Employee Proactivity vs. Loyalty International Study

Feb. 16, 2012 - PRLog -- The research, co-authored by Cass Professor Veronica Hope Hailey, and funded by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Foundation, pinpointed the following:

·   Employees with a high level of job state engagement are passionate and enthusiastic about their job and but don't necessarily work hard

·   Employees who exhibit organization state engagement love their company and make great brand ambassadors but as above, this won't automatically lead to high productivity

·   Employees with a high level of job behavioural engagement are motivated to develop themselves and take the initiative but don't necessarily feel loyal to their company

·   And employees showing organization behavioural engagement are proactive in highlighting problems and suggesting improvements in their company but again don't necessarily hold that company in high esteem or feel loyalty towards it.

Researchers studied four MNE's including GKN, AkzoNobel, and Tesco HSC in the UK, the Netherlands, India and China between 2009 and 2011.

The research found facets of performance management drive these different types of engagement so companies can make informed decisions regarding the focus of their performance management systems based on the type of engagement they are aiming to achieve and the context in which they are operating.

One example is where employers operating in tight job markets with a small pool of talent will want to encourage job and organisation state engagement - loyalty which will help them maintain staff levels.  In China and India high levels of organizational state behaviour were highly desirable in potential employees for this reason.

Employers operating in job markets with more availability of skilled talent will want to encourage job and organisation behavioural engagement so their employees are motivated to achieve outstanding results.  Job markets in the UK and the Netherlands fit this description, where behavioural engagement was more prized by employers.

Professor Hope Hailey, Professor of Strategic Human Resource Management (http://bunhill.city.ac.uk/research/cassexperts.nsf/) at Cass Business School comments: "'Behavioural' engagement - being proactive - is beneficial from a performance perspective whereas 'state' engagement - feeling enthusiastic about your job and the company - helps produce a pleasanter environment which might help retention and other outcomes. It depends what you want to achieve and that will depend on the job market you are operating in."

In terms of work climate and job characteristics, providing increased levels of job resources - more feedback, autonomy, training and development, and task variety - was linked with all dimensions of engagement.  Providing high levels of organizational resources in the form of welfare support and support from line managers, colleagues, and senior managers is also associated with all aspects of employee engagement.

'A study of the link between Performance Management and Employee engagement in Western multinational corporations operating across India and China' by Dr Elaine Farndale, Tilburg University; Professor Dr Veronica Hope Hailey, Cass Business School (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/); Professor Dr Clare Kelliher, Cranfield School of Management; and Professor Dr Marc van Veldhoven, Tilburg University.

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