Perceptions, Antecedents and Consequents of Employee Engagement Initiatives in Australian Organizations

Abstract

This paper presents a research project which was designed to explore employee engagement (EE) initiatives in Australian companies from the perspective of human resource (HR) managers. The research design was quantitative in the form of a self-administered survey instrument which was mailed to 703 HR managers in seven major Australian cities. 205 (29 per cent) usable surveys were returned with almost two-thirds from women. Respondents reported having a good understanding of EE but there was much less endorsement of the value, importance and benefits of EE initiatives. Respondents generally indicated that their organizations were not committed to EE in any demonstrable way. The data highlighted that employee retention was the primary reason organizations embark upon EE initiatives and that the outcomes of initiatives were only tentatively acknowledged by respondents. The research has implications for HR managers, senior management, EE consultants and organizations generally. Much more can be done to raise the profile, importance and benefits of EE initiatives. The originality of this research is that it is the first scholarly study to look at EE initiatives from the perspective of HR managers