An emperical study on Employee Engagement

8/10/2019 An emperical study on Employee Engagement

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An empirical study on

[email protected]

Syed Belal Reza

[Date]


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Contents

I. Chapter ONE: Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1

II. Chapter TWO: Literature Review ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7

III. Chapter THREE: Methodology--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15

IV. Chapter FOUR: Outcomes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18

V. Chapter FIVE: Discussion ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22

VI. Chapter SIX: Analysis and Final Conclusions --------------------------------------------------------------------- 24

VII. Bibliography ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 28

VIII. Appendix ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30

List of Tables

Table 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17

Table 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 19

Table 3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 19

Table 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 20


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I. Chapter ONE: IntroductionEven though it has been branded by words such as absorption, vigour and dedication,

to be fully engaged in something basically means that you are deeply enveloped in a positive

state of mind that is fulfilling personally and, more importantly, professionally as well. This

is not something that you can enjoy only temporarily or requires you to be stuck within a

specific category. True engagement is an involving state of mind that revolves around

persistence and pervasiveness. The persistence applies to the continuous attachment that

you have to whatever you are engaged to and the pervasiveness applies to the cognitive

state of mind that you remain in, even though neither of these things have to target any

specific person, place, event or even attitude [Insert-1]. Employees that are completely

engaged in their job and the company that they work for need to go beyond the point of

just being motivated. They need to fully comprehend everything about the vision and goals

of the companywhat those goals are, the steps that they need to be followed in order to

accomplish those goals and the significance that what they do for the company will play in

the whole scheme of things [Insert-2]. The complete sense of engagement for employees

can only be achieved if a person has a full mental and emotional commitment to that

company as well as the eager spirit to go above and beyond the call of duty when it comes

to assisting their company in meeting their goals [Insert-3]. Over the past few years,

numerous studies and surveys have been conducted and have confirmed that a lot of

executives and business professionals are concerned about the engagement of their

employees. Those same studies have also proven that, with this high level of engagement,

it is quite possible for the overall engagement of their employees to directly result in the

overall success for their company along with exponential increases in their annual revenue

[Insert-3, 4, 5]. Additionally, the staff and personnel of these companies commit themselvesto even enhancing the quality of their overall performance by at least 20% and they are only

close to 10% likely to quit or resign from working there. This increase and maintenance of

their companys retention rate will also generate massive numbers of satisfied customers,

overall productivity and increased profits all because of complete engagement among the

employees [Insert-6, 7].

Within recent years, confirmed studies and surveys that have focused primarily on the

engagement of a companys employees has really started to gain momentum primarily

because of the positive psychological enhancements and the fulfilment of the professional

needs of a company to maximise the impact that they have on the lives and well-being oftheir own employees. Why are the positive psychological enhancements so important? In

order for a person to truly have a reason or purpose for living, there has to be a substantial

amount of valued experience, individual traits of a positive nature as well as virtues that are

beneficial for the good of the community [Insert-8]. On the contrary, the professional needs

of a business are driven simply because of the international intensity that evolves from the

competition surrounding their respective industries. This just reinforces the essential

necessity for a companys personnel to be committed to their respective companies on both

a mental as well as an emotional level. A companys target objective to measure their level

of complete engagement within their staff is one of the growing trends in todays world of

business. Why is that the case? Regardless if you believe the results of conducted studiesor reports over the past several years, it is becoming almost impossible to deny the fact that


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there is a striking difference between the performances within the workplace of companies

that have a staff filled with highly engaged employees in comparison to the companies that

do not [Insert-9].

Nonetheless, being overly anxious or worried remains a top trend in todays world of

business which is a direct indication of the fact that engagement of employees withincompanies overall is drastically declining over time. Employees are becoming more and

more uninvolved and disconnected from their companies in general [Insert-3, 4]. Normally,

these levels of engagement start off on the high note and then gradually will taper and drift

off over the first few years of the employees time working for their respective companies.

Eliminating decline in this area completely is impossible and improbable; there is always

going to be some present in the work environment regardless of how great the company

may be to their employees. However, this inevitability should not deter companies from

actively seeking out opportunities to get their employees engaged again at these very

moments to help minimise that overall decline [Insert-9].

Over 3,800 employees in Bangladesh work for Grameenphone, the multimillion dollar firm

of telecommunication [Insert-13]. This company conducted a survey recently that

discovered one out of every four of their workers is engaged to their company [Insert-13].

How does that compare with the rest of the world? Well, studies have confirmed that the

international average is about one out of every five [Insert-10]. Therefore, the workforce of

Bangladesh is more engaged than any other workforce around the world [Insert-11]. That

same survey also concluded that Bangladeshis are able to identify very closely with the

overall principle of engagement. How so? The reason behind the engagement of close to

70% of them is due to the fact that they believe in the vision of the company and trust in

their abilities and efforts to reach the objectives and goals that they have set out forthemselves. Over 80% have a full understanding how what they do each and every day on

the job contributes to the big picture of their success.

Even though there had been numerous studies conducted on between individual companies

as well as studies that compared the individual departments of individual companies, there

really had never been any verified studies that focused on the continuous engagement of

Bangladeshi employees over an extended period of time. That is the point that many

companies need to realize, as mentioned earlier. The complete engagement of employees

is not something that can happen once or at specific times during the year. A company can

only reap the true benefits of complete engagement if it is continuous throughoutthe year.The current study of a companys engagement levels is truly important and plays a

significant role in a companys development, because they have to take the necessary

actions to address the problems and issues discovered through the results of those

confirmed studies. Are the investments that a company makes throughout the year to

improve the morale and enhance the satisfaction of their staff truly worth it? Has there

been any real growth because of those changes? Are the employees now more or less

engaged to the company because of the changes that have been made?

A recent study was conducted between a couple of facilities that specialize in manufacturing

in Bangladesh as well as a centre of administration. Established in the late 1990s, thiscompany is heavily involved in activities that are related to the distribution of food and


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beverages. This company is also infamously known for bragging about their great things

come in small packages workforce, consisting of not more than a thousand employees. In

the year of 2010, the decision was made by the executives of this company to take the

journey of assessing the overall engagement levels of their employees over the course of

the following two years.

Definitions

The primary factors that characterize most people revolve around the concept of building

and retaining the solid foundation of the commitment to doing a great job. Built upon that

foundation are other significant elements, such as an employees desire to do a great job as

well as their abundance of energy when it comes to doing that job. Millions of employees

around the globe strive to enjoy that amazing feeling that you normally get in the pit of your

stomach on your first day of work but disappear shortly thereafter and are never heard

from again. These steps lead to the main goal of maximizing overall performance on an

individual basis as well as the organisation in general.

Business owners, managers and other executives need to realize that their employees play

the most significant role in the achievement of success in their industry. Therefore, they are

able to capitalize on their true potential by ensuring that everything that each of their

employees brings to the table remains at the nucleus of their overall operation. Such things

as capability, commitment, creativity and an overall positive attitude work wonders for the

morale of the entire staff and the productivity of the entire organisation in general. It is

obviously true that a great business strategy and a sufficient amount of capital are also vital

factors to the formula of success. However, the key factor that determines whether a

business will succeed or fail is focused on the behaviour of that companys employees whilethey are on the job.

