Background: Sudden change in work routine, as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, disrupted the historic patterns and created phenomena where people were forced to work remotely for a long-term period. Even when the restrictions were eased after the pandemic, business-as-usual concerning workplace was challenged since employees did not want to return to their 9-5 jobs. Therefore, employers are forced to rethink their legacy approach concerning where and when work can be conducted. Research Problem: With both employees and employers mutually convinced about the need for redefining how work can be executed, in parallel with negative correlation existing between extensive remote work and employee engagement, calls for exploring alternative flexible working arrangements. Research Purpose: In the context where neither extensive remote work nor fully on-site setups are perceived as the optimal workplace solutions after the Covid-19 pandemic, a hybrid approach may provide middle-ground, ideally combing the positive elements from both home- and corporate office workplaces, resulting in an enhanced employee engagement. Hence, the purpose is to understand how hybrid workplace impacts employee engagement. Research Question: What are the implications of hybrid workplace on employee engagement? Research Method: This research is qualitative and inductive, following relativism ontology and social constructionism epistemology. Grounded Theory as methodology, and data collected through 12 semi-structured interviews, concluded with grounded analysis to conduct interpretation and analysis.  Conclusion: The outcome of this study confirms that employee engagement is affected by hybrid approach as a workplace arrangement, either positively or negatively, dependent on conditions how hybrid approach is configured and implemented. Hybrid workplace elements which impact employee engagement were identified and are presented in this paper.

Energy consumption is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and to climate change. Renewable energy sources are one way of mitigating the problem, but behavioral change and reductions in consumption are also required. In addition, little is known about how energy conservation behaviors are driven or hindered at workplaces, but it has been found in previous research that employee engagement is an important factor. Therefore, this study takes a mixed method approach utilizing the framework of Community-Based Social Marketing at a pharmaceutical manufacturing site in Sweden to investigate drivers and barriers to energy conservation, designing an intervention aiming at increasing employee engagement as well as changing behaviors, and evaluating the study using interviews, surveys and real time measurements. The findings of this study suggest that several factors act as barriers and drivers to energy conservation behaviors at work, e.g., interest, organizational culture, work processes and commitment from the company and management. The designed intervention, an inclusionary trans- disciplinary workshop, seems to have increased engagement and has preliminarily influenced pro-environmental behavior changes, as well as mitigated some barriers and strengthened some drivers.

Organisationer står inför en ökad global konkurrens och en dynamisk marknadsutveckling vilket utmanar traditionella strategier och förutsätter kontinuerlig förändring. Forskning pekar på behovet av nya idéer och teorier för att stödja smidiga övergångar och framgångsrika förändringsprocesser. Även om flera förändringsledningsmodeller existerar, återstår en brist på omfattande förståelse och utnyttjande av faktorerna som påverkar förändringsframgång, särskilt kopplat till engagemang.  Syftet med studien är att beskriva och utveckla ett ramverk för hur ledare kan implementera förändring på ett sätt som främjar engagemang. Studien ämnar undersöka hur ledare vid förändringsarbeten kan arbeta för att främja medarbetares engagemang och identifiera utmaningarna som ledare möter vid förändringsarbeten för att främja medarbetares engagemang och hur dessa kan överkommas. Studien har genomförts i form av en kvalitativ studie med induktiv ansats och författarna har använt en metod inspirerad av Classic Grounded Theory. Totalt har sju ledare inom varierande organisationer intervjuats genom kvalitativa intervjuer.Efter analys av empirin har en modell kunnat sammanställas, EFF, som presenteras och som ger ledare ett ramverk och tillvägagångssätt för att kunna implementera förändring på ett sätt som engagerar medarbetare. Modellen jämförs och diskuteras tillsammans med befintliga etablerade förändringsledningsmodeller och teorier samt flertal likheter och skillnader upptäcks. Modellen trycker också på de utmaningar som ledare möter och ger ett arbetssätt för hur dessa utmaningar ska överkommas. / Organizations are facing increased global competition and dynamic market development, which challenges traditional strategies and requires continuous change. Research points to the need for new ideas and theories to support smooth transitions and successful change processes. While several Change Management models exist, a lack of comprehensive understanding and utilization of the factors that influence the success of change, especially linked to engagement, remains. The purpose of this study is to describe and develop a framework for how leaders can implement change in a way that promotes engagement. The study aims to investigate how leaders in Change Management can work to promote employee engagement and identify the challenges that leaders face in Change Management to promote employee engagement and how these can be overcome. The study has been conducted in the form of a qualitative study with an inductive approach and a method inspired by Classic Grounded Theory. A total of seven leaders in various organizations have been interviewed through qualitative interviews. After analysis of the empirical data, a model was created, EFF. The model is presented and provides leaders with a framework and approach to be able to implement change in a way that engages employees. The model is compared and discussed together with existing established Change Management models and theories and several similarities and differences are discovered. The model also emphasizes the challenges that leaders face and provides a way of working for how these challenges are to be overcome.

