and organizational perspectives and the model tied

these perspectives together with the antecedents and consequences previously identified

(Saks, 2006).

In a preliminary review of academic literature, only one empirical study could be

found which tested the Saks (2006) model, and only two studies were found that explored

the structure validity of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (Dunham, Smith &

Blackburn, 1977; Lee, 1984), and its eight satisfaction facets: kind of work, amount of

work, co-workers, supervision, financial rewards, company identification, career future

and physical work conditions. The IOR was validated previously by comparing the IOR

survey instrument with the Job Descriptive Index (JDI), the Minnesota Satisfaction

Questionnaire (MSQ), and Faces Scales (Dunham, et al., 1977).


16/173

4

With three-quarters of the American workforce saying that they are moderately

engaged or not engaged at all, leaders cannot afford to allow trained and skilled

professionals to leave the current organization where they are employed (Jamrog, 2004).

Studies conducted by Blessing-White (2008) have shown that the industries with the

largest number of engaged employees are in human resources consulting/training (46%)

and energy/utilities (40%), while the industries with the fewest engaged include

academia/higher education (23%), high technology (24%), and the group that was most

relevant to the current study, government, 25%. The Blessing-White (2008) study also

indicated that engagement levels decreased slightly as workforce size increased, withonly 32% of the study respondents from organizations of 1-999 employees and 25% of

those in firms of more than 10,000 fully engaged.

As identified in the Blessing-White (2008) study mentioned previously,

government workers are among the least engaged. In light of the recent revision of the

defense acquisition process and the emphasis on smart program management in ensuring

success during the administration of defense contracts, it is even more important to retain

the knowledge workers that are already in place (Jamrog, 2004). The acquisition

workforce is comprised of more than 100,000 government and military professionals

including program managers, contract specialists, contracting officers, system engineers,

logistics managers and property managers (Pursch & Garrett, 2008). This workforce is

responsible for the acquisition of more than $400 billion worth of products and services

to support the needs of the American public, but there are not enough talented acquisition

professionals to administer the acquisition needs of the country (Pursch & Garrett, 2008).

As identified in the DoD Weapon System Acquisition Reform Product Support


17/173

5

Assessment Team (PSAT) report published in November 2009, the ongoing product

support for the acquisition process is done through program management offices, costing

$132 billion in fiscal year 2008 alone. Specifically, the acquisition workforce within the

federal government has an even more important task that ties to both national defense and

taxpayer trust (Pursch & Garrett, 2008). If these acquisition costs are not controlled

correctly, the Department of Defense annual budget can be crippled and would lessen the

United States ability to maintain a persistent expeditionary military presence throughout

the world.

In addition to the issues mentioned above, the Director of the United States Officeof Personnel Management (OPM) indicated in February, 2006 that 60% of the

governments 1.6 million white collar employees and 90% of some 6,000 federal

executives are be eligible to retire in the decade between 2006-2015 (Trahant, 2006).

Specifically, half of the federal government workforce is eligible to retire beginning in

2010 and the ramp up to fight the war on terror required the addition of as many as

150,000 workers in the next few years in both the Department of Defense and the

Department of Homeland Security (Trahant & Yearout, 2006). The combination of rising

job dissatisfaction and demographic trends predicting labor shortages, skill scarcities, and

fewer knowledge workers has all the signs of the need for changes in the way work is

performed, where it is performed, who is performing it, and the skill sets that are needed

going forward (Jamrog, 2004).

Therefore, this study independently investigates the Saks model using the eight

satisfaction facets of the IOR as the constructs for antecedents, engagement and


18/173

6

consequences, contributing to the body of academic literature regarding employee

engagement from the perspective of a federal government organization.

Definition of Terms

In support of the Saks (2006) model, the following terms and definitions are

utilized in this research.

Job Characteristics Job characteristics are those tasks that provide challenging work,

variety, use of different skills and the opportunity to make important contributions (Kahn,

1992). Jobs high on core characteristics provide opportunities for individuals to bring

more of themselves to work or become more engaged.

Rewards and Recognition Maslach, Schaufeli, and Leiter (2001) define rewards and

recognition as the perception of benefits received from performing a role. Maslach et al.

suggest that a lack of rewards and recognition can lead to burnout, while the presence of

rewards and recognition can be important for engagement.

Perceived Organizational and Supervisor Support Kahn (1990) suggests that perceived

organizational and supervisor support are the amount of care and support employees

perceive they receive from their organization.

Distributive and Procedural Justice Colquitt (2001) defines distributive justice as

pertaining to ones perception of the fairness of decision outcomes, while procedural

justice pertains to ones perceived fairness of the means and processes used to determine

the amount and distribution of resources.

Engagement Maslach, Schaulfeli and Leiter (2001) define engagement as an affective,

motivational state of fulfillment that is normally characterized by vigor, dedication, and

absorption, where vigor is defined as high levels of energy and willingness to invest in


19/173

7

ones job, dedication is defined as strong involvement in ones work and by a sense of

pride, and absorption is a pleasant state of total concentration in ones work, and the

inability to detach oneself from the job.

Job Satisfaction Wright and Davis (2003) define job satisfaction as the representation

of employees and their work environment by comparing what they expect to receive

versus what employees actually have received.

Organizational Commitment Saks (2006) defines organizational commitment as the

attitude and attachment that people have toward their organization.

Intention to Quit - Kacmar, Carlson and Brymer (1999) define intention to quit as thedegree to which employees are considering leaving the organization.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior

In support of the Index of Organizational Reactions, the following terms were

used in this research. Each of the eight specific satisfaction facets was rated on a 5-point

Likert scale.

Organ (1988) defined organizational citizenship

behavior (OCB) as individual behaviors that are voluntary and not tied directly to any

reward or recognition system that promotes the effectiveness of the organization.

Supervision - This facet of the IOR identifies the relationship of the employee to the

immediate supervisor based on responses to the items 1-6 in the survey instrument

(Cook, Hepworth, Wall & Warr, 1981).