A strategic approach to achieving full engagement of employees on the job allows them to

do their very best while they are on the clock. They are only able to do their very best if

they feel appreciated and respected, as well as they are fully aware of how important their

involvement is to the success of the entire company. An associate of the company that

specializes in home insulation, KHI, once stated that the engagement of a companys

employees occurs the moment of equally shared value the employee is valued by the

business and the business is valued by the employee [Insert-11].

Employees that are fully involved and engaged have been able to inadvertently create a

deeply personal connection with their jobs and the companies that have hired them to do

those jobs. They strive to do their very best and to have successful careers within their

respective companies, which directly results in long-term monetary benefits for both the

company and its staff.

When it comes to results, behaviour and attitude within the rules of engagement, there are

several key differences. An employees attitude gives them the ability to feel pride and

overall loyalty to their company and to their job. They play essential roles within their

departments and are key team players. Their behaviour allows them to go above andbeyond in everything they do, ensuring that they reach their full potential within their


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assigned position. As a result, the number of internal conflicts, resignations and

terminations is drastically decreased. This is only achieved, however, when all three of

those key factors are consistently at work, stimulating and reinforcing each other within the

companys efforts to raise the bar of employee engagement. There is a direct correlation

between an employees level of engagement and their level of performance, because it has

been proven that improvements in one area also generate improvements in the other.

Professional engagement was first systematically developed by Kahn, (1990) based on the

binding of an organisations members to their business roles. Once engagement has been

achieved, the employees feel liberated enough to speak freely and exhibit expressions on all

levels mentally, emotionally and even physically. The second construct related to the

levels of engagement in the behaviour of an organisation is viewpoint expressed by

Csikszentmihalyi (1975, 1990). He (1975) once defined this continuous, fluid connection as a

holistic feeling that people experience only when they are totally involved with someone

or something. At this point, the person and his or her environment are completely in sync,

fully united subconsciously as one being.

Therefore, to be fully engaged as an employee means that they are fully involved and

committed to that organisation and everything that is stands for and works toward as a

business. They are fully aware of the context within their business, working side by side

with their fellow employees to make the necessary improvements and adjustments for the

good of the entire company. A two-way connection is required for this binding to be

successful, requiring the organisation to also work at further developing and nurturing the

engaging relationship that it has formed with its employees. An employees engagement is

simply used as the measuring scale that provides the final determination as to whether or

not that employee is truly associated with their company.

Studies have confirmed a close association between the engagement of a companys

employees and the current structure of the term known as job involvement (Brown 1996)

and flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). What exactly is job involvement? It has been defined

as being the degree to which the job situation is central to the person and his or her

identity (Lawler & Hall, 1970). Studies conducted by Kanungo (1982) proved that it can also

be defined as a persons cognitive state of their own psychological identification, which

depends on both the needs that need to be fulfilled and the overall potential of a specific

job to be able to fulfill those needs. From this perspective, it is clear to see that a persons

job is connected to their own self-image. Jobs in this view are tied to ones self-image. Anemployees engagement can even be referred to as the precursor for their level of

involvement within their job, because deeply engaged employees easily identify themselves

with what they do for a living.

Kahn referred to the engagement of an employee from the three levels of physicality,

cognition and emotionalism. However, it has been proven that the importance of being

satisfied with a persons line of work is more so directly connected to just the cognitive

level.

Human Resource managers and consultants agree that an employees engagement (or lackthereof) within a company correlates with how they feel about their overall experience


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II. Chapter TWO: Literature Review

The superior value of the customer services department within any organisation is the

leading factor of the overall growth and sustenance of their success. Why is that? In order

to build a business filled with the highest quality of employees, you first have to select the

right people for those elite positions. The highly qualified employees then serves the

customers best in the industry. There is an extensive list of documented studies that have

confirmed the usefulness of proper selection tools and systematic approaches when it

comes to the recruitment and hiring of high quality employees (Hunter & Schmidt, 1983;

Huselid, 1995; Schmidt, Hunter, McKenzie, & Muldrow, 1979; Schmidt & Rader, 1999).

Almost immediately after these ones have been hired, they are required to take decisive

action to impact and increase the success of respective companies. After employees have

been selected, they make decisions and take actions every day that impact the success of

their organisations. It is their inner motivates and overall drives that influences them to

make most of those active decisions. Many people believe that the way that employees

treat each other as well as the way that they themselves are treated weighs heavily when it

comes to whether they act positively or negatively towards their company. For instance,

studies have confirmed the existence of relationships connecting service intentions and

customer perceptions with the overall attitudes within the workplace and the resulting

performance rates for the employees as a whole (Schmit & Allscheid, 1995; Iaffaldano &

Muchinsky, 1985). Current analyses report the existence of a solid relationship connecting

an employees performance on the job with how much (or less) they are satisfied with that

particular job (Judge, Thoresen, Bono, & Patton, 2001). Questions about what this means in

the long-term have not completely been answered yet. However, the majority of research

that has been collected in reference to this theory has proven it to be true.

Confirmed studies have also proven that satisfied employees that take pride in the service

that they provide and are oriented with their customers are able to achieve proper

perceptions of the best way to service these customers along with other positive results for

the organisation as a whole (Ostroff, 1992; Reynierse & Harker, 1992; Schneider, 1991;

Schneider, Ashworth, Higgs, & Carr, 1996; Schneider & Bowen, 1992; Schneider, White, &

Paul, 1998; Ulrich, Halbrook, Meder, Stuchlik, & Thorpe, 1991; Wiley, 1991). Years ago, it

was discovered by Mayer and Schoorman (1992) that trust relates negatively with turnover

rates but, on the other, works positively with rates of performance. In addition, there has

been a journal produced by the Gallup Organisation (Gallup) that clearly highlights anabundance of confirmed case studies that establish the connection between variables of an

employees attitude and the results of their business. The measurable elements of both of

these studies focused on the individual level as well as the overall business.

There is an overabundance of research conducted through social services that focus on

frustration. On the other hand, there is a very limited amount of empirical data on the

engagement of employees (Freeney &Tiernan, 2006). Consulting firms and management

departments are the ones that have compiled the vast majority of this data (Saks, 2006).

The following information provided is related to the compiled data on frustration, focusing

on the evidence proving its detrimental, negative effects and its comparisons to levels ofengagement within a staff of employees. The review will also briefly cover highlighted


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points from the studies on engagement as well as those that studied predictive elements for

engagement as well as frustration overall.

Evidential Data on Frustration

The overall connection that people establish between themselves and the complications

that they encounter within their line of work is well known as being an important social

problem that has been widely described as frustration (Maslach et al., 2001). Studies

have confirmed that frustration is accurately considered to be a psychological syndrome,

developing as a direct response to repetitive stressors that a person can experience while on

the job (Maslach et al., 2001). The severe, detrimental effect that frustration can have on

employees has been proven in numerous ways.

