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Asian Social Science; Vol. 9, No. 7; 2013
ISSN 1911-2017
E-ISSN 1911-2025
Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education
The Antecedents Affecting Employee Engagement and Organizational
Performance
Ala`a Nimer AbuKhalifeh1 & Ahmad Puad Mat Som1,2
1
School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
2
Sustainable Tourism Research Cluster, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
Correspondence: Ala`a Nimer AbuKhalifeh, School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains
Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia. Tel: 60-13-537-9539. E-mail: ana11_hbp046@student.usm.my
Received: December 29, 2012
doi:10.5539/ass.v9n7p41
Accepted: April 4, 2013
Online Published: May 22, 2013
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ass.v9n7p41
Abstract
Employee engagement becomes an important issue as employee turnover rises due to the demand and shortage
of skilful employees. Though organizational performances of many organizations have deteriorated due to high
turnover rates and related issues such as high absenteeism, low loyalty and productivity, there is still a lack of
academic research that addresses the antecedents required for high employee engagement in the food and
beverage departments in the service industry. This paper focuses on the antecedents that influence employee
engagement in food and beverage service departments, and literature reviewed indicates that there is a significant
relationship between employee communication, employee development, rewards and recognition, and extended
employee care. Among the antecedents, employee development forms the most significant contributor.
Keywords: employee engagement, organizational performance, food and beverage services, antecedents
1. Introduction
Employee engagement has emerged as a potentially important employee performance and organizational
management subject (Endres & Mancheno-Smoak, 2008; Karatepe, 2009; Karatepe et al., 2012; Robinson et al.,
2004). A growing body of evidence supports the relationship between the engagement of an employee at work
and hotel organizational outcomes (Simpson, 2009), inclusive of those which are performance based. Even
though the practitioners and researchers tout engagement as important work related factors, the definitions and
measurements of an engagement at work, and more specifically food and beverage service engagement
employees, are poorly understood (Lee et al., 2011; Li et al., 2012). Therefore, it is reasonable to state that to
achieve competitive advantage, organizations need to request human resources to set up a plan for both
employee engagement and commitment (Cristina & Pauken., 2008; Gruman & Saks, 2011; Osman, 2012;
Simpson, 2009). Recently there has been a vast concern to engage employees. Several studies have claimed that
employee engagement expects employee outcomes, financial performance and organizational success (Basbous,
2011; Ellinger et al.; Medlik & Ingram, 2000). Employees who are engaged are more likely to stay with their
current organization and stay committed to their organization (Bakker et al., 2012; Wildermuth & Pauken., 2008;
De Clercq et al., 2010; Karatepe & Olugbade, 2009). Apparently, employees who are not engaged will affect
hotel performance through higher absenteeism, higher turnover, lower productivity, and recruitment and training
cost. With the current worldwide falling economics, management is zooming into organizational efficiency and
diminishing the operating cost in order to be sustainable in the marketplace. On the other hand, a high level of
employee engagement helps hotels focus on attracting new talent in the labour market (Basbous, 2011; Cristina
& Pauken., 2008; Gruman & Saks, 2011; Kong et al., 2012; Wheeler et al., 2012).
2. Literature Review
The literature provides an overview of the importance of employee engagement in the F&B department and the
antecedents for employee engagement. An explanation about employee engagement followed by types of
employees, and the social exchange theory is initially discussed.
