EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES

By Melanie Kacho Clifford

A DISSERTATION Submitted to H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship Nova Southeastern University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

2010

UMI Number: 3419911

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ABSTRACT EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES by Melanie Kacho Clifford This dissertation examined the relationship between the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement in a defense acquisition organization. The objective of this study is to determine whether or not the eight satisfaction facets of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1976) could be used as antecedents, engagement and consequences constructs in place of the antecedents, engagement and consequences constructs of the Saks (2006) model of employee engagement. This study used the following three research questions: 1) Are the antecedents of the IOR (kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to employee engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers)? 2) Are the antecedents of the IOR model (kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to consequences (career future)? 3) Are the employee engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers) related to consequences (career future)? This study utilized the Index of Organizational Reactions (1976) to sample a defense acquisition organization (N = 177) to assess the proposed empirical model. The quantitative data from the study was used to perform Pearson correlation on 17 hypotheses. All hypotheses were supported and indicated positive relationships were present among the variables representing the antecedents, engagement and consequences constructs of the empirical model. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis was utilized as was done in previous studies performed by Dunham, Smith and Blackburn (1977) and Lee (1984). After the initial component matrix was obtained, a varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization was applied and indicated that the same factors found in the Dunham et al. and Lee studies were found in this research, providing additional confirmation for the original validation of the IOR. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used in this research and the results indicated that gender was a significant effect on the results of this study. This study utilized qualitative responses to the survey items to provide additional data to determine whether or not there were common themes amongst the comments and whether or not the comments were in agreement with the quantitative responses. Results indicated that further study is needed in the areas of supervision, kind of work, coworkers, physical work conditions and career future.

Melanie Kacho Clifford This study has possible implications for practitioners and researchers with the breadth of knowledge that can be obtained through the use of the Index of Organizational Reactions survey instrument. The survey can be used as a supplement to the more recently developed Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) developed by Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) or the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) developed by Maslach and Schaufeli (1993). This study recommended several avenues for future research in employee engagement, including the use of variations of the empirical model to test different relationships of the antecedents, engagement and consequences constructs. In addition, this study was specific to a defense acquisition management organization within the federal government workforce and future efforts could expand research into other acquisition organizations, economic sectors or even into public corporations. Also, some of the demographics indicate potential areas of research such as age distribution or the use of the status demographic to explore further the differences between government, military and contractor personnel. These areas of future research will provide opportunities to enhance our understanding of employee engagement from perspectives other than those identified in current literature.

DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this work to my husband and best friend, John, and to my son, Ian. Without their love and support, this work would never have been completed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without the support of many people, I would never have been able to complete my research and my dissertation. First of all, the support from my family has been immeasurable, and I can never thank them enough for standing by me when I was at my lowest. Not only were John and Ian there to support me, but also other family members, Emily, Greg, and Stacy kept me going with the feeling that they truly cared about how I was progressing with my work. My parents Alex and Dorothy Kacho, and my brothers Alan and Jay always believed in me and were there to provide encouragement through all of my years of education. I thank them for their support and I hope they are proud of what I have accomplished. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee. Dr. Regina Greenwood graciously accepted my request to be my chair and her support has been invaluable with her feedback and suggestions to make my dissertation a much better product. Dr. Ed Murphy was very supportive as my methodologist and I appreciate what he has done to help see me through this research. Last, I would like to thank Dr. Barry Barnes, not only for serving on my committee as my reader, but also for the guidance I received during my HR/Org Behavior and Strategy classes. Without his belief in me through those classes, I would never have made it to the point of completing my dissertation. I would like to thank Ron Borta for handling the setup and administration of my online survey. His assistance with the survey made that part of my research much easier to accomplish and I appreciate his suggestions on the setup of the survey itself. Thanks also are given to Harry Oldland for helping me find the organization to use for my research. Without Harrys persistence and the permission of Colonel Keith Moore to use his organization, I would still be looking. Last, I would like to thank all of my friends and co-workers that have been there the last seven years to provide support that gave me the confidence to complete my research.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. X LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... XI CHAPTER I ........................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ......................................................................................... 1 BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION .................................................................................. 2 DEFINITION OF TERMS ..................................................................................................... 6 DELIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................... 8 ASSUMPTIONS .................................................................................................................. 9 RESEARCH APPROACH ..................................................................................................... 9 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER II..................................................................................................................... 14 REVIEW OF LITERATURE........................................................................................ 14 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 14 HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF ENGAGEMENT ......................................................................... 15 JOB ENRICHMENT TIES TO ENGAGEMENT ...................................................................... 19 COMMITMENT, INVOLVEMENT AND ALIENATION TIES TO ENGAGEMENT ...................... 21 EXHAUSTION, CYNICISM AND INEFFICACY TIES TO ENGAGEMENT ................................ 23 VIGOR, ABSORPTION AND DEDICATION ASPECTS OF ENGAGEMENT .............................. 25 MEANINGFULNESS, SAFETY AND AVAILABILITY CONSTRUCTS RELATIONSHIP TO ENGAGEMENT ................................................................................................................ 27 RELATIONSHIP OF SOCIAL EXCHANGE TO ENGAGEMENT ............................................... 30 ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ............................... 32 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 38 CHAPTER III ................................................................................................................... 40 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 40 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 40 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES ..................................................................... 40 TARGET POPULATION .................................................................................................... 42 RESEARCH DESIGN ........................................................................................................ 45 INSTRUMENTATION ........................................................................................................ 45 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY .......................................................................................... 46 OPERATIONALIZATION OF VARIABLES ........................................................................... 47 DATA COLLECTION ........................................................................................................ 49 DATA ANALYSIS AND STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES .......................................................... 50 LIMITATIONS.................................................................................................................. 51 SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... 51 viii

CHAPTER IV ................................................................................................................... 52 ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS ................................................. 52 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 52 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES .................................................................................. 52 DATA PREPARATION ...................................................................................................... 53 DEMOGRAPHICS ............................................................................................................. 53 RELIABILITY .................................................................................................................. 62 CONFIRMATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS .............................................................................. 63 ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) .............................................................................. 70 HYPOTHESES TESTING ................................................................................................... 72 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS................................................................................................ 95 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 104 CHAPTER V .................................................................................................................. 106 CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................ 106 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 106 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 106 IMPLICATIONS .............................................................................................................. 110 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS ................................................................... 112 LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH ........................................................................ 112 CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................................. 114 APPENDIX A. INDEX OF ORGANIZATIONAL REACTIONS ............................................................... 117 B. COVER LETTERS ..................................................................................................... 125 C. CODE OF DATA SET ................................................................................................ 129 D. CONSISTENCY MATRIX........................................................................................... 133 E. TIMETABLE ............................................................................................................. 137 REFERENCES CITED ..................................................................................................... 139 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 150

ix

LIST OF TABLES 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 Federal Government Retiree Projections Fiscal Years 2009-2018... Hires, Quits, Layoffs, Discharges and Other Separations 2001-2008.. Demographic Descriptives Frequency Distribution Gender. Frequency Distribution Age.. Frequency Distribution Status... Frequency Distribution Management/Supervisory Responsibility Frequency Distribution Number of Years Experience on Current Program. Frequency Distribution Number of Years of Total Work Experience.. Frequency Distribution Directorate... Frequency Distribution Education Level.. Variable Descriptives.. KMO and Bartletts Test. Communalities. Total Variance Explained Component Matrix with Factor Loadings Rotated Component Matrix. ANOVA Results for Gender Pearson Correlation Matrix for Hypotheses H1a-H1j. Pearson Correlation Matrix for Hypotheses H2a-H2e. Pearson Correlation Matrix for Hypotheses H3a-H3b. Results of Hypothesis Testing.. 43 44 54 55 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 64 65 66 67 69 71 73 85 91 94

LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 1.2 2.1 2.2 2.3 Saks Model of Employee Engagement... Proposed Model of Employee Engagement 10 12

Job Enrichment Model of Hackman, Oldham, Janson and Purdy... 19 Research Model of Schaufeli and Bakker... May, Gilson and Harter Framework of Engagement.. 25 28

xi

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter introduces the current research study of employee engagement. The first section of this chapter introduces the statement of the problem followed by the background and justification for the study. Next, the definition of the important terms associated with the research study, delimitations, assumptions, literature reviewed, and the conceptual empirical design that Is the basis of the research study is presented. A summary concludes the chapter. Statement of the Problem Current organizational behavior literature focuses on the extent to which people are involved in their roles within their own organization and how committed employees are to the success of their organization. Kahn (1990) advocated that engagement can be defined as the way in which people connect themselves to their work roles and express themselves physically, cognitively and emotionally during the performance of their roles. When people do not engage themselves in their work the result can be withdrawal and defensive behavior (Kahn, 1990). May, Gilson, and Harter (2004) suggested that engagement pertained to how individuals apply themselves in the performance of the job and the active use of emotions and behaviors as well as cognitions. Shaw (2005)

defined employee engagement as the emotional and intellectual commitment to the organization, while Baumruk (2004) defined engagement as a state in which individuals are intellectually and emotionally committed to the organization.

2 Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001) posited that job engagement was the direct opposite of burnout when burnout was defined as the erosion of engagement with ones job. Maslach et al. related six areas of work life to burnout and engagement: workload, control, rewards and recognition, community and social support, perceived fairness and values. The research done by Maslach et al. built on the previous Kahn research and posited that job engagement relates to a sustainable workload, relevant recognition and rewards, supportive work environment and valued work. However, the Maslach et al. model of burnout as it related to engagement had not been empirically tested until Saks (2006) viewed engagement from the perspectives of job and organization and developed his model of the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. None of the previous research has shown whether the Saks model constructs of antecedents, consequences and engagement are the same as the constructs of other models that measured employee engagement from the perspective of specific categories of job satisfaction aspects. The Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) identified satisfaction facets in eight different categories pertaining to kind of work, amount of work, supervision, physical work conditions, financial rewards, co-workers, company identification and career future (Cook, Hepworth, Wall & Warr, 1981). The purpose of this research is to explore the constructs of the Saks model in relation to the satisfaction facets of the IOR. Background and Justification In academic literature reviewed for this research study, most of the theory or model development regarding employee engagement began with Kahn in the early 1990s. Kahn (1990, 1992) found that there were three psychological conditions associated with

3 engagement in the workplace: meaningfulness, safety and availability. Kahn (1990) suggested that people were engaged when they had work that was more psychologically meaningful. May, Gilson and Harter (2004) have thus far provided one empirical study to tie meaningfulness, safety and availability to engagement, showing that job enrichment and role fit were positive predictors of meaningfulness. In addition, May et al. found that relations with supportive supervisors was a positive predictor of safety and resource availability was a positive predictor of psychological availability. Saks (2006) conducted a study of employee engagement in which he explored the relationships between antecedents, consequences and employee engagement. In his study, Saks used antecedents such as job characteristics, perceived supervisor support, rewards and recognition and procedural justice, while he addressed consequences such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and intention to quit. Engagement was looked at from both the individual and organizational perspectives and the model tied these perspectives together with the antecedents and consequences previously identified (Saks, 2006). In a preliminary review of academic literature, only one empirical study could be found which tested the Saks (2006) model, and only two studies were found that explored the structure validity of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (Dunham, Smith & Blackburn, 1977; Lee, 1984), and its eight satisfaction facets: kind of work, amount of work, co-workers, supervision, financial rewards, company identification, career future and physical work conditions. The IOR was validated previously by comparing the IOR survey instrument with the Job Descriptive Index (JDI), the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), and Faces Scales (Dunham, et al., 1977).

4 With three-quarters of the American workforce saying that they are moderately engaged or not engaged at all, leaders cannot afford to allow trained and skilled professionals to leave the current organization where they are employed (Jamrog, 2004). Studies conducted by Blessing-White (2008) have shown that the industries with the largest number of engaged employees are in human resources consulting/training (46%) and energy/utilities (40%), while the industries with the fewest engaged include academia/higher education (23%), high technology (24%), and the group that was most relevant to the current study, government, 25%. The Blessing-White (2008) study also indicated that engagement levels decreased slightly as workforce size increased, with only 32% of the study respondents from organizations of 1-999 employees and 25% of those in firms of more than 10,000 fully engaged. As identified in the Blessing-White (2008) study mentioned previously, government workers are among the least engaged. In light of the recent revision of the defense acquisition process and the emphasis on smart program management in ensuring success during the administration of defense contracts, it is even more important to retain the knowledge workers that are already in place (Jamrog, 2004). The acquisition

workforce is comprised of more than 100,000 government and military professionals including program managers, contract specialists, contracting officers, system engineers, logistics managers and property managers (Pursch & Garrett, 2008). This workforce is responsible for the acquisition of more than $400 billion worth of products and services to support the needs of the American public, but there are not enough talented acquisition professionals to administer the acquisition needs of the country (Pursch & Garrett, 2008). As identified in the DoD Weapon System Acquisition Reform Product Support

5 Assessment Team (PSAT) report published in November 2009, the ongoing product support for the acquisition process is done through program management offices, costing $132 billion in fiscal year 2008 alone. Specifically, the acquisition workforce within the federal government has an even more important task that ties to both national defense and taxpayer trust (Pursch & Garrett, 2008). If these acquisition costs are not controlled correctly, the Department of Defense annual budget can be crippled and would lessen the United States ability to maintain a persistent expeditionary military presence throughout the world. In addition to the issues mentioned above, the Director of the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) indicated in February, 2006 that 60% of the governments 1.6 million white collar employees and 90% of some 6,000 federal executives are be eligible to retire in the decade between 2006-2015 (Trahant, 2006). Specifically, half of the federal government workforce is eligible to retire beginning in 2010 and the ramp up to fight the war on terror required the addition of as many as 150,000 workers in the next few years in both the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security (Trahant & Yearout, 2006). The combination of rising job dissatisfaction and demographic trends predicting labor shortages, skill scarcities, and fewer knowledge workers has all the signs of the need for changes in the way work is performed, where it is performed, who is performing it, and the skill sets that are needed going forward (Jamrog, 2004). Therefore, this study independently investigates the Saks model using the eight satisfaction facets of the IOR as the constructs for antecedents, engagement and

6 consequences, contributing to the body of academic literature regarding employee engagement from the perspective of a federal government organization. Definition of Terms In support of the Saks (2006) model, the following terms and definitions are utilized in this research. Job Characteristics Job characteristics are those tasks that provide challenging work, variety, use of different skills and the opportunity to make important contributions (Kahn, 1992). Jobs high on core characteristics provide opportunities for individuals to bring more of themselves to work or become more engaged. Rewards and Recognition Maslach, Schaufeli, and Leiter (2001) define rewards and recognition as the perception of benefits received from performing a role. Maslach et al. suggest that a lack of rewards and recognition can lead to burnout, while the presence of rewards and recognition can be important for engagement. Perceived Organizational and Supervisor Support Kahn (1990) suggests that perceived organizational and supervisor support are the amount of care and support employees perceive they receive from their organization. Distributive and Procedural Justice Colquitt (2001) defines distributive justice as pertaining to ones perception of the fairness of decision outcomes, while procedural justice pertains to ones perceived fairness of the means and processes used to determine the amount and distribution of resources. Engagement Maslach, Schaulfeli and Leiter (2001) define engagement as an affective, motivational state of fulfillment that is normally characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption, where vigor is defined as high levels of energy and willingness to invest in

7 ones job, dedication is defined as strong involvement in ones work and by a sense of pride, and absorption is a pleasant state of total concentration in ones work, and the inability to detach oneself from the job. Job Satisfaction Wright and Davis (2003) define job satisfaction as the representation of employees and their work environment by comparing what they expect to receive versus what employees actually have received. Organizational Commitment Saks (2006) defines organizational commitment as the attitude and attachment that people have toward their organization. Intention to Quit - Kacmar, Carlson and Brymer (1999) define intention to quit as the degree to which employees are considering leaving the organization. Organizational Citizenship Behavior Organ (1988) defined organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) as individual behaviors that are voluntary and not tied directly to any reward or recognition system that promotes the effectiveness of the organization. In support of the Index of Organizational Reactions, the following terms were used in this research. Each of the eight specific satisfaction facets was rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Supervision - This facet of the IOR identifies the relationship of the employee to the immediate supervisor based on responses to the items 1-6 in the survey instrument (Cook, Hepworth, Wall & Warr, 1981). Company Identification This facet of the IOR identifies the employees relationship to the work organization based on responses to items 7-11 in the survey instrument (Cook et al., 1981). This facet is also known as organizational commitment.

8 Kind of Work This facet of the IOR identifies the employees attitudes toward the type of work the employee is asked to perform based on responses to items 12-17 in the survey instrument (Cook et al., 1981). Amount of Work This facet of the IOR identifies the employees perceptions of the workload the employee is expected to perform based on responses to items 18-21 in the survey instrument (Cook et al., 1981). Co-Workers This facet of the IOR identifies the employees attitude about the relationships with other people in the organization and looks at the overall success of the organization based on responses to items 22-26 in the survey instrument (Cook et al., 1981). Physical Work Conditions This facet of the IOR identifies the employees viewpoint of the physical work environment in which their work is performed and the impact of work conditions on individual job performance based on responses to items 27-32 in the survey instrument (Cook et al., 1981). Financial Rewards This facet of the IOR identifies the employees position regarding the relationship of the job performed and the amount of money received based on responses to items 33-37 in the survey instrument (Cook et al., 1981). Career Future This facet of the IOR identifies the employees outlook on career prospects based on responses to items 38-42 in the survey instrument (Cook et al., 1981). Delimitations This research focuses on employee engagement in a program management office supporting the acquisition process for a major Department of Defense (DoD) contract and the results may not be applicable to workers in other industries or other government

9 organizations. In addition, this research addresses only the relationship of the Saks constructs and the IOR satisfaction facets and not how either model relates to other models of employee engagement or employee job satisfaction. Assumptions A mixed methodology employee survey is used for the study organization based on the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR). Creswell (2009) suggests that a mixed methodology allows the researcher to gain perspectives from different types of data or from different levels within the study. The 42-question IOR and eight demographic questions are administered via a secure website to the program management office that is the organization to be studied. Both qualitative and quantitative information are gathered during the survey period. The quantitative responses are recorded utilizing a 5point Likert scale. While the IOR provided a quantitative method to assess employee satisfaction, the mixed methodology survey instrument provides the opportunity for respondents to enter written comments. The comments entered by survey respondents are analyzed qualitatively to identify themes and relationships to specific factors of the employee engagement model as well as to enhance and clarify the quantitative portion of the survey. Research Approach Literature to be Reviewed The historical origins of engagement are presented via the literature of Chalofsky and Krishna (2009). Hackman, Oldham, Janson and Purdy (1975) provide the initial foundations for engagement with their job enrichment studies that Kahn (1990, 1992) utilized to begin his engagement studies. Saks (2006) builds on the work of Kahn and

10 others to provide the main concept for the current body of work regarding how antecedents and consequences of employee engagement affect employee satisfaction. Smith (1976) and Smith, Roberts and Hulin (1976) provide background information on the Index of Organizational Reactions survey instrument that is used to gather the data for this research study. Dunham, Smith and Blackburn (1977) provide the validation of the Index of Organizational Reactions. Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001) provide empirical data on the relationship of engagement, job characteristics, occupational characteristics, and organizational characteristics. Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) bring together job demands, job resources and relationships to engagement, while Baumruk (2004) provides information on how employee engagement relates to business success. May, Gilson and Harter (2004) explore the constructs of meaningfulness, safety and availability as they relate to engagement, while Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005) provide ties to engagement through social exchange theory. Conceptual Empirical Design Saks (2006) provides the initial model of the antecedents and consequences of employee engagement as shown in Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1 Saks Model of Employee Engagement
Antecedents Job Characteristics Perceived organizational support Perceived supervisor support Rewards and recognition Procedural justice Distributive justice Employee Engagement Job engagement Organization engagement Consequences Job satisfaction Organizational commitment Intention to quit Organizational citizenship behavior

Figure 1.1 Antecedents, Employee Engagement and Consequences Constructs. Adapted from Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Engagement, by A. Saks, 2006, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21, p. 604.