Decade ago, Maslach et al. (2001) separated the detrimental consequences of frustration

into two groups one focused on an individuals health and other focused on the

individuals performance on the job. The frustration related to job performance correlates

with an individuals number of absences form the job and the overall increases in the

companys turnover rate. Undoubtedly, studies have proven that increases in staff turnover

create decreases in the business overall finances. The expenses that are invested in the

recruitment, hiring and training of new employees for some businesses can exceed $50,000

per individual (Yoon & Kelly, 2008). A companys productivity and overall effectiveness

decreases with every employee that suffers from burnout and stays employed with that

company.

These frustrated employees also create personal conflicts in the workplace and may disrupt

the work of co-workers. Frustration is not something that can be contained once it hasinfected one employee; it is extremely contagious and can easily spread like an epidemic

throughout the staff. Frustration on the job has been proven to affect an individuals life at

home with their families as well. It is also detrimental for a persons health as well,

correlating with several stress-related conditions and diseases such as anxiety, substance

abuse and severe depression (Maslach et al., 2001). Even though frustration has been in

existence for several decades, it is still a huge problem in the workplace today (Ayers, 2006).

These levels are only the rise and do not seem to be decreasing any time soon. A recent

survey that was conducted by the Conference Board in the United States of America proved

that more and more people are not as satisfied (if at all) with their jobs as they were in the

past. For instance, 56% of the people that were surveyed in that study stated they weresatisfied with the vacation policies provided by their respective companies. However, a

decade later, only 51% of that same group were still satisfied. Overall satisfaction with the

physical facilities of their company also declined over that same ten-year period by 4%. The

age or income of an employee did not seem to affect employee satisfaction either way, but

the overall trend was confirmed to be on the decline across the board (Baldwin, 2005). A

recent study of 1,200 US employees discovered that the overall satisfaction scores through

all of the major categories of the professional work environment have declined and the

number of people that responded to this study who felt as if they were engaged at all barely

passed 50% (Frauenhiem, 2006).


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It has been proven that employees will start off at a new job fully energized, excited and

engaged as they are fully prepared to embark on this new adventure of employment,

according to a study conducted by Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina (2002). Sadly, though,

that number drops on average during the first half of their first year with the company to

38% and, after a decade, is less than 20%. Since the quality and effectiveness of its staff are

two of the most important elements of an agency that specializes in human services, thesesaddening statistics are even more alarming (Ewalt, 1991).

Recently, another issue has arisen that could possibly also be a factor contributing to high

frustration levels. What is that? It is the exponential increase for services that also have a

sufficient decrease in revenues (local and national) that provide programming for those

specific jobs. Therefore, the primary focus and objective of program administrators and

managers has shifted towards effectiveness and efficiency as well as accountability of those

service providers because these factors can drastically increase the presence of stress and

overall dissatisfaction among the employees (Ritchie, Kirche & Rubens, 2006). The

bureaucratic system in which customer service workers operate limits the effectiveness thatan employee can have on their clients life. This system creates an environment that is

more conducive for enhanced control and the organisation of massive numbers of

employees in one specific area. Unfortunately, it also increases the separation of labor

which creates isolation among the employees, fragmentation and the overall

reprogramming of workers (Arches, 1991).

Most of the research conducted on frustration that has been covered already focused on

predecessors and results. It wasnt until recently that researched have begun paying

attention to the other side of the spectrum of frustration the engagement of employees

(Gonzalez-Roma, Schaufeli, Bakker, & Loret, 2004). Current studies are conducted aroundthe world, searching for comparisons between the positive structure of engagement and the

negativity of frustration overall. It is understood that engagement could create perspectives

on how to eliminate the issue of frustration (Maslach et al., 2001). As long as the issues of

stress and workplace dissatisfaction are addressed, companies will be able to successfully

create an environment for their employees to likely become engaged without many

complications (Freeney & Tiernan, 2006). This process would call for an emphasis on the

prevention of frustration overall as well as the fostering of effectiveness, involvement and

energy enhancements within the workplace (Maslach & Leiter, 1997).

Investigations have been conducted by several researchers to determine whether or notstaff engagement is the absolute opposite factor of frustration (Maslach et al., 2001,

Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004, Gonzalez-Roma, et al. 2004, Freeney & Tiernan, 2006). At this

point in time, their research supports that theory (Freeney & Tiernan, 2006). The core

elements of frustration are such things as cynicism, exhaustion and inefficacy overall, which

are direct opposites of the vigor, absorption and dedication associated with engagement

(Gonzalez-Roma et al. 2006). These polar opposites also have different predictors and

resulting consequences as well (Schaufli & Bakker, 2004).

Frustration was compared with disengagement by Kahn (1990) and the conclusion was

reached that the employees that withdraw from their job mentally, emotionally andphysically are the ones that are disengaged and suffer from frustration (Freeney & Tiernan,


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2006). A significant difference between the two conditions is that frustration focuses

particularly on the demands of a job. On the contrary, engagement is displayed through

employment resources as job control, easy accessibility to needed materials, the job

resources such as job control, the attainability of educational opportunities, overall

involvement in the decision-making procedure, positive fortification, and backing from

colleagues (Freeney & Tiernan, 2006).

Frustration profiles were conducted by Maslach and Leiter (1997) with the staff of a couple

of hospital units. Employees from one of the units showed typical profiles, proven by their

unfavorable scores across the board. On the other hand, the other hospital unit scored

favorably in those areasincluding control, overall value and workload. Towards the top of

the list of the fascinating discovers of those researchers was the fact that the patients of

those units that had engaged staff members were much more satisfied with the level of

overall care that they were receiving in contrast to those treated by the burnt out staff from

the other unit (Maslach & Leiter, 1997).

The unquestionable link, then, between engagement and frustration conditions have been

proven by the results of research conducted recently. An employee that is clearly engaged

will not become frustrated; however, this does not necessarily mean that an employee that

is not frustrated is also engaged (Freeney & Tiernan, 2006). The research that has been

conducted on the comparisons between engagement and frustration have contributed

greatly to this field overall and should not be stopped any time soon. However, the overall

perspective needs to be broadened from just focusing on the human services field and

related occupations.

Past Research of Employee Engagement

The most understandable study of the engagement of employees was developed through

the Gallup Organisation when they used the Q12 instrument. For over half of a century,

their poll has questioned customers as well as employees on an abundance of different

topics related to the workplace. The main attempt for this survey was to discover how

satisfied people are within their jobs. It focused on the degree of which the needs of

employees are being addressed and studied further the emotional connections that exist

with their employment. Results of this research proved that top scoring employees on

employment engagement have a 56% higher rate of success when it comes to customer

loyalty, 44% higher rate when it comes to staff turnover, a 50% higher rate when it comes toproductivity results and over a third higher rate on the resulting profitability.

The Q12 instrument consists of items that have been proven to rely on the influence of the

manager. According to the results from that survey, space for practical change is permitted.

