Employee engagement, organisational performance and individual well-being: exploring the evidence, developing the theory

Abstract

The development of mainstream human resource management (HRM) theory has long been concerned with how people management can enhance performance outcomes. It is only very recently that interest has been shown in the parallel stream of research on the link between employee engagement and performance, bringing the two together to suggest that engagement may constitute the mechanism through which HRM practices impact individual and organisational performance. However, engagement has emerged as a contested construct, whose meaning is susceptible to 'fixing, shrinking, stretching and bending'. It has furthermore not yet been scrutinised from a critical HRM perspective, nor have the societal and contextual implications of engagement within the domain of HRM been considered. We review the contribution of the seven articles in this special issue to the advancement of theory and evidence on employee engagement, and highlight areas where further research is needed to answer important questions in the emergent field that links HRM and engagement.

Exploring the relationship between HRM and firm performance: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

“…The primary argument is that the interaction of HPWS at the firm level -employee attitudinal and behavioural responses at the individual level are central to our understanding of the cause-order relationship between HRM and performance (Truss et al, 2013;Paauwe, 2009). According to Dyer and Reeves (1995), an important factor of the HRM-performance relationship is HRM outcomes, that is, employee emotional and behavioural responses and reactions.…”

A Middle Management Perspective on Strategy Implementation

“…There is an accumulating body of evidence suggesting that "high levels of engagement are associated with high levels of performance, citizenship behaviour and individual wellbeing" (Truss, Shantz, Soane, Alfes, & Delbridge, 2013, p. 2658. However, the identification of a mechanism to enhance employee engagement remains a challenge (Truss et al, 2013).…”

“…There is an accumulating body of evidence suggesting that "high levels of engagement are associated with high levels of performance, citizenship behaviour and individual wellbeing" (Truss, Shantz, Soane, Alfes, & Delbridge, 2013, p. 2658. However, the identification of a mechanism to enhance employee engagement remains a challenge (Truss et al, 2013). From an organizational leadership perspective, a significant relationship has been found between participative leadership at supervisor level and employee commitment and trust (Miao, Newman, Schwarz, & Xu, 2013).…”

Revisiting the Validity and Reliability of the Gallup Workplace Audit in a South African Petrochemical Company

“…A number of studies have shown that employee engagement predicts employee outcomes, organisational success and financial performance (Truss et al 2013). According to a 2004 highperformance workforce study (Arnott and Soobiah 2007a), there is a strong correlation between financial performance and the priority that organisations place on human capital development.…”