This study focuses on the development of a validated and confirmed employee engagement measuring model for use by managers and academia. Data was collected from an array of South African managers by employing a structured 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. A total of 260 usable questionnaires could be analysed, signifying a high response rate of 80%. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (Version 18, Version 22.0 and AMOS for Windows) was used as the quantitative analytical software. The following statistical techniques were employed to analyse the data, namely the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy, Bartlett‟s test of sphericity, Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficients, Exploratory factor analysis, Confirmatory factor analysis and the Pearson correlation coefficient. The development of the Measure Employee Engagement model wielded theoretical and empirical research. The format was structured into four logical stages, hence the presentation of the study in the approved article format. The study covers the following four steps (as per articles): Article one departed by performing a literature study of employee engagement constructs and its measuring criteria. It examined the application of a myriad of models in various application settings to identify the relevant constructs and measuring criteria. From these constructs and criteria, a draft questionnaire was constructed to collect the data on 11 employee engagement constructs. Validation of measuring criteria was performed to ensure that the criteria accurately measure the specific employee engagement construct. The data was also tested for acceptable reliability levels. The second article departs on the validation of the constructs and its measuring criteria, this time as a unified model and not, as performed in Article 1, the construct validation individually. The objective of this article was to simplify the complex model without deterioration of the measuring contribution thereof. This was achieved by employing factor analysis, and after four rounds of eliminating low-loading and dual-loading criteria, the questionnaire was reduced by 25 measuring criteria and seven factors were extracted explaining a favourable 69.75% of the variance. The simplified model was scrutinised to ascertain statistical validity thereof, an objective achieved with flying colours. The inter-correlations between the seven factors were satisfactory, underpinning the validity of the model. The third article focuses on confirming the employee engagement constructs statistically by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis as well as to determine the goodness of the model fit. The results confirmed that all seven constructs were significant (p<0.05) and important according to the standardised regression weights. Surprisingly, the most important respondent construct Behavioural engagement had the lowest regression weight, while the lower rated Career growth opportunities showed a much higher regression weight – signifying a higher importance and influence on employee engagement. Regarding goodness of model fit, the CFI, RMSEA and Hoelter‟s indices‟ were used. These indices showed that the model as stated above to measure employee engagement is a good fit and that it can be operationalised to be employed in managerial application settings. Article four operationalised the model validated in Articles 2 and 3. The article thus reports on the actual measurement of the different employee engagement constructs as perceived by the respondents. The results showed that the respondents regarded all seven the constructs as important, with Behavioural employment being regarded as the most important one. Career growth opportunities, surprisingly, was rated the least important construct of employee engagement. Correlational analysis indicated that no significant correlation coefficients exist between the demographic variables and the constructs of employee engagement. The study consisted of both a literature study as well as an empirical study. The university libraries of the North-West University and Management College of South Africa‟s Business School were used to source reference materials with the aid of a specialised research librarian at the North-West University to assist in the location of the most appropriate sources. Apart from the conclusions based on the results obtained in model development, generalised conclusions include the development of a successful model development methodology and guidance in the use of a number of the statistical techniques. This could greatly assist future researchers in the design of their studies, even outside the discipline of employee engagement. / PhD (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Titel: Hur engageras medarbetare i ledningens vision? En studie inom intern kommunikation.  Nyckelord: Internal communication, hierarchical communication, corporate communication, organizational communication, sensemaking, employee engagement, message distortion  Syfte: Skapa ökad förståelse för hur en ledning, via sin interna kommunikation, kan öka medarbetarnas engagemang.  Metod: Studien har utförts med en kvalitativ ansats där data samlats in via intervjuer med tretton respondenter fördelade på ledningsgrupp, enhetschefer, gruppchefer och medarbetare.  Bidrag: Genom praktisk tillämpning av en teoretisk modell (Welch &amp; Jackson 2007) har en visions väg genom en organisation granskats. Aktiviteter har identifierats vilka kan förklara graden av engagemang samt hur väl visionen förankrats på medarbearnivå.  Originalitet: Intervjuerna är utförda på samtliga nivåer i en hierarkisk organisation. Studien täcker således mer än en nivås perspektiv på den interna kommunikationen. / Title: How do employees become engaged in the top management ́s vision? A study within internal communication.  Key words: Internal communication, hierarchical communication, corporate communication, organizational communication, sensemaking, employee engagement, message distortion  Purpose: To increase the understanding of how a management, through the use of internal communication, can increase the employees’ engagement.  Method: The study has been conducted with a qualitative approach. Data has been assembled through 13 interviews with top management, unit managers, group managers, and employees.  Contributions: By practical application of a theoretical model (Welch &amp; Jackson 2007), a vision's path through an organization has been reviewed. Activities have been identified that can explain the level of engagement and how well the vision has anchored on employee level.  Originality: The interviews have been conducted on all levels of a hierarchical organization. Therefore, the study covers more than one group’s perspective on the internal communication.