11 Antecedents are those factors that provide the means to identify whether or not an employee has become engaged (Saks, 2006), while employee engagement as identified by Saks covers both the job and organization levels, with consequences as those factors that are the connection between employee engagement and business results. The relationships of the Saks model components and the satisfaction facets of the IOR are analyzed to determine if the constructs are similar enough to allow the facets of the IOR to be used as support for the components of the Saks model. Based on the definitions of the terms, the job characteristics antecedent in the Saks model has similarities to the kind of work, amount of work, and physical work conditions satisfaction facets of the IOR. The perceived supervisor support antecedent in the Saks model has similarities in definition to supervision facet of the IOR. Rewards and recognition, procedural justice and distributive justice antecedents in the Saks model has similar definitions to the items within the financial rewards facet of the IOR. The Saks model organization engagement component has similarities to the company identification satisfaction facet of the IOR and Saks model job engagement component and the IOR co-workers facet have similar definitions. Finally, the intention to quit consequence in the Saks model has a similar definition to the career future facet of the IOR satisfaction measure. Thus, it is possible that the IOR satisfaction facets could be used in place of the constructs of the Saks model to develop a new model of employee engagement as shown in Figure 1.2.

12
Figure 1.2. Proposed Model of Employee Engagement
Antecedents Kind of Work Amount of Work Physical Work Conditions Supervision Financial Rewards Employee Engagement Company Identification Co-Workers Consequences Career Future

Figure 1.2. Proposed Model of Employee Engagement. This model is based on the Saks (2006) model of employee engagement using t he eight facets of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) as the constructs of the mod el.

Therefore, the purpose of this research is to provide empirical evidence in support of the Saks model utilizing the constructs of the IOR and the following research questions are addressed: Research Question 1: Are the antecedents of the IOR (kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to employee engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers)? Research Question 2: Are the antecedents of the IOR model (kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to consequences (career future)? Research Question 3: Are the employee engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers) related to consequences (career future)? Summary This chapter introduces the research study and identifies the background and justification for the study, including the constructs of the conceptual empirical model, the reasoning for the selection of the candidate organization, as well as the identification of

13 the survey instrument to be used. Chapter I also identifies the major academic literature sources for the study as well as the major assumptions and delimitations for the study. The remainder of this study is organized as follows. Chapter II reviews the literature relevant to the research questions of the study. Chapter III describes the methodology in use for this study, including the research questions and their associated hypotheses, as well as the reliability and validity of the survey instrument that is used to gather the data for the study. The data analysis and data collection techniques also are described in this chapter. Chapter IV describes the analysis and presents the findings of this research study, and Chapter V presentsd the discussion, implications and limitations for future research of this study.

14 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Introduction This chapter contains a review of available academic publications and other sources of information that are related to this study of employee engagement. The origins of employee engagement theory will be considered along with other related theories such as employee satisfaction, social exchange, employee commitment and burnout. Employee engagement and employee commitment have emerged as important concepts when dealing with organizational research that indicates that favorable relationships with employees can result in organizational retention and performance (Chalofsky & Krishna, 2009). Porters, Steers, Mowday and Boulin (1974) suggested that commitment involved the willingness of individuals to perform at higher levels on behalf of the organization, have strong desires to stay in the organization, and accept the goals and values of the organization when performing their work roles. Studies conducted by Angle and Perry (1981), Hunter and Thatcher (2007), as well as with Pool and Pool (2007), showed that organizational commitment relates positively with the ability of employees to adapt to unforeseen events. Research performed by Dessler (1999) and Kanter (1968) showed that organizational commitment supports organizational citizenship behaviors vital to effective teams and employee empowerment, but the research is not as clear on how commitment, organizational citizenship behavior and internal motivation relate to employee engagement.

15 Historical Origins of Engagement Chalofsky and Krishna (2009) suggested that engagement has its foundations in pre-industrial society when work was performed in the same neighborhood where people lived, and that work was tied to the well being of the individual as well as the community. With the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, work was now governed by uniform standards, the time clock and by supervisors/managers determining how and when work would be performed (Brisken, 1996) and employee experiences were now secondary to efficiency in the workplace. The Industrial Revolution separated the performance of work from community life, and created bureaucracies to organize and control the work (Chalofsky & Krishna, 2009), resulting in a loss of the original meaning of work to support the ongoing existence of the neighborhood. During the 1960s and 1970s, motivation theorists and psychologists advocated the idea that individuals have an innate need for a work life that is meaningful (Alderfer, 1972). Even Maslow (1971) suggested that unless individuals perceive the workplace as having meaning and purpose, individuals would not work up to their full capacity. Theorists like McGregor (1960), Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman (1959) and Alderfer suggested that individuals are motivated to take actions based on their desire to fulfill certain needs that are higher than basic survival needs and would be more meaningful when working toward a higher cause. Maslow suggested that individuals possess the potential to reach what he referred to as self-actualization, which he defined as an ongoing process of expressing oneself to the fullest extent possible in a way that is personally fulfilling. Rogers (1961) advocated that people find purpose or meaning to their lives when they are given the freedom to be whom and what they are on a

16 continuous basis and Locke (1975) advocated that people endeavor to reach their goals to satisfy their own emotions and desires. More recently, organizations attempted to attract and retain qualified workers in spite of projected labor shortages and increasing global competition (Chalofsky & Krishna, 2009), yet many workers feel a sense of loss, lack of purpose, lack of trust and commitment, as well as a questioning of whether or not their work is worthwhile. In a study conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) (2008), the top four contributors to employee job satisfaction were identified as job security, benefits, compensation and feeling safe in the work environment. In addition, the SHRM (2008) study identified that five of the top ten motivational contributors to job satisfaction were opportunities to use skills and abilities; relationship with immediate supervisor; the work itself; meaningfulness of the job; and flexibility to balance life and work issues. Results of the SHRM (2008) study indicated that people desire to be part of an organization that cares about them, supports their growth through skill and knowledge development, and most importantly of all, encourages them to use their skills and abilities in a way that is meaningful. Chalofsky and Krishna (2009) suggested that motivation is focused on the accomplishment of the task, whereas meaning is related to satisfaction at both the intrinsic and extrinsic levels, where the intrinsic motivation is related to the meaning of the work itself to the individual. Csikszentmihalyi (1990) advocated that people are intrinsically motivated by the work itself where individuals feel that they can continue forever in their tasks, wanting to learn additional skills to master even more demanding tasks, rather than by the accomplishment of the task. This phenomenon, called flow by Csikszentmihalyi, is

17 where people are excited, strive for mastery of skills, and identify with the potential for personal growth as long as the work is in progress and are disappointed once the task is finished. The work itself aspect was related to Chalofskys (2003) construct of meaningful work, whereby Chalofsky identified the three themes of sense of self, work itself and the sense of balance that embody a deeper level of motivation over the traditional intrinsic values of sense of accomplishment, pride, praise from a supervisor, and satisfaction of finishing the task. Thomas (2000) suggests that until about ten years ago, managers made decisions about the structure and process of performing work based on the efficiency of performing the tasks and required workers to complete the tasks based on these decisions. However, now organizations need to rely more on individuals to make their own decisions about how the work will be accomplished (Chalofsky & Krishna, 2009), requiring more work autonomy, empowerment, risk taking, creativity and flexibility. Thomas identified what he considers to be four of the most critical intrinsic rewards as sense of meaning and purpose, sense of choice, sense of competence, and sense of progress. While the work related back to Maslows (1971) concept of self-actualization, the focus was on individuals carrying out their lifes purpose through the work itself (Chalofsky & Krishna, 2009). Chalofsky and Krishna (2009) advocated that the primary drivers of commitment are identification with the organizations goals, similarity of individual and organizational goals, and internalization by the individual of the organizations values and mission. Morrow (1993) suggested that there were five universal forms of work commitment, including work ethic endorsement, affective organizational commitment,

18 career commitment, job involvement and continuance organizational commitment. With affective or psychological commitment, Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison and Sowa (1986) suggested that affective commitment is the strongest positive relationship with desirable outcomes, as long as the organization shows its commitment in turn to the employee by providing a supportive work environment. When employees perceive that the organization is providing support, employees realize that the organization cares about them and values the contribution that they are making to the organization (Aselage & Eisenberger, 2003), and appreciates them (Fuller, Barnett, Hester & Relyea, 2003). In turn, employees will be committed to the organization at higher levels than when they do not perceive receiving organizational support (Dressler, 1999). Lockwood (2007) advocated that when employees are engaged, they work harder, were more committed to the organization and were more likely to exceed minimal levels of work to aid the organization in its reach for success. Crabtree (2005) suggested that engaged employees tend to feel that their work actually affects their psychological wellbeing and their physical health in a positive way. In a survey conducted by BlessingWhite (2005), results indicated that some of the employees that were not engaged cared about the organization and the work that they performed, but the employees did not see the relationship between their capabilities and their tasks. The Blessing-White (2005) study also showed that while other organizational members were not frustrated enough to leave the organization, they were waiting for a better fit, and were not committed to either the organization or their work, while the remainder of the employees in the organization were actively looking to leave. On the other hand, in a Blessing-White (2006) survey, engaged employees were proud to work in their organizations and had

19 trust in their immediate supervisors and managers. Overall, employees emotional

connections were positive, and with their commitment to the work and the organization, higher levels of engagement and commitment were realized (Chalofsky & Krishna, 2009). Job Enrichment Ties to Engagement Previously, the study of employee engagement has taken many different paths, and has been related to concepts such as job enrichment. Hackman, Oldham, Janson and Purdy (1975) identified critical psychological states that can influence peoples internal work motivations that take place at a particular moment in time. The Hackman et al. model as shown in Figure 2.1 illustrates the relationship of core job dimensions, critical psychological states and personal work outcomes.
Figure 2.1. Job Enrichme nt Model of Hackman, Oldham, Ja nson and Purdy
Core Job Dimensions Critical Psychological States Personal & Work Outcomes

Skill Variety Task Variety Task Significance Autonomy Experienced Responsibility for Outcomes Of the Work Experienced Meaningfulness of the Work High Internal Work Motivation High Quality Work Performance

High Satisfaction with the Work

Feedback

Knowledge of the Actual Results of the Work Activities

Low Absenteeism and Turnover

Figure 2.1. Relationship among Core Job Dimensions, Critical Psychological States, and O n-the-Job Outcomes. Adapted from A New Strategy for Job Enrichment, by J. R. Hackman, G. Oldham, R. Janson and K. Purdy, 1975, California Management Review, 17, p. 58.

20 This job enrichment model, based on a Motivating Potential Score (MPS), identified the degree to which the characteristics of the job will lead to high internal work motivation (Hackman, Oldham, Janson & Purdy, 1975). In order for the possibility of an individual experiencing meaningfulness of the work, the job being measured must be high in at least one or more of the skill variety, task variety and task significance core dimensions (Hackman et al., 1975). As identified in Figure 2.1, if the job is high in autonomy and feedback as well as skill variety, task variety and task significance, then responsibility for the outcomes of the work and knowledge of the actual results of the work activities are experienced, leading to personal and work outcomes of high internal work motivation, high quality work performance, high satisfaction with the work, and low absenteeism and turnover (Hackman et al., 1975). When the personal and work outcomes are positive, Hackman et al. suggest that individuals will feel good about themselves, and the good feelings will bring about the condition in which the individuals continue to do well to sustain the good feelings, known as inner motivation. The concept of inner motivation was based on the premise that individuals are enthusiastic about their work because of positive internal feelings that result from doing well rather than occurring as a result of external factors such as incentive pay or compliments for the motivation to work successfully (Hackman et al., 1975). In their study with over 1,000 participants utilizing the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) instrument, Hackman, Oldham, Purdy and Janson (1975) found that when all three of the critical psychological states were present, the internal work motivation, work quality and satisfaction were high, while absenteeism and turnover were low. On the

21 other hand, when any one of the psychological states was absent, motivation dropped dramatically, and employees became disengaged (Hackman et al., 1975). Commitment, Involvement and Alienation Ties to Engagement In his early studies of engagement theory, Kahn (1990) tied psychological conditions to engagement and disengagement in the work environment. In this context, Kahn identified engagement as the attachment of the organizational members to their work roles in physical, cognitive and emotional ways, while disengagement is the uncoupling of organizational members from their work roles. When disengagement occured, Kahn suggested that people will withdraw and defend themselves emotionally, cognitively and physically during their role performances. Kahns work built on the concept that people need both self-expression and self-employment in their work lives as a normal part of their work performance as advocated by Alderfer (1985). Kahns work also built on the research of Hackman, Oldham, Janson and Purdy (1975) wherein which the relationship between workers and characteristics of their tasks was used as the basis for job design. By attaching themselves to their work roles to promote connections to work and others in the organization, individuals can have an active and full work role performance (Kahn, 1990). Kahn advocated that people have dimensions of themselves that they prefer to use and express during the course of performing their work role, leading people to drive their personal energies into physical, cognitive and emotional labors as suggested by Hackman and Oldham (1980) in their studies of effort, Lawler and Hall (1970) in their studies of involvement, and Decis (1975) study of intrinsic motivation. Kahn also suggested that combining employment and expression of a persons preferred self

22 resulted in behaviors that bring alive the dynamic relationship of the self to the role in which a person can drive personal energies into role behaviors known as selfemployment, and display the self within the role known as self-expression. Kahn identified that individuals can become physically involved in a given task, whether working alone or with others, and can be connected to others in ways that demonstrate how they think, feel, and display their creativity, beliefs and values. Kahn tied engagement and disengagement concepts together with the idea that people need to be both self-expressive and self-employed in their work performance as a normal course of behavior. Kahn (1990) found that workers were more engaged in their work when they had work that was more meaningful and the workers felt safe in what they were doing. Workers were receptive to investing themselves into the performance of the particular work role when they felt that negative consequences would not result (Kahn, 1990). Using the results from his own ethnographic studies of camp counselors and an architectural firm, Kahn developed his theory based on the person-role relationships in that organizational members take a stance based on the three concepts of commitment, involvement and alienation. Kahn suggested that the relationship of work and work experiences along with peoples attachment or detachment identified how engaged people feel in their work and when people apply more of themselves in the performance of their roles, individuals were more willing to be involved and performed their role better than if they were not willing to be involved. Kahn also suggested that people are hesitant to belong to a group on an ongoing basis and protected themselves from belonging and not belonging based on how they perceived themselves in their work roles, which Kahn

23 referred to as personal engagement. These were the behaviors that people bring into or leave out of their personal selves during the performance of work roles (Kahn, 1990). In later research, Kahn (1992) showed that engagement occurs on two levels. First the individual outcomes were the quality level of an individuals work and the individuals experiences while doing the work and second, at the organizational level when the outcomes were positive growth and productivity (Kahn, 1992). Organizations needed the ideas, self-expression, creativity and inquisitiveness from empowering their members to involve more of themselves in ways to help the organization (Kahn, 1992). Exhaustion, Cynicism and Inefficacy Ties to Engagement Another stream of employee engagement research originated in literature in which burnout was seen as the opposite of engagement. Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001) identified that burnout and engagement are related to the degree of match that occurred between the individual and the domains of the job environment. Further, Maslach et al. suggested that engagement is a work-related state of mind that is not for a specific instance in time, but rather for a constant state of mind not related to a specific event, individual or behavior. Maslach et al. (2001) suggested that the greater the gap between the person and the work environment, the more likelihood burnout would result. Conversely, Maslach et al. suggested that the narrower the gap between the person and the work environment, the more likelihood there would be engagement with the work. The gaps between a person and his or her work environment were caused by many factors including a mismatch between the job and the skills of the worker, insufficient control over the resources needed to do the work, or insufficient authority to perform the work in what the worker perceived as the most efficient method (Maslach et al., 2001).

24 Burnout also was seen as a form of job stress linked to such concepts as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover (Maslach et al., 2001). Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001) suggested that job engagement is associated with six domains: feelings of choice and control: a workload that can be sustained; proper recognition and rewards; fairness and justice; a perception of support from the work organization and peers; and work that is meaningful and valued by the organization. The difference between engagement and burnout was the mediation of the relationship among the six domains and the outcome of work. Maslach et al. (2001) identified burnout dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy as the opposites of the engagement dimensions of energy, involvement and efficacy. To measure the amount of burnout in an organization, Maslach and Jackson (1981) developed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The MBI took into account three components of burnout: exhaustion, cynicism or a distant attitude about the job and reduced professional efficacy. Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001) suggested that burnout took into account that the exhaustion component prompted actions of individuals to distance themselves emotionally and cognitively from their work, most likely to deal with the work overload. By depersonalizing the task at hand, individuals put distance between themselves and the recipients of the service and ignored what made the recipients unique and engaging people. The third aspect, reduced professional efficacy, most often occurred when there was a work situation in which the job demands were so overwhelming that an individual was likely to lose a sense of effectiveness in the job, leading to poor job performance as well as absenteeism, intention to leave the job, and actual turnover. When individuals chose to stay on the job, burnout led to lower

25 productivity, lower effectiveness, decreased job satisfaction, and reduced commitment to the job or the organization. Individuals experiencing burnout also impacted others in the organization by causing disruptions of others job tasks and caused increased personal conflict among their colleagues (Maslach et al., 2001). Vigor, Absorption and Dedication Aspects of Engagement Building on the work of Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter, Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) viewed engagement as a fulfilling state of mind that was characterized by vigor or high levels or energy and mental flexibility, absorption or being fully concentrated and engrossed in ones work, and dedication or a sense of significance, inspiration, pride and challenge. Schaufeli and Bakker saw that the vigor, absorption and dedication dimensions of engagement were not the opposites of the dimensions of burnout, namely, exhaustion or tiredness, cynicism or indifference or distant attitude towards work, and efficacy or social and non-social aspects of occupational accomplishments. Instead, Schaufeli and Bakker suggested that burnout was an erosion of engagement when energy turned into exhaustion, efficacy turned into hopelessness, and involvement turned into cynicism.
Figure 2.2 Research Model of Schaufeli and Bakker. Job Demands

Burnout

Health Problems

Job resources

+
Engagement

+
Turnover Intention

Figure 2.2 The Research Model of Schaufeli and Bakker illustrating the relationship of burnout and engagement with job demands and job resources. Adapted from Job Demands, Job Resources, and Their Relationsip With Burnout and Enga gement: A Multi-Sample Study, by W. B. Schaufeli and A. B. Bakker, 2004, Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, p. 297.

