The U.S. Office of Personnel Management reported the productivity levels of the American multigenerational workforce decreasing as leaders strive to actively engage employees to improve organizational output. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore what leadership strategies federal government managers use to engage a multigenerational workforce. The conceptual framework consisted of Kahn's employee engagement theory and Strauss and Howe's generational cohort theory. The sample consisted of 3 federal government managers within metro Atlanta, Georgia who had successfully managed a multigenerational workforce, demonstrated through the feedback they received from their employees. Data were collected using face-to-face semistructured interviews and a review and analysis of company documents. Data analysis consisted of applying Yin's 5 step data analysis process, and member checking and methodological triangulation of the data strengthened the trustworthiness of interpretations. Emergent themes included generational differences; strategies for working with multigenerational differences; and strategies for engaging a multigenerational workforce. The most effective strategies involved training, communication skills, and team building. Findings from this study may contribute to social change by providing federal government managers with the framework for understanding and engaging its multigenerational workforce, which can result in promoting positive relationships between coworkers, families, and communities. Positive relationships in the workforce may increase employee morale and motivation and decrease employee turnover and the unemployment rate.

This thesis investigates the use of a combined set of quantitative and qualitative tools to help address known barriers associated with adopting and sustaining pollution prevention (P2) in an industrial manufacturing setting. The research was conducted at an Ontario dairy processing facility in the form of a case study. P2 is an alternative approach to traditional pollution control or abatement techniques. P2 is a preferred method for pollution management, both environmentally and economically, as it focuses on the efficient use of resources to prevent pollution at the source. The tools used in this research included: wastewater treatability testing, hierarchical process mapping, employee interviews, and causal loop diagrams (CLDs). The application of these tools assisted the participating facility in better characterizing its existing environmental problems, uncovering concrete resource saving opportunities within its processes, and providing more adaptive visual approaches of documenting and conveying P2 concepts. / OMAFRA Agri-Food and Rural Link KTT Funding Program

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the current recessive times, in which the war for talent is rife, organisations and researchers are increasingly taking interest in how not only to retain their talent, but also to optimise their leadership and engagement practices to maximise organisational outcomes through their talent. However, research on the dynamics of the relationships between specific leadership behaviours, employee engagement, work-related factors and employee intention to quit is limited to investigating single constructs, or only the relationships between two constructs. This study attempted to gain some insights into the relationships between perceived leader behaviour, employee engagement, job characteristics and employee intention to quit by testing a conceptual model of hypothesised relationships derived from research on the body of literature relating to these constructs. A non-experimental quantitative research design was applied using a sample of managers in a local JSE-listed manufacturing organisation (n = 185). Participants completed a questionnaire that measured the perceived presence of the transformational leadership style, experienced work engagement, perceived motivating potential of work and employee intention to quit. Reliability analysis was done to assess the measurement properties of the respective measures, and all scales showed adequate reliability. Univariate relationships between the measured ordinal variables, using Spearman correlations, corroborated all hypothesised relationships between the respective constructs. The results indicate that there are significant positive relationships between transformational leadership and employee engagement, the motivating potential of a job and employee engagement, and transformational leadership and the motivating potential of a job. Also significant negative relationships exist between transformational leadership and intention to quit, and employee engagement and intention to quit. The mediating