The implementation of an environmental management system such as the standard ISO 14001 is a common way to manage environmental responsibilities in an organisation. In 2015 ISO 14001 was updated with some major changes like Annex SL, management engagement, strategic engagement, risk-based thinking, life cycle perspective, improved environmental management and interested parties. The purpose of ISO 14001 is to improve the environmental performance of the organisation, but also to increase the degree of employee involvement and with that sustainable development can be supported through the implementation of the standard. The involvement of employees in an organisation with an environmental management system was studied at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU). By law a Swedish university must have an environmental management system. SLU has implemented ISO 14001 as their environmental management system and was chosen for the research. The applied methods were a literature review and case study where interviews and a survey were used. The changes in ISO 14001:2015 were investigated as a part of the literature review. In this method, review studies were investigated to see if any of the changes were discussed before the standard was updated. There was no found research that discussed if drawbacks of version 14001:2004 were actually taken into account when the newest version of the standard was produced. This subject therefore makes the study important to perform. Environmental coordinators were interviewed to find out if the changes in 14001:2015 supported increased participation in the standard. A survey was conducted with environmental coordinators at SLU to investigate how the changes in ISO 14001:2015 were viewed and if the results differed if performed from those obtained from a similar comparison at companies. The reason to study the effects of the changes in the standard at a university and to compare the results with companies is important since it is not optional for the university to adopt an environmental management system as it is for another type of organisation. Most of the discussed shortcomings from ISO 14001:2004 did match what was changed in the version from 2015. However, the review studies that were investigated did not discuss the life cycle perspective which was considered to be a major and important change. Therefore, this lack of discussion is viewed as a weakness in the review studies. It was also concluded that, even though employees did become involved to a greater extent in the environmental management system at SLU, it could not be made sure if it was because of the implementations of the changes in ISO 14001:2015. It was most likely because of the major work SLU had done the last three years when certifying the whole organisation. Instead, the conclusion was that it is important to work inclusively with the environmental management system and it seems that the more it is discussed in an organisation, the more employees will become involved. Lastly, it was seen in the thesis that a university and the studied companies viewed the environmental work both similarly and differently. Both thought that only small benefits would be the result of the implementation of the changes in ISO 14001:2015. What differed between the two groups of organisations was that SLU thought that the changes would not give any major difficulties while the companies on the other hand thought that it would create substantial extra work.

The changing nature of organisation life becomes more and more intense as organisations are constantly striving to adjust to serve the needs of an ever-changing environment. At the same time, the importance of keeping employees engaged is essential to organisations. The aim of this thesis was to contribute with a deeper understanding of employee engagement during an organisational change process. A deeper insight of how individuals perceive a changing work environment on an emotional level will help managers to go through the process while they are ensuring engagement of their employees. Our fundamental research questions were: How do employees describe their own state of engagement during an organisational change process? Which factors are important, according to employees, in order for them to stay engaged during the process? The existing literature is reviewed with special attention to state engagement, including job satisfaction, job involvement, organisational commitment and empowerment. The theoretical framework consists of the Job demand-resources model and attitudinal organisational commitment, which have been used as the analytical tools. Our empirical data was collected through a qualitative research design with semi-structured interviews at an insurance company in the middle of Sweden. The conclusion from this study was that the state engagement differed a lot according to dimensions as satisfaction, involvement and commitment, while most of the interviewees agreed that the empowerment and energy level decreased. We also discovered a special kind of engagement, frustration engagement, which was distinguished from the commonly positive view of engagement. The most important factors to continue being engaged were expressed by the employees as social support, managerial support as well as organisational support and communication.

Abstract   Title: How parental leave policies influence employee engagement   Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration   Author: Patrick Hammer and Rickard Palmgren   Supervisor: Tomas Källquist and Pär Vilhelmsson   Date: 2019 – June     Aim: Several studies have found that perceived flexibility and the ability to manage the demands of work and personal life are related to higher levels of employee engagement and expected retention. However, little research have been done to explore the relationship between parental leave (a component of work-life balance) and employee engagement and retention. The aim of this study is to increase the understanding about how parental leave influence employee engagement, and subsequent employee retention.   Method: This study is based on a social constructive and hermeneutic perspective. Empirical data was collected through 18 semi-structured interviews with employees in Sweden and the United States. The findings were compared to previous research with an abductive approach. Theoretical and empirical findings were combined and resulted in a new model based on the aim of this study.   Result &amp; Conclusions: Our model illustrates how parental leave influence employee engagement and retention from an employee perspective. Parental leave was found to influence employee engagement and retention in four main ways (themes), which are relationship with manager, salary and career opportunities, alignment of values, and well-being.   Contribution of the thesis: From a theoretical perspective, the model we developed is useful as it highlights how employee engagement is influenced by parental leave policies. From a practical perspective, this model can be used by managers and leaders in organizations worldwide that are looking to understand drivers of employee engagement and how to increase employee retention.   Suggestions for future research: Further research is needed to test this model in different contexts to confirm its accuracy. For future research, this model can be tested from the manager or management perspective, which could identify new components that can be added to the model.   Key words: Parental leave, employee engagement, employee retention, work-life balance, family friendly policies

