The impact of job and organisational characteristics on engagement at work in a petrochemical company

Abstract

In today's tough economic environment, companies are forced to work more efficiently and effectively with the resources they have at their disposal. At the same time companies are struggling to attract and retain good people with the necessary attributes and skills in order for them to remain competitive. The challenge today is not just retaining talented people, but fully engaging them, capturing their minds and hearts at each stage of their work lives. Employee engagement has emerged as a critical driver of business success in today's competitive marketplace. Further, employee engagement can be a deciding factor in organisational success. Not only does engagement have the potential to significantly affect employee retention, productivity and loyalty, it is also a key link to customer satisfaction, company reputation and overall stakeholder value. The purpose of this study is to determine whether job and organisational characteristics have an impact on work engagement. Weak correlation was found between the four aspects of Job and organisational characteristics namely: the Position the company holds in the industry, Own and company objectives, Environmental factors and Commitment or social responsibility position the company takes and the three aspects of Engagement namely Vigour, Dedication and practically significant correlation coefficients of large effect between Vigour on the one hand and Dedication and Absorption on the other hand. Practically significant correlation coefficients of large effect between Dedication on the one hand and Absorption on the other hand. Practically significant correlation coefficients of medium effect between Absorption on the one hand and Own and company objectives was found. After controlling for work engagement at baseline, only four of the dimensions tested between Job and organisational characteristics and Engagement were statistically significant. No positive association could be found between Job and organisational characteristics and Work Engagement. The findings are noteworthy in that all the aspects of Job and organisational characteristics do not lead to Engagement thus no evidence was found that Job and organisational characteristics could stimulate Work Engagement.