2.1 Definitions of Employee Engagement
To date, there is no single and generally accepted definition for the term “employee engagement”(Markos &
Sridevi, 2010). This is evident if one looks at the definitions forwarded for the term by three well-known
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research organizations in the human resource area, let alone individual researchers. Perrin,(2003) used the
definition ‘employees’ as the willingness and ability to help their hotels succeed, largely by providing
discretionary effort on a sustainable basis.” According to a study by (Bakker et al., 2012; Karatepe & Olugbade,
2009; Ludwig & Frazier, 2012; Markos & Sridevi, 2010; Wheeler et al., 2012), engagement is affected by many
factors involving both emotional and rational factors relating to work and the overall work experience. Robinson
et al.,(2004) defined employee engagement as “a positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization
and its value. An engaged employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to improve
performance within the job for the benefit of the hotel management. The hotel must work to develop and nurture
engagement, which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee.” This verdict and
definition forwarded by the Institute of Employment Studies gives a clear insight that employee engagement is
the result of two-way relationship between employer and employee pointing out that there are things to be done
by both sides. Furthermore, (Fernandez, 2007) showed that distinction between job satisfaction, the well-known
construct in management, and the engagement contending that employee satisfaction are not the same as
employee engagement. This is because managers cannot rely on employee satisfaction to help retain the best and
the brightest. Employee engagement becomes a critical concept where other researchers have taken job
satisfaction as a part of engagement, but it merely reflects a superficial, transactional relationship only as good as
the organization’s last round of perks and bonuses. Engagement is about passion and commitment - the
willingness to invest oneself and expand one’s discretionary effort to help the employer succeed. Within
employment arrangement, this is simple satisfaction or basic loyalty to the employer (Saks, 2011; Yakın & Erdil,
2012; Yeh, 2012). Therefore, the full engagement equation is obtained by aligning maximum job satisfaction and
maximum job contribution. Recent researches have also indicated that employee commitment and OCB are
important parts and predictors of employee engagement. That commitment is conceptualized as a positive
attachment and willingness to exert energy for the success of the organization, feeling proud of being a member
of that organization and identifying oneself with it. OCB is a behaviour observed within the work context that
demonstrates itself through taking innovative initiatives proactively seeking opportunities to contribute one’s
best and going the extra mile beyond employment contract (Markos & Sridevi, 2010). However, these constructs
constitute the bigger build of employee engagement and cannot independently act as a replacement for
engagement (Pienaar & Willemse, 2008; Simpson, 2009). If looked at, the available literatures measuring
employee engagement, one would surprisingly find several measurement items to the extent that it seems that
different constructs are being measured (De Clercq et al., 2010; Lee et al., 2011; Li et al., 2012). Future
researches are expected to create a clear definition and with dimensions of employee engagement on the basis of
which the level of engagement can be measured, thereby, pointing out to managers a road map fully engaging
employees in their job. As the old saying goes “what you can’t measure, you can’t manage”. Thus, there is a call
for future research, as suggested by (Endres & Mancheno-Smoak, 2008) to define engagement in clear terms to
avoid interpretation by subsequent users giving to the construct of different meanings.
2.2 Types of Employees
There were three groups of employees according to (Yuan & Lee, 2011). Firstly, the “Engaged Employee” who
is ardent about his job and, has a sense of personal responsibility and obligation to what they should do to their
company. Secondly, the “Non Engaged Employees”, those employees that do not have the energy during the
performance of their job. Lastly, the “Actively Disengaged Employees”, those employees who are unhappy with
their job and always try to let everyone know that. In addition, they constantly keep trying to make those
engaged employees disengaged.
2.3 Social Exchange Theory (SET)
The social exchange theory SET offers a theoretical basis to explain why employees choose to become more or
less engaged in their job. The social exchange theory contends that responsibilities are generated through a series
of interactions between parties who are in a state of joint interdependence. A basic tenet of SET is that
relationships grow over time into trusting, loyal, and mutual pledges as long as the parties stand by certain
“rules” of exchange. Hence, one way for an individual to repay their hotel is through their levels of engagement.
That is, employees will decide to engage themselves in different level as an answer to the resources they obtain
from their hotel. Bringing oneself more fully into one’s work parts and dedicating greater amounts of cognitive,
emotional, and physical resources is a very insightful way for individuals to respond to an organization’s or a
hotel’s action. Hence, employee engagement consists of a psychological and emotional connection between
employees and their F&B department which could be turned into negative or positive behaviour at work (Ma &
Qu, 2011; Medlik & Ingram, 2000; Shiau & Luo, 2012).
