Precursors of employee engagement and interventions: case study from an Italian manufacturing company
Mercuriati, Nicolò (2022)
Avaa tiedosto
Lataukset:
2022
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022120626658
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022120626658
Tiivistelmä
The topic of engagement at work is increasingly taking a central role in the HRM strategy of modern business organizations. Several studies have proved that higher level of engagement is a precursor of superior job-related work outcomes, innovation, and business sustainability; therefore, engagement at work is a key enabler of business competitivity. Nonetheless, in 2022 several reports highlight a worldwide increased disengagement between employees and their jobs or their organizations. These trends are often considered to be some of the main causes of global phenomena such as the ‘Big Resignation’ and ‘Quiet Quitting’, which may ultimately undermine the market position of business organizations, even when these are competitive and financially healthy.
This study aims to investigate and identify the most relevant antecedents of employee engagement for white-collar employees in the specific context of an Italian manufacturing company. To achieve this target, an extensive literature research on the topics of work and employee engagement is carried out. Therefore, an analysis of the main relevant traits of cultural orientation in Italy is performed. Consequently, appropriate HRM interventions are identified in order to improve the level of engagement of the employees. The study was executed between February and December 2022.
This study is conducted as quantitative research and it is a case study carried out in collaboration with an Italian case company. In this study, knowledge foundations are built through a comprehensive literature review of peer-reviewed academic articles, while empirical data for the study are generated through structured questionnaire surveys carried out within the case organization.
The empirical findings of this study unveiled eight predictors of work engagement highly relevant in the context of the Italian manufacturing company, namely job characteristics, perceived organizational support, rewards and recognition, procedural justice, leadership, opportunities for learning and development, competence of management, and work-life balance. Furthermore, the analysis of the Italian-specific cultural orientation exposed some relevant traits of Italian culture which might be regarded as catalysts of burnout. The multifocal analysis about the main work engagement predictors and the specific cultural orientations was the steppingstone to the identification of HRM interventions tailored for different groups of individuals. The identified HRM interventions addressed serval organizational themes, such as competence of management, development opportunities, leadership, equity, job characteristics, organizational support, and well-being.
This study aims to investigate and identify the most relevant antecedents of employee engagement for white-collar employees in the specific context of an Italian manufacturing company. To achieve this target, an extensive literature research on the topics of work and employee engagement is carried out. Therefore, an analysis of the main relevant traits of cultural orientation in Italy is performed. Consequently, appropriate HRM interventions are identified in order to improve the level of engagement of the employees. The study was executed between February and December 2022.
This study is conducted as quantitative research and it is a case study carried out in collaboration with an Italian case company. In this study, knowledge foundations are built through a comprehensive literature review of peer-reviewed academic articles, while empirical data for the study are generated through structured questionnaire surveys carried out within the case organization.
The empirical findings of this study unveiled eight predictors of work engagement highly relevant in the context of the Italian manufacturing company, namely job characteristics, perceived organizational support, rewards and recognition, procedural justice, leadership, opportunities for learning and development, competence of management, and work-life balance. Furthermore, the analysis of the Italian-specific cultural orientation exposed some relevant traits of Italian culture which might be regarded as catalysts of burnout. The multifocal analysis about the main work engagement predictors and the specific cultural orientations was the steppingstone to the identification of HRM interventions tailored for different groups of individuals. The identified HRM interventions addressed serval organizational themes, such as competence of management, development opportunities, leadership, equity, job characteristics, organizational support, and well-being.