Company Identification This facet of the IOR identifies the employees relationship to

the work organization based on responses to items 7-11 in the survey instrument (Cook et

al., 1981). This facet is also known as organizational commitment.


20/173

8

Kind of Work This facet of the IOR identifies the employees attitudes toward the type

of work the employee is asked to perform based on responses to items 12-17 in the

survey instrument (Cook et al., 1981).

Amount of Work This facet of the IOR identifies the employees perceptions of the

workload the employee is expected to perform based on responses to items 18-21 in the

survey instrument (Cook et al., 1981).

Co-Workers This facet of the IOR identifies the employees attitude about the

relationships with other people in the organization and looks at the overall success of the

organization based on responses to items 22-26 in the survey instrument (Cook et al.,1981).

Physical Work Conditions This facet of the IOR identifies the employees viewpoint of

the physical work environment in which their work is performed and the impact of work

conditions on individual job performance based on responses to items 27-32 in the survey

instrument (Cook et al., 1981).

Financial Rewards This facet of the IOR identifies the employees position regarding

the relationship of the job performed and the amount of money received based on

responses to items 33-37 in the survey instrument (Cook et al., 1981).

Career Future

This facet of the IOR identifies the employees outlook on career

prospects based on responses to items 38-42 in the survey instrument (Cook et al., 1981).

Delimitations

This research focuses on employee engagement in a program management office

supporting the acquisition process for a major Department of Defense (DoD) contract and

the results may not be applicable to workers in other industries or other government


21/173

9

organizations. In addition, this research addresses only the relationship of the Saks

constructs and the IOR satisfaction facets and not how either model relates to other

models of employee engagement or employee job satisfaction.

Assumptions

A mixed methodology employee survey is used for the study organization based

on the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR). Creswell (2009) suggests that a mixed

methodology allows the researcher to gain perspectives from different types of data or

from different levels within the study. The 42-question IOR and eight demographic

questions are administered via a secure website to the program management office that isthe organization to be studied. Both qualitative and quantitative information are

gathered during the survey period. The quantitative responses are recorded utilizing a 5-

point Likert scale. While the IOR provided a quantitative method to assess employee

satisfaction, the mixed methodology survey instrument provides the opportunity for

respondents to enter written comments. The comments entered by survey respondents

are analyzed qualitatively to identify themes and relationships to specific factors of the

employee engagement model as well as to enhance and clarify the quantitative portion of

the survey.

Research Approach

Literature to be Reviewed

The historical origins of engagement are presented via the literature of Chalofsky

and Krishna (2009). Hackman, Oldham, Janson and Purdy (1975) provide the initial

foundations for engagement with their job enrichment studies that Kahn (1990, 1992)

utilized to begin his engagement studies. Saks (2006) builds on the work of Kahn and


22/173

10

others to provide the main concept for the current body of work regarding how

antecedents and consequences of employee engagement affect employee satisfaction.

Smith (1976) and Smith, Roberts and Hulin (1976) provide background information on

the Index of Organizational Reactions survey instrument that is used to gather the data for

this research study. Dunham, Smith and Blackburn (1977) provide the validation of the

Index of Organizational Reactions. Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001) provide

empirical data on the relationship of engagement, job characteristics, occupational

characteristics, and organizational characteristics. Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) bring

together job demands, job resources and relationships to engagement, while Baumruk(2004) provides information on how employee engagement relates to business success.

May, Gilson and Harter (2004) explore the constructs of meaningfulness, safety and

availability as they relate to engagement, while Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005) provide

ties to engagement through social exchange theory.

Conceptual Empirical Design

Saks (2006) provides the initial model of the antecedents and consequences of

employee engagement as shown in Figure 1.1.

Antecedents

Job CharacteristicsPerceived organizational supportPerceived supervisor supportRewards and recognitionProcedural justiceDistributive justice

Employee Engagement

Job engagementOrganization engagement

Consequences

Job satisfactionOrganizational commitmentIntention to quitOrganizational citizenship behavior

Figure 1.1 Saks Model of Employee Engagement

Figure 1.1 Antecedents, Employee Engagement and Consequences Constructs. Adapted from Antecedents aConsequences of Employee Engagement, by A. Saks, 2006, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21, p. 604.


23/173

11

Antecedents are those factors that provide the means to identify whether or not an

employee has become engaged (Saks, 2006), while employee engagement as identified

by Saks covers both the job and organization levels, with consequences as those factors

that are the connection between employee engagement and business results.

The relationships of the Saks model components and the satisfaction facets of the

IOR are analyzed to determine if the constructs are similar enough to allow the facets of

the IOR to be used as support for the components of the Saks model. Based on the

definitions of the terms, the job characteristics antecedent in the Saks model has

similarities to the kind of work, amount of work, and physical work conditionssatisfaction facets of the IOR. The perceived supervisor support antecedent in the Saks

model has similarities in definition to supervision facet of the IOR. Rewards and

recognition, procedural justice and distributive justice antecedents in the Saks model has

similar definitions to the items within the financial rewards facet of the IOR.

The Saks model organization engagement component has similarities to the

company identification satisfaction facet of the IOR and Saks model job engagement

component and the IOR co-workers facet have similar definitions. Finally, the intention

to quit consequence in the Saks model has a similar definition to the career future facet of

the IOR satisfaction measure. Thus, it is possible that the IOR satisfaction facets could

be used in place of the constructs of the Saks model to develop a new model of employee

engagement as shown in Figure 1.2.


24/173

12

Therefore, the purpose of this research is to provide empirical evidence in support

of the Saks model utilizing the constructs of the IOR and the following research questionsare addressed:

Research Question 1: Are the antecedents of the IOR (kind of work, amount of

work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to employee

engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers)?

Research Question 2: Are the antecedents of the IOR model (kind of work,

amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to

consequences (career future)?

Research Question 3: Are the employee engagement constructs (company

identification and co-workers) related to consequences (career future)?