26 In the research model identified in Figure 2.2, Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) defined job demands as continual physical, social, psychological or organizational job efforts that were associated with certain physiological and/or psychological costs as previously identified by Jones and Fletcher (1996). These job demands turned into job stressors when meeting the demands required high effort and were associated with high costs that brought forth negative responses such as anxiety, depression or burnout (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). Job resources referred to the organizational, social, psychological or physical facets of the job that reduced job demands and associated physiological and psychological costs, functioned in achieving work goals, or stimulated personal growth, development and learning (Hobfoll, 2002). In the context of the Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) study, job resources were identified at the task level, such as performance feedback, at the interpersonal level, such as support from colleagues, and at the organizational level, such as supervisory coaching. The Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) model linked job demands with health problems via burnout and was clarified by the Hockey (1997) model of compensatory control that identified a cognitive-emotional framework for understanding how human beings perform under stress. When confronted with high job demands, Hockey identified that employees either accepted a reduction in apparent performance with no increase in costs, or they adopted performance protection strategies that were associated with extra costs. Hockeys research showed that under normal conditions, performance would remain stable and any associated effort remains within reasonable limits, although an increased level of energy was expended. However, when the perceived job demands were too high,

27 there were other possibilities that may occur, such as increased psychological and physiological costs for fatigue and irritability (Hockey, 1997). Also, Hockey advocated that the coping mechanism utilized resulted in reduction of employee performance targets by foregoing accuracy and/or speed, with the performance reduction resulting in complete disengagement from the pursuit of task goals. For their research study, Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) used the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) to measure levels of engagement, while the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measures the burnout dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy. A total of 1698 participants from four different Dutch service organizations were utilized for this research: an insurance company, a pension fund company, a home-care institution and an occupational health and safety service. Schaufeli and Bakker utilized Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for data analyses related to this study and the results of the relationships are shown in Figure 4. Schaufeli and Bakkers research results indicated that there were consistently strong relationships between increased job demands and burnout, and the researchers found that the cross links were much weaker between job resources and burnout, as well as an inverse relationship between engagement and turnover intention. Meaningfulness, Safety and Availability Constructs Relationship to Engagement May, Gilson and Harter (2004) built on the initial work of Kahn (1990) to confirm the relationships of the meaningfulness, availability and safety constructs to employee engagement. May et al. posited that engagement was different from job involvement in that involvement was a result of a conscious judgment about the how the job satisfied the persons abilities and related to ones self-image. Further, May et al. suggested that

28 engagement had to do with how individuals utilized themselves in their job performance, where they actively used emotions and behaviors along with their thought processes. Lastly, May et al. theorized that engagement required the active use of emotions and behaviors along with individual thought processes. A diagram of the path-analytic framework results of the May, Gilson and Harter (2004) research is shown in Figure 2.3.
Figure 2.3. May, Gilson and Harter Frame work of Engagement.
Job Enrichment

Work Role Fit

Meaningfulness

Coworker Relations

Supervisor Relations

Safety

Engagement

Coworker Norms

Self-Consciousness

Resources

Availability

Outside Activities

Figure 2.3. Revised Path-Analytic Framework of Engagement. Adapted from The Psychological Conditions of Meaningfulness, Safety and Availability and the Engagement of the Human Spirit at Work, by D. R. May, R. L. Gilson, and L. M. Harter, 2004, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77, p. 28.

May, Gilson and Harter (2004) found that the presence of all three psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability resulted in significant positive relationships with engagement, with meaningfulness exhibiting the strongest relationship to engagement. Further, May et al. established that job enrichment and work role fit were positively associated with psychological meaningfulness, while rewarding co-workers and having supportive supervision relationships were positively associated with

29 psychological safety. May et al. suggested that individuals must be completely engrossed in their work in order for them to thrive in their work, requiring the engagement of cognitive, physical and emotional dimensions of the workers themselves. When employees were given meaningless work, apathy and detachment from ones work resulted as found by Thomas and Velthouse (1990). May et al. further confirmed that personal fulfillment and motivational qualities associated with meaningful work resulted in feelings of engagement and facilitated motivation and personal growth (Spreitzer, Kizilos & Nason 1997). The main components for the survey questionnaire used by May, Gilson and Harter (2004) were obtained from the updated Job Diagnostic Survey of Hackman and Oldham (1980) measuring job enrichment; the cognitive, emotional and physical engagement components from Kahn (1990) measured psychological safety and availability; and the six items for psychological meaningfulness from Spreitzer (1995). May et al. found that all three psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability related to individuals engagement at work and were important to determine a given individuals level of engagement. The May et al. research was completed at a large insurance firm located in the Midwestern United States and the survey organization consisted of employees and managers across all departments of the administration division. A 79% response rate for the survey was achieved with receipt of 213 completed surveys. All scales used a five-point Likert format. Path analysis utilizing LISREL-8.51 was employed to test the hypotheses and overall model fit. Research results suggested when individuals were insecure about their work roles, the parties did not feel safe at work and direct effects on engagement that were not

30 mediated by availability resulted (May, Gilson & Harter, 2004). The most important finding in this particular research conducted by May et al. pertained to the relationship between resources and engagement. This research showed that when the link between resources and engagement was added in the framework, the relationship between psychological availability and psychological engagement became significant (May et al., 2004). As indicated by May et al., the implications for this research suggested that meaningfulness was linked to other outcomes such as job satisfaction, internal work motivation and turnover cognition, as well as engagement. May et al. (2004) provided evidence that supervisors should attempt to increase meaningfulness by effectively designing the jobs and ensuring that the proper employees were put into the correct work roles. Further, May et al. suggested that developing supportive relationships assisted supervisors in engaging their employees to solve work-related problems, develop new skills and be consistent in their actions. By minimizing emotional, physical and cognitive strain caused by poor job design, May et al. advocated managers maximized the willingness of employees to be engaged in their jobs. Relationship of Social Exchange to Engagement All of the previously identified theories suggested that there were antecedents or psychological conditions that must be present in order for a worker to feel engaged, but none identified why certain people will act in response to these conditions with different degrees of engagement. Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005) suggested that social exchange theory assisted in the identification of the reasons why people were engaged, whereby relationships evolved over time into commitments as long as they parties involved in the relationship submitted to certain rules of exchange, in that the actions of one party led to

31 a response or actions of the other party. Cropanzano and Mitchell theorized that social exchange involved a series of obligations that created additional obligations on one party that were seen as independent and contingent on the actions of another party which had the possibility of producing high-quality relationships. Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005) suggested that these relationships grew over time into ones of trust, loyalty and mutual commitments depending on one of three different postures that the parties in the exchange took toward each other. The first posture independence occurred when the outcomes of the exchange were based solely on the actions of one of the parties (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). In the second posture dependence, the outcomes were based entirely on the other partys efforts and in the third posture interdependence, the outcomes of the exchange were based on a combination of the partys efforts characterized by the fact that one partys actions were contingent on the others behavior and therefore reduced risk and encouraged cooperation (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). There were different levels of reciprocity between the parties and studies by Clark and Mills (1979) advocated that those individuals that were high in an exchange orientation carefully tracked obligations, while those low in exchange orientation were less concerned about obligations and were less likely to care if a reciprocal exchange did not occur. When individuals perceived receipt of organizational support, they were more likely to return the gesture (Cropanzano & Mitchell, 2005). When there was positive organizational support, workers were more likely to engage in organizational citizenship behavior (Lynch, Eisenberger & Armeli, 1999), reduced absenteeism (Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison & Sowa, 1986), and higher job performance (Randall,

32 Cropanzano, Bormann & Birjulin, 1999). In fact, employees were prone to exchange their commitment for an employers support and organizational support was seen as a strong predictor of commitment (Cropanzano, Howes, Grandey & Toth, 1997). Bishop, Scott and Burroughs (2000) maintained that positive organizational support resulted in organizational commitment and in turn, predicted turnover intentions and organizational citizenship behavior. Howes, Cropanzano, Grandey and Mohler (2000) found three types of support in a survey conducted with 136 state workers divided into 25 quality teams. The types of support were organizational support for the individual, team support for the individual, and organizational support for the team (Howes et al., 2000). Results of the work by Howes et al. showed that organizational support for the individual was the best predictor of organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Committed workers were more eager to maintain their associations and were more motivated on behalf of their employers, which also was supported in studies by Molm (2003), showing relationships characterized by trust and commitment developed from the success of reciprocal relationships such as social exchange. Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Engagement Saks (2006) suggested that neither the Kahn (1990) nor the Maslach, Schaufeli and Bakker (2001) engagement models addressed the psychological conditions or predecessors that were necessary for engagement. Further, Saks advocated that neither model explains why people responded to a given set of conditions or previous circumstances with varying degrees of engagement. Instead, Saks proposed that engagement was more closely related to social exchange theory as identified by Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005), whereby responsibilities were created through a series

33 of interactions between people that were dependent on each other to accomplish the work. As an example, Cropanzano and Mitchell identified that when individual received economic or socioeconomic resources from the organization, the individual felt obligated to reciprocate by performing an action that was beneficial to the organization. This related to Kahns (1990) model where employees felt obligated to bring themselves more fully into their work performance as compensation for the resources and benefits they had received from the organization and if the organization did not provide these resources, individuals felt more likely to disengage from their work roles. Saks (2006) proposed his own model of employee engagement consisting of antecedents such as job characteristics, perceived organizational support, perceived supervisor support, rewards and recognition, procedural justice and distributive justice. When employees perceived these positive antecedents, employee engagement resulted at both the job and organizational levels and consequences for employee engagement such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and low intentions to quit resulted (Saks, 2006). A pictorial representation of the Saks model was shown previously in Figure 1.1. Saks (2006) used job characteristics as antecedents that were similar to those of Hackman, Oldham, Janson and Purdys (1975) core job dimensions to identify those conditions necessary to have either individual or organization engagement. Based on the research of Hackman and Oldman (1980), the relationship of workers and the characteristics of the work they performed were studied and results indicated that the psychological experience of the work itself drove peoples attitudes, with individual, interpersonal, group, and organizational factors influencing an individuals work

34 experience. In addition, Hackman and Oldham advocated that there were critical psychological states influencing a persons internal work motivations, and that these states were dynamic rather than static. In other words, given a certain set of conditions being met, the person engaged in moments of task behaviors in much the same manner as the employee engagement constructs advocated by Saks. Building on the work of Kahn (1990), Saks showed that jobs high in core job characteristics provided the opportunity for individuals to identify more with their work and be more engaged. When this support was not present, burnout resulted as theorized by Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001). When people felt that they had some control over their work, they tended to feel safer than when the manager was reluctant to allow some degree of control by the employee and when there was reluctance, the employee did not feel trusted and was afraid to act for fear of overstepping boundaries established by the manager (Saks, 2006). This resulted in people having a difficult time in trusting their managers for work assignments and levels of control and caused people to feel unsure about investing themselves in the organization (Saks, 2006). As Kahns (1990) research has shown, when an employee received care and support from their organization and direct supervisor, psychological safety resulted and led to work environments that were differentiated by openness and supportiveness. Social support was also a component of both the Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter (2001) and the Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) models and both studies showed support from the organization predicted engagement. People needed to feel that their managers were capable enough and secure enough in their own ideas to create channels along which subordinates could safely travel (Kahn, 1990).

35 Saks (2006) found that employees who perceived that they we receiving higher levels of organizational support were ore likely to respond by being more engaged in their job and the organization. A similar result was found in the studies conducted by Rhoades and Eisenberger (2002) showing that employees tended to view the level of supervisor support as indicative of organizational support that could help to determine an employees level of engagement. As previously identified in Cropanzano and Mitchells (2005) social exchange theory, positive organizational support created an obligation by the employee to care about the organizations well-being and, therefore, the employee helped the organization to reach its objectives (Rhoades, Eisenberger and Armeli, 2001). In addition, Bates (2004) and Frank, Finnegan and Taylor (2004) advocated that the root of employee disengagement would be the perceived lack of support for employees from first-line supervisors. As another part of the antecedents, Saks (2006) identified distributive and procedural justice as the degree to which an organization was predictable and consistent in the distribution of rewards and the procedures used to allocate them. In his research, Saks found that positive procedural justice was a good indicator of organization engagement and employees that perceived higher levels of procedural justice were more likely to return greater organizational engagement. Saks (2006) built on the work of Rhoades, Eisenberger and Armeli (2001) that suggested when employees observed high levels of justice in their organization, they were more likely to be fair in how they performed their own roles in support of the organization and the level to which they were engaged. If employees did not feel that justice and rewards were being fairly distributed throughout the organization, they

36 withdrew and disengaged from the organization (Rhoades et al., 2001); and this perceived lack of fairness accelerated burnout. In addition, Kahn (1990) suggested that people vary in the degree to which they feel engaged based on their perception of benefits they will receive from performing a particular role. Rhoades et al. identified suggested that organizations must be consistent in the administration of rewards and justice as the individuals perceptions were related to outcomes such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior and ultimately, feeling engaged in their work. Building on the previous work of Kahn (1990, 1992), Saks (2006) advocated when the antecedents identified previously were present, the individuals felt rewarded when people experienced favorable interactions with their co-workers. These feelings of reward led to a sense of engagement, resulting in the individual having feelings of dignity, self-appreciation and self-worth, promoting a relationship where people wanted to give to and receive from others in the organization (Saks, 2006). When the antecedents were present and either employee and/or organization engagement also were present, Kahn (1990) identified four consequences of engagement that would result and identified them as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior, and lower intention to quit. Saks (2006) found that employees who perceived greater organizational support were more likely to respond with higher levels of engagement in both their job and their organization. Also, Saks found that employees who had a better relationship with their supervisor would have more positive attitudes and behaviors leading to lower turnover intentions, and job and organization engagement were negatively related to intention to quit.

37 For his research, Saks (2006) used responses from 102 individuals surveyed for employee work experiences and attitudes. To measure the job and organization engagement constructs, Saks developed two six-item scales to assess the individuals psychological presence in their job and organization. Principal component factor analysis with a promax rotation identified two factors that corresponded to job engagement and organization engagement and multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the study hypotheses (Saks, 2006). For the antecedents of engagement, Saks (2006) used six items from Hackman and Oldham (1980) that corresponded to the core job characteristics of task identity, skill variety, task significance, autonomy, feedback from others, and feedback from the job measured on a 7-point Likert scale. Perceived Organizational Support (POS) was measured utilizing the eight-item short form of the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (SPOS) and Perceived Supervisory Support (PSS) was measured utilizing a fouritem survey developed by Rhoades and Eisenberger (2002). For the POS and PSS portions of the survey, respondents answered utilizing a 5-point Likert scale, while the Colquitt (2001) seven and four-item scales were utilized for the procedural justice and distributive portions of the survey measured on a 5-point Likert scale. For the consequences of engagement, job satisfaction was measured utilizing the Cammann, Fichman, Jenkins and Klesh (1983) Michigan Organizational Assessment Questionnaire, while organizational commitment was measured utilizing the six-item affective commitment scale of Rhoades, Eisenberger, and Armeli (2001). Organizational citizenship behavior was measured utilizing the two four-item scales of individual and

38 organization from Lee and Allen (2002). For all of the survey items, respondents answered using 5-point Likert scales. Results of the Saks (2006) research indicated a significant moderate correlation between job and organization engagements, with higher job engagement than organization engagement. In addition, the research showed a significant relationship between the antecedents and both job and organization engagement, as well as being positively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior, while being negatively related to intention to quit (Saks, 2006). Summary This literature review has brought together the main concepts of employee engagement to identify how these theories related to the conceptual model presented in Chapter I. These theories had antecedents in resources such as task or job characteristics, with measures of co-worker relationships and a tie to supervisor interactions. The antecedents then related to engagement, either at the job or organizational level. Finally, the engagement constructs related to outcomes or consequences such as turnover intention, job satisfaction, burnout, commitment, and motivation. Throughout the reviewed literature, it was shown that job and/or organization engagement were directly related to an individuals attitudes, behaviors and intentions and showed that the more positive the response, the more likelihood the result would be employee engagement. The methodology was identified in the next chapter for measuring the variables defined in the conceptual empirical model in Chapter I and utilized many of the constructs identified in the literature review. In addition, the methodologies for collecting quantitative and qualitative data and analyzing the data in connection with the

39 research questions identified in Chapter I and hypotheses identified in Chapter III were presented.

40 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY Introduction The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship among the antecedents, engagement and consequences constructs of the research model identified in Chapter I, Figure 1.2. Specifically, this research examined the research questions and the associated hypotheses for the variables kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision, financial rewards, company identification, co-workers and career future. In addition, the target population, research design, the usage of each variable, the survey instrument and its previous validity and reliability, and data collection techniques were presented. A summary follows at the conclusion of the chapter. Research Questions and Hypotheses This research study investigated the following three research questions and 17 related hypotheses: Research Question 1: Are the antecedents of the IOR (kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to employee engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers)? H1: The antecedents of the IOR have a positive relationship to employee engagement. H1a: The antecedent of IOR kind of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification.

41 H1b: The antecedent of IOR amount of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. H1c: The antecedent of IOR physical work conditions construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. H1d: The antecedent of IOR supervision construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. H1e: The antecedent of IOR financial rewards construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. H1f: The antecedent of IOR kind of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. H1g: The antecedent of IOR amount of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. H1h: The antecedent of IOR physical work conditions construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. H1i: The antecedent of IOR supervision construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. H1j: The antecedent of IOR financial rewards construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. Research Question 2: Are the antecedents of the IOR model (kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to consequences (career future)? H2: The antecedents of the IOR have a positive relationship to consequences.

42 H2a: The antecedent of IOR kind of work construct has a positive relationship to consequences construct career future. H2b: The antecedent of IOR amount of work construct has a positive relationship to consequences construct career future. H2c: The antecedent of IOR physical work conditions construct has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. H2d: The antecedent of IOR supervision construct has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. H2e: The antecedent of IOR financial rewards construct has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Research Question 3: Are the employee engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers) related to consequences (career future)? H3: The employee engagement constructs of the IOR have a positive relationship to consequences. H3a: The employee engagement construct of IOR company identification has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. H3b: The employee engagement construct of IOR co-workers has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Target Population The research contained within this study showed how engaged individuals are with their organization and co-workers. The individuals for this research study were from a program management office supporting a large Department of Defense contract.

43 The 291 members of the organization were a combination of military, government and contractor personnel. As mentioned in Chapter I, this organization was chosen based on the studies of Wilson (2003), Thompson (2008) and Zeller (2004) that noted the potential crisis of massive departures by the Federal Government workforce. In a study conducted in 2002 but reported in 2003, Earle showed that a 33% rise in the demand for talent would be expected over the next 15 years, with a 15% drop in the availability of talent, which may be due in large part to the beginning of the retirement of the baby boomer generation. Every day 10,000 baby boomers turn 55, and workers in the same age category were not expected to replace them, (Piktialis & Morgan, 2003), resulting in the number of workers in the prime-age category decreasing by approximately 15%, while demand for talented/ skilled workers would increase by 25%. Retiree projections as retrieved from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for the Federal Government website for the fiscal years 2009-2018 are shown in Table 3.1. These projections indicate that the level of retirements may continue to trend upward through 2015, with a slight downturn beginning in 2016. Table 3.1 Federal Government Retiree Projections Fiscal Years 2009-2018
Actuals Supervisory Status Non-Supervisory Supervisory Total 2008 1,419,388 216,827 1,636,215 2009 48,818 11,110 59,928 2010 49,430 11,143 60,573 2011 49,655 11,070 60,725 2012 49,316 10,887 60,203 Retiree Projections 2013 48,709 10,578 59,287 2014 47,922 10,225 58,147 2015 47,057 9,829 56,886 2016 46,079 9,432 55,511 2017 45,066 9,008 54,074 2018 43,880 8,580 52,460

Note. Adapted from U. S. Office of Personnel Management Table 1 Retirement Projections FY 2009 through 2018 for full-time permanent employees on-board as of October 1, 2008.

