Employment attitudes towards engagement: a case study of Hulamin employees in Pietermaritzburg.
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Date
2018
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Abstract
There has been an exceptional interest amongst researchers in wanting to understand
the antecedents to motivated behaviour as much as engaged behaviour in
organizations. Numerous studies reveal the grounds of employee attitudes and
behaviour towards engagement which may result to spontaneous behaviour that can
improve performance. Employee engagement is currently an apprehending concept
within the Human Resource field. Both practitioners and the academia are struggling
with understanding an unpacking this concept, however, there is little underpinning
theoretical research evidence. There is convergence of opinions about the benefits
that employee engagement can bring to any organisation. It is therefore the
organisation that must work in developing and nurturing engagement, which requires
a two-way relationship that is, between employer and employee.
The study was aimed at determining the attitudes of Hulamin employees towards
employee engagement and identify factors that hinder employee engagement in order
for recommendations to be made to assist employers to assess and enhance
employee engagement in the workplace.
This study was qualitative in nature. The sample was made up of eighteen Hulamin
employees at its Pietermaritzburg site spanning across various grades and levels of
occupation. Interview guide was constructed and in-depth interviews were conducted
with eighteen (18) participants. The study used a thematic analysis to analyse data to
generate meaningful, trustworthy and insightful findings. The study discovered positive
relationship between the participants (the employees) and Hulamin (the employer) and
critical lessons on how levels of engagement can be enhanced. Based on the findings,
the majority of fifteen (15) participants suggested that people seek more meaning in
their day-to-day work than they do in their personal lives. This implies employers
should be seeking to make work meaningful by finding out what matters to their
employees, especially since evidence suggests that meaningfulness impacts not only
on the individual, but also on the bottom line. The study recommended that measures
of engagement be put in place with the diagnosis model to encourage employee
engagement.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.