Over time, consultants from Gallup have been able to teach managers and have worked

with companies to establish strategic approaches to necessary changes. The companies

studied scored one-half standard deviation (and sometimes one full standard deviation)

higher when it came to their employee engagement in the interim period between the first

two years of implementing those changes. Evidence that has presently been gathered from

these studies have reflected that the engagement of employees is somewhat influenced by


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the manager, can be modified and can also vary extensively from one work environment to

another (Coffman & Gonzalez-Molina, 2002).

Through his research, Kahn wanted to find a way to identify the conditions that a person

must go through psychologically in order to explain momentary experiences of personal

engagement (or even disengagement) depending on various situations that may arise atwork (Kahn, 1990). Using observational methods and effective interviewing techniques, he

conducted a study on personal engagement among 16 members of a firm and 16 camp

counselors. From his findings, he concluded that people have a choice to make in their

respective lines of work. They can draw from within to different degrees at work while

committing themselves in all possible ways to the various roles that they have to perform

throughout the day. Or, they can withdraw and completely disconnect themselves from

their roles and assigned tasks. The results of his study prove that the meaningfulness,

availability and safety are key psychological conditions that will determine how an individual

will perform his or her role within the workplace. The identification of these conditions

provides a solid foundation and structure for the studies being conducted on employeeengagement.

The state of overall meaningfulness has been described by Kahn (1990) as a condition that

allows an employee to feel truly valuable and useful, knowing that what they are doing

every day on the job is makes a difference and is appreciated by upper management. In

this context, the attribute of safety can be defined as conditions within an environment that

allow people to act normally without the fear of negative results or detrimental

consequences. It is discovered in scenarios within the workplace that workers believe they

will not suffer by being engaged to their work. Kahn (1990) once defined the attribute of

availability as possessing the means necessary to be engaged with your job at any givenmoment. Kahns model does recognize the fact that life outside of the workplace as well as

internal coping mechanisms can have a significant impact on an employments engagement

(or lack thereof) to their job. His work (1990) also determined that employees have

proportions of themselves that are personally preferred and expressed within their

performance on the job. If a match could be made between those preferable actions and

the mental conditions present within the workplace, they will be able to successfully engage

themselves with the job (Kahn, 1990).

A field study was conducted several years ago on an insurance agency in the Midwest. May,

Gibson and Harter (2004) used a format for their survey that thoroughly examined thereasons behind some employees becoming engaged while others became alienated or

disconnected all together. Their results proved that simple job satisfaction is definitely not

the same as true employee engagement. Actual engagement requires active emotions and

cognitive behaviours. Their studies actually supported Kahns earlier findings that value and

safety were direct links to how much an employee chose to personally invest into their roles

in the workplace. A positive relationship was also found between meaningfulness and job

enrichment with a perfect role fit. The support provided by a great supervisor or manager

and positive relationships with co-workers are also related directly to the psychological

safety that is experienced in the workplace.


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An analysis of past studies focused on the engagement of employees was conducted several

years ago by the Gallup Organisation, according to Harter, Schmidt, and Hayes (2002). The

relationship between the satisfaction and engagement of employees was thoroughly

examined along with the professional results of customer service and satisfaction, profit,

turnover, accidents and productivity overall. It was also noted by Harter et al. (2002) that

the active quality of those measured elements provides definition for the engagement ofemployees in general. Therefore, complete engagement is directly related to valued results

and many of the primary concerns of engagement. Top scoring businesses when it came to

engagement also provided proof of decreased turnover rates in their respective companies

(Harter et al., 2002).

Over 14,000 employees from multiple occupations were interviewed in a cross study

conducted all around the authors country by Schaufeli, Bakker, and Salanova (2006). They

used a systematic questionnaire that provided an accurate measurement of engagement

levels within the workplace. Their research proved that engagement was directly connected

to such qualities as vigor and dedication, as mentioned earlier. The only similarity that wasdetermined between frustration and engagement is the fact that it is a stable condition that

slightly increases over time (Schaufeli et al., 2006).

Over 100 employees from different industries were surveyed by Saks (2006) in a study that

was structured around a model that tested the precursors and consequences of

engagement both on a job level as well as on an organisational level. Saks (2006) concluded

that, on an organisational level, the engagement consisted of a persons attachment and

attitude towards their respective company. On the other hand, employee engagement

focused more on how much (or less) the employee was actually absorbed within their own

job role. The study also determined that resources on the job are the top predictor of all ofthe different dimensions of engagement that have been studied and are specifically

important to workers involved in working conditions that are extremely stressful (Bakker et

al., 2007).

Forecasters of Frustration and Engagement

Researchers today have barely touched the surface of explorations when it comes to the

phenomenon of engagement in the workplace. However, the studies that have been

conducted to examine the correlations between the engagement of employees and their

frustration prove that they are related only by being at opposite ends of the same spectrum.The only way that you can truly comprehend or determine predictive factors of engagement

would be to examine the factors that are directly linked to frustration and work towards the

opposite end in order to achieve true engagement.

Some researchers have tried to determine if the setting has any significance when it comes

to these conditions, whether it should be suburban or urban. Rholand (2000) focused on

directors of several mental health centres in Iowa to determine if they had higher levels of

frustration, purposing that the conditions experienced in suburban areas would be much

different than those experience in urban settings. The results of that study proved that the

setting (whether suburban or urban) really does not have much significance in this regard.


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Recently, a similar study was conducted by Sprang, Clark & Whitt-Woosley (2007) when they

tried to examine the relationship between frustration and the location of the practice. Their

studies provide that suburban areas do produce a higher number of frustrated employees

than urban areas. It proposed that these increases could be due to the various elements

associated with suburban practices that do not affect urban ones such as the shortages of

available health professionals, the limited availability of resources, demanding workloadsand their overall geographical isolation. Their studies clearly showed that isolation could be

a serious issue for social workers assigned to suburban areas.

According to their findings, problems that arise in urban areas are usually noticeable by the

public and other professionals within the industry. However, problems within the suburban

community mostly fly under the radar until a natural disaster or public crisis that draws a lot

of media exposure occurs. This overall neglect can cause social workers in suburban areas

feeling isolated and less important than their colleagues I urban areas. The findings from

this research also noted key problems, including professional isolation (Waltman, 1990;

Watt & Kelly, 1996), decreased accessibility to formalized resources (Davenport &Davenport, 1982), privacy and nondisclosure issues as well as complications dealing with

transportation (Ginsberg, 1998) have also been recorded.

The results of the frustration studies previously conduct might have some differences. A

large amount agrees there are negative key components in suburban agencies practice

settings that have possible effects on the levels of frustration. Moving forward form this

hypothesis the suburban workers might become less involved in the work they have to do.

The site that was used to test the study was in an area of the mid-western part of the state

that had the same population as the study that was already being conducted. The areas

included in the areas tested were highly urban, office locations in regards to how involvedthe population included areas in the South Asian region ranging from very suburban to

highly urban areas including business locations that will examine how involved this

particular key component is to for this population.

Additional factors of include how much work experience an individual has and how it relates

to frustration. These factors were also examined. Even though some studies show that

frustration happens when people are new to job, other studies show no connection at all.