Summary

This chapter introduces the research study and identifies the background and

justification for the study, including the constructs of the conceptual empirical model, the

reasoning for the selection of the candidate organization, as well as the identification of

Antecedents

Kind of Work Amount of Work Physical Work ConditionsSupervisionFinancial Rewards

Employee Engagement

Company IdentificationCo-Workers

Consequences

Career Future

Figure 1.2. Proposed Model of Employee Engagement

Figure 1.2. Proposed Model of Employee Engagement. This model is based on the Saks (2006) model ofemployee engagement using t he eight facets of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) as the constructsof the mod el.


25/173

13

the survey instrument to be used. Chapter I also identifies the major academic literature

sources for the study as well as the major assumptions and delimitations for the study.

The remainder of this study is organized as follows. Chapter II reviews the

literature relevant to the research questions of the study. Chapter III describes the

methodology in use for this study, including the research questions and their associated

hypotheses, as well as the reliability and validity of the survey instrument that is used to

gather the data for the study. The data analysis and data collection techniques also are

described in this chapter. Chapter IV describes the analysis and presents the findings of

this research study, and Chapter V presentsd the discussion, implications and limitationsfor future research of this study.


26/173

14

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Introduction

This chapter contains a review of available academic publications and other

sources of information that are related to this study of employee engagement. The

origins of employee engagement theory will be considered along with other related

theories such as employee satisfaction, social exchange, employee commitment and

burnout.

Employee engagement and employee commitment have emerged as importantconcepts when dealing with organizational research that indicates that favorable

relationships with employees can result in organizational retention and performance

(Chalofsky & Krishna, 2009). Porters, Steers, Mowday and Boulin (1974) suggested that

commitment involved the willingness of individuals to perform at higher levels on behalf

of the organization, have strong desires to stay in the organization, and accept the goals

and values of the organization when performing their work roles. Studies conducted by

Angle and Perry (1981), Hunter and Thatcher (2007), as well as with Pool and Pool

(2007), showed that organizational commitment relates positively with the ability of

employees to adapt to unforeseen events. Research performed by Dessler (1999) and

Kanter (1968) showed that organizational commitment supports organizational

citizenship behaviors vital to effective teams and employee empowerment, but the

research is not as clear on how commitment, organizational citizenship behavior and

internal motivation relate to employee engagement.


27/173

15

Historical Origins of Engagement

Chalofsky and Krishna (2009) suggested that engagement has its foundations in

pre-industrial society when work was performed in the same neighborhood where people

lived, and that work was tied to the well being of the individual as well as the

community. With the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, work was now governed by

uniform standards, the time clock and by supervisors/managers determining how and

when work would be performed (Brisken, 1996) and employee experiences were now

secondary to efficiency in the workplace. The Industrial Revolution separated the

performance of work from community life, and created bureaucracies to organize andcontrol the work (Chalofsky & Krishna, 2009), resulting in a loss of the original meaning

of work to support the ongoing existence of the neighborhood.

During the 1960s and 1970s, motivation theorists and psychologists advocated the

idea that individuals have an innate need for a work life that is meaningful (Alderfer,

1972). Even Maslow (1971) suggested that unless individuals perceive the workplace as

having meaning and purpose, individuals would not work up to their full capacity.

Theorists like McGregor (1960), Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman (1959) and Alderfer

suggested that individuals are motivated to take actions based on their desire to fulfill

certain needs that are higher than basic survival needs and would be more meaningful

when working toward a higher cause. Maslow suggested that individuals possess the

potential to reach what he referred to as self-actualization, which he defined as an

ongoing process of expressing oneself to the fullest extent possible in a way that is

personally fulfilling. Rogers (1961) advocated that people find purpose or meaning to

their lives when they are given the freedom to be whom and what they are on a


28/173

16

continuous basis and Locke (1975) advocated that people endeavor to reach their goals to

satisfy their own emotions and desires.

More recently, organizations attempted to attract and retain qualified workers in

spite of projected labor shortages and increasing global competition (Chalofsky &

Krishna, 2009), yet many workers feel a sense of loss, lack of purpose, lack of trust and

commitment, as well as a questioning of whether or not their work is worthwhile. In a

study conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) (2008), the

top four contributors to employee job satisfaction were identified as job security, benefits,

compensation and feeling safe in the work environment. In addition, the SHRM (2008)study identified that five of the top ten motivational contributors to job satisfaction were

opportunities to use skills and abilities; relationship with immediate supervisor; the work

itself; meaningfulness of the job; and flexibility to balance life and work issues. Results

of the SHRM (2008) study indicated that people desire to be part of an organization that

cares about them, supports their growth through skill and knowledge development, and

most importantly of all, encourages them to use their skills and abilities in a way that is

meaningful. Chalofsky and Krishna (2009) suggested that motivation is focused on the

accomplishment of the task, whereas meaning is related to satisfaction at both the

intrinsic and extrinsic levels, where the intrinsic motivation is related to the meaning of

the work itself to the individual.

Csikszentmihalyi (1990) advocated that people are intrinsically motivated by the

work itself where individuals feel that they can continue forever in their tasks, wanting to

learn additional skills to master even more demanding tasks, rather than by the

accomplishment of the task. This phenomenon, called flow by Csikszentmihalyi, is


29/173

17

where people are excited, strive for mastery of skills, and identify with the potential for

personal growth as long as the work is in progress and are disappointed once the task is

finished. The work itself aspect was related to Chalofskys (2003) construct of

meaningful work, whereby Chalofsky identified the three themes of sense of self, work

itself and the sense of balance that embody a deeper level of motivation over the

traditional intrinsic values of sense of accomplishment, pride, praise from a supervisor,

and satisfaction of finishing the task.