Employee engagement has been used in previous literature as a management concept increasing the success of an organisation. Environmental sustainability has become a critical issue for all levels in the society and poses an urgent pressure to act. Previous research confirms that employee engagement is effective when working towards environmental sustainability development. Universities can have a substantial impact on how the collective mind is formed and transformed and are therefore important stakeholders for environmental sustainability development in the society. This thesis uses the previous work of Kahn and Gruman &amp; Saks to examine the role of employee engagement in environmental sustainability and explores the management activities stimulating the increase of engagement among employees in environmental sustainability. To answer these questions, employees and managers have been interviewed at Jönköping University in Sweden. This thesis finds that employee engagement appears to have a supporting role in environmental sustainability development. Additionally, an extension of the Engagement Management Model is developed, providing the engagement management literature with a holistic view of how engagement in environmental sustainability can be managed in universities.

This article explores the ways in which a multinational company approaches green human resource management (HRM) in its British, German and Swedish subsidiaries. The authors analyse the similarities and differences in Green HRM approaches in these three European subsidiaries of a US restaurant chain. This enables the comparison of Green HRM practices and behaviours, and considers the factors that influence the subsidiaries in this particular domain. Therefore, this research addresses the current lack of international comparative research in the field of Green HRM. The methodological approach is a multi-case study with 50 participants, using semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The results present evidence of proactive environmental management, reflected through a range of operational and people-centred initiatives across the three European countries. Although there is an overarching commitment to environmental sustainability, the positioning and alignment of the environment and HR function differ amongst the subsidiaries, as does the way in which the subsidiaries choose to engage the workforce in environmental sustainability. The study identified a number of factors that explain the differences in approaches including, amongst others, strategic and performance drivers and cultural dimensions, such as relationships with key stakeholders.

The focus of this research is on advancing understanding of EIP at work in China. It sets out to examine the extent of practice adoption, and inquire the management intention, employee perception and the challenges from the internal and external environment in relation to the practice adoption. It also tries to understand the applicability of EIP practice in innovation and quality enhancement industries. The research methodology adopted is qualitative case study approach, with 20 respondent organisations including Chinese global enterprises, central state-owned enterprises, listed and small medium enterprises.

Abstract Retail business leaders can improve profitability when they implement employee engagement strategies. The purpose of this single case study was to explore employee engagement strategies retail leaders use to improve profitability. The population included 6 department leaders in a single retail organization in the southeastern United States. The conceptual framework included Kahn's employee engagement theory. Using Yin's 5-step data analysis process, data from semistructured interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed to gain employee engagement strategies that retail leaders use to improve profitability. Four major themes emerged that retail business leaders use to increase profitability: having daily staff interaction, hiring the right people for the job, creating a positive work environment, and having regular one-on-one interaction with every staff member. The implications for positive social change include a more engaged workforce, which could encourage business owners to reinvest profits and offer sustained employment to a workforce, which may contribute to the economic well-being of communities.

Gauging the quality of the relationship between federal managers and employees and its impact on organizational performance excellence is a continuing problem for the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM). President Barack Obama's President's Management Agenda mandated several actions- to respond to the problem. Part of the mandate was to use data from the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) to gauge the relationship between management and employees and overall performance. The FEVS is a tool that measures employees' perceptions of whether, and to what extent, conditions that characterize successful organizations are present in their agencies. The research question for the study was whether differences exist between the employees of higher and lower performing federal agencies as measured by the Engagement Index of the FEVS. The samples were controlled for sex, age, and education. Secondary- data obtained from the OPM 2014 FEVS were obtained for the research.- This quantitative study involved a nonexperimental, correlational, and descriptive research design. Multiple regression analysis determined differences among the dependent variables as portrayed within the high- and low-performing agencies. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the demographic variables. Analysis results of the 2014 FEVS report determined that no difference existed between employees- (n- = 258) from higher and lower performing agencies as measured by the FEVS. The study contributes to positive social change by enabling agencies to determine where managerial changes are necessary for agency performance. Longitudinal studies using the FEVS can contribute to future improvements in federal agencies performance improvements.