44 According to the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data supplied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2009) as shown in Table 3.2, the job openings rate rose significantly for 2008, while layoffs and discharges fell significantly for Federal Government personnel. These trends are the exact opposite of what is occurring in other industries as a result of recessionary trends in other economic statistics such as the Consumer Confidence Index (Klemmer, 2009) and employees delaying their retirements as a result of the economy. Table 3.2 Hires, Quits, Layoffs, Discharges and Other Separations 2001-2008
Federal Government Employment (in Thousands) Category Hires Total Separations1 Quits Levels2 Layoffs and Discharges3 Other Separations4 2001 502 513 244 113 158 2002 593 559 267 143 148 2003 530 574 254 160 162 2004 503 549 204 162 182 2005 511 507 195 166 148 2006 714 715 324 190 203 2007 853 819 284 224 310 2008 333 329 105 111 114

Notes. Adapted from U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 2009, Tables 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 1 Includes all quits (voluntary separations), layoffs and discharges (involuntary separations), and other separations (including retirements) 2 Includes all voluntary separations by employees except retirements 3 Includes all involuntary separations of layoffs and discharges initiated by the employer and includes layoffs with no intent to rehire 4 Includes retirements, transfers to other locations, deaths and separations due to disability

Based on the figures identified in Table 3.2, the level of separations is almost equal to the hires on an annual basis, and therefore, there are shortages throughout the Federal Government in many key areas. This would be exacerbated by the projected level of retirements shown in Table 3.1. The organization being surveyed as part of this research has a high percentage of personnel eligible for retirement and was therefore

45 interested in determining how many people were seriously thinking about retirement in the next few years. Research Design The study used a combined quantitative and qualitative research design, with the quantitative portion based on the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) survey instrument. The survey instrument consisted of two parts with the first part containing the 42 IOR questions utilizing a 5-point Likert scale. The second part contained eight demographic questions based on the participating organizations requirements. These demographics allowed for a further breakdown of the results for both this research study as well as the follow-up analysis to be done with the target organization for their needs to identify areas for improvement. No identifying indicators were kept to link the source of the responses to the individual, assuring participants that their responses were anonymous. The qualitative portion of the survey instrument was derived from the comments associated with each survey item as entered by the respondents. The comments were analyzed utilizing a case study approach for similarities to the quantitative portion as well as for any discrepancies with the quantitative portion. Instrumentation Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used for this research. For the quantitative portion, an existing survey instrument was utilized, namely the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) developed in 1976 by Frank J. Smith for Sears, Roebuck and Company. Employee attitude surveys for Sears were conducted beginning in 1938 and have been used consistently over the years since that time (Jacoby, 1986). The Sears

46 program was an outgrowth of the employee interviewing and counseling research conducted earlier at the Western Electric Company that made significant academic contributions to motivation and organizational theories, along with improvements to attitude survey methodology (Jacoby, 1986). Validity and Reliability Dunham, Smith and Blackburn (1977) validated the IOR through comparison with the Job Descriptive Index (JDI), the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and the Faces Scales. In the Dunham et al. research, 12,971 respondents were selected from almost a quarter of a million workers to maximize generalization capabilities. 42 questions were sub-divided into the eight facets of job satisfaction identified as variables for this research, i.e., kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision, financial rewards, company identification, co-workers, and career future. The internal consistency reliability of the eight facets ranged from .68 to .91 in the Dunham et al. study. Lee (1984) extracted the same eight facets used in the Dunham et al. (1977) study and used a varimax rotation. The internal consistency reliability in the Lee study ranged from .78 and .93. Based on the results of the Lee study, the eight-factor structure suggested by the eight subscales or facets were the most appropriate and were used in this research as well. Later, Goffin and Jackson (1988) tested the structure validity of the IOR utilizing a random sample of 445 employees in a large financial instruction. The structural component of validity determined the degree to which the empirical factor structure of the scale corresponds with the theoretical organization of the constructs being measured The

47 by the scale (Loevinger, 1967). Through the application of covariance structure fit indices, Goffin and Jackson (1988) found that the structure of the eight facets of job satisfaction was the most appropriate factor model, confirming what Lee found in his earlier research. While the IOR was originally used to test job satisfaction facets, it was used in this research to test the constructs of employee engagement. Research conducted by Cropanzano and Mitchell (2005) with social exchange theory, and Hackman, Oldham Janson and Purdy (1975) with job enrichment have utilized similar constructs to those presented in the IOR. The qualitative portion of the survey was gathered by allowing the survey participants to provide additional comments with each item within the survey. These comments were analyzed utilizing a case study approach for common themes and will be compared to the survey results obtained through quantitative means. Operationalization of Variables The following section discussed the operationalization of each of the variables in the study. The independent variables included kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision, and financial rewards. Company identification and coworkers served as both dependent and independent variables. When company identification and co-workers were used as dependent variables, they were for the exploration of the relationships with the antecedents of the IOR, while their use as independent variables was for the exploration of the relationship with the consequence of career future. Each variable was explained in further detail below.

48 Kind of Work Kind of work was used as an independent variable and measured the employees attitudes toward the type of work they were asked to perform. It was measured on a 5point Likert scale using items 12-17 from the IOR survey instrument. Physical Work Conditions Physical work conditions was used as an independent variable and measured the employees viewpoint of the work environment in which they were being asked to perform their work, and how this work environment impacted their job performance. It will be measured on a 5-point Likert scale using items 27-32 from the IOR survey instrument. Supervision Supervision was used as an independent variable and was used to identify the relationship of the employee to the supervisor based on IOR items 1-6 measured on a 5point Likert scale. Amount of Work Amount of work was used as an independent variable and measured the employees perceptions of the workload they were expected to perform. It was measured on a 5-point Likert scale using items 18-21 from the IOR. Financial Rewards Financial rewards was used as an independent variable and was used to identify the employees position regarding the relationship of the job performed to the amount of monetary compensation received based on items 33-37 from the IOR measured on a 5point Likert scale.

49 Company Identification Company identification was used as a dependent variable when exploring its relationship with kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards. Company identification was used as an independent variable when exploring its relationship with career future. In both cases, company identification explored the employees relationship and commitment to the work organization based on responses to items 7-11 from the IOR measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Co-Workers Co-workers was used as a dependent variable when exploring its relationship with kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards. Co-workers was used as an independent variable when exploring its relationship with career future, and gauged the employees attitude about relationships with other employees and the overall success of the organization based on responses to items 22-26 of the IOR measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Career Future Career future was used as a dependent variable and identified the employees outlook on career prospects based on items 38-42 from the IOR measured on a 5-point Likert scale. Data Collection The researcher collected the survey data by providing access for the target population to a private website on the Internet. The survey participants were notified by their senior management of the existence of the survey and how to access the website. The website was made available during a specific 10 day period that was identified in the

50 e-mail. Consent for participation in the survey was obtained by clicking on an I Agree button in the introduction of the survey instrument on the website. As the survey participation time proceeded, email reminders were sent to the survey participants to assist in maximum participation. The survey respondents were assured of the anonymity of their participation as only aggregate information was provided as part of the briefing to the organizations senior management. For each survey item, five responses were provided, allowing only one response per item. In each question, additional space was made available to allow the participants to enter any written comments they would like to provide. Qualitative responses were voluntary on the part of each participant, and addressed any aspect of the question the participant cared to discuss. The written comments were part of the case study analysis of the qualitative survey results. At the end of the 42 survey questions, an additional eight demographic questions were provided to further differentiate the survey results. Data Analysis and Statistical Techniques At the end of the survey participation period, the results were exported from the private website to an Excel file. The quantitative data was coded and tabulated and imported into SPSS. The Statistical Package and Product Solutions (SPSS) analysis tool was used for this research. The researcher summarized the quantitative responses using descriptive statistics. The reliability of the instrument was verified using Cronbachs alpha allowing for a comparison to previous studies that utilized the IOR. In a similar manner to previous studies, factor analysis of the results was conducted using a varimax rotation to maximize the dispersion of loadings within each of the factors. ANOVA was

51 used to explore the impact of gender in the study. Finally, Pearson correlation analysis was used to test the relationships of the variables in the hypotheses. Limitations This research study was limited to those members of the government organization previously identified. As a result, the value of this study to other organizations outside of the Federal Government is reduced. As always, the quality of the results was based on the number and accuracy of the respondents. Summary This chapter presented the methodology that was used for this research study. The research questions and their associated hypotheses, along with information regarding the target population, research design, instrumentation, operationalization of the variables, data collection method, data analysis and limitations of the study have been presented.

52 CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS Introduction This chapter discusses the analysis of the study and presents the findings. The analysis includes a discussion of the demographics of the sample population as well as the results of the hypotheses testing. The researcher will replicate statistical methods used by other researchers utilizing either the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR), the primary survey instrument for this study or the Saks model of employee engagement. These methods include confirmatory factor analysis with varimax rotation, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and Pearson correlation. In addition, qualitative results will be presented based on the written comments received during the respondents survey participation (see Appendix A for the survey instrument). The researcher has derived the findings reported in this chapter from the primary data collected from the survey conducted with the members of the program management office supporting a multimillion dollar Department of Defense contract. A summary concludes the chapter. Data Collection Procedures The researcher sent an e-mail message to the 291 members of the organization identifying a link to the survey website. QuestionPro software was utilized to administer the survey. The initial e-mail was followed by three subsequent e-mails reminding the members of the organization of the purpose of the survey and the window of opportunity to participate. As a result, the researcher received 177 responses through the web-based survey for a response rate of 60.8%. Entries for the numerical 177 responses were validated as data was entered via the website; therefore, there were no invalid or missing

53 responses to prevent use of all responses received. Written comments were provided on some or all of the survey items on 52 of the 177 responses. The comments were analyzed utilizing a case study approach to provide additional insight into the results from the quantitative data. Data Preparation At the conclusion of the survey period, the survey response information was extracted from QuestionPro and downloaded into an Excel spreadsheet. Prior to performing the statistical work necessary to support this research, preliminary processing was necessary as follows. First, the quantitative data for the survey item responses and demographic items were separated from the qualitative data in order to simplify processing in SPSS. Second, coding was reversed on 21 of the 42 survey items to allow for uniformity in the minimum and maximum values on each of the survey question responses. Last in the preprocessing of the quantitative data was the summing and averaging of the individual items that belonged to each sub-scale to create the eight variables for subsequent statistical processing. The technique of summing and averaging the survey items to create the sub-scale variables is consistent with the work performed by Smith (1976) as part of the original validation of the survey instrument. Demographics This section describes the sample population and associated demographic data. Frequency distributions and descriptives are provided for the following variables: age, gender, employment status, supervisory/management, number of years with the current organization, total number of years of working experience excluding the present organization, directorate and level of education. In addition, this section will provide

54 descriptive statistics for the supervision, kind of work, amount of work, co-workers, financial rewards, career future, physical working conditions, and company identification variables. Table 4.1 provides descriptive statistics for the demographics presented in tables 4.2-4.9. Table 4.1 Demographic Descriptives
Demographic Gender Age Status Supervisor Program Years Employment Years Directorate Education Level Minimum 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Maximum 2 6 3 2 4 7 9 6 Mean 1.21 4.54 1.50 1.66 2.42 4.95 4.51 3.86 Standard Deviation .412 1.430 .777 .477 .926 1.841 2.154 1.198

The results of this research indicate that the average respondent was male, over 51 years of age, a government employee, was not a supervisor/manager, had 1-5 years experience with the organization being surveyed, had more than 30 years of total work experience, excluding the present organization, worked for either the APM-Electrical Systems or Logistics organization, and had a bachelors degree. In tables 4.2-4.9, each of the descriptives will be presented along with their frequency distribution. Table 4.2 shows the frequency distribution for the gender of the respondents.

55 Table 4.2 Frequency Distribution Gender

Gender Valid Male Female Total Frequency 139 38 177 Percent 78.5 21.5 100.0 Valid Percent 78.5 21.5 100.0 Cumulative Percent 78.5 100.0

Table 4.2 shows that 78.5% of the respondents indicated that they were male, while the remaining 21.5% indicated that they are female. According to the U. S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS) (2008), conducted with 212,223 survey respondents, more federal government workers are male than female, 52% versus 48%. For this research, the male to female ratio was much higher, but still reasonable since males have historically held more military and government jobs than females. Table 4.3 summarizes the frequency distribution for the ages of the respondents. Table 4.3 Frequency Distribution Age
Age Valid 18-25 26-30 31-39 40-45 46-50 51+ Total Frequency 5 12 28 34 34 64 177 Percent 2.8 6.8 15.8 19.2 19.2 36.2 100.0 Valid Percent 2.8 6.8 15.8 19.2 19.2 36.2 100.0 Cumulative Percent 2.8 9.6 25.4 44.6 63.8 100.0

56 Table 4.3 shows that 36.2% of the respondents are 51 years of age and older, while 19.2% of the respondents were in the 46-50 years of age range. Combined with the 40-45 years of age indicates that 74.6% of the respondents are older than 40 years of age. In the FHCS, the ages of respondents were 1% under the age of 25, 3% ages of 26-29, 14% ages of 30-39, 31% ages of 40-49, 39% ages 50-59, and 12% 60 and older. In comparing the results of this research and the FHCS, the distribution, particularly in the ages 40-49 range, and the age range 50 and greater are very similar. Therefore, this distribution is very reasonable considering that much of the federal government workforce is eligible to retire within the next several years, as evidenced by a question from the same survey that showed that at least 29% of the U. S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) FHCS respondents are planning to retire in the next five years. This is also consistent with the tenure in Federal Government statistics from the same survey that shows 42% of that surveys respondents had more than 20 years of Federal Government service. Table 4.4 summarizes the frequency distribution of the employment type of the individuals in the organization. Table 4.4 Frequency Distribution Status Status
Valid Government Military Contractor Total Frequency 120 26 31 177 Percent 67.8 14.7 17.5 100.0 Valid Percent 67.8 14.7 17.5 100.0 Cumulative Percent 67.8 82.5 100.0

57 Table 4.4 indicates that 67.8% of the respondents were government employees, while 14.7% represent active duty military personnel. This distribution is reasonable for the given population. Much of the work to support a program management office is accomplished via government workers, with contractor supplemental staff where required. In addition, military personnel may be necessary to support certain aspects of the program being managed and this organization seemed to have the appropriate distribution of personnel. Table 4.5 summarizes the frequency distribution for whether or not personnel are currently in a position of management or supervisory responsibility. Table 4.5 Frequency Distribution Management/Supervisory Responsibility
Management/ Supervisory Responsibility Valid Valid Percent 34.5 65.5 100.0 Cumulative Percent 34.5 100.0

Frequency 61 116 177

Percent 34.5 65.5 100.0

Yes No

Total

Table 4.5 shows that only 34.5% of the respondents currently have management or supervisory responsibilities within the surveyed organization. In the responses for the OPM FHCS, the distribution of supervisory versus non-supervisory was 44% versus 56%. In this research, supervisory personnel may be underrepresented, but the distribution still is reasonable for the respondent population. Table 4.6 summarizes the frequency distribution for the number of years of experience on the current defense acquisition program.

58 Table 4.6 Frequency Distribution Number of Years Experience on Current Program Years on Current Program
Valid Valid Percent 15.3 42.9 26.6 15.3 100.0 Cumulative Percent 15.3 58.2 84.7 100.0

Frequency

Percent 15.3 42.9 26.6 15.3 100.0

<1 1-5
6-10 >10

27 76 47 27 177

Total

Table 4.6 shows that 58.2% of the respondents have been with this defense acquisition program for five years or less. The frequency distribution is reasonable given the population, as many government workers are moved to different programs as the defense acquisition lifecycle progresses from design through development, production and ongoing maintenance. In addition, this program has been in existence for 14 years, so organizational members with 6-10 years experience and greater than 10 years experience are particularly relevant and important to the ongoing success of the program. Table 4.7 summarizes the frequency distribution for total work years of experience, excluding the current acquisition program.

59 Table 4.7 Frequency Distribution Number of Years of Total Work Experience

Years Total Work Experience < 5 Years 6-10 Years 11-15 Years 16-20 Years 21-25 Years 26-30 Years > 30 Years Total Valid Percent 5.6 6.8 10.2 14.7 18.6 15.3 28.8 100.0 Cumulative Percent 5.6 12.4 22.6 37.3 55.9 71.2 100.0

Valid

Frequency

10
12 18 26 33 27 51 177

Percent 5.6 6.8 10.2 14.7 18.6 15.3 26.8 100.0

Table 4.7 shows that 62.7% of the organization have more than 20 years of work experience excluding the current acquisition program, with 26.8% having more than 30 years of work experience, indicating a workforce with significant previous work experience. This frequency distribution is reasonable considering the organization being surveyed. Table 4.8 summarizes the frequency distribution for the directorate organizations of the respondents.

60 Table 4.8 Frequency Distribution Directorate

Frequency 13 24 23 31 31 25 8 14 8 177 Percent 7.3 13.6 13.0 17.5 17.5 14.1 4.5 7.9 4.5 100.0 Valid Percent 7.3 13.6 13.0 17.5 17.5 14.1 4.5 7.9 4.5 100.0 Cumulative Percent 7.3 20.9 33.9 51.4 68.9 83.1 87.6 95.5 100.0

Directorate

Valid Front Office & PMT

ABM APM Mechanical Systems APM Electrical Systems Logistics Systems Engineering

Manufacturing & Quality

Test Amphibious Vehicle Test Branch (AVTB) Total

Table 4.8 shows that the APM-Electrical Systems and Logistics development directorates provided the greatest number of respondents to the survey each with 17.5% of the total, while the ABM, APM-Mechanical Systems and Systems Engineering development directorates provided 13.6%, 13% and 14.1% respectively, for an overall total of 76.8% of the respondents. The remaining directorates provide support functions to the five directorates mentioned above, which is appropriate since the heaviest concentration of directorate respondents would be in the development areas, not the support functions. Table 4.9 summarizes the frequency distribution for the education level of the respondents.

61 Table 4.9 Frequency Distribution Education Level

Education Level Frequency 8 Percent 4.5 Valid Percent 4.5 Cumulative Percent 4.5

Valid High School Diploma

College Credits, but no Degree Associate Degree Bachelors Degree Masters Degree Doctoral Degree Total

28 6 75 58 2 177

15.8 3.4 42.4 32.8 1.1 100.0

15.8 3.4 42.4 32.8 1.1 100.0

20.3 23.7 66.1 98.9 100.0

Table 4.9 reflects the education level with the highest number of respondents is a bachelors degree at 42.4%, with the second highest level of education as a masters degree at 32.8%. These numbers reflect a highly educated workforce that represents more than 75% of the entire surveyed organization. In a survey conducted with 376 government workers by Bright (2009), similar levels of education were encountered at the high school diploma (4.3% versus 4.5%), but the current research has a much more educated work force with 42.4% at the bachelors level versus the Bright study at 36.4%, and at the masters level at 33.9% versus 21.9%. Considering that the federal government and military both provide tuition assistance to their workforces, these numbers are reasonable. Table 4.10 reflects the descriptive statistics for each of the variables that will be used in the hypotheses testing.