Thomas (2000) suggests that until about ten years ago, managers made decisions

about the structure and process of performing work based on the efficiency of performingthe tasks and required workers to complete the tasks based on these decisions. However,

now organizations need to rely more on individuals to make their own decisions about

how the work will be accomplished (Chalofsky & Krishna, 2009), requiring more work

autonomy, empowerment, risk taking, creativity and flexibility. Thomas identified what

he considers to be four of the most critical intrinsic rewards as sense of meaning and

purpose, sense of choice, sense of competence, and sense of progress. While the work

related back to Maslows (1971) concept of self-actualization, the focus was on

individuals carrying out their lifes purpose through the work itself (Chalofsky &

Krishna, 2009).

Chalofsky and Krishna (2009) advocated that the primary drivers of commitment

are identification with the organizations goals, similarity of individual and

organizational goals, and internalization by the individual of the organizations values

and mission. Morrow (1993) suggested that there were five universal forms of work

commitment, including work ethic endorsement, affective organizational commitment,


30/173

18

career commitment, job involvement and continuance organizational commitment. With

affective or psychological commitment, Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison and Sowa

(1986) suggested that affective commitment is the strongest positive relationship with

desirable outcomes, as long as the organization shows its commitment in turn to the

employee by providing a supportive work environment. When employees perceive that

the organization is providing support, employees realize that the organization cares about

them and values the contribution that they are making to the organization (Aselage &

Eisenberger, 2003), and appreciates them (Fuller, Barnett, Hester & Relyea, 2003). In

turn, employees will be committed to the organization at higher levels than when they donot perceive receiving organizational support (Dressler, 1999).

Lockwood (2007) advocated that when employees are engaged, they work harder,

were more committed to the organization and were more likely to exceed minimal levels

of work to aid the organization in its reach for success. Crabtree (2005) suggested that

engaged employees tend to feel that their work actually affects their psychological

wellbeing and their physical health in a positive way. In a survey conducted by Blessing-

White (2005), results indicated that some of the employees that were not engaged cared

about the organization and the work that they performed, but the employees did not see

the relationship between their capabilities and their tasks. The Blessing-White (2005)

study also showed that while other organizational members were not frustrated enough to

leave the organization, they were waiting for a better fit, and were not committed to

either the organization or their work, while the remainder of the employees in the

organization were actively looking to leave. On the other hand, in a Blessing-White

(2006) survey, engaged employees were proud to work in their organizations and had


31/173

19

trust in their immediate supervisors and managers. Overall, employees emotional

connections were positive, and with their commitment to the work and the organization,

higher levels of engagement and commitment were realized (Chalofsky & Krishna,

2009).

Job Enrichment Ties to Engagement

Previously, the study of employee engagement has taken many different paths,

and has been related to concepts such as job enrichment. Hackman, Oldham, Janson and

Purdy (1975) identified critical psychological states that can influence peoples internal

work motivations that take place at a particular moment in time. The Hackman et al.model as shown in Figure 2.1 illustrates the relationship of core job dimensions, critical

psychological states and personal work outcomes.

Core JobDimensions

CriticalPsychological States Personal &

Work Outcomes

Skill Variety

Task Variety

Task Significance

Autonomy

Feedback

ExperiencedMeaningfulnessof the Work

ExperiencedResponsibilityfor OutcomesOf the Work

Knowledge of the Actual Results of the Work Activities

High InternalWork Motivation

High QualityWork Performance

High Satisfactionwith the Work

Low Absenteeismand Turnover

Figure 2.1. Job Enrichment Model of Hackman, Oldham, Ja nson and Purdy

Figure 2.1. Relationship among Core Job Dimens ions, Critical Psychological States, and O n-the-JobOutcomes. Adapted from A New Strategy for Job Enrichment, by J. R. Hackman, G. Oldham,R. Janson and K. Purdy, 1975, California Management Review, 17, p. 58.


32/173

20

This job enrichment model, based on a Motivating Potential Score (MPS),

identified the degree to which the characteristics of the job will lead to high internal work

motivation (Hackman, Oldham, Janson & Purdy, 1975). In order for the possibility of an

individual experiencing meaningfulness of the work, the job being measured must be

high in at least one or more of the skill variety, task variety and task significance core

dimensions (Hackman et al., 1975). As identified in Figure 2.1, if the job is high in

autonomy and feedback as well as skill variety, task variety and task significance, then

responsibility for the outcomes of the work and knowledge of the actual results of the

work activities are experienced, leading to personal and work outcomes of high internalwork motivation, high quality work performance, high satisfaction with the work, and

low absenteeism and turnover (Hackman et al., 1975). When the personal and work

outcomes are positive, Hackman et al. suggest that individuals will feel good about

themselves, and the good feelings will bring about the condition in which the individuals

continue to do well to sustain the good feelings, known as inner motivation. The concept

of inner motivation was based on the premise that individuals are enthusiastic about their

work because of positive internal feelings that result from doing well rather than

occurring as a result of external factors such as incentive pay or compliments for the

motivation to work successfully (Hackman et al., 1975).

In their study with over 1,000 participants utilizing the Job Diagnostic Survey

(JDS) instrument, Hackman, Oldham, Purdy and Janson (1975) found that when all three

of the critical psychological states were present, the internal work motivation, work

quality and satisfaction were high, while absenteeism and turnover were low. On the


33/173


34/173

22

resulted in behaviors that bring alive the dynamic relationship of the self to the role in

which a person can drive personal energies into role behaviors known as self-

employment, and display the self within the role known as self-expression. Kahn

identified that individuals can become physically involved in a given task, whether

working alone or with others, and can be connected to others in ways that demonstrate

how they think, feel, and display their creativity, beliefs and values. Kahn tied

engagement and disengagement concepts together with the idea that people need to be

both self-expressive and self-employed in their work performance as a normal course of

behavior.Kahn (1990) found that workers were more engaged in their work when they had

work that was more meaningful and the workers felt safe in what they were doing.

Workers were receptive to investing themselves into the performance of the particular

work role when they felt that negative consequences would not result (Kahn, 1990).