Studies conducted play a very important role in learning about frustration. Some studies on

frustration agree that individuals with less years of service are likely to report higher levels

of frustration; the opposite is thought to be true of engagement. While some studies onfrustration agree that individuals with less years of service are likely to report higher levels

of frustration, the opposite is thought to be true of engagement. Coffman and Gonzalez-

Molina (2002) In a different study, Schwartz, Tiamiyu and Dwyer (2007) sampled 1,200

social workers to find out if social work clinicians decline in hope or exhibit increased

frustration over the course of their careers. Research shows a lower frustration rate in

recent years in private practices. Public practices however do not have the same results.

There has been no foreseeable evidence change in public settings. Some factors were not

fully looked into, such as employees with multiple years of service that have scores that do

not get better but gradually get worse. Also employees have the tendency to drop off in six

months or less or the drop off that happens within ten years of employment


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Additional examination of the data gathered shows that gender also might play a part in the

frustration of human service workers .In a study Turkish study of school counselors

conducted by Yildirim (2008) results showed that levels of frustration did not differ

significantly between males and females. There is a difference in the actual data in some of

the research gathered in several of the studies however the research offers that females are

more vulnerable to stress and, therefore, tend to report higher levels of frustration than dotheir male counterparts. (Sprang, Clark, & Whitt-Woosley, 2007). Despite this research

other studies showed that there might possibly be a higher frustration rate among male

employees. Yet another source, the Schaufeli, Bakker, and Salanova study (2006), showed

that the Belgian, German, Finnish, and Norwegian men scored slightly higher on the three

engagement dimensions than did women in the study. The verdict is still out because the

research supports both sides. The tools that were used in the study will be compared on

how involved each gender is engaged. The agency staff is the source of influence to how

much their employees are involved. A good team reflects good leadership. Employees tend

to reflect or imitate the characteristics of their leaders; it may be difficult for them to

engage if the leaders of the organisation do not demonstrate positive behaviours associatedwith engagement (Kerfoot, 2008). The discoveries found in this study will seek to help the

agencies understand their supporting staff and the leaders and managers they employee.


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III. Chapter THREE: Methodology

The Involved Parties

In order to properly oversee how employees respond in this kind of setting, an Internet

study in August 2012 was taken. The group was 306 employees that were employed in

Grameenphone. This particular telecommunication organisation is in Bangladesh. The

author had the approval from the UK university and got the designated access to

Grameenphone to conduct the survey over Internet. With this approval each employee

received written approval to participate in the study. Each of the employees was even

urged to take part in the study by allowing them to take this survey during the operating

hours of the business. No one was excluded from the survey taking process. The written

consent was given by each individual employee. This meant each employee was aware and

wanted to take part in the study by survey. Once each employee agreed to take the survey

they were sent an Internet link via email attachment. Next the employee would be able to

answers the questions of the survey on a secure website. At the beginning the employees

were asked for some demographic information too.

The Tools Involved

Because the research and human resource teams are able to have access to large amounts

of information with very little overhead, they are gaining popularity. These kinds of Internet

surveys are essential because they are allowing companies to expend less time, money,

effort and manpower. Additionally, web surveys allow data to be collected and downloaded

into statistical software without additional data entry (Witt, 1998). No matter how much

detail is put into these kinds of surveys there is a wealth of other information on the

Internet that can be misleading. Participants may tune out the survey or base their

responses on the visual effect and entertainment value of the instrument (Couper, 2000).

Additionally, research shows that web surveys fail to meet the response rates of traditional

mail surveys (Couper, 2000).

There are tools that can be used if this is the type of study that has been chosen in any

particular business. A tool known as The Google Docs is one such way to maximise this type

of Internet technology. Host sites like these can be more cost effective because they allow

subscribers to use free and tend to be user-friendly. For example, the ease of email

correspondence will allow the professional to receive the answers as soon as the survey

study is taken. The results were delivered in aggregate and anonymous form and the data

remained private but could be shared with others given the resear chers consent (Survey

Monkey, 2008).

Even though there still are some drawbacks to this kind of Internet research it still remains

popular. Employees Internet Studies by survey are conducted to see how the human

services department can use the information that they are receiving as a tool to better

understand their future employee. By using Employee Internet Studies, information that

was important but that was missed was able to be gathered with the consent of the

employees to the human services department.


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Taking note of all the information given it is important to weigh the benefits and drawbacks

of this kind of Internet based study by survey accordingly. Is using the Internet to examine

empirical research enough? Is there enough information to properly conduct a controlled

study? These questions are important to review.

An Internet-based study entitled Employee Engagement Survey was pioneered and

created, for a number of employees with similar characteristics. This Employment

Engagement Survey was originally designed for the inclusion of employees who were

already working with the company. Items were first gathered by reviewing the Gallup

Organisations 12-question instrument designed to measure employee engagement

(Thackray, 2001). Gallup conducted numerous focus groups and completed thousands of

interviews with workers in order to identify the key areas that measure engagement. Having

been used with approximately 1.5 million employees, Gallups tool makes an ideal

instrument from which to model the survey questions for this study (Thackray, 2001).

Another tool that can be useful research is found at http://www.decwise.com/employee-

surveys.html. This site is imperative because it reviews and compares the actions andperformance of employees and can help management teams to form a model for what they

want for future employee relations. Another source that is a wealth of information is the

Decisionwise Employee Engagement Survey. By reviewing the, Are We Making Progress

questionnaire professional agencies can take the experience studies already given to help

them in developing their own model for the survey they want to offer.

(http://www.baldrige.nist.gov/PDF_files/Progress.pdf).

The major factor in making a blueprint for the original survey was to consider what

questions would really grab the attention of the employee. This model proposes that in

order for individuals to fully engage with their jobs, the three psychological conditions ofmeaningfulness, safety, and availability must be met in the work environment (Kahn, 1990).

The questions are asked in a very strategic way. Each of grouped questions has a specific

meaning, initially, the organisations leadership and planning, then, the organisations

corporate culture and communications. About the employees, their role at this organisation,

their work environment, relationship with your immediate supervisor and friends, rewired

training and development, satisfaction factors, career forecasting.

The next major factor involved in the development of the original survey was to create some

questions focused on the psychological aspect. Another major proposition of theengagement model is that the three key psychological conditions are to some degree within

the control of the management of a given agency (Coffman & Gonzalez-Molina, 2002).

These types of questions engage the employee to see how they would handle themselves in

situations that are controlled by management. It allows one to see how a person would use

their mind to properly think their way through situations where they might be agitated by

management or by fellow employees. Employees were asked several questions including

the targeted nine questions hidden in the questionnaire without directly asking them

specifically.