62 Table 4.10 Variable Descriptives

Standard Deviation .99540 .84767 .99572 .70478 .61463 .70325 .67504 .71437

Variable Supervision Company Identification Kind of Work Amount of Work Co-Workers Physical Work Conditions Financial Rewards Career Future

Mean 3.7176 3.6316 3.9334 3.5339 3.7638 3.6066 3.8452 3.6113

Reliability Reliability is used to measure the consistency of the construct that is being tested (Field, 2005). This means that individual items or sets of items should produce results consistent with the overall questionnaire. One of the most common approaches for reliability testing is the use of Cronbachs alpha. Cronbach (1951) developed the following equation to calculate reliability of a particular scale: ___ N Cov ___________________
2

s2item + Cov item The calculation of Cronbachs alpha is performed by dividing the number of items (N) squared multipled by the average covariance between items by the sum of all of the

63 elements in the variance-covariance matrix. For this research, the Cronbachs alpha obtained was .871 and is in the same range as the reliability found in other studies performed by Dunham Smith and Blackburn (1977) of .68 to .91, and the Lee studies (1984) where the results ranged from .78 to .93. Confirmatory Factor Analysis In previous research, Dunham, Smith and Blackburn (1977) used confirmatory factor analysis to validate the structure of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) instrument itself. Confirmatory factor analysis is a technique used for identifying groups or clusters of variables whereby specific hypotheses about the structure and the relations between the latent variables that underlie the data can be tested (Field, 2005). For this analysis, the entire 42 survey items were used to replicate the testing previously performed by Lee (1984) and Dunham et al. to determine whether or not similar factor loadings could be obtained. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) and Bartletts Test The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Measure of Sampling represents the ratio of the squared correlation between variables to the squared partial correlation between variables. It varies between 0 and 1, where a value close to 1 indicates that patterns of correlations are relatively compact and should yield distinct and reliable factors (Field, 2005). According to Hutcheson and Sofroniou (1999), values between 0.5 and 0.7 are mediocre, between 0.7 and 0.8 are good, values between 0.8 and 0.9 are great, and above 0.9 are superb. Results for this research are identified in Table 4.11, and show that the KMO measure of sampling adequacy falls into the great range, as identified by

64 Hutcheson and Sofrinou, which indicates that the sample size is adequate to yield distinct and reliable factors. Table 4.11 KMO and Bartletts Test
Approx. Chi-Square

Mean Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy Bartletts Test of Sphericity .875

df

Significance

5604.025

861

.000

Bartletts Test determines whether the correlations between survey items are large enough for factor analysis to be appropriate, i.e., whether or not the correlation matrix is sufficiently different from the identity matrix, testing whether the diagonal elements of the variance-covariance matrix are equal indicating the group variances are the same, and that the off-diagonal elements are approximately zero indicating that the dependent variables are not correlated. In this research, the Bartletts test results indicate that Chisquare statistic is 5604.025 with significance less than 0.001 indicating that the population in this research is a correlation matrix not an identity matrix. Communalities Communalities represent the proportion of a variables variance that is common variance (Field, 2005). A variable with no unique variance would have a communality of 1, and a variable that shares none of its variance with any other variable would have a communality of 0. The communalities for this research are presented in Table 4.12.

65 Table 4.12 Communalities

Initial 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 Extraction .810 .836 .816 .723 .807 .704 .724 .860 .695 .793 .680 .744 .644 .797 .753 .703 .748 .545 .696 .686 .750 .806 .685 .662 .617 .679 .649 .721 .784 .780 .729 .697 .774 .735 .714 .576 .782 .749 .630 .740 .683 .812

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 Q19 Q20 Q21 Q22 Q23 Q24 Q25 Q26 Q27 Q28 Q29 Q30 Q31 Q32 Q33 Q34 Q35 Q36 Q37 Q38 Q39 Q40 Q41 Q42

The communalities in this factor analysis represented the amount of variance in each variable that can be explained by the retained factors represented by the communalities after Extraction column in Table 4.12.

66 Total Variance Explained In the principal component analysis, results of this research show that nine factors were extracted from the 42 survey items, explaining 72.662% of the total variance. The results of the initial eigenvalues for all survey items are given in Table 4.13. Table 4.13 Total Variance Explained
Initial Eigenvalues Component 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Total 14.557 3.257 2.855 2.610 2.002 1.772 1.249 1.182 1.033 .892 .817 .737 .682 .636 .605 .562 .504 .480 .453 .443 .397 .389 .367 .338 .332 .304 .260 .248 .228 .218 .191 .188 .181 .167 .160 .145 .128 .112 .094 .082 .078 .064 % of Variance 34.661 7.756 6.798 6.214 4.766 4.219 2.974 2.815 2.460 2.123 1.944 1.755 1.623 1.514 1.441 1.338 1.201 1.143 1.078 1.055 .945 .926 .874 .804 .790 .724 .620 .591 .543 .518 .455 .448 .432 .397 .381 .345 .305 .268 .223 .195 .186 .153 Cumulative % 34.661 42.416 49.214 55.428 60.194 64.413 67.387 70.202 72.662 74.785 76.729 78.484 80.107 81.621 83.062 84.400 85.601 86.744 87.822 88.877 89.822 90.748 91.622 92.426 93.217 93.940 94.560 95.151 95.694 96.212 96.667 97.115 97.547 97.944 98.324 98.670 98.975 99.243 99.466 99.661 99.847 100.000 Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Total 14.557 3.257 2.855 2.610 2.002 1.772 1.249 1.182 1.033 % of Variance 34.661 7.756 6.798 6.214 4.766 4.219 2.974 2.815 2.460 Cumulative % 34.661 42.416 49.214 55.428 60.194 64.413 67.387 70.202 72.662

67 Component Matrix with Factor Loadings Table 4.14 presents the component matrix with the factor loadings associated with this research. Stevens (1992) suggested that factors with a loading of less than .4 should not be displayed, allowing those factors with substantive values over .4 to be displayed. Table 4.14 Component Matrix with Factor Loadings
Component 2 .665 .683 .712 .601 .618 .679 .648 .812 .724 .785 .650 .724 .695 .637 .693 .655 .606 .574 .653 .662 .543 .566 .615 .447 .536 .583 .481 .423 .494 .586 .601 .498 .550 .759 .500 .416 .525 .491 .517 .478 -.428 -.467 -.472 -.524 -.400 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

1
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 Q19 Q20 Q21 Q22 Q23 Q24 Q25 Q26 Q27 Q28 Q29 Q30 Q31 Q32 Q33 Q34 Q35 Q36 Q37 Q38 Q39 Q40 Q41 Q42

-.446 -.515 .533 .454 .432

.510 .410 .497

.643 .624 .630 .410 .554 -.403 -.401

.566

68

Of note are three questions that did not load on any factor: Question 18 which was I feel my workload is:, Question 23 which was How is your overall attitude toward your job influenced by the people you work with? and Question 25 which was How much does the way co-workers handle their jobs add to the success of your organization?. Question 18 pertained to the amount of work variable, while questions 23 and 25 pertained to the co-workers variable. After the initial component matrix was obtained, a varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization was applied. A varimax rotation attempts to maximize the dispersion of loadings within factors resulting in more interpretable clusters of factors (Field, 2005). When the varimax rotation was applied to the component matrix, the rotation converged in 16 iterations. Results of the rotated component matrix are presented in Table 4.15.

69 Table 4.15 Rotated Component Matrix

1 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 Q19 Q20 Q21 Q22 Q23 Q24 Q25 Q26 Q27 Q28 Q29 Q30 Q31 Q32 Q33 Q34 Q35 Q36 Q37 Q38 Q39 Q40 Q41 Q42 2 .828 .857 .824 .698 .831 .707 .499 .431 .584 .648 .755 .754 .747 .834 .505 .519 .702 .455 3 4 Component 5 6 7 8 9

.432 .625 .582 .624 .598 .448

.495

.419 .401

-.419

.603 .818 .833 .785 .708 .792

.563

.799 .784 .511 .414

.599

.798 .760 .773 .577

.518

.530 .442 .495 .695 .751

.854

70 Unlike the unrotated solution presented in Table 4.14, all survey items loaded to at least one factor in the rotated solution. In addition, all components in the rotated solution had at least one survey item loaded to them, unlike the unrotated solution where components 7 and 8 had no survey items loaded to them. In analyzing the results of the rotated component loadings, the following themes emerged. Component 1 survey items relate to work for the organization and how the work influences attitudes in work accomplishment. Component 2 survey items relate to how the organization treats its employees and how this treatment influences employees attitudes toward their jobs. Component 3 survey items relate to physical work conditions and component 4 survey items relate to feelings about working for the organization and overall employee attitudes towards the organization. Component 5 relates to pay satisfaction and component 6 relates to future with the organization. Component 7 ties to relationships between employees and their co-workers. Component 8 relates to future with the organization and security in present assignment. Component 9 relates to a single factor pertaining to the way co-workers handle jobs and contribution to success of the organization. If the single factor in component 9, which also relates to component 7

was eliminated, the 8 remaining components are very similar to the original eight satisfaction facets of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) survey instrument. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) Analysis of Variance, or ANOVA, is a method of identifying, breaking down and testing for statistical significance variances that come from different sources of variance (Kerlinger & Lee, 2000). These variances can result from experimental treatment, error

71 or other causes. For this research, ANOVA was used for gender. The results for the ANOVA analysis for gender are presented in Table 4.16. Table 4.16 ANOVA Results for Gender
Sum of Squares Between Groups Within Groups Total 4.516 25.326 29.842 df 15 161 176 Mean Square .301 .157 F 1.914 Significance .025

The sum of squares indicates the total variability in the data and is calculated by finding the variance of all observations, taking the sum of the deviance and then squaring the result. For the sum of squares, degrees of freedom and mean square, both between groups and within groups variations are presented. The between groups term indicates the effects due to the model or the experimental effect, while the within groups term indicates the unsystematic variation within the data. For this research, the sum of the

squares was 29.842. The degrees of freedom (df) measure relates to the number of observations that are free to vary. In this research, the df between groups is 15 and within groups is 161. The df is always one less the sample size (N-1); for this sample the total is 176. The mean square provides an indication of the average amount of variation explained by the model. To calculate the mean square, the sum of squares is divided by the degrees of freedom (df). For gender, the mean square is .301 between groups and .157 within groups. The F-ratio or probability distribution is the ratio of the average variability in the data that a given model can explain versus the average variability that cannot be explained by the same model. For this research, the F-ratio for gender was

72 1.914. The last column of Table 4.16 for significance indicates the likelihood of an Fratio the size of the one obtained occurring by chance. For this research, the significance was .025. Because the significance level was below the cut-off point of 0.5 of statistical significance, the results would indicate that there is a significant effect of gender on the results. Hypotheses Testing The Pearson correlation coefficient will be used in this research for all hypotheses testing. The Pearson correlation coefficient is a standardized measure of the strength of the relationship between two variables (Field, 2005). The coefficient can range in value from 1 indicating that as one variable changes, the other variable changes in the opposite direction, through 0 where when one variable changes the other variable does not change at all, to +1 where as one variable changes, the other variable changes in the same direction by the same amount. For ease of presentation, the results of the Pearson correlation coefficients will be split into three tables to support the hypothesis testing. Table 4.17 will be used to discuss hypotheses H1a-H1j which pertain to the relationship of the antecedents and engagement constructs; Table 4.18 will be used to discuss hypotheses H2a-H2e which pertain to the relationship of the antecedents and the consequences constructs; Table 4.19 will be used to discuss hypotheses H3a and H3b pertaining to the relationship of the engagement and consequences constructs. Hypotheses H1a-1j Table 4.17 provides a summary of the Pearson correlation coefficients that will be discussed for hypotheses H1a-H1j testing.

73 Table 4.17 Pearson Correlation Matrix for Hypotheses H1a-H1j

Physical Work Conditions .297** .000 177 .372** .000 177 .329** .000 177 .362**

Supervision Supervision Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Company Identification Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Kind of Work Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Amount of Work Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Co-Workers Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Physical Work Conditions Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Financial Rewards Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N 177 .658** .000 177 .420** 000 177 .551** 1

Company Identification .658** .000 177 1

Kind of Work .420** .000 177 .608** 000

Amount of Work .551** .000 177 .477** .000 177 .515** .000

CoWorkers .432** .000 177 .568** .000 177 .555** 000 177 .428**

Financial Rewards .387** .000 177 .445** .000 177 .397** .000 177 .474**

177 .608** .000 177 .477**

177 1

177 .515**

177 1

.000 177 .432** .000 177

.000 177 .568** .000 177

.000 177 .555** .000 177 177 .428** .000 177

.000 177 1

.000 177 .488** .000

.000 177 .603** .000 177

177

177

.297** .000 177 .387** .000 177

.372** .000 177 .445** .000 177

.329** .000 177 .397** .000 177

.362** .000 177 .474** .000 177

.488 .000 177 .603** .000 177

.283** .000

177 .283 .000 177

177 1

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

177

74

Hypothesis H1a Hypothesis H1a states that the antecedent kind of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. Based on the results shown in Table 4.17, the relationship between kind of work and company identification has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .608 indicating a strong positive relationship in support of hypothesis H1a. These results are consistent with the research of Kahn (1990) who found that when an employee invests his cognitive energy into doing the assigned work that he enjoys, the achievement of organizational goals can be more forthcoming because it promotes behavior that it more vigilant and focused. Nachmias (1988) has shown in his studies of federal government employees that the degree to which employees can utilize their skills is a major contributor to their job attitudes, motivation and job satisfaction. Stimson and Johnson (1977) advocated that workers who experience a greater variety in the tasks they are asked to perform, allowing the employees to use more of their skills to perform the work, will experience less boredom and enhanced job satisfaction and will work toward the organizations goals. In the public service sector, many researchers have found that employees will value the performance of public service even more than what they feel is important to them individually in their work assignments (Wittmer, 1991). Naff and Crum (1999) found that federal employees with high public service motivation were more likely to feel that their work was meaningful and reported a higher level of job satisfaction. Lewis and Frank (2002) found that individuals with high levels of public service motivation were more likely to work for the government.

75 Hypothesis H1b Hypotheses H1b states that the antecedent of amount of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct of company identification. Based on the results shown in Table 4.17, the relationship between amount of work and company identification has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .477 indicating a positive relationship in support of hypothesis H1b. In their research, Xanthopoulou, Bakker, Demerouti and Schaufeli (2008) indicated that when employees perceives that the amount of work being requested is consistent with the employees own desires, the employees will be more willing to support the organization. Bakker, Demerouti and Euwema (2005) indicated that job demands, including the quantitative workload, can result in different strain reactions such as stress and well being. If employees are feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work they need to accomplish, they may withdraw and have negative attitudes at work, including reduced company identification or organizational commitment. Kahn (1990) found in his research that when employees are disengaged in their work roles, they will withhold their physical, cognitive and emotional energies; such attitudes will be reflected in their task activity that would be classified as passive and detached work. Hypothesis H1c Hypothesis H1c states that the antecedent of physical work conditions construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. Based on the results provided in Table 4.17, the relationship between physical work conditions and company identification has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .372 indicating a weak but positive relationship in support of hypothesis H1c. Research by

76 Elsbach and Pratt (2007) indicates that the physical work environment plays a major role in facilitating and constraining organizational action by the design and arrangement of machinery and workspaces. Studies by Oldham, Cummings and Zhou (1995) showed that how individuals react to their physical environment impacts how they perform their daily work. When employees feel that they have some control over their own physical work arrangements, they are more satisfied and have greater job satisfaction (Lee & Brand, 2005). Finnegan and Solomon (1981) suggested that being able to view nature through windows improves job satisfaction and reduces stress. Whenever employees have the ability to adjust their physical work conditions, they are more satisfied than if they do not have that capability (Elsbach & Pratt, 2007). Hypothesis H1d Hypothesis H1d states that the antecedent of supervision has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. Based on the results provided in Table 4.17, the relationship between supervision and company identification has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .658 indicating a significant positive relationship in support of hypothesis H1d. Previous research by Harter, Schmidt and Hayes (2002) has shown the importance of the supervisor or the manager and the influence over the engagement level of employees and their overall satisfaction with their organization. In addition, Harter et al. suggested that when supervisors can help people see how their work connects to a broader purpose, the connection can help reinforce the commitment of the employees to the organization. Bakker and Demerouti (2007) found that employees may become more committed and engaged in their job because they derive fulfillment from the supervisory coaching, performance feedback and

77 opportunities for professional development they have received. Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison and Sowa (1986) found that a supervisors favorable or unfavorable orientation toward the employee is seen as an indication of the organizations support. Rich, LePine and Crawford (2010) suggest that employees will be more willing to engage fully in their work roles if management is supportive and the interpersonal relationships within the organization foster feelings of psychological safety. Employees who perceive high organizational support have positive and secure expectations concerning the organizations likely reactions to employee contributions as well as any errors they may make and will have less reason to fear the possible consequences to their status or career as a member of the organization (Kahn, 1990). On the other hand, when employees perceive that there is low organizational support, they will be unsure of what to expect and will choose to guard themselves by withdrawing from their roles (Kahn, 1990). This is similar to the results that Saks (2006) found in his relationships between perceptions of support within the organization and job engagement concepts. Hypothesis H1e Hypothesis H1e states that the antecedent of financial rewards construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. Based on the results provided in Table 4.17, the relationship between financial rewards and company identification has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .445 indicating a positive relationship support of hypothesis H1e. Kacmar, Carlson and Brymer (1999) relate distributive and procedural justice to the supervisor-employee relationship by

78 suggesting that when individuals feel that the rewards they receive are fair, the employees will be more likely to be committed to the organization. Managers have limited tools by which they can motivate and retain employees in public service, because of civil service rules and standard pay grades that limit the ability to recognize and reward individuals through pay, promotion or bonuses (Moynihan & Pandey, 2007). This may be why the relationship between financial rewards and company identification is not as strong as other relationships found in this research. Employee commitment is very important for organizations with limited resources for providing monetary rewards (Porter, Steers, Mowday & Boulin, 1974). Further, Porter et al. suggest that individuals with high commitment are more likely to continue to be engaged even if they are dissatisfied with pay, perks or supervision. Early research conducted at Sears (Jacoby, 1986) showed that financial rewards were not the strongest motivator for employees, but contributed along with employees emotional needs to gain organizational commitment or company identification from the employees. In his research, Crewson (1997) found that the most noticeable difference in attitudes between public and private sector employees is that federal employees value a sense of accomplishment more than monetary incentives such as performance rewards and promotions. In the private sector, Crewson found that over 90% of employees value job security and promotions as important, while only 70 to 75% of federal employees shared similar attitudes. In addition, Crewson noted that employees situated in organizations that are seen as providing good rewards valued by individuals will be more committed to the organization that those individuals who are in organizations not perceived to provide good rewards. Lastly, Crewson found that pay used as a measure of

79 relative position or responsibility for those in higher positions of authority are more likely to perceive that their careers and personal future are tied to agency performance. Hypothesis H1f Hypothesis H1f states that the antecedent kind of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. Based on the results provided in Table 4.17, the relationship between kind of work and co-workers has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .555 indicating a significant positive relationship in support of hypothesis H1f. Ashforth and Humphrey (1995) found that if employees invest their emotional energy into their intensified work performance and enjoy the kind of work they have been assigned, they would achieve an upsurge in their connection with co-workers in pursuit of organizational goals. In his research, Kahn (1990) found that when individuals have trusting interpersonal relationships in a supportive organizational environment, they can task risks and do not feel that they will be punished for trying something that does not succeed. Pech (2009) has found that social trust plays a large role in organizational politics and the absence of trust can be a contributing factor to employee disengagement. Further in his research, Pech found that when employees view that others have motives of good intentions, they would be more likely to work with others to achieve organizational goals. On the other hand, if employees view that the others in the organization do not have good intentions, Pech found that employees are more likely to be disengaged because of suspicions of co-workers motives. Ostroff (1992) suggests that through daily associations with others, employees develop relationships at work that fall into habitual patterns that impose expectations and influence behaviors. When these patterns are a result of positive attitudes, the