Using the results from his own ethnographic studies of camp counselors and an

architectural firm, Kahn developed his theory based on the person-role relationships in

that organizational members take a stance based on the three concepts of commitment,

involvement and alienation. Kahn suggested that the relationship of work and work

experiences along with peoples attachment or detachment identified how engaged people

feel in their work and when people apply more of themselves in the performance of their

roles, individuals were more willing to be involved and performed their role better than if

they were not willing to be involved. Kahn also suggested that people are hesitant to

belong to a group on an ongoing basis and protected themselves from belonging and not

belonging based on how they perceived themselves in their work roles, which Kahn


35/173

23

referred to as personal engagement. These were the behaviors that people bring into or

leave out of their personal selves during the performance of work roles (Kahn, 1990).

In later research, Kahn (1992) showed that engagement occurs on two levels.

First the individual outcomes were the quality level of an individuals work and the

individuals experiences while doing the work and second, at the organizational level

when the outcomes were positive growth and productivity (Kahn, 1992). Organizations

needed the ideas, self-expression, creativity and inquisitiveness from empowering their

members to involve more of themselves in ways to help the organization (Kahn, 1992).

Exhaustion, Cynicism and Inefficacy Ties to EngagementAnother stream of employee engagement research originated in literature in which

burnout was seen as the opposite of engagement. Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001)

identified that burnout and engagement are related to the degree of match that occurred

between the individual and the domains of the job environment. Further, Maslach et al.

suggested that engagement is a work-related state of mind that is not for a specific

instance in time, but rather for a constant state of mind not related to a specific event,

individual or behavior. Maslach et al. (2001) suggested that the greater the gap between

the person and the work environment, the more likelihood burnout would result.

Conversely, Maslach et al. suggested that the narrower the gap between the person and

the work environment, the more likelihood there would be engagement with the work.

The gaps between a person and his or her work environment were caused by many

factors including a mismatch between the job and the skills of the worker, insufficient

control over the resources needed to do the work, or insufficient authority to perform the

work in what the worker perceived as the most efficient method (Maslach et al., 2001).


36/173

24

Burnout also was seen as a form of job stress linked to such concepts as job satisfaction,

organizational commitment and turnover (Maslach et al., 2001).

Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001) suggested that job engagement is associated

with six domains: feelings of choice and control: a workload that can be sustained; proper

recognition and rewards; fairness and justice; a perception of support from the work

organization and peers; and work that is meaningful and valued by the organization. The

difference between engagement and burnout was the mediation of the relationship among

the six domains and the outcome of work. Maslach et al. (2001) identified burnout

dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy as the opposites of the engagementdimensions of energy, involvement and efficacy.

To measure the amount of burnout in an organization, Maslach and Jackson

(1981) developed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The MBI took into account

three components of burnout: exhaustion, cynicism or a distant attitude about the job and

reduced professional efficacy. Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001) suggested that

burnout took into account that the exhaustion component prompted actions of individuals

to distance themselves emotionally and cognitively from their work, most likely to deal

with the work overload. By depersonalizing the task at hand, individuals put distance

between themselves and the recipients of the service and ignored what made the

recipients unique and engaging people. The third aspect, reduced professional efficacy,

most often occurred when there was a work situation in which the job demands were so

overwhelming that an individual was likely to lose a sense of effectiveness in the job,

leading to poor job performance as well as absenteeism, intention to leave the job, and

actual turnover. When individuals chose to stay on the job, burnout led to lower


37/173

25

productivity, lower effectiveness, decreased job satisfaction, and reduced commitment to

the job or the organization. Individuals experiencing burnout also impacted others in the

organization by causing disruptions of others job tasks and caused increased personal

conflict among their colleagues (Maslach et al., 2001).

Vigor, Absorption and Dedication Aspects of Engagement

Building on the work of Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter, Schaufeli and Bakker

(2004) viewed engagement as a fulfilling state of mind that was characterized by vigor or

high levels or energy and mental flexibility, absorption or being fully concentrated and

engrossed in ones work, and dedication or a sense of significance, inspiration, pride andchallenge. Schaufeli and Bakker saw that the vigor, absorption and dedication dimensions

of engagement were not the opposites of the dimensions of burnout, namely, exhaustion

or tiredness, cynicism or indifference or distant attitude towards work, and efficacy or

social and non-social aspects of occupational accomplishments. Instead, Schaufeli and

Bakker suggested that burnout was an erosion of engagement when energy turned into

exhaustion, efficacy turned into hopelessness, and involvement turned into cynicism.

Job Demands

Job resources

Burnout

Engagement

Health Problems

Turnover Intention

+

+

+

++ +- -

-

Figure 2.2 Research Model of Schaufeli and Bakker.

Figure 2.2 The Research Model of Schaufeli and Bakker illustrating the relationship of burnout and engagementwith job demands and job resources. Adapted from Job Demands, Job Reso urces, and Their Relationsip WithBurnout and Enga gement : A Multi-Sample Study, by W. B. Schaufeli and A. B. Bakker, 2004, Journal ofOrganizational Behavior, 25, p. 297.


38/173

26

In the research model identified in Figure 2.2, Schaufeli and Bakker (2004)

defined job demands as continual physical, social, psychological or organizational job

efforts that were associated with certain physiological and/or psychological costs as

previously identified by Jones and Fletcher (1996). These job demands turned into job

stressors when meeting the demands required high effort and were associated with high

costs that brought forth negative responses such as anxiety, depression or burnout

(Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004).

Job resources referred to the organizational, social, psychological or physical

facets of the job that reduced job demands and associated physiological and psychological costs, functioned in achieving work goals, or stimulated personal growth,

development and learning (Hobfoll, 2002). In the context of the Schaufeli and Bakker

(2004) study, job resources were identified at the task level, such as performance

feedback, at the interpersonal level, such as support from colleagues, and at the

organizational level, such as supervisory coaching.

The Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) model linked job demands with health problems

via burnout and was clarified by the Hockey (1997) model of compensatory control that

identified a cognitive-emotional framework for understanding how human beings

perform under stress. When confronted with high job demands, Hockey identified that

employees either accepted a reduction in apparent performance with no increase in costs,

or they adopted performance protection strategies that were associated with extra costs.

Hockeys research showed that under normal conditions, performance would remain

stable and any associated effort remains within reasonable limits, although an increased

level of energy was expended. However, when the perceived job demands were too high,


39/173

27

there were other possibilities that may occur, such as increased psychological and

physiological costs for fatigue and irritability (Hockey, 1997). Also, Hockey advocated

that the coping mechanism utilized resulted in reduction of employee performance targets

by foregoing accuracy and/or speed, with the performance reduction resulting in

complete disengagement from the pursuit of task goals.

For their research study, Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) used the Utrecht Work

Engagement Scale (UWES) to measure levels of engagement, while the Maslach Burnout

Inventory (MBI) was used to measures the burnout dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism

and inefficacy. A total of 1698 participants from four different Dutch serviceorganizations were utilized for this research: an insurance company, a pension fund

company, a home-care institution and an occupational health and safety service.

Schaufeli and Bakker utilized Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for data analyses

related to this study and the results of the relationships are shown in Figure 4. Schaufeli

and Bakkers research results indicated that there were consistently strong relationships

between increased job demands and burnout, and the researchers found that the cross

links were much weaker between job resources and burnout, as well as an inverse

relationship between engagement and turnover intention.

Meaningfulness, Safety and Availability Constructs Relationship to Engagement

May, Gilson and Harter (2004) built on the initial work of Kahn (1990) to confirm

the relationships of the meaningfulness, availability and safety constructs to employee

engagement. May et al. posited that engagement was different from job involvement in

that involvement was a result of a conscious judgment about the how the job satisfied the

persons abilities and related to ones self-image. Further, May et al. suggested that


40/173

28

engagement had to do with how individuals utilized themselves in their job performance,

where they actively used emotions and behaviors along with their thought processes.

Lastly, May et al. theorized that engagement required the active use of emotions and

behaviors along with individual thought processes. A diagram of the path-analytic

framework results of the May, Gilson and Harter (2004) research is shown in Figure 2.3.

May, Gilson and Harter (2004) found that the presence of all three psychological

conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability resulted in significant positive

relationships with engagement, with meaningfulness exhibiting the strongest relationship

to engagement. Further, May et al. established that job enrichment and work role fit were

positively associated with psychological meaningfulness, while rewarding co-workers

and having supportive supervision relationships were positively associated with

Job Enrichment

Work Role Fit

Coworker Relations

Supervisor Relations

Coworker Norms

Self-Consciousness

Resources

Outside Activities

Meaningfulness

Safety

Availability

Engagement

Figure 2.3. May, Gilson and Harter Framework of Engagement.

Figure 2.3. Revised Pat h-Analytic Framework of Engagement. Adapted from The Psychologica lConditions of Meaningfulness, Safety and Availability and the Engagement of the Human Spirit atWork, by D. R. May, R. L. Gilson, and L. M. Harter, 2004, Journal of Occupational andOrganizational Psychology, 77, p. 28.


41/173

29

psychological safety. May et al. suggested that individuals must be completely engrossed

in their work in order for them to thrive in their work, requiring the engagement of

cognitive, physical and emotional dimensions of the workers themselves. When

employees were given meaningless work, apathy and detachment from ones work

resulted as found by Thomas and Velthouse (1990). May et al. further confirmed that

personal fulfillment and motivational qualities associated with meaningful work resulted

in feelings of engagement and facilitated motivation and personal growth (Spreitzer,

Kizilos & Nason 1997).

The main components for the survey questionnaire used by May, Gilson andHarter (2004) were obtained from the updated Job Diagnostic Survey of Hackman and

Oldham (1980) measuring job enrichment; the cognitive, emotional and physical

engagement components from Kahn (1990) measured psychological safety and

availability; and the six items for psychological meaningfulness from Spreitzer (1995).

May et al. found that all three psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and

availability related to individuals engagement at work and were important to determine a

given individuals level of engagement. The May et al. research was completed at a large

insurance firm located in the Midwestern United States and the survey organization

consisted of employees and managers across all departments of the administration

division. A 79% response rate for the survey was achieved with receipt of 213 completed

surveys. All scales used a five-point Likert format. Path analysis utilizing LISREL-8.51

was employed to test the hypotheses and overall model fit.

Research results suggested when individuals were insecure about their work roles,

the parties did not feel safe at work and direct effects on engagement that were not


42/173

30

mediated by availability resulted (May, Gilson & Harter, 2004). The most important

finding in this particular research conducted by May et al. pertained to the relationship

between resources and engagement. This research showed that when the link between

resources and engagement was added in the framework, the relationship between

psychological availability and psychological engagement became significant (May et al.,

2004). As indicated by May et al., the implications for this research suggested that

meaningfulness was linked to other outcomes such as job satisfaction, internal work

motivation and turnover cognition, as well as engagement. May et al. (2004) provided

evidence that supervisors should attempt to increase meaningfulness by effectivelydesigning the jobs and ensuring that the proper employees were put into the correct work

roles. Further, May et al. suggested that developing supportive relationships assisted

supervisors in engaging their employees to solve work-related problems, develop new

skills and be consistent in their actions. By minimizing emotional, physical and

cognitive strain caused by poor job design, May et al. advocated managers maximized the

willingness of employees to be engaged in their jobs.

Relationship of Social Exchange to Engagement

All of the previously identified theories suggested that there were antecedents or

psychological conditions that must be present in order for a worker to feel engaged, but

none identified why certain people will act in response to these conditions with different

degrees of engagement. Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005) suggested that social exchange

theory assisted in the identification of the reasons why people were engaged, whereby

relationships evolved over time into commitments as long as they parties involved in the

relationship submitted to certain rules of exchange, in that the actions of one party led to


43/173

31

a response or actions of the other party. Cropanzano and Mitchell theorized that social

exchange involved a series of obligations that created additional obligations on one party

that were seen as independent and contingent on the actions of another party which had

the possibility of producing high-quality relationships.

Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005) suggested that these relationships grew over time

into ones of trust, loyalty and mutual commitments depending on one of three different

postures that the parties in the exchange took toward each other. The first posture

independence occurred when the outcomes of the exchange were based solely on the

actions of one of the parties (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). In the second posturedependence, the outcomes were based entirely on the other partys efforts and in the third

posture interdependence, the outcomes of the exchange were based on a combination of

the partys efforts characterized by the fact that one partys actions were contingent on

the others behavior and therefore reduced risk and encouraged cooperation (Cropanzano

& Mitchell, 2005). There were different levels of reciprocity between the parties and

studies by Clark and Mills (1979) advocated that those individuals that were high in an

exchange orientation carefully tracked obligations, while those low in exchange

orientation were less concerned about obligations and were less likely to care if a

reciprocal exchange did not occur.

When individuals perceived receipt of organizational support, they were more

likely to return the gesture (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). When there was positive

organizational support, workers were more likely to engage in organizational citizenship

behavior (Lynch, Eisenberger & Armeli, 1999), reduced absenteeism (Eisenberger,

Huntington, Hutchison & Sowa, 1986), and higher job performance (Randall,


44/173

32

Cropanzano, Bormann & Birjulin, 1999). In fact, employees were prone to exchange

their commitment for an employers support and organizational support was seen as a

strong predictor of commitment (Cropanzano, Howes, Grandey & Toth, 1997). Bishop,

Scott and Burroughs (2000) maintained that positive organizational support resulted in

organizational commitment and in turn, predicted turnover intentions and organizational

citizenship behavior. Howes, Cropanzano, Grandey and Mohler (2000) found three types

of support in a survey conducted with 136 state workers divided into 25 quality teams.

The types of support were organizational support for the individual, team support for the

individual, and organizational support for the team (Howes et al., 2000). Results of thework by Howes et al. showed that organizational support for the individual was the best

predictor of organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Committed workers

were more eager to maintain their associations and were more motivated on behalf of

their employers, which also was supported in studies by Molm (2003), showing

relationships characterized by trust and commitment developed from the success of

reciprocal relationships such as social exchange.

Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Engagement

Saks (2006) suggested that neither the Kahn (1990) nor the Maslach, Schaufeli

and Bakker (2001) engagement models addressed the psychological conditions or

predecessors that were necessary for engagement. Further, Saks advocated that neither

model explains why people responded to a given set of conditions or previous

circumstances with varying degrees of engagement. Instead, Saks proposed that

engagement was more closely related to social exchange theory as identified by

Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005), whereby responsibilities were created through a series


45/173

33

of interactions between people that were dependent on each other to accomplish the

work. As an example, Cropanzano and Mitchell identified that when individual received

economic or socioeconomic resources from the organization, the individual felt obligated

to reciprocate by performing an action that was beneficial to the organization. This

related to Kahns (1990) model where employees felt obligated to bring themselves more

fully into their work performance as compensation for the resources and benefits they had

received from the organization and if the organization did not provide these resources,

individuals felt more likely to disengage from their work roles.

Saks (2006) proposed his own model of employee engagement consisting ofantecedents such as job characteristics, perceived organizational support, perceived

supervisor support, rewards and recognition, procedural justice and distributive justice.

When employees perceived these positive antecedents, employee engagement resulted at

both the job and organizational levels and consequences for employee engagement such

as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and

low intentions to quit resulted (Saks, 2006). A pictorial representation of the Saks model

was shown previously in Figure 1.1.

Saks (2006) used job characteristics as antecedents that were similar to those of

Hackman, Oldham, Janson and Purdys (1975) core job dimensions to identify those

conditions necessary to have either individual or organization engagement. Based on the

research of Hackman and Oldman (1980), the relationship of workers and the

characteristics of the work they performed were studied and results indicated that the

psychological experience of the work itself drove peoples attitudes, with individual,

interpersonal, group, and organizational factors influencing an individuals work


46/173


47/173

35

Saks (2006) found that employees who perceived that they we receiving higher

levels of organizational support were ore likely to respond by being more engaged in

their job and the organization. A similar result was found in the studies conducted by

Rhoades and Eisenberger (2002) showing that employees tended to view the level of

supervisor support as indicative of organizational support that could help to determine an

employees level of engagement. As previously identified in Cropanzano and Mitchells

(2005) social exchange theory, positive organizational support created an obligation by

the employee to care about the organizations well-being and, therefore, the employee

helped the organization to reach its objectives (Rhoades, Eisenberger and Armeli, 2001).In addition, Bates (2004) and Frank, Finnegan and Taylor (2004) advocated that the root

of employee disengagement would be the perceived lack of support for employees from

first-line supervisors.

As another part of the antecedents, Saks (2006) identified distributive and

procedural justice as the degree to which an organization was predictable and consistent

in the distribution of rewards and the procedures used to allocate them. In his research,

Saks found that positive procedural justice was a good indicator of organization

engagement and employees that perceived higher levels of procedural justice were more

likely to return greater organizational engagement.

Saks (2006) built on the work of Rhoades, Eisenberger and Armeli (2001) that

suggested when employees observed high levels of justice in their organization, they

were more likely to be fair in how they performed their own roles in support of the

organization and the level to which they were engaged. If employees did not feel that

justice and rewards were being fairly distributed throughout the organization, they


48/173

36

withdrew and disengaged from the organization (Rhoades et al., 2001); and this perceived

lack of fairness accelerated burnout. In addition, Kahn (1990) suggested that people vary

in the degree to which they feel engaged based on their perception of benefits they will

receive from performing a particular role. Rhoades et al. identified suggested that

organizations must be consistent in the administration of rewards and justice as the

individuals perceptions were related to outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational

commitment, organizational citizenship behavior and ultimately, feeling engaged in their

work.

