Dissertation Research Summary

Employee Engagement Construct and Instrument Validation – Executive Summary

by Hazen Witemeyer, Georgia State University

full text available at: http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/bus_admin_diss/17/

Executive Summary

Employee Engagement Construct and Instrument Validation, a doctoral dissertation, addresses the question, “What is employee engagement and how should it be measured?” No consistently accepted definition of employee engagement or survey to measure it exists in academic literature or among business people today. Building on interviews with employee engagement experts and prior academic research, the study demonstrates with methodological and statistical rigor that employee engagement can be understood as an attitude towards one’s work in one’s company, made up of three components:

• A perception of one’s self as empowered (competent, autonomous and impactful) in the workplace;
• Feelings of energy, dedication (defined as enthusiasm and pride for one’s work), and being absorbed in one’s work; and
• Motivation to contribute within and beyond one’s formal role to benefit the company’s goals.

Of these factors, the three that consistently matter the most with respect to desirable individual outcomes are empowerment, energy and dedication.

Also, the study shows empirically:

• An employee who perceives that their relationship with their employer is characterized by reciprocal trust, communication and value exchange is likely to be highly engaged.
• Employee engagement explains a number of positive individual behaviors including likelihood of recommending the company as an employer, intention to stay with the organization, creativity, productivity and proactive problem solving.

Practical Implications

Based on the research, practitioners in employee engagement should consider:

• Employee engagement practices should focus on building empowerment, energy and dedication throughout the employee population, as these have the most powerful impact on individual performance.
• Consider refining your firm’s employee engagement measurement practices. If your firm is not measuring rational, emotional and motivational components of engagement as described above, you may be missing an opportunity to create a deeper and more actionable understanding of employee engagement as it manifests in your organization. In addition, if you are not already doing so, consider supplementing survey practices with additional measurement instruments such as focus groups and 360 feedback.
• Evaluate or continue more targeted employee engagement programs for top talent in your organization, including leaders and individual contributors. These key populations may exhibit differences with respect to engagement levels and drivers, so understanding their specific needs can help you accelerate the strength and value of their relationships with your firm.

For more information, contact:

Dr. Hazen Witemeyer

www.linkedin.com/in/hazenwitemeyer

hazen.witemeyer@gmail.com