In our constantly increasing digital society, the need for continuous learning is becoming increasingly crucial. Having an adaptable workforce is important for productivity in the long term. A solution that has seen increasing traction in recent times is so-called micro-learning. Micro-learning breaks down learning into smaller, more digestible units. Another trend that has also seen increasing relevance is gamification, a technique employing motivational incentives like video games. This Design Science thesis explores the intersection between micro-learning and gamification, trying to understand with an exploratory approach users’ hands-on experiences with two different micro-learning systems. One system integrating explicitly designed gamification features, the gamified micro-learning platform. The other system instead lacked these designed gamified features, the non-gamified micro-learning platform. Through a six-week study phase, participants explored the two different platforms and then shared their experiences. By understanding participants' hands-on experiences through the lens of Self Determination Theory, the aim of the study is to then derive a set of design principles for implementing gamification in a micro-learning system informed by the data gathered.

The COVID-19 pandemic will significantly transform workplace dynamics, resulting in a notable surge in remote work environments. This qualitative grounded theory study aims to investigate the impact of distributed work arrangements on employee engagement within the evolving work landscape. To accomplish this, the study will employ semi-structured interviews, a demographic survey, as well as research tools such as Zoom and NVivo. The research will be conducted within the United States, with a sample comprising human resources managers and employees representing diverse industries. The primary objective of this study will be to gain an in-depth understanding of how distributed work arrangements influence employee engagement, considering the unique circumstances and challenges that will arise in the evolving work landscape. By employing a qualitative grounded theory approach, the research aims to generate theories and conceptual frameworks that can inform organizational practices and policies related to remote work.The study will employ purposive sampling techniques to recruit a diverse sample of HR managers and employees from various industries within the United States. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted to gather rich and nuanced data, enabling participants to share their experiences, perceptions, and challenges related to distributed work arrangements. Furthermore, a demographic survey will supplement the interview data, offering additional insights into the background characteristics of the participants. Zoom will serve as the primary platform for conducting semi-structured interviews, facilitating participation from individuals across the country and enabling them to engage effectively, regardless of geographical constraints. NVivo, a qualitative data analysis software, will organize, code, and analyze the interview transcripts and survey data. This study will identify emerging themes, patterns, and relationships, contributing to developing a grounded theory. The findings of this study are expected to shed light on the factors that will shape employee engagement and distributed work arrangements, including communication, collaboration, autonomy, work-life balance, and organizational support. These insights will inform organizations about strategies to enhance employee engagement in the future work environment, resulting in improved productivity, job satisfaction, and overall well-being. The study described in this research proposal seeks to make a substantial contribution to the body of knowledge on remote work by thoroughly examining the impact of distributed work arrangements on employee engagement. The findings are expected to empower organizations to make well-informed decisions regarding their remote work policies and practices in the future. Dissemination of these findings will be accomplished through scholarly papers and presentations, ensuring that the insights reach a wide and relevant audience. / Business Administration/Human Resource Management