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2.4 Theoretical Framework
The literature review gives an overview of antecedents that may have influenced employee engagement based on
the literature review previously conducted. Figure 1 shows the employee engagement framework.
Figure1. Employee engagement of food and beverage services department framework, adopted from (Basbous,
2011)
2.5 Employee Communication
Effective employee communication helps employees to comprehend their role in the food and beverage
department, thus leading to organizational success (Freitag & Picherit-Duthler, 2004). The Chartered Institute of
Personnel and Development (CIPD) survey has evidenced the significance of employee communications in
organizations. The survey revealed that the two most crucial supporters of employee engagement are the
opportunity to provide upward feedback and to be well-informed about the organization’s workings (Basbous,
2011; Holton, 2009; Kang & Hyun, 2012; Ruck & Welch, 2012). It is clear that engagement begins with the
employee being informed of the workings of the company. In other words, it is imperative to keep F&B
employees up-to-date concerning the changes brought about in their work groups, for example, service method
so they will be prepared when changes are introduced. Additionally, when employees are well-informed and are
provided with a clear set of goals, they will be more inclined to make good use of their time, assets, and budgets.
Consequently, employees remain on track when it comes to making decisions regarding priorities and they are
sure of their actions (Gruman & Saks, 2011; Stein, 2006).
2.6 Reward and Recognition
People generally expect acknowledgement for their valuable offerings and contribution. Despite the fact that the
majority of organizations often offers formal rewards and recognition programs in exchange for employee ideas
and contributions, many employees still expect day-to-day informal recognition (Hofmans et al., 2012)
Employees need to be convinced that management listens, supports and recognizes their contributions in order to
be more engaged (Pavlinac, 2009). The absence of employee recognition and appreciation has been established
by the U.S. Department of Labour as a key aspect in employees’ decisions to quit their jobs in organizations
(Holbeche, 1998).
2.7 Employee Development
Employee development refers to the employee’s feeling towards the efforts made by their manager and
organization to develop the employee’s skills (Garofano & Salas, 2005; Kallin, 1960; Karatepe, 2013). Through
employee development programs, the food and beverage department may help its employee obtain the skills and
knowledge they need to perform their job.
2.8 Extended Employee Care
Another important element in achieving high levels of employee engagement that leads to employee
performance improvement is the extended employee care. Based on the study of (Edwards et al., 2012; Ineson &
Berechet, 2011), there existed three psychological conditions related to the engagement or disengagement at
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work: safety, meaningfulness, and availability. In other words, employees become more engaged and more in
their state of psychological availability in workplaces offering them more psychological safety and psychological
meaningfulness, on top of that, (Glied, 2000) revealed that elements of safety, meaningfulness, and availability
were significantly related to employee engagement.
3. Conclusion
The findings of this study conclude that employee engagement for the food and beverage department in the hotel
industry is highly significant to the hotel industry. The literature shows that the antecedents of employee
engagement influence employee engagement and have a significant impact on the level of engagement among
employees. The findings also indicate that employee development is the highest contributing factor to employee
engagement. Hence, it is important for hotels to increase the level of engagement among their employees as an
investment in employee development. Spending more on programs that develop the skills of the F&B employees
by carrying out suitable workshops and training curriculum that enhances skills and improves the service
performed is highly beneficial for hotels. Over the past 25 years, the major changes in the global economy have
had important implications for commitment and relationship between employees and thus for employee
engagement. Employees realize that they are not able to work for one single employer up to retirement. For this
reason, employees have felt less committed to their employers with reduced expectations of reciprocity. This
study is deemed important as it will aid the developmental strategies to enhance and improve employee
engagement in the food and beverage departments at various levels in hotels. Elements that may affect employee
engagement will also be imparted. As this paper is only theoretical, future studies may incorporate empirical data
that will be collected from F&B departments in selected hotels in Jordan.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to extend their appreciation to the Universiti Sains Malaysia for the University’s Research
Grant under the Sustainable Tourism Research Cluster entitled 'Tourism Planning' [Grant No. 1001/PTS/8660013]
and the university's fellowship scheme which help this study and paper possible.
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