Assignment-1

Determinants of Employee Engagement and its Impact on Employees’

Performance

Submitted By:
Birat Acharya
Roll no: 217001
BBA Fall 2021 Section A

Submitted To:
Mr. Binayak Chhetri
Faculty, Business Management

Date of Submission: December 25, 2022

Analysis of the Research Paper:
The research paper was prepared by Anitha J. from the GRG School of Management
Studies located in India. The paper focuses on identifying the significant determinants of
employee engagement and the strength of impact of an employee engagement on the
performance of the employee. A survey was conducted in order to collect first-hand information
from the employees from middle and lower managerial levels from small organizations using a
questionnaire developed using pilot data. Further on, regression analysis was done in order to
statistically verify the outcomes and interpret them.

Employee engagement means the involvement and commitment of employees towards

the organization and its values. Several research studies have proven that employee engagement
increases the awareness of their roles and responsibilities in the organization which helps an
organization attain their goals. According to Kahn (1990), engaged employees employ and
express themselves physically, cognitively and emotionally while performing their duties. It also
helps an employee to develop positive attitudes towards work and organization. Human resource
is the primary and the most significant resource that an organization possesses and proper
management and inclusiveness of the employees are the factors that help an organization gain
competitive edge over others. Engaged employees are the ones who constantly strive for
excellence. Other employees like disengaged (who focus on limited tasks) and actively
disengaged employees (who don’t perform well and negatively influence others not to perform
well) aren’t as valuable and productive as the engaged ones (Gallup (2002)). Employee
performance, on the other hand, refers to achieving results by keeping up to plans. The
performance of employees is the most crucial factor that determines the success or failure of an
organization. The level of performance relies on the plans, policies, procedures and features of
an organization. The paper aims at determining the factors influencing employee engagement
and its impact on employee performance.

According to Joshi and Sodhi (2011), there are 6 management functions that determine
employee’s engagement in an organization. They are: Job Content (the challenges and
opportunities brought by the job), monetary benefits (the financial and non-financial rewards),
work-Life balance (the balance between personal and professional life), top management
relations (values and ethical conduct of the top management, approachability), scope for career
growth (opportunities for advancement and career development) and team orientation
(cooperation and relation with team members). Taking references from previous studies in the
field; various factors were identified that aligned with Khan’s 3 psychological conditions i.e.,
meaningfulness, safety and availability. Work environment was found to be one of the crucial
factors that determined the engagement of employees. Various aspects in the workplace which
would concern the employee’s needs and feelings such as positive feedback, encouragement for
interactions and development of skills to solve work related problems would help to build a
meaningful work atmosphere which would promote employee engagement. Leadership was
another factor which impacted employee engagement. Supportive and effective multi-
dimensional leadership would help to make the employees aware about their duties and help
them coordinate with each other in order to achieve common organizational goals. Leadership is
a detrimental factor which proposes the level of involvement of an employee in the
organizational activities. The next aspect is the team and co-worker relationship. The trust and
support among the team members encourages people to provoke their opinions and develop
interpersonal relationships; thus, impacting employee engagement. A friendly, open and
supportive team environment would induce positive energy and lead to something productive in
an organization. The next factor is the training and career development. Training helps
employees to develop their skills and reduce the performance gap within the organization.
Focused training plans and programs would improve the performance of the employees and help
them develop confidence; thus, leading to a higher level of engagement. Remuneration also
determines the engagement level of an employee. It acts as a positive reinforcement which would
motivate the employees to achieve more for the work and personal growth. Apart from financial
rewards; non-financial rewards such as recognition, praise and appreciation would help to
develop intrinsic motivation within an employee which would benefit the organization in the
long-run as well. The other factors are organization’s structure and policies and workplace
wellbeing. Organization’s structure determines the level of engagement in an organization. In an
open and flexible organization with employee friendly policies, the level of engagement would
be higher as the employees are treated well as compared to a rigid and bureaucratic organization
where the engagement would be low. Workplace wellbeing is a holistic measure that develops
engagement.

These identified factors were used as independent variables to study their prediction level
on employee engagement. After the sample collection and regression analysis, it was found that
67.2% variance in employee engagement is influenced by the factors mentioned above.
Therefore, it was statistically proved that these factors do have a significant impact on employee
engagement. Among the identified factors, the work environment (53% influence) and co-
workers’ relationship (36% influence) were the most influencing factors determining employee
engagement (with the help of path validity or ‘t’ value). This emphasizes the necessity of a
healthy work environment and harmonious relationship with co-workers and team members in a
workplace. Desirable workplace comprises both physical and emotional safety which would
encourage and motivate the employees and help them be engaged. Studies highlight that
employees seek meaning in their work. A meaningful work environment is expected to create a
shared sense of destiny with co-workers and help them develop supportive relationships which
would direct employee engagement. It is also important for organizations to build a multi-
dimensional workplace culture in order to reduce employee turnover. The team ethics, bonding
and dimensions impact the engagement of employees. The study also found that employee
engagement influenced employee performance. The regression analysis showed that engagement
had an influence of 59.7% on employee performance. The data shows that it is necessary to
encourage engagement to boost employee performance.

In a nutshell, the research paper brings out the key determinants that need to be nurtured
by the managers and organizations to develop a conducive environment which would bolster
employee engagement and performance. The study derives a positive correlation between
employee engagement and employee performance by identifying and elaborating various aspects
involved in the process. The study has a lot of implications in an organizational setting in terms
of increasing productivity and achieving growth. The study also has social implications that
could be attained through the measures taken by organizations. The employees could enjoy a
healthy work environment, good pay and incentives, cooperative workplace relations and
workplace wellbeing.