Employee Engagement: Literature Review

This literature review evaluates the working pattern of employees and how they conduct activities in the environment. It emphasizes the concept of employee engagement and its advantages to the organization and consumers. The review discusses factors that influence employee engagement, such as leadership, social support, communication, and job characteristics. It also explores various theories related to employee engagement, including self-determination theory, social exchange theory, and job demand resource model. The study concludes that employee engagement is crucial for boosting motivation levels and improving organizational performance.

Running head: Employee engagement
Organizational Behavior

Employee engagement
Employee engagement: Literature review
Kamau, O. and Sma, M., 2016. A critical review of literature on employee engagement
concept. International Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 6(3), pp.1-6.
By focusing on the journal mentioned above, the literature review will be done on
employee engagement. The emphasis will be given to the literature review which will evaluate
the working pattern of the employees and how they conduct the activities in the environment. It
is seen that employee engagement is a concept that helps to consider every aspect of human
resource management. It is seen that if human resource is not considered, then it is difficult for
the employees to conduct the activities efficiently.
Employee engagement is related to the positive organizational performance that
showcases the relationship between the employer and the employee by considering the three
aspects which are satisfaction related to a job, commitment level of the employees and
organizational citizenship behavior (Parke et al., 2018). The paper represents that how employee
engagement offer advantages to the organization as well as to the consumers.
It is seen that in the present scenario, employee engagement has achieved a great
attention and also it has encouraged the employees to perform better. The research is stated that
when the employees are involved then the direct impact is seen in the overall productivity.
According to Pandita and Bedarkar (2014), it is seen that employee engagement is an important
aspect that helps to make a proper relationship with the employees and organization. A worker
tries to conduct the activities with efficiency and also tries to achieve goals and objectives in a
proper manner. It is seen that employee engagement is considered as a strategy that helps the
employees to feel motivated and encouraged towards the organizational goals.
There are various factors that give influence on employee engagement. The factors are
leadership, social support, and communication. Leadership plays a great role in employee
engagement process. According to Andrew and Sofian (2011), it is seen that if employees are
confident with their company then it can enhance the reliability of the leadership. it is important
to have trust in leaders and also support should be given by the leaders so that activities can be
conducted in a right direction ad it also helps to enhance the employee engagement. There are
also two factors that have given a positive impact on the engagement and by considering the
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Employee engagement
management and behavior of the mentor. In this follower's confidence, sharing of power,
communication and also team orientation are important factors.
According to Men (2015), it is analyzed that there are major effects of leadership on the
process of employee engagement. These effects are seen just because of the factors like
employee and organization relation, reputation and also transparent communication.
Next factor is related to social support in which it is seen that assistance to the employee
is given by their supervisors or from the colleagues. When support is given by the supervisors
then it is seen positive results can be achieved. It is also evaluated that employees of the
organization feel safe when proper assistance is given to them and also when they can share their
views with each other. According to Ram and Prabhakar (2011), there are two variables from
which social support can be captured and the two variables are perceived organization support
and support from a supervisor. It is seen that perceived support is related to the beliefs of the
workers and also the contribution of the values towards the activities of the company.
Next factor is related to communication. It is seen that internal communication in an
organization helps to convey the values of the organization to the employees and also they
achieve support to meet the goals and objectives of the company. According to Hakanen et al.,
(2006), it is seen that the data is related to the engagement and also when the information is
accessed it is seen that ask can be completed properly. It is also seen with proper communication
employees can conduct the activities with dedication.
Next aspect is related to job characteristics in which it is seen that employees are engaged
more in jobs can conduct the activities with efficiency. According to Byrne (2014), it is seen that
employees react in five core dimensions which are related to the significance of task, task
identity, feedback, skill variety, and autonomy. It is stated that employees who consider this
aspect more are more motivated towards the work and are satisfied.
There are also many theories which are related to employee engagement. The theory is
self-determination theory in which it gives focus on two aspects which are intrinsic and next is
extrinsic. According to Meyer and Gagne (2008), it is seen that there are various consequences
of mismanagement and it also threaten the needs.
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Employee engagement
Next theory is social exchange theory in which it is related with reinforcement. In this