effects of employee engagement, as measured using Sobel’s test, confirm engagement to be a mediator of the relationship between transformational leadership and intention to quit, as well as of the relationship between the motivating potential of a job and intention to quit. This study adds to existing literature on intention to quit, transformational leadership, employee engagement and job characteristics (motivating potential of a job) by providing insights into the strength and directions of relationships among these constructs. Furthermore, it provides valuable insights into the mediating effects of the engagement construct. The findings of this study provide valuable information to consider in business practice for the development of interventions aimed at mitigating turnover behaviour and maximising organisational outcomes through an engaged workforce. The limitations and recommendations of the study provide insights into possibilities that could be explored in future research. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die huidige tyd van resessie is organisasies in gedurige stryd om hul talent te behou. Navorsers en organisasies is dus toenemend besig om te ondersoek hoe om hul leierskap en menslike hulpbronne sodanig aan te wend om optimale resultate vir die organisasie te verseker. Die navorsing verwant aan die dinamika tussen leierskapsgedrag, betrokkenheid, taakeienskappe en intensies tot bedanking is beperk tot ondersoeke ingestel op slegs enkele konstrukte, of op die verhouding tussen twee van hierdie konstrukte. Die doel van hierdie studie was om nuwe insae te bied oor die verhoudings tussen hierdie konstrukte. Dit is bereik deur ondersoek in te stel na die hipotese wat opgestel is in die vorm van ‘n konseptuele model oor hierdie verhoudings op grond van die inligting wat deur die literatuurstudie gelewer is. ‘n Nie-eksperimentele kwantitatiewe navorsingsontwerp is toegepas op ‘n steekproef (n = 185) bestaande uit bestuurdersin ‘n vervaardigingsmaatskappy wat op die JSE gelys is. Deelnemers aan hierdie studie het ‘n vraelys voltooi wat die transformasionele leierskapstyl, betrokkenheid, waargenome motiveringspotensiaal van werk (taakeienskappe) en intensies tot bedanking gemeet het. Die betroubaarheidsanalise gedoen op die verwante meetinstrumente het voldoende betroubaarheid gelewer. Eenvariantverhoudings tussen die ordinale veranderlikes is met Spearman korrelasies gemeet en die resultate het alle hipoteses oor die verwante verhoudings tussen hierdie konstrukte bevestig. Die uitslae het getoon dat daar beduidende positiewe verhoudings bestaan tussen transformasionele leierskapsgedrag en betrokkenheid; die motiversingspotensiaal van werk (taakeienskappe) en betrokkenheid; en transformasionele leierskapsgedrag en die motiversingspotensiaal van werk . Dit het verder ook aangedui dat daar beduidend negatiewe verhoudings bestaan tussen transformasionele leierskapsgedrag en intensies tot bedanking, asook tussen betrokkenheid en intensies tot bedanking. Die modererende gedrag van die betrokkenheidskonstruk is deur die Sobel toets gemeet en het bevestig dat hierdie konstruk ‘n bemiddelaar is in die verhouding tussen transformasionele leierskapsgedrag en intensies tot bedanking, asook in die verhouding tussen die motiveringspotensiaal van werk (taakeienskappe) en intensies tot bedanking. Hierdie studie dra by tot die bestaande literatuur oor intensies tot bedanking, transformasionele leierskapsgedrag, betrokkenheid en die motiveringspotensiaal van werk (taakeienskappe) deurdat dit insae lewer oor die sterkte en rigting van verhoudings tussen hierdie konstrukte. Verder dra dit by tot waardevolle insigte in die invloed van die betrokkenheidskonstruk op die werknemer se bedoeling om te bedank. Die bevindinge van hierdie studie gee waardevolle inligting om in aanmerking te neem in besigheidspraktyke gemik op die versagting van omsetgedrag in organisasies, en om optimale betrokkenheidsgedrag te verseker vir optimale uitkomstes vir die organisasie. Die beperkings en aanbevelings van die studie bied insigte en moontlikhede wat vir toekomstige navorsing aangewend kan word.