The performance of state-owned enterprises in Namibia has been in the spotlight for many years, resulting in the Government of the Republic of Namibia to introduce interventions and strategies to address and improve this performance. The poor performance of state-owned enterprises has been studied in terms of financial aspects with less attention, however, on human resources as a key success factor in contributing to performance. Studying performance in terms of the human resources is an important area for research and intervention. The Government introduced several measures to ensure the efficient governance and monitoring of state-owned enterprises and to ensure that they are performing to the satisfaction and expectations of the stakeholder. These measures included the introduction of the State-Owned Enterprises Act (Act 2 of 2006) of Namibia, as well as governance structures to ensure that the performance of state-owned enterprises is properly maximised. Despite these efforts by the Government to regulate state-owned enterprises with the intention to improve performance, to date the poor performance of state-owned enterprises is still a topical issue in Namibia. Almost a decade after the promulgation of the State-Owned Enterprises Act, in 2006, the government is still financially bailing out a number of the state-owned enterprises. State-owned enterprises need to take a positive approach that recognise and leverage human resources for contribution to sustainable growth, competitive advantage and performance. Positively oriented high-performance work practices are conceptualised within the context of positive organisational behaviour. Positive organisational behaviour as characterised in the form of psychological capital, with antecedents such as authentic leadership and supportive organisational climate and employee outcomes such as job satisfaction, intention to leave, engagement in the Namibian state-owned enterprises context are the main focus of this study. The study aimed to assess the relationship between psychological capital, authentic leadership, supportive organisational climate, job satisfaction, intention to leave, employee engagement and performance for employees in state-owned enterprises in Namibia. A cross-sectional survey design was used to gather data regarding all these constructs as experienced by employees. A convenience sample (N = 452) of employees from 20 state-owned enterprises participated in the study. The measuring instruments used were the Psychological Capital Questionnaire, Performance-related Attitudinal Questionnaire, Job Satisfaction Scale, Turnover Intention Scale, Engagement Scale, Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, Supportive Organisational Climate Questionnaire and a biographical questionnaire. The results of study 1 showed that authentic leadership was positively associated with psychological capital (i.e. experiences of hope, optimism, self-efficacy and resilience) and job satisfaction. Authentic leadership affected job satisfaction indirectly via psychological capital. Psychological capital had a medium to large indirect effect on employees’ intentions to leave. The findings suggest that authentic leadership and psychological capital explain job satisfaction and retention of employees in state-owned enterprises. Study 2 showed that authentic leadership and psychological capital predicted employee engagement. A supportive organisational climate was related to employee engagement on individual level, but only if authentic leadership and psychological capital were not included in the model. Psychological capital mediated the relation between authentic leadership and employee engagement on an individual level in state owned enterprises. The results of study 3 showed that authentic leadership and a supportive organisational climate had a positive impact on psychological capital. Psychological capital predicted job performance on an individual level. Psychological capital was not associated with organisational performance. Recommendations for interventions to promote psychological capital, its antecedents and outcomes were made.

The performance of state-owned enterprises in Namibia has been in the spotlight for many years, resulting in the Government of the Republic of Namibia to introduce interventions and strategies to address and improve this performance. The poor performance of state-owned enterprises has been studied in terms of financial aspects with less attention, however, on human resources as a key success factor in contributing to performance. Studying performance in terms of the human resources is an important area for research and intervention. The Government introduced several measures to ensure the efficient governance and monitoring of state-owned enterprises and to ensure that they are performing to the satisfaction and expectations of the stakeholder. These measures included the introduction of the State-Owned Enterprises Act (Act 2 of 2006) of Namibia, as well as governance structures to ensure that the performance of state-owned enterprises is properly maximised. Despite these efforts by the Government to regulate state-owned enterprises with the intention to improve performance, to date the poor performance of state-owned enterprises is still a topical issue in Namibia. Almost a decade after the promulgation of the State-Owned Enterprises Act, in 2006, the government is still financially bailing out a number of the state-owned enterprises. State-owned enterprises need to take a positive approach that recognise and leverage human resources for contribution to sustainable growth, competitive advantage and performance. Positively oriented high-performance work practices are conceptualised within the context of positive organisational behaviour. Positive organisational behaviour as characterised in the form of psychological capital, with antecedents such as authentic leadership and supportive organisational climate and employee outcomes such as job satisfaction, intention to leave, engagement in the Namibian state-owned enterprises context are the main focus of this study. The study aimed to assess the relationship between psychological capital, authentic leadership, supportive organisational climate, job satisfaction, intention to leave, employee engagement and performance for employees in state-owned enterprises in Namibia. A cross-sectional survey design was used to gather data regarding all these constructs as experienced by employees. A convenience sample (N = 452) of employees from 20 state-owned enterprises participated in the study. The measuring instruments used were the Psychological Capital Questionnaire, Performance-related Attitudinal Questionnaire, Job Satisfaction Scale, Turnover Intention Scale, Engagement Scale, Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, Supportive Organisational Climate Questionnaire and a biographical questionnaire. The results of study 1 showed that authentic leadership was positively associated with psychological capital (i.e. experiences of hope, optimism, self-efficacy and resilience) and job satisfaction. Authentic leadership affected job satisfaction indirectly via psychological capital. Psychological capital had a medium to large indirect effect on employees’ intentions to leave. The findings suggest that authentic leadership and psychological capital explain job satisfaction and retention of employees in state-owned enterprises. Study 2 showed that authentic leadership and psychological capital predicted employee engagement. A supportive organisational climate was related to employee engagement on individual level, but only if authentic leadership and psychological capital were not included in the model. Psychological capital mediated the relation between authentic leadership and employee engagement on an individual level in state owned enterprises. The results of study 3 showed that authentic leadership and a supportive organisational climate had a positive impact on psychological capital. Psychological capital predicted job performance on an individual level. Psychological capital was not associated with organisational performance. Recommendations for interventions to promote psychological capital, its antecedents and outcomes were made.