Building on the previous work of Kahn (1990, 1992), Saks (2006) advocatedwhen the antecedents identified previously were present, the individuals felt rewarded

when people experienced favorable interactions with their co-workers. These feelings of

reward led to a sense of engagement, resulting in the individual having feelings of

dignity, self-appreciation and self-worth, promoting a relationship where people wanted

to give to and receive from others in the organization (Saks, 2006).

When the antecedents were present and either employee and/or organization

engagement also were present, Kahn (1990) identified four consequences of engagement

that would result and identified them as job satisfaction, organizational commitment,

organizational citizenship behavior, and lower intention to quit. Saks (2006) found that

employees who perceived greater organizational support were more likely to respond

with higher levels of engagement in both their job and their organization. Also, Saks

found that employees who had a better relationship with their supervisor would have

more positive attitudes and behaviors leading to lower turnover intentions, and job and

organization engagement were negatively related to intention to quit.


49/173

37

For his research, Saks (2006) used responses from 102 individuals surveyed for

employee work experiences and attitudes. To measure the job and organization

engagement constructs, Saks developed two six-item scales to assess the individuals

psychological presence in their job and organization. Principal component factor

analysis with a promax rotation identified two factors that corresponded to job

engagement and organization engagement and multiple regression analyses were

conducted to test the study hypotheses (Saks, 2006).

For the antecedents of engagement, Saks (2006) used six items from Hackman

and Oldham (1980) that corresponded to the core job characteristics of task identity, skillvariety, task significance, autonomy, feedback from others, and feedback from the job

measured on a 7-point Likert scale. Perceived Organizational Support (POS) was

measured utilizing the eight-item short form of the Survey of Perceived Organizational

Support (SPOS) and Perceived Supervisory Support (PSS) was measured utilizing a four-

item survey developed by Rhoades and Eisenberger (2002). For the POS and PSS

portions of the survey, respondents answered utilizing a 5-point Likert scale, while the

Colquitt (2001) seven and four-item scales were utilized for the procedural justice and

distributive portions of the survey measured on a 5-point Likert scale.

For the consequences of engagement, job satisfaction was measured utilizing the

Cammann, Fichman, Jenkins and Klesh (1983) Michigan Organizational Assessment

Questionnaire, while organizational commitment was measured utilizing the six-item

affective commitment scale of Rhoades, Eisenberger, and Armeli (2001). Organizational

citizenship behavior was measured utilizing the two four-item scales of individual and


50/173

38

organization from Lee and Allen (2002). For all of the survey items, respondents

answered using 5-point Likert scales.

Results of the Saks (2006) research indicated a significant moderate correlation

between job and organization engagements, with higher job engagement than

organization engagement. In addition, the research showed a significant relationship

between the antecedents and both job and organization engagement, as well as being

positively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational

citizenship behavior, while being negatively related to intention to quit (Saks, 2006).

SummaryThis literature review has brought together the main concepts of employee

engagement to identify how these theories related to the conceptual model presented in

Chapter I. These theories had antecedents in resources such as task or job characteristics,

with measures of co-worker relationships and a tie to supervisor interactions. The

antecedents then related to engagement, either at the job or organizational level. Finally,

the engagement constructs related to outcomes or consequences such as turnover

intention, job satisfaction, burnout, commitment, and motivation. Throughout the

reviewed literature, it was shown that job and/or organization engagement were directly

related to an individuals attitudes, behaviors and intentions and showed that the more

positive the response, the more likelihood the result would be employee engagement.

The methodology was identified in the next chapter for measuring the variables

defined in the conceptual empirical model in Chapter I and utilized many of the

constructs identified in the literature review. In addition, the methodologies for

collecting quantitative and qualitative data and analyzing the data in connection with the


51/173

39

research questions identified in Chapter I and hypotheses identified in Chapter III were

presented.


52/173

40

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship among the antecedents,

engagement and consequences constructs of the research model identified in Chapter I,

Figure 1.2.

Specifically, this research examined the research questions and the associated

hypotheses for the variables kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions,

supervision, financial rewards, company identification, co-workers and career future. Inaddition, the target population, research design, the usage of each variable, the survey

instrument and its previous validity and reliability, and data collection techniques were

presented. A summary follows at the conclusion of the chapter.

Research Questions and Hypotheses

This research study investigated the following three research questions and 17

related hypotheses:

Research Question 1: Are the antecedents of the IOR (kind of work, amount of

work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to

employee engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers)?

H1: The antecedents of the IOR have a positive relationship to employee

engagement.

H1a: The antecedent of IOR kind of work construct has a positive relationship to

the employee engagement construct company identification.


53/173


54/173


55/173


56/173

44

According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data

supplied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2009) as shown in Table 3.2, the job openings

rate rose significantly for 2008, while layoffs and discharges fell significantly for Federal

Government personnel. These trends are the exact opposite of what is occurring in other

industries as a result of recessionary trends in other economic statistics such as the

Consumer Confidence Index (Klemmer, 2009) and employees delaying their retirements

as a result of the economy.

Table 3.2

Hires, Quits, Layoffs, Discharges and Other Separations 2001-2008

Notes. Adapted from U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2009, Tables 11, 13, 15, 17 and 191 Includes all quits (voluntary separations), layoffs and discharges (involuntary separations), and other separations (including

retirements)2 Includes all voluntary separations by employees except retirements3 Includes all involuntary separations of layoffs and discharges initiated by the employer and includes layoffs with no intent to rehire4 Includes retirements, transfers to other locations, deaths and separations due to disability

Based on the figures identified in Table 3.2, the level of separations is almost

equal to the hires on an annual basis, and therefore, there are shortages throughout the

Federal Government in many key areas. This would be exacerbated by the projected

level of retirements shown in Table 3.1. The organization being surveyed as part of this

research has

Date post:	03-Jun-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	venkatesh-govindarajan
View:	228 times
Download:	0 times

Employee Eng Antecedents

Documents