After a surface blueprint was completed the survey was tested on several professionals inthe field customer service teams or units. The selection of these individuals was not at


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random. They were carefully selected based on their experience in their given fields of

customer services. These professionals included several key members of the customer

service team such as the Manager, a number of existing workers, and Specialists. Having

information from these valued individuals solidified that the information chosen was

correct. The validity of the research was again tested with a pilot study in July 2012. The

seven question study was done to form the blueprint for this survey created a study thatcould utilized for an official format and was used as a tool for some 306 customer service

staff members. These questions tested to discover what the satisfaction level and

engagement of the staffs. Cronbachs Alpha is used to determine if all the items within the

instrument measure the same thing. The closer the alpha is to 1.00, the greater the internal

consistency of the items being measured (George & Mallery, 2006). The marker of an

acceptable reliability coefficient is generally 0.7. However, even lower thresholds are

sometimes reported in the literature (Nunnaly, 1978). The given evidence shows that the

Cronbachs score of .773 is solid proof that the study works. The only question that added

any weight to the results was the question regarding having friends and work. Even

removing that specific question still met the requirements to be suitable in the study.

Table1

Reliability Measure of Pilot Study Data

Cronbachs

Alpha

.773

N of Items

7

If Removed,

Scale Mean

If Removed,

Scale Variance

Correlation

Correlated

Items

If Removed,

Cronbachs

AlphaRecognition of Job 27.81 16.539 .675 .712

Concerned Supervisor 27.21 17.126 .658 .712

Mission of Org 27.19 19.266 .531 .729

Work Friends 26.72 22.365 .216 .789

Employee Inputs 27.59 15.812 .575 .719

Training and Equipment 27.29 18.219 .372 .777

Coworker Cooperation 27.11 21.855 .386 .774

The Process

The Customer Service of Grameenphone received an email that was sent to each of the

individuals that worked for the division. Each person who worked for the company gave

their informed permission that the information be used for the company. Once the

employees clicked on the link they would be able to take the survey on a secure site. They

would have ten days in order to answer all the questions. The findings of each survey were

sent to be studied using Google Docs Form to make each survey nameless. The forms after

made anonymous were downloaded into the SPSS program for analysis as mentioned above

the host website was http://www.docs.google.com.


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IV. Chapter FOUR: Outcomes

Chapter One recognized the significance of empirical research indicating the stages of the

engagement of a staff particularly for Grameenphone specializing in telecommunication business.

Chapter Two then shifted the focus towards literature that connects directly to the detrimental

effects that frustration can have on employees and how it compares to the positive effects of

complete engagement. It also included a thorough review of past studies on the subject and

highlights from those studies. Chapter Three provided detailed descriptions of the procedures and

techniques that are put into practice to determine just how much (or less) a staff is actually engaged.

It then determined just how much things affecting work and life in general (i.e. job position, gender,

years of service, etc.) impacted the existing levels of engagement. Within this chapter, descriptions

will be provided of the participants of that study as well as an analysis of the results.

Features of the Sample

To truthfully study the engagement of employees, a survey was e-mailed to a complete staff of theCustomer Service division of Grameenohone. Out of the 306 employees that worked within that

agency at the time, 210 (n = 210) completed the survey, which is a response rate of 68.6% overall.

Since no other similar studies have been conducted, there is no other population available to which

these results can be compared. On the other hand, this sample does share some similarities to the

sample that was worked with during the pilot study survey. Both groups worked for Customer

Service of Grameenphone. Their offices were nationwide as well as the locations of those offices

throughout the divisional headquarters. The customer touch points of Grameenphone are known as

Customer Center. Another similarity was that both groups served individual people.

Out of all of the people that responded to the survey, 80% (n = 167) were female and 20% (n = 43)

were male. 78% were classified as non-supervisory staff (n = 163) and 22% (n = 47) admitted to beingsupervised by one person at least. 157 (74.3%) reported themselves as being professional staff

where the remaining 25.7% were support staff.

The number of service years within the agency varied among the groups. 55 (26.1%) were employed

0 to 2 years, 48 (22.7%) were employed between 3 to 5 years, 41 (19.9%) were employed between 6

to 8 years, 20 (9.5%) were employed between 9 and 10 years and the remaining 46 (22.3%) worked

for 10 years and over with Grameenphone.

145 people (69%) within that sample worked in a suburban area that was non-urban while the

remaining 65 (31%) stated that they worked within an urban office. 11 of the people that responded

chose not to answer each of the questions focused on engagement so their surveys were completed

dropped from the statistical studies. Therefore, the results only reflected the remaining 199 people

that responded. The respondents that chose not to completely answer the questions focused on

demographics on their surveys were dropped from the statistical test that addressed the

outstanding variable.

Outcomes

The purpose of the survey instrument being designed was to measure the levels of engagement of

the participants to their jobs. Once all of the responses had been collected, Chronbachs Alpha was

then conduct to test the instruments reliability overall. The final score from that test of .7 73 was


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similar to the result from the pilot study and is considered as being acceptable when it comes to

reliability (Nunnaly, 1978).

As mentioned within the Appendix, the participants were given five items to choose from when they

were answering each questionstrongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and then strongly disagree.

Strong agree was systematically coded as five points while strongly disagree was coded simply asone point. With that point system, the lowest possible score was 8 while the highest possible score

was 40. The final scores that fill between 32 and 40 indicated that the employees were engaged

more fully than those that scored below 32. Results showed that the vast majority of those that

responded with engaged to their jobs (M = 29.30, SD = 3.95).

The sample responses are described in Table II to each of the items listed on the measurement scale

of engagement. Table III focuses on the overall score of engagement for the sample.

Table 2

Engagement Scale: Descriptive Statistics

Descriptive StatisticsEngagement Scores

N Range Min Max Mean

Recognition of Job 199 4.00 1.00 5.00 3.5518

Concerned Supervisor 199 4.00 1.00 5.00 4.1297

Mission of Org 199 3.00 2.00 5.00 4.1010

Work Friends 199 3.00 2.00 5.00 4.4192

Employee Inputs 199 4.00 1.00 5.00 3.8213

Training and Equipment 199 4.00 1.00 5.00 3.7448

Coworker Cooperation 199 4.00 1.00 5.00 4.1797

Longer Stay 199 4.00 1.00 5.00 3.6801Valid N 199

Table 3

Total Scores: By Responses of Participants

N Min Max Mean SD

Valid N 199 16.00 40.00 29.2952 3.9521

Hypothesis One: The connection between the engagement level of

participants and their respective office location.

The main objective for this study was determining the engagement levels for the staff of the agency

as well as examining the degree to which demographic variables and work-life variables impact the

engagement scores overall. This specific hypothesis stated that the people responding to the test

that worked in suburban office locations would report lower scores than the ones that work in urban

settings. The independent T-test of these samples was assigned as the statistical measure for this

specific question and evaluated the difference in means that existed between the two groups,

assuming that the variable were normally distributed among the groups and that the variation of

scores was not different (Wienback and Grinnell, 2007).


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Even though the males scored higher on the instrument, the difference between the two groups was

not really significant in reference to statistics so the hypothesis was not sufficiently supported by the

test (p = .064, 197 df, t 1.800).

Hypothesis Four: The connection between the engagement level of theparticipants and the job roles of supervisors.

