浙江师范大学

研究生课程论文封面
ZJNU Postgraduate Program
Course Work Cover
Course： Methodology Research
Duration of Semester 1 Academic Year 2023-2024
Study：

Department College of Economics and Management

Major IMBA

Student ID 202320781704

Name BILKISSOU AHMADOU

Education Full time Postgraduate

Mode

Teacher Wang Changfeng

Submission 2023.12.26
Date

成绩

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CONTENTS
THE IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ON JOB PERFORMANCE..........................................................1
1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................1
2. LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................................................2
2.1 Employees Engagement: Definition:..................................................................................................2
3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK................................................................................................................3
3.1 The SET (social exchange theory).......................................................................................................3
3.2 Kahn's employee engagement model (1990).....................................................................................4
3.3 Dr. Bob Nelson Employee Engagement Model (2019).......................................................................4
4. DRIVERS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT.........................................4
4.1 Leadership (Transformational leadership style).................................................................................4
4.2 Organizational justice:.......................................................................................................................5
4.3 Compensation and benefits:..............................................................................................................5
4.4 Modern Technologies (article 15: Key Factors Influencing Employee Engagement in 2023)..............6
4.5 Training and development.................................................................................................................6
5. IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ON JOB PERFORMANCE..........................................................6
6. CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THIS STUDY:................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................7
QUESTIONNAIRE..........................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................10

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THE IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ON JOB
PERFORMANCE

1. INTRODUCTION

This research paper focuses on identifying the impact of employee engagement on job
performance. The term employee engagement refers to the way or ability of an employee in an
organization to perform his or her job beyond its ability to contribute to the organization's overall
success. Employee engagement has attracted many scholars to carry out research concerning it.
However, agreement exists on what best defines employee engagement in an organization. This
concept has been put into practice and evaluated differently by different organizations. So far as
the literature review regarding employee engagement is concerned, a vast vacuum still exists that
requires continuous research in this field. In the course of our research, we were able to identify
five different variables that could impact employee engagement and job performance. They
include transformational leadership, organizational justice, compensation and benefits, modern
technology, training, and development. From these variables identified, we were able to develop
six hypotheses proving that these variables could influence the level of employee engagement.
Finally, Job performance was the tested outcome of employee engagement.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Employees Engagement: Definition:

The word 'engage' means to cause someone to become interested in or involved in an activity.
Employee engagement is concerned with employee behavior regarding his or her job or task. It
involves an employee's ability to put more effort and energy into performing a given task in
return for a monetary exchange to help organizational success. In other words, employee
engagement refers to the commitment and willingness of employees to go beyond their defined
tasks to ensure the success of their organization. Putting the development and needs of
employees first in an organization yields many rewards for the enterprise so far as productivity,
efficiency, and effectiveness are concerned.
Engagement comes with different behaviors, attitudes, and consequences. Employees might
portray three central positive attitudes:

 They feel free to discuss issues related to the organization with others outside their
working environment (SAY).
 They have that urge to be or remain a member of the organization (STAY).
 They portray positive behaviors by putting more effort that will contribute to the
organization's success (STRIVE), Hewitt Associates, L. 2004; research; employee
engagement is higher at double-digit growth companies.

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Previous research and studies show that a relationship exists between employee engagement and
job performance. The study on Employee engagement is still growing due to some reasons,
notably;
 First, there is a relationship between employee engagement and the success of an
organization. That is, an organization with high employee engagement levels turns out to
be more effective than an organization with less employee engagement.
 Second, employee engagement reveals the importance of human resources and workers'
participation in their workplace. This has to do with psychological elements that engage
with employees' mental, emotional, and physical aspects of themselves to achieve
success.
 Third is the rapid growth of academic discipline positive psychological movement
research, which intends to identify the different factors that could enable employees to
succeed and seeks to identify and promote the conditions that allow individuals, groups,
and communities to prosper while establishing the prerequisites for developing
engagement research.

Numerous reports suggest a low level of employee engagement worldwide. According to the
Gallup Institute, globally, only 15% of workers are fully engaged, while 85% still need to be
employed or actively disengaged [Gallup, 2017]. Employees need more assistance when
attaining what is essential for the organization's success. This lack of support is one reason why
organizations are growing disengaged (Forbes, 2014).

It is challenging to come up with a universal definition of employee engagement. From our

research, we sourced out for the academic pioneer of the employee engagement movement,
Kahn. He was the first scholar to bring forth the concept of engagement as a multi-dimensional
construct in 1990. Employee engagement was defined as attitudes or behaviors by which people
bring or leave out their selves during work role performances. He also defines employee
engagement as the 'harnessing of organization members' selves to their work roles; individuals
turn to portray three different behaviors to themselves notably: physical, cognitive, and
emotional when carrying out a particular task.

