Employee Engagement, HR Practices, and Competitive Advantage

This article discusses the integration of employee engagement, HR practices, and competitive advantage within organizations. It explores the impact of HR practices on employee engagement and the competitive advantage of a business. The article proposes seven propositions for promoting employee engagement and suggests bottom-up and top-down approaches for organizational management. Practical implications and the importance of job crafting and learning are also discussed.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL WRITING
INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL WRITING
Name of the Student
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Author Note

1INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL WRITING
Albrecht et al. (2015) in the article entitled “Employee engagement, human resource
management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated approach” attempted a
discussion on the employee engagement within an organization should be aligned to the
practices, procedures and the policies that are followed by the human resource department within
the organization. The concerned paper in sheds light on the ways in which the competitive
advantage of a certain organization might be affected by the strategic focus that is directed to the
engagement of the employees of the organization. The authors of the article aim to provide the
integration across the departments of the human resource management with the existing literature
on the employee engagement which had been considered to have run parallel to each other
(Albrecht et al. 2015). The authors of the article tend to integrate the various models of the
performance models that are included in the human resource management of the multitude of the
organizations that are active in the international market.
The authors of the article tend to implement the mapping of the difference factors that
exist within the individual, job and the organizational levels. These factors tend to discuss the
factors that help in the explanation on the fact that the human resource practices that generally
tend to lead to the engagement of the employees within the organization as well as the outcomes
of the proper performance within the organization in discussion (Albrecht et al. 2015). The
authors tend to address the several mechanisms in which the practices of the human resource
departments affect the employee engagement and in turn affect the competitive advantage of the
concerned business organization within the given industry as well as the market.
The authors of the article further state organizational climate perceptions are majorly
affected by the systems of the human resource management that are active within the business
organizations that are active all over the world. The authors further argue on the influences that

2INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL WRITING
are presented by the organizational climate on the demands and the resources of the jobs that are
offered by the concern (Albrecht et al. 2015). The majorly argue on the fact that the various
constructs like the job satisfaction of the employees of the organization is also affected by the
individual differences that exist within the given organization.
Albrecht et al. (2015) argue that there are various developed frameworks that might help
in the explanation that is necessary for the explanations of the effect of the management of the
human resources on the improvement of the competitive advantage within the given
organization. The study further focusses on the issues that are presented by the psychological
experiences that affect the employees of the organization. The employee engagement is known to
have been affecting the behavior as depicted by the concerned employees in terms of crafting of
the jobs at hand (Albrecht et al. 2015). The employees of the organizations as discussed by the
concerned authors, tend to put forth their own concerns, ideas and suggestions within the
business organization that encourages the extensive amount of the engagement for the
employees.
Albrecht et al. (2015) aim to propose seven propositions that might be implemented
within the organizations in order to promote the issues that are related to the employee
engagement and the influence of the practices of the human resource department within the
concerned business organization. The article states that the concerned organizations tend to deal
with the basic practices of the human resource management despite the differences in their
strategic focusses that help the companies to stand out in the markets wherein they feature. The
article attempts to discuss the approaches that should be undertaken by the organizational
management in order to deal with the improvement of the employee engagement within the
concerned business organization (Albrecht et al. 2015). The major approaches that are discussed

3INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL WRITING
within the article are the bottom-up and the top-down approaches that are undertaken by the
concerned company. The article discusses the facts that are presented through the issues that are
presented within the literature that is existent on the subject of employee engagement. The article
states that the issues that are employees who have been serving at the human resource
department within the given organizations.
The employees of the organization are advised to take part in the job crafting within the
organization. This in turn helps in the increase in the employee engagement within the
organization as well as helps in the increase in the competitive advantage within the given
market. The authors further suggest the fact that the majority of the employees should be assisted
in their learning of the several uses of the job resources that are extended to them (Albrecht et al.
2015). This in turn might also help them in the management of the demands that are placed by
the employees as well as the development of the personal resources that are required for the
completion of the jobs at hand.
Albrecht et al. (2015) discusses the several practical implications of the issues that are
presented within the discussed studies. The major practical implications of the integration of the
human resource activities and the employee engagement within the company might be found in
the issues like the revision of the human resource policies that are implemented within the given
organization. The article further deals with the socialization of the new employees within the
organization. The employee engagement is known to have been affecting the behavior as
depicted by the concerned employees in terms of crafting of the jobs at hand.
The employees of the organizations as discussed by the concerned authors, tend to put
forth their own concerns, ideas and suggestions within the business organization that encourages
the extensive amount of the engagement for the employees. The employees of the organization

4INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL WRITING
are advised to take part in the job crafting within the organization. This in turn helps in the
increase in the employee engagement within the organization as well as helps in the increase in
the competitive advantage within the given market. Thus, the article tends to help the concerned
employees to deal with the improvement in the competitive advantage of the business
organization.

5INTRODUCTION TO PROFESSIONAL WRITING
References
Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. and Saks, A.M., 2015. Employee
engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated
approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), pp.7-35.