This specific hypothesis stated that the supervisors that responded would report much higher

engagement scores. The independent T-test was selected as with the other tests and the results of

the Levenes test showed equal variances could properly be assumed with the chosen alpha level of

.05. The mean score for the supervisors was 29.9187 (SD = 2.88), N = 44 and the mean score for non-

supervisors was 28.8984 (SD = 4.03), N = 155. Results proved that the supervisors scored much

higher on the instrument than the workers who were not supervisors. Thus, the hypothesis was

supported (p = .040, 196 df, t 2.063).


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V. Chapter FIVE: Discussion

The main focus on this specific chapter is summarizing the significant findings within the study, the

current conclusions that were collected from the results as well as the implications for research,

future policy and practice. The objective of the first section is to summarize the significant findings ofthe impact that demographics and the variables of work-life have on the engagement levels of

employees to their jobs. The second section will draw further conclusions and discuss the studys

results. The final section proposes research implications, practice and policy for the measurement of

the levels of employee engagement within the social work field.

Summary of Significant Findings

The score results from the scale that measured employee engagement of the sample group of 199

employees from the nationwide customer centres of Grameenphone was analysed further to

determine whether or not the staff member was engaged with their job. The questions that werediscussed within the study were all based on the theory that demographics and work-life variables

had a significant impact on an employees level of engagement to their job. The following are the

significant findings from each of the specified hypotheses.

1. Variances in the report of employee engagement working in urban and

suburban offices.

Within the sample, the mean score was 30.51 for the participants from the suburban offices and

29.01 for the participants from the urban offices. Therefore, the suburban participants were clearly

more engaged than the urban participants.

Unfortunately, though, the hypothesis was not supported because the results were not significant

statistically. There are no reported similarities between the two groups that the results could be

compared to, but the results are definitely in agreement with those found in the Rholand study

(2000). The results of that study showed that the rate of frustration was not higher for the

individuals that worked in suburban locations. The employees reported an equal level of

engagement even though Grameenphone was spread throughout several different geographic areas.

An explanation for this conclusion might be the fact that was continuity when it came to the training

of the supervisors and the overall implementation of procedures and active policies. Therefore,

similar atmospheres were established within the work environments of each of the different office

locations. A positive side to the study was the sign that practices and policies enforced by agenciesare clearly fostering an environment conducive to employee engagement without worrying about

whether or not the office was in an urban or suburban location.

2. Variances in the report of levels of engagement of employees in

connection to their years of employment in Grameenphone.

According to the results of the study, there was not a significant connection between their service

years and engagement scores. Therefore, the employees that had worked there over 10 years could

be just as engaged as those that had been working there for less than five. This finding varies from

the theoretical assumption of employee engagement at work, which proves that it will decrease overtime (Coffman & Gonzalez-Molina, 2002).


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Nevertheless, the conclusion further supports the theory that engagement has no direct connections

with work-related issues, such as income or seniority. On the other hand, it is a construct solely

related to the employees control of their own fate at work along with their sense of true

empowerment (Buhler, 2006).

In addition, conclusions from that study are similar to Yildirims frustration analysis from 2008. Itfound no real connection between years of service and employee frustration. One of the

explanations behind the findings is simply that the agency provided the environment that was

necessary for the staff to become engaged, regardless of other work-related issues such as seniority,

tenure or pay. One of the implications from the results of the study enforced policies that encourage

overall engagement of employees regardless of their length of service.

3. Variances in the report of employee engagement, based on gender.

The mean score for the males was 30.53 and 28.97 for the females, indicating that the males were

more engaged to their jobs than female. The difference, though, did not support the hypothesis

because the variance was not really significant.

The results from this study were similar to two past studies that concluded employee engagement

and frustration rates did not differ between males and females (Schaufeli et al., 2006; Yildirim,

2008). The scores from this study showed some levels of variance when compared with a previous

study on frustration rates that showed females were more at risk of suffering from frustration in

their job (Sprang et al., 2007). Based on the results from that study, males and females both have

the same opportunity to engage themselves to their job within the agency.

4. Variances in the report of employee engagement based on their duties as

supervisors.

The mean score for the supervisors was 30.65 and 28.96 for the people that were not supervisors.

Within the sample, employees that were not supervisors were less engaged to their jobs than

employees that were supervisors. Therefore, the study was able to support the hypothesis. These

results were similar to those discovered by Schaufeli et al. (2006) when he made the discovery that

managers were more engaged than blue collar employees.

An insinuation from those results was that the agency should further analyze their enforced policies

which could possibly separate the people in management positions from the direct line staff. By

doing that, they will ensure that they are not building a work environment that contributes to the

actual disengagement and disuniting of their employees. The study clearly proved the benefits ofhaving a fully engaged management staff, because the rest of the employees are more likely to

follow their example and become engaged themselves. This theory is supported by the assumption

that employee engagement is completely dependent on an agencys management team and that the

behaviours of supervisors has a significant impact and overall influence of the levels of engagement

for their employees.


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VI. Chapter SIX: Analysis and Final Conclusions

Recent literature and other forms of research have demonstrated an enhanced interest in the

overall subject of the engagement of their employees. Studies have proven that the level of

engagement is directly connected to the positive outcomes and organisational structure.Unfortunately, no research directly focuses on employees working within the field of customer

services. This study was specifically created to serve as a means of exploration into employee

engagement when it comes to organisations that specialize in customer services. Another benefit of

the study was that it accurately examined the effects and overall impact of the demographic and

work-life based variables that focused on the scores of the participants. This plan also continued the

further development and refinement of the Employee Engagement instrument.

This study focused on the employee engagement within Grameenphone staffs. The instrument was

created in order that the scores that were between the midpoint of the total score possible and

above reflected at least average engagement. Thus, the score of 14 and above that point would

verify engagement and above average engagement would be represented by scores above 22.

Studying this sample showed that the vast majority of the people that responded were significantly

engaged to their respective jobs. The mean score of engagement overall was 29.9 out of a possible

40, which placed the entire group within the upper range of employee engagement. When focusing

on the higher engagement rates of the studied population, the possibility that the group of

employees could be more engaged than employees in other industries should be taken into

consideration.

The nature of the customer service industry clearly implies that the actual mission of their agency

may compel employees to care more about engaged to their jobs. The results of this study should be

compared with other populations that focus on human services to clearly see if the rates are aboveaverage or similar to any other average group.

The actual theory of employee engagement suggests that in a study where the employees are

engaged, the levels of productivity and customer service would be exceptionally higher. Reviewing

the annual report of the studied organisation reflected that they exceeded the standards for the

entire fiscal year.

As a matter of fact, the organisation was able to report a 67.1% success rate for results with clients

(source remains disclosed to protect the agencys confidentiality). In addition, the agency reports

reflected that 98% of the 1,900 clients that were surveyed reported being respectfully treated by the

employees and 93% stated that their services were readily available. A major conclusion generatedfrom the study was that high levels of employee engagement might be connected to the higher

standard of service results and other reports of high quality customer service. To further explore the

possible relationship between these two factors, more research is required.