 First, we have the cognitive aspect of employee engagement; here, it is about the image
employees have regarding the organization, leaders, and environmental working
conditions.
 Second, the emotional aspect is more about employees' feelings regarding leaders and the
overall organization and how they react towards these feelings about their work. These
feelings could be positive or negative.
 Third, the energy employees put in to perform their tasks is what is regarded as the
physical aspect of employee engagement.

So, according to Kahn, being psychologically and physically present while performing a given
job task in a company reflects engagement. Liu (2016) talked about employees identifying
themselves within an organization, their commitment, and their raptness. Another study
identified Maslow's hierarchy model of need. This has to do with individual personal needs and
wants, which will motivate them to engage in the organization to reach their full potential and be

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more efficient. Relating Maslow hierarchy model of need to employee engagement, we could
identify certain things employers could do to get their employees to be more engaged. For
example, employers could be more supportive and more concerned with the employee's well-
being; they need to be connected with their team and look out for each of them. Understanding
the importance of each need identified by Maslow is crucial for the motivation and engagement
of employees. According to Aldabbas et al., 2021, persistence and dispersion are features related
to engagement, a positive and comprehensive emotional and cognitive state connected to work.
There is ongoing debate concerning the relationship between engagement and job performance.
According to some research, employee engagement and job performance could be influenced by
employees' emotional and cognitive behaviors (Wang & Chen, 2020). Controversy: Other
researchers disagree with the fact that an increase in employee engagement would have a
positive impact on job performance due to some factors, such as measurement challenges,
contextual factors, and individual differences. This could indicate an inverse U-shaped link
(Bouckenooghe et al., 2021). An organization's work requirement concerns employees' physical,
psychological, social, and organizational needs. These needs concern how employees react
toward work-related issues, notably stress handling and conflict management. The term' work
resources' describes the organizational, social, physical, and psychological factors employees can
use to achieve their work objectives and goals. However, when an organization's needs align
with different employees' work resources, they turn out to be more engaged there, which
positively impacts job performance. On the other hand, according to Lu and Tu (2015), the
performance of an individual might be reduced if they lack work resources.

3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Carrying out a theoretical framework was necessary for our research. It enabled us to identify
and understand the existing relationship between the causes of employee engagement and its
effect on job performance. Consequently, we have critically evaluated the empirical research on
this subject in this section while addressing it through the most relevant theoretical frameworks.

3.1 The SET (social exchange theory).

The social exchange theory, also known as SET, is the most accepted and widely used approach
in recent research on employee engagement. Social exchange theory emphasizes the
interconnection between people and society, involving monetary reward and cost. For
relationships to last, they have to be built on trust, respect, and care between both individuals.
Crossman (2020) Journal on the impact and application of SET in employee engagement. Some
employees base their decisions on the perceived cost and reward they could gain. An
employment policy based on a fair and just exchange system will motivate employees to be more
engaged. With time, this could evolve into loyalty, commitment, and trust. To summarize, the
social exchange theory explains why employees engage more or less in their jobs.

3.2 Kahn's employee engagement model (1990).

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The book titled 'Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work'
was published by William Kahn in 1990. This book was highly regarded and outlines the theory
of employee engagement. Kahns, in his book, highlighted three main factors that affect employee
engagement and connect with the company's day-to-day responsibilities regarding their job
requirements. They include;

 Safety: When an employee feels safe within an organization, they do not fear any
criticism from their leaders; they will quickly get involved and develop a positive
attitude toward the execution of their role to contribute to the organization's success.
 Meaningfulness: Employees who understand how their work activities contribute to
achieving a meaningful goal will enjoy their work and make a significant effort.
 Availability: Employees need to feel that the demands of their role are acceptable and
can be attained. There should be a balance between work and life in order to contribute
to contribute to the development and success of a job.
Kahn's employee engagement model mainly focuses on creating a cohesive strategy that catches
all the needs of employees rather than short-term motivational initiatives.

3.3 Dr. Bob Nelson Employee Engagement Model (2019).

Dr. Bob Nelson published the book Ways to Engage Employees in 2019. this theory mainly
focuses on employee recognition. Dr. Bob's employees turn out to be more engaged when they
are congratulated and praised by their employers for the excellent job they did. His study was
focused on recognition. Thanking someone is the simplest thing one can do. Some organizations
need this aspect of recognition; employers need to recognize the efforts of their employees. Thus,
in this case, the level of employee engagement is reduced.