80 organization benefits in the achievement of organizational objectives. Organ (1977) established that the human relations theorists hypothesis of the relationship between satisfaction and performance could be explained by a social exchange in which employees experience satisfaction and feel an obligation to reciprocate, sometimes with an increase in productivity. Further, Organ related satisfaction and attitudes to determining behavior and responses at work and through the behaviors and responses exhibited by the employees, organizational effectiveness could be increased. In addition, Ostroff suggested that citizenship or pro-social behaviors, including cooperation and collaborative efforts, directed toward the organizational objectives were necessary for achievement of organizational goals, and when employees are not engaged, they cannot effectively participate in these collaborative efforts. Hypothesis H1g Hypothesis H1g states that the antecedent of amount of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. Based on the results provided in Table 4.17, the relationship between amount of work and co-workers has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .428 indicating a weak but positive relationship in support of hypothesis H1g. In studies conducted by Maslach and Leiter (2008), results indicated that an increased workload on an individual would deplete the individuals ability to meet the demands of the job. Also, if individuals do not perceive that there is an equitable sharing of the work demands on time, effort and expertise of everyone in the organization, then the individuals would sense an imbalance of workload and would act accordingly. This may also provide an initial indication that individuals are feeling that their workload is too great and may be heading toward burnout, and may need additional

81 support from co-workers or a lessening of responsibilities. Mayer and Gavin (2005) have found that when individuals believe that they can trust their co-workers, they will not waste time and effort in trying to protect themselves, but will instead focus their energies on performing their assigned work tasks. Douglas and Morris (2006) found that high

levels of work activity could have spillover effects on co-workers that fall into two categories. On the one hand, employees may find that the hard workers are embarrassing them and may lead to a misperception by higher level managers that it is the norm to work longer and harder at work activities putting pressure on their co-workers to raise their level of work activity to match what they are doing. On the other hand, the hard work of some individuals may garner praise from senior management that flow to all members of the organization and may permit some individuals to reduce their effort of work levels. Hypothesis H1h Hypothesis H1h states that the antecedent of physical work conditions has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. Based on the results provided in Table 4.17, the relationship between physical work conditions and coworkers has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .488 indicating a fairly positive relationship in support of hypothesis H1h. Previous studies conducted by Crouch and Nimran (1989) have shown that workers may use physical work arrangements to judge inequalities in the degree of privacy they have in comparison to their co-workers, possibly denoting symbols of status or rank. When barriers and enclosures are not adequate in addressing noise and distraction issues, employees may be inhibited from doing their work at their peak level of performance (Crouch & Nimran, 1989). Carlopio

82 and Gardner (1992) suggested that when there are favorable work conditions such as barriers and enclosures, employees feel that there is more confidentiality in having conversations with co-workers. Another benefit of having some type of barrier in the workspace may motivate workers to have more frequent conversations and interactions with co-workers because workers may perceive that they will not disturb co-workers (Elsbach & Pratt, 2007). Further, Elsbach and Pratt (2007) found that the same barriers might prevent collaboration in environments where there is a need for quick action and decision making to resolve problems. Barriers and enclosures in the work environment may signal and reinforce non-desired status and power differences between workers, especially when a collaborative environment is important to the resolution of day-to-day issues (Elsbach & Pratt, 2007). Hypothesis H1i Hypothesis H1i states that the antecedent of supervision construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. Based on the results provided in Table 4.17, the relationship between supervision and co-workers has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .432 indicating a weak but positive relationship in support of hypothesis H1i. Research conducted by Harter, Schmidt and Hayes (2002) has shown that the type of supervisor can influence how an individual will support their coworkers. In addition, Harter et al. suggest that supervisors can influence the extent to which employees respect one another by selecting reliable employees, providing them common quality-related goals and metrics, and increasing opportunities for employees to have interactions regarding the goals and metrics. In addition, Harter, Schmidt and Keyes (2002) suggest that when individuals hear how from their co-workers how they

83 have succeeded, it appears to open their minds and broaden their thinking on how they can do more to support their co-workers and their organization. Wright and Davis (2003) suggest that when organizational goals are clear, supervisors and peers may be able to evaluate how the employees performance relates and supports the goals that help to define job performance expectations. In studies by Nachmias (1988), it was shown that co-workers influence the job satisfaction of individuals within a work group, especially when the tasks performed by the individuals become more interrelated. Also, individuals are more likely to have high levels of satisfaction if co-workers offer support and cooperation in completing their tasks. Harter, Schmidt and Keyes (2002) have shown that when managers pay attention and respond to each individual they manage, the individual employees are more interested in completing work tasks, and this can serve to build a bond between all of the employees in the organization. Hypothesis H1j Hypothesis H1j states that the antecedent of financial rewards construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. Based on the results provided in Table 4.17, the relationship between financial rewards and co-workers has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .603 indicating a significant positive relationship in support of hypothesis H1j. Studies conducted by Forret and Love (2008) showed that the financial rewards for an employee have a definite impact on how an individual will support their co-workers. If the employee perceives that co-workers are not performing their work and yet the level of compensation is greater than the employee receives, the employee will be less likely to support his co-worker. In addition, Forret and Love

84 suggest that distributive justice perceptions exist when employees believe that there is an equitable allocation of rewards based on performance and this equitable allocation can increase the level of trust in ones co-worker. Feelings of inequality can cause employees to be resentful of co-workers and may cause employees to question the rewards they have received versus what co-workers have received. When employees see that rewards are linked to their efforts, feelings of satisfaction with their environment and with their coworkers are enhanced (Nadler & Lawler, 2007). Further, Kacmar and Baron (1999) have found that the absence or inconsistent application of organizational policies or procedures regarding financial rewards result in greater political behavior as employees vie for rewards or decisions favorable to themselves.

85 Hypotheses H2a-H2e Table 4.18 provides a summary of the Pearson correlation coefficients that will be discussed for hypotheses H2a-H2e testing. Table 4.18 Pearson Correlation Matrix for Hypotheses H2a-H2e
Kind of Work Amount of Work Physical Work Conditions Financial Rewards Career Future

Supervision Supervision Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Kind of Work Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Amount of Work Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Physical Work Conditions Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Financial Rewards Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Career Future Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N 177 .420** .000 177 .551** .000 177 .297** .000 177 .387** .000 177 .543** .000 177

.420** .000 177 1

.551** .000 177 .515** .000

.297** .000 177 .329** .000 177 .362** .000

.387** .000 177 .397** .000 177 ..474** .000 177 ..283** .000

.543** .000 177 .440** .000 177 .453** .000 177 .428** .000 177 .457** .000

177 .525** .000 177 .329** .000 177 .397** .000 177 .440** .000 177

177 1

177 .362** .000 177 .474** .000 177 .453** .000 177

177 1

177 ..283** .000 177 ..428** .000 177

177 1

177 .457** .000 177

177 1

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

177

86 Hypothesis H2a Hypothesis H2a states that the antecedent of kind of work construct has a positive relationship to consequences construct career future. Based on the results provided in Table 4.18, the relationship between kind of work and career future has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .440 indicating a weak but positive relationship in support of hypothesis H2a. Previous studies conducted by Ting (1997), and Wright and Kim (2004) have shown that when employees perform their particular work in such a manner that they display a higher level of work involvement, they are hoping to solicit rewards in the area of career advancement. However, Ting found that lack of promotional opportunities has significant effects on decreasing job satisfaction in federal government employees at higher levels of service, but not at the lower General Schedule (GS) levels of service. In studies conducted by Bright (2009), results suggested that employees with high public service motivation desired personal recognition, task meaningfulness and professional growth more than employees with lower levels of public service motivation. Also, Bright found that age and educational attainment of the survey respondents had no significant relationship with non-monetary work preferences when public service motivation was taken into account. Wright and Davis (2003) suggest that when human resource development programs address morale, it can have a positive effect on the kind of work that an individual employee can perform, increasing the likelihood that the employee will successfully complete tasks. In other words, if individuals see a long- term relationship with the organization and how the organization will attain its goals, then the individuals will be more satisfied with their job and their own individual growth.

87 In their research with military personnel regarding rewards over time, Van Scotter, Motowidlo and Cross (2000) found that both task performance and organizational citizenship behavior accounted for significant variance in promotability ratings, informal rewards and medals, but only task performance accounted for variance in career advancement two years later. Bergeron (2007) found that organizational citizenship behavior improves workgroup and organizational functioning in terms of overall performance, quality and quantity of product output, operating efficiency, customer satisfaction and overall effectiveness. Further, Bergeron found that organizations tend to reward employees based on good job performance, leading to salary increases, bonuses, promotions or other career-enhancing rewards. Hypothesis H2b Hypothesis H2b states that the antecedent of amount of work construct has a positive relationship to consequences construct career future. Based on the results provided in Table 4.18, the relationship between amount of work and career future has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .453 indicating a positive relationship in support of hypothesis H2b. Research conducted by Frank and Lewis (2004) found that employees expectations of extrinsic rewards such as pay and promotions have a major impact on work motivation and behavior when employees recognize a strong relationship between effort and reward. When workers believe their behavior can determine job performance, expect to be rewarded for high performance, and place a high value on the rewards, then workers will respond and perform accordingly. Brehm and Gates (1997) found that federal employees who found their work inherently satisfying worked harder than those who did not.

88 Maume and Bellas (2001) suggested that workers can be pressured to work harder and longer at assigned tasks, but will feel that they are rewarded both financially and professionally for their efforts. In addition, Maume and Bellas found that the length of the paid work schedule rises with educational accomplishments and size of the organization, and that a top manager or professional increases the length of the work week by an average of six more hours compared with other workers. These studies suggest that people who work harder and longer hours are rewarded with job security and advancement opportunities. Douglas and Morris (2006) found that people may work harder and longer hours in an effort to obtain both monetary and non-monetary benefits including prestige, size of office and company vehicles as individuals see these as leading to career advancement and even more opportunities to succeed. Hypothesis H2c Hypothesis H2c states that the antecedent of physical work conditions construct has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Based on the results provided in Table 4.18, the relationship between physical work conditions and career future has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .428 indicating a weak but positive relationship in support of hypothesis H2c. Wells (2000) suggests that when the physical

work conditions are pleasing, an employees mood may be improved and stress may be reduced. In turn, companies that allowed greater freedom in the personalization of individual workspaces have reported higher morale and lower turnover than companies that place restrictions on personalization (Wells, 2000). Hess (1993) has found that personalization also leads to employees emotional attachment and organizational commitment to a future in the organization. Oldham and Rotchford (1983) found that a

89 more open work environment produced greater perceptions of jobs meaningfulness and importance to the organization. Elsbach (2004) found in her research that the use of barriers and enclosures in the workplace can signal appropriate status levels, especially when there is a differentiation of levels within the work force and may help to increase job satisfaction and feelings of career future when physical work arrangements become more spacious and attractive as an individual moves up in the organization. Hypothesis H2d Hypothesis H2d states that the antecedent of supervision construct has a positive relationship with the consequences construct career future. Based on the results provided in Table 4.18, the relationship between supervision and career future has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .543 indicating a strong positive relationship in support of hypothesis H2d. Research conducted by Blessing-White (2008) illustrated that if employees perceive that they are receiving positive supervisor support and guidance for the work they perform, employees may determine that they have a career future with the organization. Wright and Davis (2003) indicated that when employees receive jobrelated feedback from supervisors and others, employees could judge their own job performance. This feedback also may be used to define employees current responsibilities in reaching the organizations goals as well as aid in identifying potential roles that the employee may be able to perform in the future. In his research, Bright (2009) found that when employees are provided opportunities for personal and professional growth, feedback on their progress toward their goal attainment and both formal and informal recognition opportunities are present, employees will be more likely

90 to be committed to working toward the organizations success than if these opportunities were not available. Hypothesis H2e Hypothesis H2e states that the antecedent of financial rewards construct has a positive relationship with the consequences construct career future. Based on the results provided in Table 4.18, the relationship between financial rewards and career future has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .457 indicating a positive relationship in support of hypothesis H2e. Bright (2009) suggested that several factors, including personal recognition, leadership responsibility, career advancement, professional growth and task meaningfulness can influence an employees feelings of personal engagement. In addition, research conducted by Gabris and Simo (1995) found that some of the most powerful motivational forces for employees in lower positions within the organizational hierarchy were opportunities such as monetary incentives, job security and good fringe benefits. In their research, Hackman and Oldham (1976) suggested that pay satisfaction and the need for career growth are two of the most important predictors of job satisfaction, especially in light of their strong theoretical connection to the formation of individual job attitudes. When individuals are satisfied with their pay and promotional opportunities, the costs of leaving their organization would be greater, and individuals are more likely to develop positive attitudes about their jobs (Mathieu & Zajac, 1990).

91 Hypotheses H3a-H3b Table 4.19 provides a summary of the Pearson correlation coefficients that will be discussed for hypotheses H3a-H3b testing. Table 4.19 Pearson Correlation Matrix for Hypotheses H3a-H3b
Company Identification Company Identification Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Co-Workers Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N Career Future Pearson Correlation Sig. (2-tailed) N 177 .568** .000 177 .708** .000 177 177 .444** .000 177 177 1

Co-Workers .568** .000 177 1

Career Future .708** .000 177 .444** .000 177 1

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Hypothesis H3a Hypothesis H3a states that the employee engagement construct of company identification has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Based on the results provided in Table 4.19, the relationship between company identification and career future has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .708 indicating a very strong positive relationship in support of hypothesis H3a. Organizational support theory (Eisenberger, Cummings, Armeli & Lynch, 1997) suggests that to meet socio-

92 emotional needs and determine the organizations readiness to reward work effort, employees develop beliefs concerning the extent to which the organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being. Research conducted by Wright and Davis (2003) found that more than two-thirds of variances in employees job satisfaction could be explained by factors other than monetary rewards, as well as by opportunities for skill development and feedback from the organization indicating attention to employees longterm careers. Hypothesis H3b Hypothesis H3b states that the employee engagement construct of co-workers has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Based on the results shown in Table 4.19, the relationship between co-workers and career future has a Pearson correlation coefficient of .444 indicating a weak but positive relationship in supporting hypothesis H3b. In research conducted by Bishop, Scott and Burroughs (2000), it was shown that when individuals perceive that their teammates value their input and care about their well-being, the individuals will be more likely to reciprocate and expend greater effort on behalf of the organization. Further, the individuals may interpret this support as representing organizational values and sense that the organization may provide a future for them. Witt (1991) found that exchange theory helped to explain the relationship of individuals to their co-workers and strengthened the perceived effects of equal opportunity and attitudes that ultimately led to a commitment to stay in the organization. Also, Molm, Takahashi and Peterson (2000) found that the reciprocal exchanges associated with reciprocity produced better working relationships and allowed for

93 individuals to be more trusting of and committed to one another for both the short and long terms. Howes, Cropanzano, Grandey and Mohler (2000) found that organizational support, e.g., fellow employees, for the individual is the best predictor of organizational commitment and intent to stay with the organization. Overall results of the hypotheses testing are shown in the summary found in Table 4.20. This summary reflects that all 17 hypotheses were accepted, with six of the hypotheses having significant positive relationships, two with positive relationships, and nine hypotheses having weak positive relationships. These results suggest that the IOR survey instrument is an appropriate method to validate the employee engagement model presented in Chapter I.

94 Table 4.20 Results of Hypothesis Testing

Results Decision

HYPOTHESIS
Hypothesis 1a: The antecedent kind of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. Hypothesis 1b: The antecedent amount of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. Hypothesis 1c: The antecedent physical work conditions construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. Hypothesis 1d: The antecedent supervision construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. Hypothesis 1e: The antecedent financial rewards construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct company identification. Hypothesis 1f: The antecedent kind of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. Hypothesis 1g: The antecedent amount of work construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. Hypothesis 1h: The antecedent physical work conditions construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. Hypothesis 1i: The antecedent supervision construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. Hypothesis 1j: The antecedent financial rewards construct has a positive relationship to the employee engagement construct co-workers. Hypothesis 2a: The antecedent kind of work construct has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Hypothesis 2b: The antecedent amount of work construct has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Hypothesis 2c: The antecedent physical work conditions construct has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Hypothesis 2d: The antecedent supervision construct has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Hypothesis 2e: The antecedent financial rewards construct has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Hypothesis 3a: The employee engagement construct company identification has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Hypothesis 3b: The employee engagement construct co-workers has a positive relationship to the consequences construct career future. Significant Positive Relationship Positive Relationship Weak Positive Relationship Significant Positive Relationship Positive Relationship Significant Positive Relationship Weak Positive Relationship Weak Positive Relationship Weak Positive Relationship Significant Positive Relationship Weak Positive Relationship Weak Positive Relationship Weak Positive Relationship Significant Positive Relationship Weak Positive Relationship Significant Positive Relationship Weak Positive Relationship Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted Accepted

95 Qualitative Analysis As part of the survey participation, respondents were asked to provide comments to clarify any of their choices on the survey items. As indicated previously, comments were received on some or all of the items on 52 of the 177 responses. Overall, there were 351 written comments, with 181 or 52% being positive responses, and 155 or 44% being negative responses. One question within the area of company identification was discarded as being non-applicable and had 15 or 4% of the written responses indicating non-applicability to the organization as it dealt with sales and profits. For the qualitative portion of this research, each of the eight variables and the associated responses will be analyzed to determine whether or not there are common themes amongst the comments and whether or not the comments are in agreement with the quantitative responses. Supervision The area of supervision received the most number of comments at 69 for 20% of the total comments entered. In addition, supervision also received the most negative comments at 41 for 26% of the total negative comments. Some of the negative comments included unqualified supervisors, my supervisor is very smart, but not a people person and therefore I dont always get the type of feedback I need to work my best, very poor guidance in general, we lack a mutually shared vision of our path toward the objective, what supervision...the supervisor has no clue as to what I have been doing or needs to be done, their style of management grinds everyone down, they contribute to the success of the organization as a whole more because of their technical skills rather

96 than their supervisory skills, and some days the supervisor seems human and understanding but then the status quo and crisis mode management soon reappears. On the other hand, there are those that have positive thoughts about their supervisors. Included in the positive comments are statements such as my immediate supervisor is great about showing appreciation, I have very good supervisors who have confidence in us and in our work and provide a challenging atmosphere, my supervisor is approachable, knowledgeable, friendly delegates well and easy to approach if I think something wasnt done right, and when a person feels as though they are valued by their supervisor it helps an employee get through other obstacles. In the Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS) conducted by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 2008, four similar survey items were asked about supervision Overall, how good a job do you feel is being done by your immediate supervisor/team leader?, Supervisors/team leaders in my work unit provide employees with the opportunities to demonstrate their leadership skills, Discussions with my supervisor/team leader about my performance are worthwhile, and I have trust and confidence in my supervisor. For the Department of Defense organization that is the parent to the group used in this research, the results indicated an average of strongly agree and agree answers of 61.2% of the total survey responses, while the average of disagree and strongly disagree was 19.3%. These results are inconsistent with the comments provided during the survey period and would indicate a more local problem with supervisory issues. This area is a candidate for further research in this organization to identify the specific issues with supervisory practices.

