Employee Engagement in Healthcare Sector PDF

Chapter-1
Key words: Employee engagement, Organizational performance, Healthcare sector
1.0 Introduction
The study will focus on review of relevant literature. For the purpose of review, an effort will be made to
obtain earlier works on the topic of this study and similar topics. The research will focus on studying the
private sector healthcare in the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi and will cover relevant theories of the
study, factors affecting employee engagement, indicators of performance, and relationship between
employee engagement and organizational performance.
1.1Background and rationale of the study
Many companies believe that employees are the backbone of every organization as they provide all the
skills which are necessary to perform the tasks in an organization [ CITATION Ene19 \l 1033 ]. Employees'
needs in today's corporate world go beyond a basic income, which has shifted employers' focus to
understanding the underlying essence of employee engagement practices. Employees demand to be
engaged in the organizational working in the current environment, which means that their role should
contribute to and affect the company in a more significant way (Marciano, 2010).The Healthcare sector
is one of the largest and most important sectors in the economy and employees in this industry are
frequently overworked, underappreciated, and exhausted[ CITATION Tim21 \l 1033 ]. All these
conditions can have a negative impact on patient treatment and disengaged employees could put a
patient’s life at risk [CITATION Kev15 \l 1033 ]. Engaged employees should be considered as a most
valuable asset for every organization [ CITATION Pre18 \l 1033 ].An engaged workforce is the key to
providing high-quality patient care in the healthcare industry [ CITATION Mel21 \l 1033 ]. To strengthen
organizational performance, today's firms must increase the number of engaged people and decrease
the number of disengaged and actively-disengaged employees in their workplace [ CITATION Bat17 \l
1033 ]
One of the first researchers to identify the concept of employee engagement was William Kahn
[ CITATION Mar201 \l 1033 ], he defined engagement as an employee’s ability to harness their “full self”
at work, and identified three psychological conditions that enable it: meaningfulness, safety and
availability [ CITATION Jam181 \l 1033 ]. He discovered that engaged people fully express and involve
their sense of self in their roles, without sacrificing one for the other [ CITATION Rob09 \l 1033 ]. In
today's competitive marketplace employee engagement has emerged as a vital driver of business
success, increasing retention, building customer loyalty, and improving organizational performance
[ CITATION Mar18 \l 1033 ]. Evidences show that there is relation between employee engagement and
organizational performance, whereby the better the employee's engagement and commitment, the
better the organization's performance [ CITATION Dav09 \l 1033 ]. Employees that are devoted to their
organization on the whole, have a sense of belonging, a sense of understanding of the organization's
aims, and a feeling of connection. Such employees add value because they are more determined in their
work, produce at a higher rate, and are more proactive in offering their assistance [ CITATION Bro19 \l
1033 ].
Disengaged employees have a negative impact on healthcare organizations and their bottom line, they
have a negative impact on managers' ability to achieve organizational performance (White, 2019).

Employees who are not engaged will affect the performance in the healthcare through higher
absenteeism, [ CITATION Pau20 \l 1033 ] high employee turnover, reduced productivity rates, decreased
patient satisfaction and quality of care [ CITATION Cra18 \l 1033 ]. Studies have found positive
relationship between employee engagement and organizational performance outcomes: employee
retention, productivity, profitability, customer loyalty and safety [ CITATION Sol10 \l 1033 ]. According to
researchers, employees who are more engaged at work are more likely to be high performers, put up
more discretionary effort, go above and beyond to help coworkers, and are less likely to quit. As a result,
firms with engaged employees are more likely to be successful [ CITATION Ben21 \l 1033 ].
Employee engagement is a challenge for healthcare organizations [ CITATION Vij20 \l 1033 ]. Today
more than ever, organizations rely on the energy, commitment and engagement of their employees to
survive and thrive in the twenty-first century. [ CITATION Gle17 \l 1033 ]. Every employee in the
healthcare industry has an impact on the patient, whether directly or indirectly. The engaged hospital
employee pays attention, is helpful, and concerned about the complete patient experience, and has
been shown to make fewer mistakes [ CITATION Rac191 \l 1033 ]. According to Towers Watson's client
study, when hospitals build an engaging and high-performance-oriented work environment, they not
only boost patient happiness but also quality of care outcomes. Creating such an experience, however, is
currently a challenge for many hospitals [ CITATION Ric13 \l 1033 ].
Healthcare workers understand that a variety of factors contribute to keeping patients healthy, safe, and
content with the care they receive. While adopting cutting-edge technology, hiring top specialists, and
developing preventative health programs receive a lot of attention, there is an often-overlooked variable
with far-reaching consequences: employee engagement [ CITATION Chr21 \l 1033 ]. In this regard, this
paper will analyze the effect of employee engagement on organizational performance in Advanced Cure
Diagnostic Center which is a healthcare facility based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The company
was established in 2007 as a comprehensive ambulatory care unit, it is a private healthcare facility with
over a dozen specializations, the clinic has recruited a team of the top specialists from a number of
medical professions, as well as cutting-edge diagnostic equipment to meet the ever growing demand for
quality healthcare throughout the city of Abu Dhabi [CITATION Cur17 \l 1033 ].
1.2 Rationale
This study will look at how employees influence success of an organization and how performance results
are critical to a certain company’s achievement of its vision and mission. Given the critical nature of the
work in healthcare, employee engagement should not only be a focus but a business requirement for
healthcare leaders[ CITATION Kat191 \l 1033 ]
According to the most recent Gallup poll, slightly over 30% of the workforce claims to be engaged at
work. While employee engagement remains low across the board, the healthcare industry appears to be
the hardest hit. According to a recent study, the healthcare sector ranked last in terms of employee
engagement [ CITATION Kel20 \l 1033 ]. Employees who are not engaged may be less efficient at work,
more likely to leave a position, and have overall job dissatisfaction in most industries. But in the
healthcare industry in particular, employee engagement can be the difference between life and death
[ CITATION Ran19 \l 1033 ]. This researcher has decided to take up this study to bring light the
importance of employee engagement in the private healthcare industry and provide solutions and
recommendations.