4. DRIVERS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND HYPOTHESIS

DEVELOPMENT

Most organizations share vital drivers that influence employee engagement. However, these
drivers and their relative strengths react differently depending on the company or organization.

4.1 Leadership (Transformational leadership style)

Leadership plays a significant role in an organization's success and influences employees'

behavior. Leadership implies directing a group of individuals, be it within an organization or
outside the work context, towards attaining a well-defined goal or objective. Numerous
leadership styles exist, but we mainly focus on transformational leadership styles for our research
work. Transformational leadership is an approach that aims to cause changes in individuals and
society. The purpose here is to bring positive changes to employees and develop them into future
leaders. Workers and managers or leaders need to work hand in hand to help each other attain
personal and organizational goals. This attitude has a significant impact on individuals' lives.
People tend to have different perceptions, aspirations, and expectations. As Maslow enumerated

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in his hierarchy of needs, transformational leadership aims to bring every employee's needs to a
higher level. This is achieved by emphasizing to employees the importance of taking on business
responsibilities (Wang & Hu, 2017). When leaders show more concern about their employees'
needs, aspirations, and personal growth, this inspires, motivates, and makes employees loyal,
increasing their engagement. Employees also show improvement in their job performance due to
the personality and abilities of transformational leaders. The fact that transformational leaders
promote an encouraging and empowering environment for their team members increases
employees' engagement and commitment.
Hypothesis 1: Transformational leadership will be positively related to employee
engagement.

4.2 Organizational justice:

This point focuses on how fair and just employees are treated within the organization, how they
assess how they are treated, and the consequent impact of these assessments on work-related
factors such as performance. Organizational justice consists of at least two elements, namely,
distributive and procedural. Distributive justice is about fairness when it comes to reward
distribution. Meanwhile, procedural justice is related to decision-making if the procedures are
fair and employees can give their points of view. Beis and Moag (1986) added interactional
justice to the two abovementioned elements: the relationship between decision-makers and
decision-makers. Is there some respect and sensitivity shown by decision-makers to individual
differences? Employees who feel an organization is fair will return the favor by being more
involved and engaging in their work. With this research, we can develop a second hypothesis as
follows:
Hypothesis 2: Organizational justice will be positively related to employee engagement.

4.3 Compensation and benefits:

Compensation is simply awarding an individual for a job done, loss, or injuries. Compensation is
an intrinsic and extrinsic reward an employee receives after working (Martocchio, 2015). It is
what is usually given in exchange for a service rendered. It could be in the form of financial
rewards such as money or non-financial benefits such as recognition, extra holidays, subsidized
cafeterias, etc. The more attractive the compensation is, the more employees will engage in
whatever task given to them in their workplace (Anitha, J., 2014, Determinants of employee
engagement and their impact on job performance). Let us look at the social exchange theory as
mentioned above. After receiving rewards and recognition for what they have done, employees
are usually indebted to return the favor by improving their performance and being more engaged.
On the other hand, low or insufficient remuneration or benefits will reduce employee
engagement and consequently affect job performance.
Therefore, Hypothesis 3 could be developed as follows: Compensation will positively affect
employee engagement.

4.4 Modern Technologies (article 15: Key Factors Influencing Employee

Engagement in 2023).
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 In recent years, the world has been experiencing a change at the technological level; we all try to
adapt to new evolving technologies. The technology used daily in some companies plays a
crucial role in employee engagement. Nowadays, many employers to carry out control and
monitoring of their employees make use of technological tools to ease the check-in and out of
employees in the organization make use of technological tools to monitor their employees,
according to Garter (9 Future of Work Trends for 2023). Some technological platforms serve as a
medium of exchange of information between employees and management to share their different
opinions and feedback by enhancing creative thinking within the organization. These tools
provided by new technology provide employees with new and innovative ways to communicate,
collaborate, and learn. Technology makes it easier for employees to focus on essential tasks,
increasing productivity. That said, we could develop our following hypothesis.
Hypothesis 4 is that technology will be positively related to employee engagement.

4.5 Training and development

Training and development deals with employee skill improvements and growth, be it personal or
for organizational benefits. Training and development are essential factors that contribute to the
attainment of employees' personal goals, achievements, and career growth. The outcome of
training is to provide employees with new skills and competencies related to their job
requirements. This could be done through online courses; in some cases, it is planned for
employee convenience; when it is concerned with more complex and technical issues, the
company could organize workshops and conferences with the presence of experts. Employers
can encourage their employees to take a significant role in their training and development
process by allowing them to choose their courses or plans to enhance their development and
career growth. All these factors stated above motivate employees to spend more of their energy
and time on their work. This will eventually help increase employee engagement and job
satisfaction. (article, Vartika Kashyap, March 3, 2023) Therefore, hypothesis five was developed
as follows,
Hypothesis 5: Training and development will be positively related to employee engagement.

5. IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ON JOB

PERFORMANCE

Job performance can be defined as how an employee effectively carries out a task assigned by
his or her supervisor. Job performance is about an employee's contribution within the
organization to attain the predefined objectives. An employee's performance level depends on his
initiative, and the extent to which they do the work is revealed (Jabbour, 2013). Just as with
employee engagement, scholars have no universal agreement regarding the concept of job
performance. While some scholars think employee engagement will positively influence job
performance, others think otherwise. While research has shown that employee engagement
positively influences job performance, some researchers disagree. When employees are engaged
in work, they know their responsibilities towards each task assigned to them; this will facilitate
the attainment of goals, resulting in more excellent job performances. The impact of engagement
will first affect employees and then the organization. When the organization's performance is

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 high, it means there are positive attitudes among workers. Job performance was tested as a direct
consequence of employee engagement.

6. CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THIS STUDY:

Transformational
leadership

Organizational justice

Compensation and Employee

benefits Job performance
engagement

Modern technology

CONCLUSION
Training and
development

CONCLUSION

Employee engagement refers to the expression and behavior of an employee towards their work,
which will affect the overall organizational objectives, positively or negatively. This study aimed
to identify the variables that could influence employee engagement and its impact on job
performance. In this research paper, transformational leadership, organizational justice,
compensation and benefits, modern technology, training, and development are the variables
affecting employee engagement. Much academic research has been published so far as employee
engagement is concerned. However, as with all sectoral studies of a similar nature, this one has a
practical restriction in that there is no 'one size fits all' model of engagement; rather, individuals
and organizations have different requirements and approaches.
Thus, it is essential for organizations to purposefully work towards meeting their employees'
expectations since this will directly impact employee performance, which in turn affects the
organization's overall success.

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QUESTIONNAIRE
This questionnaire is based on four different aspects, that is employee satisfaction survey
questions, open ended questions, future oriented and organizational alignment questions.

TICK THE CORRECT ANSWER

1. How can you rate your feelings about work today?

a) fairly good b) good c) excellent

2. Do you find yourself in a position where you can recommend your organization to other
people?

a) Yes b) No

3. Do you feel any enthusiasm to come to work?

a) Yes b) No

4. Are you glad of working for your organization?

a) Yes b) No

5. Does the current compensation and benefits meet your expectations?

a) Yes b) No

6. Can you grap some meaning from the job you do in your organization?

a) Yes b) No

7. Do you get inspire by the organizational vision and values?

a) Yes b) No

8. Are your accomplishments recognized and valued by your leaders?

a) Yes b) No

9. Do you perceive any form of investment in your success from your leaders?

a) Yes b) No

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10. Is the organizational culture at your work place supportive for a comfortable working
environment?

a) Yes b) No

11. Is the leadership style implemented in your organization contributing to your career
development?

a) Yes b) No

12. Do you project yourself in this organization for the next two years?

a) Yes b) No

13. Do you think you can achieve career development within this organization?

a) Yes b) No

14. Does your organization put the necessary tools you need at your disposition to enable you
maximize your potentials?

a) Yes b) No

FILL IN THE BLANC SPACE

1. which aspect of the organization function needs change?

2. Can you tell us in what ways the organization can help you to improve your level of
engagement

3. Are there any other work-related issues you feel it is important for us to know?

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REFERENCES
1. International journal of public sector management, 2022.

2. Hewitt Associates, L. 2004; research; employee engagement is higher at double-digit growth

companies.
3. Gallup, 2017 Institute Report on employee engagement
4. Forbes, 2014 disengagement crisis Sciendo Journal
5. Liu, Z. A. (2016). Study on the Development of Structure Model of Engagement for
Knowledge Employee. Business Management
6. William Kahn's 1960 employee engagement model
7. Maslow’s hierarchy model of need.
8 Work Research Report, cited by Bhatla, N. (2011)
9. Aldabbas et al., 2021 research gate article on employee engagement
10. Wang and Chen, 2020 Original research article Front. Psychol, 17 February
11. Saks, M.A, 2006,Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement
12. Dr Bob Nelson journal 2019 south Carolina state conference, September 26
13. wang and hu 2017 , Article on transformational leadership
14. Crossman (2020) journal on the impact and application of SET in employee engagement
15 (article, Vartika Kashyap, March 3, 2023)

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