97 Company Identification For this study, company identification comments accounted for 47 or 13% of the total comments, with 20 or 11% of the total positive comments, and 12 or 8% of the total negative comments. Positive comments included I believe in the program and mission and desire to see it succeed, I like what I do and I love our program, I feel my role is important and crucial to the success of the Program Office, only positive feelings about my organization, this organization is very fair with the folks that work for it, and the Program Office has a good team with great top leadership. Negative comments for company identification included it could be a great place; good cause but bad leadership, if a better job opening presented itself I would strongly consider it, it used to be a very good place to work, heaven forbid we would be treated as competent professionals where ones opinions are considered equally with others and not slammed as stupid, no good examples of leadership at all, and 65% of supervisors treat the employees like second class citizens; why because the supervisors are not leaders, they just have a title. These comments seem to indicate that organizational commitment is not as strong as some of the other areas of the survey. However, when compared to the FHCS conducted by OPM in 2008 survey item, I recommend my organization as a good place to work, the strongly agree and agree answers for the parent organization totaled to 62.3% of the total responses, indicating that two-thirds like where they work and would recommend it to others. On the other hand, 16.1% disagreed with this statement and this seems to be in alignment with the negative responses for the surveyed organization.

98 Kind of Work For this research study, kind of work comments accounted for 40 or 11% of the total responses, with 20 or 11% of the positive responses and 12 or 8% of the negative responses. Positive comments included I am responsible for a great deal and the lives of Marines will be in my hands, self-motivated, I have a personal sense of duty and always doing my best regardless of how treated, I do my best at whatever I am asked to do, I know that I have done the best I could, I like what I do, and I feel proficient in my duties. Negative responses included I would be better suited working in other aspects of the program, one half of my work is very enjoyable, but the other half dominates much of my time, and that is the work I truly despise, I like to work; I just dont like the negative atmosphere, we tread water here; its difficult to see progress on a program that is continually delayed, the stress is incredible, nothing is relaxed or pleasant, I am extremely underutilized at my office, and I need the job to support my family, so one keeps their mouth shut. In FHCS, the strongly agree and agree responses averaged 79.2% of the total responses, while disagree and strongly disagree responses averaged 6.2%. This is the greatest discrepancy between positive and negative responses between the parent organization and the surveyed organization, and would indicate that there are specific issues that need to be addressed with the survey respondents and their management. Amount of Work For this study, amount of work responses accounted for 9% of the total written responses, with 21 or 12% of the positive responses and 9 or 6% of the negative

99 responses. Positive responses included I love being busy, I go beyond my scope of work continuously to find ways to apply our expertise for the good of the program, I generally prescribe my own work load and am often overwhelmed, but I like the pace and am able to get the job done in a commendable fashion, I always do my job the way it should be done, not cutting corners, I have earned national level awards for my work, I much prefer being a bit too busy compared to being under tasked, I generally feel better the busier I am, and I like my job and I get paid to do the job, so the work gives me the motivation to do the very best work for my employer. Negative responses included What is the priority? It is based on non-factual, knee-jerk reactions to someone who does not have a clue as to what reality is, its not the work; it is the attitude of those dishing it out, and their bedside manner could use some refinement, short fuse deadlines are not fun, I am a one man show; when I am out there is no one to continue on; we are one deep all over the place, and I have to check other peoples work in making sure that the information they give me is correct in order to do my job. Only one of the survey items in the FHCS pertained to amount of work. The survey item itself was My workload is reasonable. Strongly agree and agree responses totaled to 60.9% of the total responses, while disagree and strongly disagree responses totaled to 22.0%. In comparison with the surveyed organization comments, the parent organization responses are dissimilar in that the parent organization was overwhelmingly positive compared to the negative responses to the FHCS survey. In the surveyed organization for this research, the positive comments were in a 2:1 ratio of positive to

100 negative. Again, there seems to be a discrepancy in how work is allocated within the parent organization, not as evident in the surveyed organization. Co-Workers Co-worker responses provided for 31 or 9% of the total written responses, with 17 or 9% of the positive responses and 14 or 9% of the negative responses for this study. Positive responses included all the workers I work with have a common goal, do the best we can and get the job done, they are the best group I have ever worked with, I want to be as dedicated as the best of them, very good people, highly qualified, the majority of fellow employees encourage me to work hard, and I hope that I am one of the positive influences and lead by example. Negative responses included my feelings are not alone about how management is failing the program and its workers, if this is such a great organization to work for then why do so many leave, between the senior supervisors at the GS-15 level there is a lot of friction, and gaming to undo or outdo each other, spends all day talking and not about work, I like them as people, however many of them lack the work ethic and drive to really perform better, and good people, bad management. For this research, the positive and negative comments are similar in number but very different in meaning. Again, this would suggest that there are some groups within the surveyed organization that work better with each other than in other groups. In the FHCS, the two survey items relevant to this area of research were How would you rate the overall quality of work done by your work group? and The people I work with cooperate to get the job done. The strongly agree and agree responses averaged 82.5% of the total responses received, while disagree and strongly disagree responses averaged

101 5.6%. Again, this is a major inconsistency between the parent and surveyed organizations in the ratio of positive and negative responses and indicates a specific area for further analysis at the local organizational level. Physical Work Conditions In the current study, physical work conditions comments comprised 38 or 11% of the total written responses, with 16 or 9% being positive responses, and 22 or 14% being negative responses. Negative responses included its all about my cube and my PC and the display I start at 80% of the day, its a soul-less place; no windows; no natural light; its like working in a bunker, I think the use of natural sunlight via skylights would be helpful, no windows in the buildingI think the building is very depressing, I wish there were windows, sometimes I do wish I could have an office or a window to see outside the building, certain people have volume control issues that affect many in an open workplace, no windows, and at times, poor ventilation, and lots of distractions. Positive responses included I would get the job done regardless, the workplace is comfortable and allows us to perform without distraction, I have good lighting and a good computer, there are many good things to say about the 40 foot ceilings which allow a great volume of fresh air to circulateparking is ample, I like where we are located and the work conditions are satisfactory, and I try to keep my work place neat, pleasant and organized. In the FHCS, there was one survey item that pertained to this area, physical conditions (for example, noise level, temperature, lighting, cleanliness in the workplace) allow employees to perform their jobs, the parent agency strongly agree and agree responses totaled to 68.0% of the total responses received, while disagree and strongly

102 disagree responses totaled to 17.1%. Again, the proportion of the positive and negative response in the parent agency as compared to the surveyed organization written comments was inconsistent and would suggest that the physical environment of the surveyed organization needs to be evaluated for possible changes to enhance the physical atmosphere of the organization. Financial Rewards Financial rewards comments comprised 37 or 11% of the total written responses, with 29 or 16% as positive responses, and 8 or 5% as negative responses for the current study. The positive responses accounted for the greatest percentage of positive responses across all of the variables. On the other hand, the negative responses were the least percentage of the total negative responses for all variables. Positive responses included am glad to have the job in the economy, Im very happy to have a job that offers the benefits and salary, I am well paid for my job, Im very happy to have a good paying job, I believe my pay for the job I perform is adequate for the area, money is not the primary driver in my efforts to provide the best services/products possible, our NSPS (National Security Personnel System) process definitely encourages employees to work hard and perform, because it is recognized and rewarded accordingly, and I feel appreciated because of my salary increases and work hard to deserve that recognition. Negative responses included for the position I am in, my pay is fairly poor, I am going to do a good job regardlessyet why go above and beyond when management will probably not recognize you in a positive way, there will be no promotions/ bonusesmanagement does not support changing job series to better oneself, the wage

103 limit never deters someone from looking for another position, and there are some that make more money but do a lot less work. For FHCS, there were four survey items that were relevant to the current research employees are rewarded for providing high quality products and services to customers, creativity and innovation are rewarded, pay raises depend on how well employees perform their jobs, and awards in my work unit depend on how well employees perform their jobs. Strongly agree and agree responses averaged 35.7%, while disagree and strongly disagree responses averaged 34.8%. This is the least difference between positive and negative responses in the parent organization survey results, indicating very strong feelings on both extremes of the survey response scale. This is in contrast to the surveyed organization that had more than three times the positive comments as negative comments. Perceptions at the surveyed organization level appear to be much more positive than at the parent agency level, possibly indicating a better job of rewarding good performance. Career Future For the current study, career future responses accounted for 59 or 17% of the total written responses, with 26 or 14% being positive responses, and 33 or 21% being negative responses. The negative responses included I dont see any upward mobility here at this organization, I would never want a supervisors position under the current director, If the program cannot meet the requirements on time and within budget, we should all be concerned about our future, those who dont work hard are rated the same as those that leave at COB or earlier and take coffee breaks and lunch, the only way I move up is to quit this job and move on to another, prospect of job loss can be a bit

104 unsettling, promotions at my office are next to impossible, I am capped out in this organization, just because of the constant stress of possible cancellation, and I know I will not grow to a higher position, but I am satisfied at my current level. Positive responses included I have a job to do and I intend to see it through, I am paid to do a job and I will do it, hard work is always worthwhile, commitment to mission goals outweighs concerns of personal future, I dont care if I get ahead or notwhat I want to be able to do is the best job possible that my knowledge, skills and aptitude provide me, I am satisfied with my career progress, and I make an effort to be positive and proactive on behalf of the program. This area of the surveyed organizations written responses clearly indicates a need for further investigation. The members of the organization expressed the feeling of being held back in career enhancing advancement and also would indicate that they are feeling that if they want to advance they have to leave the program where they are comfortable and have positive feelings. Summary This chapter has discussed the study analyses and presented the findings of each of the methodologies employed. The discussion of the demographics of the sample population yielded the findings that the average respondent was male, over 51 years of age, a government employee, was not a supervisor or manager, had more than 1-5 years with the surveyed organization, but had over 30 years of total work experience excluding the present organization. In addition, the average respondent had a bachelors degree, and worked for either the APM-Electrical Systems or Logistics organization.

105 Three quantitative statistical methods were employed in this research to replicate earlier studies performed utilizing either the IOR survey instrument or the Saks model of employee engagement. The first method utilized was confirmatory factor analysis with a varimax rotation with rotation convergence in 16 iterations. All survey items loaded to at least one factor in the rotation and, overall, yielded factors that were very similar to the satisfaction facets found in the IOR survey instrument. The second method utilized was analysis of variance (ANOVA) that was performed utilizing the gender demographic and yielded the results that gender has a significant effect on the results of the testing. The last quantitative method employed was Pearson correlation performed on 17 hypotheses, with all 17 accepted; six hypotheses having significantly positive relationships, two with positive relationships, and nine hypotheses having weak positive relationships. These results indicated strong support for the employee engagement model presented in Chapter 1, and provided an alternative approach for acceptance of the Saks model. In addition, a qualitative case study approach was utilized to analyze the written comments received during the respondents survey participation. The written comments indicated that further study is needed in the following areas within the surveyed organization: supervision, kind of work, co-workers, physical work conditions, and career future. The next chapter will discuss the summary and concluding remarks of the study.

106 CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS Introduction This chapter summarizes and concludes this study of employee engagement. The first section of this chapter provides a discussion of the significant findings of the research. The next section will discuss the implications of this study to current practices and theory followed by the recommendations for practitioners. This chapter will also discuss the limitations of the study and will make recommendations for future research. A conclusion will be provided at the end of the chapter. Discussion The purpose of this study was to independently investigate the Saks (2006) model of employee engagement using the eight satisfaction facets of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1976) as the constructs for antecedents, engagement and consequences. It was anticipated that this research would contribute to the body of academic literature regarding employee engagement from the perspective of a federal government organization. This study used both quantitative and qualitative analyses to answer the following three research questions: 1) Are the antecedents of the IOR (kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to employee engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers)?; 2) Are the antecedents of the IOR model (kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) related to consequences (career future)?; and 3) Are the employee engagement constructs (company identification and co-workers) related to consequences

107 (career future)? The researcher distributed a survey instrument via a private website that consisted of the 42 items of the IOR to members of a program management office for a large defense acquisition workforce (N = 177) to assess the relationships among the antecedents, engagement and consequences constructs of the proposed empirical model. Three different statistical methods were used in this research. In the first, confirmatory factor analysis was performed utilizing the 42 items of the IOR. In the principal analysis, nine factors were extracted, explaining 72.62% of the total variance. A varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization was applied which yielded the results of rotation convergence in 16 iterations. In research conducted by Dunham, Smith and Blackburn (1977) for the original validation of the IOR, eight different factor rotations were performed and nine factors were extracted in each instance. Results in this research were similar to those found in the Dunham et al. research; specifically, the same nine factors were found. There was one stray loading in career future, although for a different question in the Dunham et al. study compared to the current research study, question 25 versus question 24. In addition, the factor loadings for the variables in this research were similar to those found by Lee (1984) and Wefald and Downey (2009). The results of the current study provide validation that the survey instrument used for this research is consistent with its usage in previous studies and is appropriate for conducting research for determining the level of employee engagement within an organization. The second statistical method utilized was Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). For this research, gender was analyzed and results indicated that the between groups or the effects due to the model or the experimental effect sum of squares was 4.516, while the within groups or unsystematic variation within the data sum of squares was 25.326.

108 Significance level for this research was .025, below the cut-off point of 0.5, and indicated that gender did have a significant effect on the results. These results are consistent with the demographics for gender that showed that 78.5% of the respondents were male. In comparison to the Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS) (2008), results indicated that more federal government workers were male (52%), versus female (48%), while the ratio in the surveyed organization is considerably higher than in the FHCS. However, the ratio of 4:1 of males to females in this research is consistent with the Dunham, Smith and Blackburn (1977) studies which provided initial validation for the Index of Organizational Reactions. Further, the mean for all eight variables used in this research was higher for females than males, particularly for supervision, 4.03 versus 3.63 and for kind of work, 4.41 versus 3.80. In previous studies conducted by Blau and Boal (1989), gender did not significantly relate to any form of commitment, the opposite of results of this research. This area should be investigated further to determine why female respondents scored higher than their male counterparts for all eight variables of the employee engagement model. Of course, these results may or may not be representative of the organizational population, as the specific makeup of the organization was not available to the researcher at the time this survey was conducted. For the third statistical method, Pearson correlation coefficients were utilized and the research found support for all 17 hypotheses. Relationships between the antecedents (kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards) and the engagement construct company identification (organizational commitment) were more significant than those of the antecedents to the engagement construct co-workers, indicating more commitment to the organization than to co-

109 workers. While this is a benefit to the organization, the individual members may not have as strong ties to each other, causing internal turmoil that could escalate to the detriment of the organization. Further study in this area may help to ascertain why certain groups within the organization have better co-worker relationships than others. In addition, the relationship between the antecedents and the consequences construct career future, although weaker than any of the other relationships, was still positive. These results indicate that factors such as kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards do have an effect on employees feelings regarding their career future within the organization and should be addressed to ensure that negative outcomes in any of these areas do not impact retention of valuable personnel. Last, the relationship between the engagement constructs of co-workers and company identification and the consequences construct of career future were mixed, but still positive. These results indicate how employees perceive support from the organization as a whole and their co-workers in particular and how these feelings influence their opinions regarding their career future in the organization. Depending on the individual, more positive feelings of support may provide the motivation to remain in the organization while more negative feelings may provide the motivation to leave the organization. A qualitative case methodology analysis was performed on the written comments received during the survey period. Comments were received on some or all of the items on 52 of the 177 survey responses. The total number of comments received was 351, with 52% positive and 48% negative. The written comments were grouped by the eight variables used in the research study and mixed results were found. While company

110 identification, amount of work and financial rewards had considerably more positive responses and identified no major areas of concern, the remaining areas are candidates for further investigation. For example, the area of supervision received the greatest number of both positive and negative comments and indicated that there are issues at the local organizational level that need to be addressed. Similar issues were evident in the area of co-workers. There were comparable numbers of positive and negative comments, indicating discrepancies in working relationships among co-workers in the nine directorates within the organization which need to be explored further. Two other areas with similar concerns are kind of work and physical work conditions where the responses were more positive, but enough negative responses were received to warrant further review. The last area of consideration for further investigation was career future. With the number of negative responses indicating that there is not a career progression path through the organization, it is apparent that more analysis is needed to identify issues and corrective actions to ensure retention of valuable personnel for both the short and long term success of the organization. Implications This study has possible implications for researchers with the breadth of knowledge that can be obtained through the use of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) survey instrument. As the results from this research are consistent with those of Dunham, Smith and Blackburn (1977), as well as Lee (1984) and Goffin and Jackson (1988), additional validation for the IOR survey instrument itself has been obtained. The IOR has extensive coverage of eight different areas of interest to management, workers

111 and human resources personnel and can be tailored to address only the specific areas of concern. Although the IOR is not used as extensively now as it was in the 1970s and 1980s, it may be valuable to use this instrument as a supplement to the more recent Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) as advocated by Schaufeli and Bakker (2004) or the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) (Maslach & Schaufeli, 1993). While the survey instrument quantitative results are valuable for determining employee engagement and satisfaction within the organization, the qualitative comments can provide more personal insight and can assist in identifying areas of concern that the quantitative results may not be able to accurately pinpoint. For researchers, this study provided an example of the use of multiple statistical methods to validate the empirical model presented in Chapter I and used the same techniques as the previous studies (Dunham, Smith & Blackburn, 1977; Lee, 1984; Goffin & Jackson, 1988) that utilized confirmatory factor analysis, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Pearson correlation. Future research in this area may use variations of the empirical model to test different relationships of the eight variables. For example, moving financial rewards from an antecedent to a consequence could cause different relationships to be discovered among the variables. This would be consistent with the literature that demonstrated the relationship between antecedents of kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions and supervision, with the consequence financial rewards or the relationship of engagement constructs co-workers and company identification with the consequence career future (Jacoby, 1986; Wright & Davis, 2003; Holtom, Mitchell, Lee & Eberly, 2008; Gerhart, Rynes & Fulmer, 2009).

112 Recommendations for Practitioners This section discusses recommendations for practitioners in defense acquisition or other business sectors. The findings from this research would suggest that while the qualitative results indicated that many of the respondents preferred to work for the federal government, it would be worthwhile in future research to compare these results to others that do not work for the federal government to gain insight into business sector differences outside of the federal government. Age played a significant role in this research, which is consistent with the research conducted by Dunham, Grube and Castaneda (1994). However, Dunham et al. found that age was negatively related to affiliation commitment while in this research, those respondents over the age of 51 had the highest level of company identification. Also, previous studies by Kacmar, Carlson and Brymer (1999) showed that people who were highly involved in their jobs exhibited lower levels of identification and exchange commitment. In the present study, the kind of work and correlations with company identification and co-workers were significantly positive, .608 and .555, respectively, while the amount of work correlations with company identification and co-workers were .477 and .428 respectively, indicating inconsistency with the Kacmar et al. study. Therefore, this area would benefit from further research efforts to determine the impact of the amount of work and kind of work constructs on co-workers and company identification as they relate to organizational commitment. Limitations and Future Research The findings and limitations of this study provide several opportunities for future research. This study was specific to one defense acquisition management organization

113 within the federal government workforce and future efforts could expand research into other acquisition organizations, economic sectors or private corporations. In addition, some of the demographics indicate potential areas for future research. For example, the age distribution for this study indicated that 36.2% of the respondents were at least 51 years of age. Since these individuals make up a significant part of the study organization, it may have been more appropriate to further define age categories beyond age 51 and this would provide a future study opportunity. The number of years of work experience greater than 30 years may provide another opportunity for future research. For example, this study did not request any breakdown in the demographic for previous experience areas such as federal government, state/local government, non-profits or prior military service. Since this is a defense acquisition program, it may have been appropriate to determine how many respondents were former military personnel and in which branch of the military the individual served. This may help relate some of the background of the individuals in the organization to the qualitative comments as former military personnel may have a different perspective on work organizations. It also may provide information on leadership styles based on military service rank and history that would be useful in a future study. Education level may also be an area of interest to identify how many individuals took advantage of educational programs offered to government and former military personnel, or whether these individuals entered their present organization with their degree(s) already attained.