theory, the research done by Schaufeli (2013), gives emphasis on the employees who take
particular resources form the companies and also they repay accordingly. So, it is seen that
engagement level of the employees depends on the resources.
Next is job demand resource model in which it is seen that it is related to the work
engagement that is considered by the job demand resources model. Also, the research was done
by Schaufeli (2013), this model focuses on the work engagement outcome and also there are
various types of resources like job resources and personal resources. Job resources give emphasis
on the factors related to the functional activities of the job. Personal resources are related to the
ability to control and it gives impact on the environment. In this model, it is seen that this model
focuses on enhancing the employee engagement so that positive results can be achieved and also
the connection can be made between the job and resources which are personal. In reference to
this model, it is seen that this model give the result of burn out.
It is seen that there are many factors which give direct impact on the relationship between
engagement and structure of the organization. According to Ram and Prabhakar (2011), it is
seen that engagement of the employees is related to the overall results of the activities. There is
a relation between these both by focusing on the total rewards and also on the organizational
support. It is seen that the employee engagement is low when there is no proper communication
in the organization and if proper communication is there then it can help the company to grow in
the market. Also give emphasis to three concepts which are empowering leaders, good
performance and role of religiosity on engagement.
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Employee engagement
Figure 1 Proposed Conceptual Framework
Also in this study, there was one factor which is a multi-level approach that helps to
study the engagement on various levels like on individual, organizational and social levels. This
study helps to enhance the role of empowering the behavior related to leadership and also
employee engagement. Good performance is related to the employee engagement in the
activities that helps to boost the morale of the employees in conducting the routine activities.
Anitha (2014), gave emphasis on the connection between the job characteristics and
engagement of the employees. It is seen that by having proper job engagement it can be easy for
the employee to conduct the activities in a right direction. Also, the study stated that engagement
gives a positive influence on the quality of the employment relationship.
By giving focus on research methodology of the journal, it is seen that the studies have
considered qualitative, quantitative and mixed method. It is seen that all the researchers find out
both the variable which is related to mediating and moderating variables. Also, the framework is
proposed by the researchers so that activities can be conducted smoothly. According to Reb,
Narayanan, and Chaturvedi, (2014), the focus is given on the concept related to religiosity in
which it is seen that activities can be conducted by having proper motivation towards the
activities of the company.
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Employee engagement
By analyzing the journal it is concluded that there are many concepts related to employee
engagement as discussed in the paper. It is important to have proper concept related to employee
engagement so that motivation level can be boosted of the individuals. There are various factors
that impact the employee engagement like it helps to identify the direct and indirect effect so that
right intervention can be taken into consideration.
References
Andrew, O.C. and Sofian, S., 2011. Engaging people who drive execution and organizational
performance. American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 3(3), p.569.
Anitha, J., 2014. Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee
performance. International journal of productivity and performance management, 63(3), p.308.
Bedarkar, M. and Pandita, D., 2014. A study on the drivers of employee engagement impacting
employee performance. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 133, pp.106-115.
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Employee engagement
Byrne, Z.S., 2014. Understanding employee engagement: Theory, research, and practice.
Routledge.
Hakanen, J.J., Bakker, A.B. and Schaufeli, W.B., 2006. Burnout and work engagement among
teachers. Journal of school psychology, 43(6), pp.495-513.
Men, L.R., 2015. Employee Engagement in relation to employee–organization relationships and
internal reputation: Effects of leadership communication. Public Relations Journal, 9(2), pp.1-
22.
Meyer, J.P. and Gagne, M., 2008. Employee engagement from a self-determination theory
perspective. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1(1), pp.60-62.
Parke, M.R., Weinhardt, J.M., Brodsky, A., Tangirala, S. and DeVoe, S.E., 2018. When daily
planning improves employee performance: The importance of planning type, engagement, and
interruptions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(3), p.300.
Ram, P. and Prabhakar, G.V., 2011. The role of employee engagement in work-related
outcomes. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research in Business, 1(3), pp.47-61.
Ram, P. and Prabhakar, G.V., 2011. The role of employee engagement in work-related
outcomes. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research in Business, 1(3), pp.47-61.
Reb, J., Narayanan, J. and Chaturvedi, S., 2014. Leading mindfully: Two studies on the influence
of supervisor trait mindfulness on employee well-being and performance. Mindfulness, 5(1),
pp.36-45.
Schaufeli, W.B., 2013. What is engagement. Employee engagement in theory and practice, 15,
p.321.
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