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The banking industry today is seen as a demanding world of work where employees are constantly exposed to high demands and this may have an influence on their work engagement levels and their organisational commitment. It seems that in this industry, employee turnover and absenteeism levels are high, and some employees seem to be de-motivated in their work. The impact of this changing world is most evident in changes in the employment relationship that exist between employer and employee. Employees are expected to give more in terms of time, effort, skills and flexibility, whereas there is a strong perception that employees receive less in terms of career opportunities, lifetime employment and job security. It is in view of the above work complexities that employee engagement has become a focus area, and in particular, to understand the mediating effects of certain psychological conditions in relation to work engagement. Should either employment party not fulfil its contractual terms in any way, the psychological contract will be breached or violated and the employee might attempt to balance the situation by reducing his or her job efforts and making use of various counterproductive work behaviours. Transformation or change of the working circumstances, such as during or after mergers, seem to present a serious challenge to the employment relationship and the prevailing levels of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and productivity. The research question for this study was: “To investigate whether differential exposure of employees of a retail bank to change-related stressors is associated with different configurations of perceived job demands and job resources, affective states, psychological contract, job engagement, burnout and counterproductive work behaviour, and to study the relationships between these variables with the view to understanding the development of the job engagement, burnout and performance-related behaviours of these employees”. This study utilised a quantitative descriptive research design to analyse the data using statistical procedures. All the data was statistical in nature. The sample (n = 300) comprised of employees of three main levels on the organigram such as, team leaders, team managers and employees, from the Regional Head Office in Pretoria. The primary research tool utilised to conduct the study was a self-compiled questionnaire. This was hand delivered and collected from all respondents. The six questionnaires constituting the composite questionnaire were: the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS), Counterproductive workbehaviour Inventory (CWB), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), the Job Characteristics Inventory (JCI), Psychological Contract Inventory (PCI) and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS). The descriptive statistics reflected a majority of participants had been working for 1 to 4 years (34%) and 5 to 9 years (33%). The largest percentages of participants (74%) were team members while other participants were defined as team leaders (22%) and team managers (4%). The majority of these participants (59%) were also appointed prior to the merger while the median was calculated at 3 years for the amount of years the participants have remained in their current job band (salary structure). A very high percentage of participants (82%) did not manage people directly nor indirectly (83%). It was found that an inter-correlation existed between the demographic variables and the psychological constructs, confirming that the number of years employed was associated with a lower likelihood of psychological withdrawal. While the years of employment in the same position related positively with absorption, and negatively with perceived job resources, the level of abuse experienced, showed a positive association with the degree of psychological contract adherence by the employee and a negative correlation with the extent of perceived contract violation. Evidence was also found for the moderating effect of work engagement in the relationship between well-being and work engagement and between work engagement and some of the counterproductive work behaviour dimensions. Evidence also revealed that mental well-being was experienced some of the time and counterproductive work behaviour almost never. The higher burnout scores, coupled with the simultaneous higher level of work engagement could possibly be viewed as an exploitable factor. The limitations of the current study and recommendations for organisations are discussed. This study highlights the fact that virtually all the comparisons between the pre-merger appointees and the post-merger appointees were insignificant. Burnout was however much more evident with the post-merger group. Employee or employer obligations towards the respondents were also viewed as insignificant, irrespective of the differences in psychological contract each employee experiences. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die banksektor word vandag gesien as 'n veeleisende werksomgewing waar werknemers konstant blootgestel word aan hoë werkseise. Dit kan dalk 'n invloed hê op hul werksbegeestering en hul organisasieverbondenheid. Dit blyk dat hierdie industrie hoë vlakke van werknemeromset en afwesigheid ervaar en dat sommige werknemers gedemotiveerd is in hul werk. Die uitwerking van die veranderende werksplek is veral sigbaar in die verandering van die diensverhouding tussen werkgewer en werknemer. Van werknemers word verwag om al hoe meer opofferinge te maak in terme van hulle tyd, insette, vaardighede en aanpasbaarheid, terwyl daar ‘n persepsie bestaan dat hulle al hoe minder ontvang in terme van loopbaanontwikkeling, lewenslange indiensneming en werksekuriteit. Dit is binne die konteks van die waargenome kompleksiteit binne die werksplek dat werksbegeestering 'n fokusarea geword het,en in die besonder om begrip te ontwikkel vir die mediërende effek van sekere sielkundige kondisies in verhouding tot werksbegeestering. Sou enige van die partye nie hul kontraktuele verpligtinge in enige opsig nakom nie, sal dit ‘n verbreking of skending van die sielkundige kontrak tot gevolg hê en mag die werknemer poog om die situasie te balanseer deur sy of haar insette te verminder en verskeie kontraproduktiewe vorme van werksgedrag tegebruik. Transformasie van, of verandering in werksomstandighede, soos tydens of nasamesmeltings, skyn ‘n ernstige uitdaging te bied vir die heersende vlak van werks tevredenheid, organisasieverbondenheid en produktiwiteit. Die navorsingsvraag virdie studie was: “Om ondersoek in te stel of verskillende tipes blootstelling van werknemers van ‘n kommersiële bank aan veranderingsverwante stressors geassosieer word met verskillende konfigurasies van werkseise en werkshulpbronne,affektiewe toestande, die sielkundige kontrak, werksbegeestering, uitbranding en kontraproduktiewe werksgedrag, metdie oogmerk om die verhouding tussen die veranderlikes te bestudeer met die doel om die ontwikkeling van die werksbegeestering, uitbranding en prestasiegerigte gedrag van daardie werknemers te verstaan”. Die studie het gebruik gemaak van ‘n kwantitatiewe navorsingsontwerp om alle data wat deur statistiese prosedures versamel word te ontleed. Die steekproef (n=300) bestaan uit 3 van die vernaamste vlakke op die organigram naamlik, spanleiers, spanbestuurders en werknemers van die streekshoofkantoor in Pretoria. ‘n Self-saamgesteldevraelys, wat per hand uitgedeel en versamel is, is gebruik in die studie. Die ses individuelevraelyste waaruit die vraelys bestaan het,sluit die volgende in: dieMaslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-GS), Counterproductive workbehaviour Inventory (CWB), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), die Job Characteristics Inventory (JCI), Psychological Contract Inventory (PCI) en die Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS). Die beskrywende statistiek reflekteer ‘n meerderheid van die respondent wat werkend is tussen 1 tot 4 jaar (34%) and 5 tot 9 jaar (33%). Die grootste persentasie van respondente (74%) was spanlede, terwyl die ander gedeelte van respondente verdeel is as spanleiers (22%) and spanbestuurders (4%). Die meerderheid van respondente (59%) was ook voor die samesmelting van die bank groep aangestel terwyl die mediaan bereken was op 3 jaar vir die hoeveelheid diensjare wat elke werknemer in hulle huidige posvlak was. ‘n Baie hoë persentasie van respondente (82%) het glad nie ondergeskiktes direk of indirek (83%) bestuur nie. Daar is bevind dat ‘n inter-korrelasie bestaan tussen demografiese veranderlikes en die sielkundige samestelling, wat weer bevestig dat die aantal jare wat individue in diens was, geassossieer word met die moontlikheid van ‘n lae psigologiese onttrekking. Terwyl die hoeveelheid diensjare in dieselfde pos posisie positief verbind word met absorpsie en negatief verbind word met waarneembare werkshulpbronne, word die vlak van wantoestand wat ervaar word, positief verband met die graad van nakoming van die sielkundige kontrak by werknemers en ‘n negatiewe korrelasie met waarneembare kontrakbreuk. Bewyse was ook gevind vir die modererings effek op werksbegeestering in die verhouding tussen psigologiese welstand en werksbegeestering en tussen werksbegeestering en somige dimensies van teenproduktiewe gedrag. Bewyse het getoon dat psigologiese welstand ook somtyds ervaar was, terwyl teenproduktiewe gedrag amper nooit ervaar was nie. ‘n Hoë uitbranding telling, gelyktydig gekoppel aan hoë vlakke van werksbegeestering kan moontlik beskou word as ‘n ontginbare faktor. Die beperkinge op die huidige studie en aanbevelings vir die organisaie is ook bespreek. Dié studie beklemtoon ook die feit dat al die vergelykings tussen pre-samesmelting aanstellings en post-samesmelting aanstellings totaal onbeduidend was. Uitbranding was baie meerduidelik opsigtelik onder die post-samesmelting groep. Werknemer of werkgewer verpligtinge teenoor die respondente was ook gesien as onbeduidend, ongeag van die verskille in die sielkundige kontrak wat deur elke werknemer ervaar word.