114 Conclusions This study provided researchers and practitioners with empirical evidence on the employee engagement practices of a defense acquisition management organization. Specifically, this research investigated the Saks (2006) model of employee engagement utilizing the eight satisfaction facets of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1976) survey instrument as the antecedents, engagement and consequences constructs in Pearson correlation hypotheses testing. All 17 hypotheses based on this model were supported, indicating positive relationships among the constructs. This research found there were positive relationships between the antecedent constructs kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision and financial rewards, and engagement constructs of company identification and co-workers. Likewise, the same antecedent constructs were positively related to the consequence construct career future, and the engagement constructs were positively related to the consequence construct career future. To provide further validation for the empirical model, confirmatory factor analysis and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) methodologies were employed. The factor analysis yielded similar results to the Dunham, Smith and Blackburn (1977) validation, while the ANOVA confirmed that gender had a significant effect on the results of the survey. The qualitative results of this research identified a number of issues within the surveyed organization that require further investigation including supervision, co-workers and career future. Once the results of this research have been shared with the senior management of the surveyed organization, working relationships among supervisors and managers should be reviewed for possible improvements in communication methods and

115 procedures. Demographics such as age and previous job experience should be explored to determine their impact on the co-worker relationship issues identified through this study. The causes and corrective actions should be prioritized for implementation and a new evaluation should be scheduled six to twelve months later to determine if the corrective actions are helping to improving the working relationships within the organization. Other possible areas of research include expanding the study to other agencies or departments within the federal government and the use of a publicly traded company as a basis of comparison for a new study. In addition, the further exploration of demographic areas such as age to further differentiate individuals that may be transitioning into retirement in the next several years, and the identification of former military personnel to distinguish relationships between military service and management styles would also be candidates for future study. Utilizing the employee engagement model developed for this study expands the instruments that are available for researchers to use beyond the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Schaufeli, 1993), providing researchers another approach to investigate employee engagement and expand literature on the topic.

116 APPENDIX

117 A. Index of Organizational Reactions

118

Supervision
1. Do you ever have the feeling you would be better off working under different supervision? I almost always I frequently feel I occasionally I seldom feel this I never feel this feel this way this way feel this way way way

2. How do you feel about the supervision you receive? I am extremely I am well I am only I am somewhat satisfied satisfied moderately dissatisfied satisfied

I am very dissatisfied

3. How does the way you are treated by those who supervise you influence your overall attitude toward your job? It has a very It has a slightly It has no real It has a favorable It has a very unfavorable unfavorable effect influence favorable influence influence influence

4. How much do the efforts of those who supervise you add to the success of your organization? A very great deal Quite a bit Only a little Very little Almost nothing

5. The people who supervise me have: Many more good More good traits About the same traits than bad than bad ones number of good ones traits as bad ones

More bad traits than good ones

Many more bad traits than good ones

6. The supervision I receive is the kind that: Greatly Tends to Has little discourages me discourage me influence on me from giving extra from giving extra effort effort

Encourages me to give extra effort

Greatly encourages me to give extra effort

119 Company Identification

7. There is something about working for this organization that: Greatly Definitely Only slightly Tends to encourages me encourages me encourages me discourage me to do my best to do my best from doing my from doing my best best Definitely discourages me from doing my best

8. From my experience, I feel this organization probably treats its employees: Poorly Somewhat Fairly well Quite well Extraordinarily poorly well

9. How does working for this organization influence your overall attitude toward your job? It has a very It has an It has no It has a favorable It has a very unfavorable unfavorable influence one influence favorable influence influence way or the other influence

10. How do you describe this organization to work for? Couldnt be Very good Fairly good Just another much better place to work

Poor

11. I think this organization considers employee welfare: Much less Less important About as More important important than than sales and important as than sales and sales and profits profits sales and profits profits

Much more important than sales and profits

Kind of Work
12. Work like mine: Discourages me Tends to from doing my discourage me best from doing my best Makes little difference Slightly encourages me to do my best Greatly encourages me to do my best

120
13. How often when you finish a days work do you feel youve accomplished something really worthwhile? All of the time Most of the time About half of the Less than half of Rarely time the time

14. How does the kind of work you do influence your overall attitude toward your job? It has a very It has a slightly It has no It has a fairly It has a very unfavorable unfavorable influence one favorable favorable influence influence way or the other influence influence

15. How many of the things you do on your job do you enjoy? Nearly all More than half About half Less than half

Almost none

16. How much of the work you do stirs up real enthusiasm on your part? Nearly all of it More than half of About half of it Less than half of Almost none of it it it

17. How do you feel about the kind of work you do? Dont like it, Its OK, theres I like it, but there would prefer other work I like is other work I some other kind better like as much of work

I like it very much

Its exactly the kind of work I like best

Amount of Work
18. I feel my workload is: Never too heavy Seldom too heavy Sometimes too heavy Often too heavy Almost always too heavy

19. How does the amount of work youre expected to do influence the way you do your job? It never allows It seldom allows It has no effect It usually allows It always allows me to do a good me to do a good on how I do my me to do a good me to do a good job job job job job

121

20. How does the amount of work youre expected to do influence your overall attitude toward your job? It has a very It has a favorable It has no It has an It has a very favorable influence influence one unfavorable unfavorable influence way or the other influence influence

21. How do you feel about the amount of work youre expected to do? Very dissatisfied Somewhat Neither satisfied Somewhat dissatisfied nor dissatisfied satisfied

Very satisfied

Co-Workers
22. How do you generally feel about the people that you work with? They are the I like them a I like them fairly I have no feel best group I great deal well one way or the could ask for other I dont particularly care for them

23. How is your overall attitude toward your job influenced by the people you work with? It is very It is favorably It is not It is unfavorably It is very favorably influenced influenced one influenced favorably influenced way or the other influenced

24. The example my fellow employees set: Greatly Somewhat Has little effect discourages me discourages me on me from working from working hard hard

Somewhat encourages me to work hard

Greatly encourages me to work hard

25. How much does the way co-workers handle their jobs add to the success of your organization? It adds almost It adds very little It adds only a It adds quite a bit It adds a very nothing little great deal

122
26. In this organization, there is: A very great deal Quite a bit of of friction friction

Some friction

Little friction

Almost no friction

Physical Work Conditions

27. How much pride can you take in the appearance of your work place? A very great deal Quite a bit Some Little Very little

28. How do you feel about your physical working conditions? Extremely Well satisfied Only moderately Somewhat satisfied satisfied dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

29. How do your physical working conditions influence your overall attitude toward your job? They have a very They have a They have no They have a They have a very unfavorable slightly influence one favorable favorable influence unfavorable way or the other influence influence influence

30. The physical working conditions make working here: Very unpleasant Unpleasant Neither pleasant Pleasant nor unpleasant

Very pleasant

31. For the work I do, my physical working conditions are: Very poor Relatively poor Neither good nor Reasonably poor good

Very good

32. How do your physical working conditions affect the way you do your job? They help me a They help me a They make little They tend to They make it great deal little difference make it difficult very difficult

123 Financial Rewards

33. For the work I do, I feel the amount of money I make is: Extremely good Good Nether good nor Fairly poor poor Very poor

34. To what extent are your needs satisfied by the pay and benefits you receive? Almost none of Very few of my A few of my Many of my Almost all of my my needs are needs are needs are needs are needs are satisfied satisfied satisfied satisfied satisfied

35. Considering what it costs to live in this area, my pay is: Very inadequate Inadequate Barely adequate Adequate

More than adequate

36. Does the way pay is handled around here make it worthwhile for a person to work especially hard? It definitely It tends to It makes little It tends to It definitely encourages hard encourage hard difference discourage hard discourages hard work work work work

37. How does the amount of money you now make influence your overall attitude toward your job? It has a very It has a fairly It has no It has a slightly It has a very favorable favorable influence one unfavorable unfavorable influence influence way or the other influence influence

Career Future
38. How do you feel about your future with the organization? I am very worried I am somewhat I have mixed I feel good about about it worried about it feelings about it it I feel very good about it

39. How do your feelings about your future with the company influence your overall

124
attitude toward your job? They have a very They have a favorable favorable influence influence

They have no influence one way or the other

They have a slightly unfavorable influence

They have a very unfavorable influence

40. The way my future with the organization looks to me now: Hard work Hard work Hard work Hard work hardly seems very seems fairly seems seems worthwhile worthwhile worthwhile worthwhile

Hard work seems almost worthless

41. Do you feel you are getting ahead in the organization? Im making a Im making some Im not sure Im making very great deal of progress little progress progress 42. How secure are you in your present job? I feel very I feel fairly I feel somewhat uneasy about it uneasy about it uneasy about it

Im making no progress

I feel fairly sure of it

I feel very sure of it

For survey purposes only, please indicate the following: Gender: Age: ____ Male ____ Female

____ 18-25 ____ 26-30 ____ 31-39 ___ 40-45 ____ 46-50 ____ 51+

Status: _____ Government _____ Military _____ Contractor Currently Supervise/Manage Others: _____ Yes _____ No # of Years with AAAV/EFV Program: _____ <1 _____ 1-5 _____ 6-10 _____ >10 # of Years Working Experience (Excluding current program): _____ <5 _____ 6-10 _____ 11-15 _____ 16-20 _____ 21-25 _____ 26-30 _____ >30 Directorate: _____ Front Office & PMT _____ ABM _____ APM-MS _____ APM-ES _____ Logistics _____ Systems Engineering _____ M&Q _____ Test _____ AVTB Highest Level of Education Completed: ___ High School ___ College credits, but no degree ____ Associate ___ Bachelor ___ Master ___ Doctorate

125 B. Cover Letters

126 Initial Letter for Survey Participation The Program Office has recently agreed to assist an individual gather data and information to be used to write a dissertation on employee engagement in their efforts to obtain a doctoral degree. In helping this individual, all personnel, military, civilian and contractors, are invited to participate in an online survey that will gauge employee engagement, specifically the extent to which individuals are committed to the organization. Below is a description of the study as well as directions for how to take the survey. Again, please understand the purpose of this effort is to assist an individual with their dissertation. Description of the Study: 1) Via a secure website, you will be presented with a 42 question survey to identify how engaged you are with your present position in the organization. These questions will cover eight different areas: kind of work, amount of work, physical work conditions, supervision, financial rewards, co-workers, organization identification, and career future. For each survey question, additional space will be provided to allow you to enter any written comments that you feel are relevant to the questions content. 2) After the 42 survey questions, there are eight demographic questions that should also be answered. 3) Participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous. Since the data cannot be attributed to you specifically, there can be no harm to you as a participant. 4) Any specific names identified in the comments will be removed before results are published to further protect the identity of each individual. Within the next several days, you will receive another e-mail that provides the link to the website to access the survey. If you have any questions on the survey, please get in touch with Melanie Clifford on (703) 282-4958 as your primary contact, and Regina Greenwood on (954) 262-5080 as your secondary contact, who is Melanies dissertation chair and advisor.

127 Follow-up Letter for Survey Participation As was communicated previously, the Program Office has agreed to assist an individual gather data and information to be used to write a dissertation on employee engagement in their efforts to obtain a doctoral degree. In helping this individual, all personnel, military, civilian and contractors, are invited to participate in an online survey that will gauge employee engagement, specifically the extent to which individuals are committed to the organization. Follow the link given below to gain access to the survey. http://questionpro.com/t/ADkYDZG4ND As a reminder, participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous. Since the data cannot be attributed to you specifically, there can be no harm to you as a participant. Any specific names identified in the comments will be removed before results are published to further protect the identity of each individual. Also, there are no rewards for participation, nor are there negative consequences for not participating. Survey access will be available for 10 calendar days, beginning today and ending on March 31, 2010. If you have any questions on the survey, please get in touch with Melanie Clifford at (703) 282-4958 as your primary contact, and Regina Greenwood at (954) 262-5080 as your secondary contact.

128 Second Follow-Up Letter for Survey Participation As was communicated previously, the Program Office has agreed to assist an individual gather data and information to be used to write a dissertation on employee engagement in their efforts to obtain a doctoral degree. In helping this individual, all personnel, military, civilian and contractors, are invited to participate in an online survey that will gauge employee engagement, specifically the extent to which individuals are committed to the organization. Again, please understand the purpose of this effort is to assist an individual with their dissertation. Follow the link given below to gain access to the survey. http://questionpro.com/t/ADkYDZG4ND As a reminder, participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous. Since the data cannot be attributed to you specifically, there can be no harm to you as a participant. Any specific names identified in the comments will be removed before results are published to further protect the identity of each individual. Also, there are no rewards for participation, nor are there negative consequences for not participating. Survey access will be available for beginning today and ending on April 8, 2010. If you have any questions on the survey, please get in touch with Melanie Clifford at (703) 282-4958 as your primary contact, and Regina Greenwood at (954) 262-5080 as your secondary contact.

129 C. Code of Data Set

130 Code of Data Set

Column A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V Label Supervision Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 CoIdent Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 KindofWork Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 AmtofWork Q18 What Measured Average of Supervision items 1-6 Supervision Question 1 Supervision Question 2 Supervision Question 3 Supervision Question 4 Supervision Question 5 Supervision Question 6 Average of Company Identification items 1-5 Company Identification Question 1 Company Identification Question 2 Company Identification Question 3 Company Identification Question 4 Company Identification Question 5 Average of Kind of Work items 1-6 Kind of Work Question 1 Kind of Work Question 2 Kind of Work Question 3 Kind of Work Question 4 Kind of Work Question 5 Kind of Work Question 6 Average of Amount of Work items 1-4 Amount of Work Question 1 How Measured B+C+D+E+F+G/6 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval I+J+K+L+M/5 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval O+P+Q+R+S+T/6 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval V+W+X+Y/4 1-5 Interval

131
Column W X Y Z AA AB AC AD AE AF AG AH AI AJ AK AL AM AN AO AP AQ AR AS Label Q19 Q20 Q21 CoWorkers Q22 Q23 Q24 Q25 Q26 What Measured Amount of Work Question 2 Amount of Work Question 3 Amount of Work Question 4 Average of Co-Workers items 1-5 Co-Workers Question 1 Co-Workers Question 2 Co-Workers Question 3 Co-Workers Question 4 Co-Workers Question 5 How Measured 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval AA+AB+AC+AD+AE/5 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval AG+AH+AI+AJ+AK+AL/ 6 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval AN+AO+AP+AQ+AR/5 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval AT+AU+AV+AW+AX/5

PhyWorkCond Average of Physical Work Conditions items 1-6 Q27 Q28 Q29 Q30 Q31 Q32 FinRewards Q33 Q34 Q35 Q36 Q37 CareerFuture Physical Work Conditions Question 1 Physical Work Conditions Question 2 Physical Work Conditions Question 3 Physical Work Conditions Question 4 Physical Work Conditions Question 5 Physical Work Conditions Question 6 Average of Financial Rewards items 15 Financial Rewards Question 1 Financial Rewards Question 2 Financial Rewards Question 3 Financial Rewards Question 4 Financial Rewards Question 5 Average of Career Future items 1-5

132
Column AT AU AV AW AX AY AZ Label Q38 Q39 Q40 Q41 Q42 Gender Age What Measured Career Future Question 1 Career Future Question 2 Career Future Question 3 Career Future Question 4 Career Future Question 5 Gender Age How Measured 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1-5 Interval 1 = Male; 2 = Female Categorical 1 = 18-25; 2 = 26-30; 3 = 31-39; 4 = 40-45; 5 = 46-50; 6 = 51+ 1 = Government; 2 = Military; 3 = Contractor 1 = Yes; 2 = No Categorical 1 = <1 year; 2 = 1-5 years; 3 = 6-10 years; 4 = >10 years 1 = <5 years; 2 = 6-10 years; 3 = 11-15 years; 4 = 16-20 years; 5 = 21-25 years; 6 = 26-30 years; 7 = >30 years 1 = Front Office & PMT; 2 = ABM; 3 = APM-MS; 4 = APM-ES; 5 = Logistics; 6 = Systems Engineering; 7 = Mfg & Quality; 8 = Test; 9 = AVTB 1 = High School; 2 = College Credits, but no Degree; 3 = Associate Degree; 4 = Bachelor Degree; 5 = Masters Degree; 6 = Doctorate Degree

BA

Status

Status of Respondent

BB BC

Supervisor PgmYrs

Currently Supervisory or Management Number of Years with Current Program Number of Employment Years Excluding Current Program

BD

EmployYrs

BE

Directorate

Directorate of Respondent

BF

EducationLvl

Highest Level of Education Attained

133 D. Consistency Matrix

134

Title of Dissertation: Employee Engagement: Antecedents and Consequences Purpose: The purpose of this research will be to provide empirical evidence in support of the Saks model by utilizing the constructs of the Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR). Sub-Problems: 1. To determine the relationship of the antecedent constructs of the IOR and the employee engagement constructs. 2. To determine the relationship of the antecedent constructs of the IOR and the consequences construct. 3. To determine the relationship of the employee engagement constructs and the consequences construct.
Hypotheses H1a: The antecedent of IOR kind of work construct is related to the employee engagement construct company identification. H1b: The antecedent of IOR amount of work construct is related to the employee engagement construct company identification. H1c: The antecedent of IOR physical work conditions construct is related to the employee engagement construct company identification. H1d: The antecedent of IOR supervision construct is related to the employee engagement construct company identification. H1e: The antecedent of IOR financial rewards construct is related to the employee engagement construct company identification. Sources Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006) Instruments Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 7-17. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 7-11, 18-21. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 7-11, 27-32. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 1-11. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 7-11, 33-37. Method of Analysis Descriptive Statistics; Factor Analysis with Varimax Rotation; ANOVA; Pearson Correlation

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

135
Hypotheses H1f: The antecedent of IOR kind of work construct is related to the employee engagement construct coworkers. H1g: The antecedent of IOR amount of work construct is related to the employee engagement construct co-workers. H1h: The antecedent of IOR physical work conditions is related to the employee engagement construct co-workers. H1i: The antecedent of IOR supervision construct is related to the employee engagement construct coworkers. H1j: The antecedent of IOR financial rewards construct is related to the employee engagement construct co-workers. H2a: The antecedent of IOR kind of work construct is related to consequences construct career future. H2b: The antecedent of IOR amount of work construct is related to consequences construct career future. H2c: The antecedent of IOR physical work conditions is related to consequences construct career future. H2d: The antecedent of IOR supervision construct is related to consequences construct career future. H2e: The antecedent of IOR financial rewards construct is related to consequences construct career future. Sources Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006) Instruments Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 1217, 22-26. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 1826. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 2232. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 1-6, 22-26. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 2226, 33-37. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 7-17. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 1821, 38-42. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 2732, 38-42. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 1-6, 38-42. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 3342. Method of Analysis

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006) Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

136
Hypotheses H3a: The employee engagement construct of IOR company identification is related to consequences construct career future. H3b: The employee engagement construct of IOR co-workers is related to consequences construct career future. Sources Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006) Instruments Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), items 7-11, 38-42. Index of Organizational Reactions (IOR) (1972), 22-26, 3842. Method of Analysis

Cook et al. (1981), Saks (2006)

137 E. Timetable

138

Timetable

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