Instrument

The researcher was the person that created the instrument used in this study (see Appendix). It was

created to fulfill the purpose of measuring employee engagement within the field of customer

services. The duration of the survey was conducive to quick and simplistic completion, encouraging a

higher participation rate. Designed to measure the important concepts of employee engagement,

this allowed the research to further study demographic factors and variables of work-life against the

studied levels of employee engagement. After being pilot tested, it was concluded that the


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instrument was reliable with a Cronbachs Alpha score of .773. After one question was added in, the

score increased to .798 which also demonstrated acceptable reliability.

A major conclusion of this study was the proven reliability and effectiveness of the instrument when

it comes to measuring the levels of employee engagement, which is great news for researchers that

want to study these levels within agencies that specialize in human services.

The Employee Engagement Survey would not be used within many more studies that deal with

employees in the field of human services in order to continue developing their effectiveness and

being able to determine which demographic factor(s) were the mostly connected with high levels of

engagement. One of the explanations for the high level of engagement overall was that the agency

provided three important psychological conditions of promoting engagement: availability,

meaningfulness and safety for their employees (Kahn, 1990).

Within the survey, three questions addressed the mental condition of meaningfulness. According to

Kahns research (1990), this condition is described as a feeling that is received as a return on a

persons investment of themselves into their work. Employees experience this condition when theyfeel valuable, worthwhile and useful to their company (Kahn, 1990). The first survey question asked

participants if they had every received a degree of recognition for good performances on the job.

184 of the respondents (87%) answered within agree to strongly agree, showing that the staff of the

agency agreed that they received a return on the investment of themselves within their jobs.

The third question asked respondents if the agencys target object made them understand how

much their work really mattered. 199 of the respondents (96%) astoundingly gave a positive

response to that question between slightly agree to strongly agree. This result shows that the target

objective and mission of the company was clearly understood by the staff and they felt positive

about the work that they were doing. The fifth question asked them if they felt as if their opinions

and thoughts were taken seriously on their job. By agreeing to the question, the results wouldindicate that they felt that they were making valuable contributions to the agency. This was proven

by the resulting fact that 195 of the respondents (95%) agreed with the statement.

Kahn (1990) described the condition of safety in his report as a significant factor and important

psychological condition when it came to employee engagement. His research further showed that

employees feel safe in an environment that is both open and supportive.

Safety occurs when individuals feel liberated and able to express themselves without negative

consequences, confident in the fact that their environment is clear of boundaries and the

organisational norms are clearly understood (Kahn, 1990). The question on the scale of employee

engagement asked participants if they were concerned about their own welfare. 197 (94%) agreedwith that statement which showed that they felt as if they were supported by their management

team, feeling connected to their superiors.

Another question focuses on the issue of having friends on the job. Participants agreed with that

statement since 202 (97.5%) selected a response between slightly agree and strongly agree, showing

that employees felt connected with their co-workers and freely expressed themselves. The seventh

question asked participants if they felt their co-workers did a good job, in which 199 employees

agreed, proving that they work toward a common goal with their co-workers within the agency. The

final psychological factor of the structure of engagement overall is availability. Kahn (1990)

described this factor as being the sense of possessing the psychological, physical and even emotional

resources required in order to invest oneself into the role that they play at work.


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A question on the survey asked participants if the organisation that they worked for provided the

equipment that they needed to successfully complete their jobs. The overall positive response

showed that 189 (90%) of the employees at least agreed with the statement, proving that the

agency regularly supplied exactly what the employees needed in their assigned roles within the

agency. The eighth question asked the participants if they would still be working for the same agency

two years later. 180 (72%) agreed with that statement.

Kahns (1990) studied model of employee engagement proved that those psychological conditions

were related to engagement as well as management control within the agency. The aforementioned

scores from the finalized study showed that the management team of the studied agency made a

positive contribution to the overall engagement of their employees. It was recorded that the agency

being studied successfully implemented a plan for leadership development one month prior to the

conduction of the actual survey. The focus of the plan was empowering supervisors and training the

members of management on effectively leading their teams.

The program put a variety of different strategies into practice that require attendance for leadership

training courses, assigned readings and the overall development of an official leadership plan foreach and every supervisor or manager. One can reasonably assume that the plan may have

positively impacted the final scores of the survey. A significant implication from these results is that

the agency should consider continuing investments into the leadership plan and any other related

programs to maintain high levels of employee engagement. Directing resources towards the

companys target objective is proven, then, to be an effective and worthy investment for the agency

to consider.

Implications for the Policy of Social Work

Since these significant psychological conditions of employee engagement are within the

managements control of the agency to an extent, studies of that engagement should interest policymakers specializing in social work. As previously recorded, research has shown that engaged

employees assist agencies in reaping such benefits as enhanced efficiencies and increased levels of

customer satisfaction and overall productivity along with the decline of turnover rates (Buhler,

2006).

Therefore, the results from the surveys conducted within the agency would inform policymakers of

the areas that needed to be addressed, such as specific strategies that could be developed to target

those specific objectives. Leaders within specific agencies should take the time to focus on the

implementation of policies that enhance the engagement of management and staff which would

increase the overall productivity of employees individually as well as the entire agency.

Insinuations for Practice for Social Work

This study was a great way to inform practitioners about the importance of being engaged within the

workplace. They should be able to comprehend the mental conditions associated with engagement

as well as how staff members that are engaged are beneficial to their agency.

They strived to become even more engaged with their jobs to maximise their overall effectiveness

with customers and clientele and also develop themselves to become more effective in their work.

The results of the study reflect the overall rates of engagement of the employees to their job were

relatively high. It is presumed, then, that the agencys practitioners are emotionally connected

within their jobs, motivated and willing to go above and beyond normal expectations just to get thejob done.


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Insinuations for Social Work Research

Before this study was conducted, there were no verified research projects that focused specifically

on the engagement levels of works in customer services field. The study was conducted to

determine the levels of employee engagement within this specific public agency. The results

reflected that the sample population was overall significantly engaged within their jobs and that the

management staff provided the key mental conditions required for the employees to remainengaged. Future studies should be conducted across the full spectrum of agencies that specialize in

human services in order to fully study the similarities and differences that exist when it comes to the

engagement rates of different staffs in different offices.

More research is required in order to determine which demographic variables or factors of work-life

are directly connected with high rates of engagement. The research projects that use the scale of

employee engagement specifically created for this study should be used repeatedly to provide more

documented results proving the reliability of the instrument overall. In addition, these studies

should be repeated regularly to ensure the stability of those rates of engagement. If an agency has

initiated the implementation of different strategies specifically designed to enhance employee

engagement, the study should be repeated to measure their overall effectiveness.

Conclusion

The results of this confirmed study greatly contributed to the limited research available on the topic

of engagement for employees. It contributed specifically to the beginning statistical information

gathered about employee engagement among the staff of a customer services department.

Employee engagement is widely understood as being an imperative part of the outcomes of

successful organisational structures and should be closely analysed within the field of social work.

Funding for their organisation is often connected directly to success rates of that organisation. A

staff that is fully engaged can significantly contribute to achieving positive outcomes, proving that

the concept of full engagement should be a top priority of social work research and the

implementation of innovated policies.


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