SMEs make up a large part of the global economy. Only in Sweden, for example, SMEs account for 61,3% of value added and employment (European Commision, 2016, p. 2). With such impressive presence, these firms exert a large impact on society and the environment. In an increasingly demanding and competitive landscape, organizations do not only have an economic responsibility to shareholders’ wealth, but also bear responsibilities towards society and the environment. With this shift, corporate social responsibility has become of significant importance and reshaped the way firms act and should act. Parallel to that, the evolving CSR paradigm has highlighted the need of stakeholder engagement in strategic decisions, as the growing importance of stakeholders is said to be the single most important element in the age of sustainability. Stakeholders affect and are affected by organizations and corporate decisions should thus take into consideration their needs and expectations. Opposing the “business of business is doing business” line of thought that dominated the business logic in the past decades, firms are now recognizing the significant importance of establishing and maintaining good relationships with stakeholders. With that, stakeholder engagement is argued to be one of the key aspects for an improved decision-making since it allows firms to integrate knowledge, generate mutual collaboration and mitigate risks, which in turn can lead to CSR strategies that are more aligned with stakeholders’ expectations and wishes and support responsible growth. Although CSR and stakeholder theory are two vastly studied academic fields, few studies have explored the reality of CSR among SMEs and stakeholder engagement on an individual group of stakeholders such as employees. While vital for any company’s survival, employees exert an even more unique role in SMEs. Given the identified research gaps, the purpose of this study is to shed light on both CSR and stakeholder engagement focused on employees among SMEs. In order to gain a better understanding of the realities of both topics, we formulated the research question: How do Swedish SMEs engage employees in the CSR strategy-making from a management perspective? With an inductive approach, a qualitative exploratory research study was chosen. From a mix of purposive and snowball sampling, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted among SMEs’ managers and CEO’s from firms in Umeå, Sweden. Our findings indicate that SMEs often have the willingness to engage employees in CSR decisions, but sometimes lack the knowledge and/or resources to promote this engagement. The most widely adopted means to foster employee engagement with CSR strategy-making is through informal discussions and talks during coffee breaks. Some companies also use more developed methods, such as town hall meetings, instant feedback mechanisms, anonymous notes and weekly employee surveys for this purpose. Our study contributes to the growing literature on CSR among smaller firms and broadens the understanding of stakeholder engagement focused on one particular stakeholder group. This research also presents managerial implications into how SMEs’ can promote a more inclusive governance around strategy. We also expect to have contributed by promoting a further debate and reflection around CSR.

A literatura sugere que empregados estão mais propensos a se engajarem no trabalho quando têm altos níveis de confiança e se compartilham dos valores organizacionais. Assim, este estudo teve por objetivo principal testar o modelo no qual engajamento no trabalho é explicado por confiança do empregado na organização e percepção dos valores organizacionais em uma amostra de servidores públicos vinculados as esferas federal, estadual e municipal. A amostra constituiu-se de 235 servidores públicos das três esferas administrativas, com vínculos de trabalho celetistas e estatutários. Após aprovação do Comitê de ética realizou-se a coleta de dados com instrumentos fidedignos e válidos, que foram analisados por meio de estatística descritiva e regressão múltipla padrão, tendo as dimensões de engajamento como variáveis-critério. Dentre os resultados, verificou-se níveis de engajamento e confiança na ética e na competência organizacionais moderados. Os valores mais percebidos foram conformidade e prestígio. O teste do modelo mostrou que confiança na competência da organização explicou 25% da variância da dimensão vigor, e confiança na ética e o valor bem-estar no trabalho explicaram 18% da dimensão absorção. As conclusões indicam que o modelo proposto não foi confirmado revelando que a confiança se mostrou melhor preditor de engajamento que os valores organizacionais. Recomenda-se a realização de estudos que verifiquem como se dá o engajamento no trabalho nas esferas administrativas, bem como a investigação de outras variáveis explicativas sobre o engajamento no trabalho de servidores público. / The literature suggests that employees are more likely to engage at work when they have high levels of trust and share organizational values. Thus, this study had as main objective to test the model in which engagement at the work is explained by the employee's trust in the organization and perception of organizational values in a sample of civil servants linked to the federal, state and municipal spheres. The sample consisted of 235 public servants from the three administrative spheres, with working and statutory working ties. After approval by the Ethics Committee, data were collected with reliable and valid instruments, which were analyzed through descriptive statistics and standard multiple regression, with engagement dimensions as criterion-variables. Among the results, there were levels of commitment and trust in moderate organizational ethics and competence. The most perceived values were compliance and prestige. The test of the model showed that confidence in the competence of the organization explained 25% of the variance of the force dimension, and trust in ethics and the value of well-being at work explained 18% of the absorptive dimension. The conclusions indicate that the proposed model was not confirmed, revealing that trust was a better predictor of engagement than organizational values. It is recommended that studies be carried out to verify how work engagement occurs in the administrative spheres, as well as the investigation of other explanatory variables about engagement at the work of public servants. / Dissertação (Mestrado)