Thesis (MPhil) -- Stellenbosch University, 2011. / The aim of this research study was to explore the experience of managers, and specifically engineers at a steel manufacturing company, of a brain-based coaching model. Coaching’s origins can be traced back to a variety of fields including psychology, change management, training and adult learning. Many people argue that coaching is ‘heart based’ as opposed to being more analytical and scientific. This caused some confusion with the researcher. However, during his studies towards a Master’s degree in Philosophy (MPhil) in Management Coaching, he was introduced to neuroscience and the role it has played in the emergence of a new field called brainbased coaching. The fact that one could scientifically explain why the brain needs coaching and that coaching can help the brain improve its functioning, appealed so much to the researcher that he wanted to expand his knowledge of the subject. Selecting a sample group that was made up only of engineers who had participated in a training programme with the focus on brain-based coaching, provided the perfect platform from where to study the phenomenon and to discover how the engineers, who are academically trained, are analytical and who, by their very nature, prefer scientific evidence-based research, perceive a brain-based coaching model. It was also important to try and establish what they believed the benefits and possible applications are of the model and whether they think it can be used to improve performance and lift motivation and engagement. The results were positive, but it revealed more; it explained how the experience created awareness and led to a change in behaviour and thinking – not just at work, but also in their personal lives. These findings provide more knowledge about the potential that a brain-based approach has for managers and leaders as a development tool. It also gives some comfort that we do not have to continue doing and thinking about things the way we have always done; we have a choice and this approach gives us an insight into how to exercise that choice.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Chihyung Ok / Employee engagement has received a great deal of attention in the last decade in the popular business press and among consulting firms and the practitioner community. They claim employee engagement is a new human resource practice that business organizations can use in order to cope with the uncertainty of turbulent industry conditions. However, in the academic community, the concept remains new, and therefore, the concept requires rigorous seminal studies to validate it. Given that practical interest in work engagement has outstripped the currently available research evidence, fundamental questions, like how it can be increased and how and why it benefits individuals and organizations, still require answers. Therefore, this study empirically tested relationships among antecedents and consequences of employee engagement in the hotel setting. In particular, this study provided theory-based empirical evidence regarding whether employee evaluations of self (i.e., core self-evaluations) and perceptions of organizational environment (i.e., psychological climate) affect employee engagement. This study also investigated how employee engagement directly and indirectly leads to intrinsic rewards, job satisfaction, personal attachment to an organization (i.e., organizational commitment), and the leader-member exchange relationship (LMX). In accordance with the purpose and objectives of the study, 11 hypotheses were proposed based on several theories: Kahn's three psychological conditions theory, job demands-resources model, social exchange theory, and conservation of resources theory. To test the hypotheses, data were collected from 394 hotel employees and managers in the United States. The proposed relationships were examined using hierarchical multiple regression and structural equation modeling. Results of hypothesis testing showed that core self-evaluations and three components of psychological climate (managerial support for service, interdepartmental service, and team communication) positively influence employee engagement. The results also revealed that employee engagement is positively associated with all the outcome variables. This study further demonstrated that LMX mediates the relationships of employee engagement with job satisfaction and organizational commitment; job satisfaction mediates the relationships between employee engagement and organizational commitment and between LMX and organizational commitment. Given that employee engagement is an important current issue for hospitality companies, the findings should provide the hotel industry with a more complete picture of how employee engagement is associated with its antecedents and outcomes. A discussion of managerial implications is included along with theoretical implications of the findings, an evaluation of research limitations, and directions for future research.

The objectives of the study were (1) to determine the relationship between career adaptability (measured by the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale) and employee engagement (measured by the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale), and (2) to determine whether age, race, gender and tenure groups differ significantly regarding career adaptability and employee engagement. A quantitative survey was conducted on a convenience sample (N = 131) of employees within a business unit of a large insurance company in South Africa. Correlational and inferential statistical analyses revealed significant relationships between career adaptability and employee engagement as well as significant differences between age and race groups on some dimensions of the constructs. These findings contribute valuable insight and knowledge to the field of Organisational Psychology and Career Psychology that can be applied in engagement strategies as well as in career guidance and counselling. The study concluded with recommendations for future research and practice. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)