Employment attitudes towards engagement: a case study of Hulamin employees in Pietermaritzburg.

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.