På svenska arbetsplatser är psykisk ohälsa i arbetslivet ett problem för både individer och organisationer. Ett sätt att stävja eskaleringen av människor som mår dåligt i arbetslivet är genom hälsofrämjande förhållningssätt som motiverar medarbetare att använda sin fulla kapacitet i arbetet. Detta examensarbetes övergripande syfte är att bidra till ökad förståelse av medarbetarengagemang genom att beskriva och undersöka begreppet som en del av den organisatoriska och sociala arbetsmiljön i ett kommunalägt bolag. I examensarbetet användes självbestämmandeteorin som ett övergripande teoretiskt ramverk. Utifrån kvalitativa djupintervjuer med tjugo informanter framkom det att förutsättningar för ökat medarbetarengagemang återfinns i skapandet av en god organisatorisk och social arbetsmiljö. Resultatet visar att det är genom medarbetares tolkning av sin arbetsmiljö möjlighet ges till förståelse för vilka faktorer som möjliggör eller förhindrar medarbetarengagemang. Denna kunskap är relevant för organisationer som vill arbeta hälsofrämjande för medarbetares ökade engagemang och välbefinnande. / At Swedish workplaces, mental ill-health in work life is a problem for both individuals and organizations. One way to counter this issue is through health promoting approaches that motivate employees in using their full capacity at work. The overall aim of this thesis was to contribute to increased understanding of employee engagement by describing and examining the concept as part of the organizational and social work environment of a municipality-owned company. In the thesis work the self-determination theory was used as an overall theoretical framework. Based on qualitative interviews with twenty informants, what emerged was that the conditions for increased employee involvement are found in the creation of a good organizational and social work environment. The result showed that it is through employees interpretation of their working environment that the understanding of what factors enables or prevents employee engagement lies. This knowledge is relevant to organizations who want to work with health promotion with intent to increase employees' engagement and well-being.

The purpose of the presented research is to identify these of the areas that significantly matter for the strong positive correlation between the Employee Enagement and the Service Quality in a particular business case concerning business process improvement of an order management team in a multinational company. The significant areas are identified through a correlation analysis of the answers to an online survey. The results are used for further Measurement, Analysis, Improvement and Control of the key areas identified. The main findings are aimed to serve as a scientifically validated plan of action for the group in charge for the business process improvement in the order management team which is studied. Particularly, recommendations are provided how to increase the First Time Right performance metrics of the order management team through focus on the Define part of the DMAIC model in the Six Sigma methodology for business process improvement. Main findins: there is evidence for strong significant positive correlation between the employee engagement and the service quality factors in the answers of the respondents to the online survey questions; the team members' perception of the leadership style is positively correlated with their perception of the service quality.

The main goal of this thesis is to highlight the importance of employee engagement and deeply investigate employee engagement among selected employees in medium size organization, which operates in Liptovský Mikuláš. Besides finding out the total employee engagement, author examines the level of cognitive, physical, and emotional engagement too. Results are then compared to other studies provided by Gallup and CIPD research centers. Thesis further introduces the link between employee engagement and age, gender and occupation of workers. Additionally, it presents the importance of individual employee engagement drivers for employees. The data collection was done by using questionnaire and structured interviews. After the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the research results, author presents possible recommendations that observed organization can use in the future in order to improve the engagement level.

The risk of losing the most talented workers due to limited career opportunities had become an issue for telecommunication organizations. Talented workers became disengaged when there were limited opportunities for growth and development. To address this issue, human resource practitioners created employee development programs aimed at increasing employee engagement to help retain talented workers. However, data to determine the link between employee development programs, engagement, and retention were limited. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore managers' and employees' perceptions of how a telecommunication organization's employee development program contributes to employee engagement and to explore employees' experiences resulting from the transfer of learning. Kahn's engagement model and Kirkpatrick's and Phillips's and Phillips's evaluation models provided the conceptual framework for this study. The guiding research questions focused on employees' and managers' perceptions of how the telecommunication organization's employee development program contributes to employee engagement and on employees' experiences resulting from the transfer of learning engagement concepts and activities. Using purposeful sampling, 10 employees who attended the employee development program and 5 managers shared their perceptions and experiences. The thematic analysis of the interview data uncovered 3 themes that are critical for engagement – employee-centric culture, support for career development, and management knowledge needed for real-time support. The implication of the project study was a 3-day professional development workshop for managers. Understanding how the employee development program contributes to employee engagement could offer better ways to retain talents.