1.3 Operational definition of employee engagement
Employee engagement refers to the level of mental and emotional attachment employees have to their
jobs, their teams, and their company [ CITATION Kri21 \l 1033 ]. The definition of the term "employee
engagement," as well as its drivers and measurement, has eluded scholars and practitioners in today's
business world. Both the academic community and commercial consulting firms have investigated
employee engagement extensively in an attempt to develop common demonstrable concepts, theories,
experiences, and transformers, but have yet to reach an agreement [ CITATION Jul20 \l 1033 ]. Employee
engagement is a human resources (HR) concept that defines the level of excitement and dedication a
person feels toward their job. Engaged employees care about their work and about the performance of
the organization, and feel that their efforts make a difference [ CITATION Tim201 \l 1033 ].
1.4 Operational definition of organizational performance
Organizational performance is a widely used term with a vague definition. Despite the fact that the
concept is dependent on a variety of distinct characteristics specific to each company, the lack of a
uniform definition makes it difficult for professionals to agree on what they mean by organizational
performance [ CITATION DrS20 \l 1033 ]. The actual output of a company compared to its intended
output is referred to as organizational performance. It's a broad term that refers to what an organization
does and can achieve when it interacts with its various stakeholders [ CITATION Bha201 \l 1033 ].
Organizational performance is classified into three categories: a) financial performance (profits, return
on assets, return on investment b) product market performance (sales, market share, etc.); and (c)
shareholder return (total shareholder return, economic value added, etc.) [ CITATION Pie09 \l 1033 ].
1.5 Statement of the problem
Disengagement is a major issue, with estimates indicating that nearly 70% of the workforce is
disengaged in certain areas [ CITATION Ash18 \l 1033 ]. This situation is complicated due to the lack of
identification and adequate addressing of the root causes and symptoms associated with
disengagement at the workplace [ CITATION Wol19 \l 1033 ]. Employees that are disengaged have a bad
attitude about their employment and their company. It has been proven that negative attitudes have a
negative impact on organizational productivity and success [ CITATION Dan20 \l 1033 ]. Despite the fact
that employee engagement is currently measured through annual staff appraisals, performance analysis,
strategic or human resource planning, training and career development, compensatory framework, and
policies in place, there is a strong need to reinforce the practice in the organization [ CITATION Dio17 \l
1033 ].
1.6 Objectives of the study
The objective of the study is:
1) To find out the factors affecting employee engagement to Advanced Cure Diagnostic Center
2) To find out the indicators of performance at Advanced Cure Diagnostic Center
3) To find out the relationship between employee engagement and organizational performance to
Advanced Cure Diagnostic Center
1.7 Research Question

1) What are the factors affecting of employee engagement to Advanced Cure Diagnostic?
2) What are the indicators of performance at Advanced Cure Diagnostic?
3) Is there a relationship between employee engagement and organization’s performance?
1.8 Significance of the study
This paper will be helpful in attaining the knowledge regarding the importance of engagement of
Advanced Cure employees for the potential success of the organization. The outcomes of this study will
add to the current literature, allowing other researchers to construct related research questions on
related concerns such as employee engagement and organizational success, particularly in the
healthcare field. Furthermore, this work will be useful to other researchers performing future research
on the same or similar topics. Employee engagement and organizational performance are frequently
discussed in the literature, however research on the effects of employee engagement on the healthcare
industry is uncommon.
1.9 Hypothesis of the study
Variables in Hypothesis
Independent variable- Employee engagement
Dependent variable- Organizational performance
H1: There is no effect of Employee engagement on Organizational performance
H2: Employee engagement has a positive impact on organizational performance
H3There is no relationship between employee engagement and organizational performance
1.7 Limitations of the study
The data for this study is obtained from a single organization in Abu Dhabi UAE, and this may affect the
generalizability of the study. The research was limited to service sector employees so future research
could extend the investigation to different sectors to obtain a wider generalization of the study.