Foundational competencies for enhancing work engagement in SMEs Malaysia

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of foundational competencies on work engagement in the context of the Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) service sector. Design/methodology/approach This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Malaysia, and data were gathered via a survey on 312 employees representing SMEs service sectors. Partial least squares techniques were used in testing the hypothesized linkages. Findings The findings indicated that foundational competencies have a significant positive effect on work engagement. Research limitations/implications Considering the research approach, generalizing the findings of this study must be done with caution. Longitudinal data are recommended, as these could provide additional support to the results. Further studies can as well extend the framework by testing whether job resources play a positive role in enhancing the relationship between foundational competencies and work engagement in Malaysia. Practical implications The findings suggest that foundational competencies positively relate to work engagement. Therefore, training and coaching sessions could be organized by managers/policy makers to enhance these competencies, which will strengthen work engagement and career development of the employee; it may specifically be very helpful for fresh graduates whose careers would have just started. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to examine the effect of American Society of Training and Development foundational competencies on work engagement in SMEs in Malaysia.

The effect of HRM practices and employees’ job satisfaction on employee performance

“…However, the current study findings are consisted with previous researches such as the previous literature acknowledges that human resource practice found positive contributions to employees' loyalty, satisfaction, engagement and performance (Haruna & Marthandan, 2017;Nwachukwu & Chladková, 2017). Thus, the needs of employees have to be fulfilled in order to reach good performance measurement (Kuppuswamy et al, 2017).…”

The Effect of Competencies and Job Stress on Work Engagement with Job Satisfaction as Mediating Variable

“…Based on previous research, work engagement was influenced by employee competence (Murillo-Zamorano, López Sánchez, & Godoy-Caballero, 2019). This is confirmed by research by (Haruna & Marthandan, 2017) finding that foundational competencies (personal resources) have a significant influence on work engagement. According to Simanjuntak, Hasan, & Ali, (2015), competence can deepen and expand work skills.…”

“…Knowledge and skills are seen and can be assessed and embedded in one's life through appropriate training and development activities, while the other three are hidden and difficult to develop. Competence is a mixture of several components, including knowledge, skills, attributes, and individual traits, which all lead to superior performance (Haruna 2017). Van Rooij (2012) in Haruna (2017) mentions that competence refers to knowledge, skills, and the ability expected to show effective performance in each work setting.…”

The Impact of Human Resource Practices on Employees' Performance through Job Satisfaction at Saudi Ports Authority Based on the Assumption of Maslow Theory

“…Human resource practices have seven factor that offers positive contribute to employees' performance, those factors are training and development, reward, job analysis, recruitment and selection, social support, employee relationship and employee empowerment (Delery & Doty,1996;Nataraja & Alamri,2016). Consequently, Organisation seeks to select the right persons that have the skills and ability to offer successful environment through those factors (Pfeffer,1994;Cania,2014, Aliyu andMarthandan, 2017). The managers at each organization should imply the practices of human management in a right way because the success of human resource practices is based on the way of implementation.…”