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An investigation into employee engagement in a workwear distribution company
This study examines the levels and drivers of employee engagement in a South African organisation that distributes personal protection equipment. The organisation relies on its human resources to retain a competitive advantage in the industry. An understanding of employee engagement is essential for...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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School of Management Studies
2020
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| _version_ | 1867613343388270592 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | van Wyk, Randall Alvin |
| author2 | Price, Linda |
| author_browse | Price, Linda van Wyk, Randall Alvin |
| author_facet | Price, Linda van Wyk, Randall Alvin |
| author_sort | van Wyk, Randall Alvin |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This study examines the levels and drivers of employee engagement in a South African organisation that distributes personal protection equipment. The organisation relies on its human resources to retain a competitive advantage in the industry. An understanding of employee engagement is essential for the attraction of new talent and the retention of existing employees. The researcher employed a mixed method design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. A survey was sent to all employees to determine levels of engagement. It was followed by focus groups to probe deeper into the survey results. The findings of the survey and the focus groups are contradictory. The survey results indicate that respondents are engaged within the workwear distribution company, whilst the findings of the focus groups depict a different narrative. The researcher believes that participant responses to the different methodologies explains this contradiction. The survey contained a number of closed-ended statements, where participants were required to tick a particular box, indicating their responses. The researcher believes that this approach was very clinical and elicited certain responses. Furthermore, participants might not have felt comfortable sharing their true feelings in writing. The approach to the focus group was very interactive and the researcher posed open-ended questions to the participants. This approach was organic and participants might have felt more comfortable sharing their feelings and views in this forum. The study revealed that a work environment characterised by poor communication and conflict impacted negatively on employee engagement. It also revealed that the organisation is characterised by an autocratic leadership style whereby top management make the decisions and are not open to suggestions from employees. While support between co-workers was acknowledged, relationships were also described as strained and that there is no synergy between departments. Maintaining positive relationships with management and co-workers are vital drivers to achieving increased employee engagement. Although these findings are particular to one organisation, they will hopefully assist other organisations to expand their understanding of employee engagement and thus refine their employee engagement strategies. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/31334 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:34:38.153Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateRange | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | School of Management Studies |
| publisherStr | School of Management Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/31334 An investigation into employee engagement in a workwear distribution company van Wyk, Randall Alvin Price, Linda Employee engagement work environment leadership co-worker relations This study examines the levels and drivers of employee engagement in a South African organisation that distributes personal protection equipment. The organisation relies on its human resources to retain a competitive advantage in the industry. An understanding of employee engagement is essential for the attraction of new talent and the retention of existing employees. The researcher employed a mixed method design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. A survey was sent to all employees to determine levels of engagement. It was followed by focus groups to probe deeper into the survey results. The findings of the survey and the focus groups are contradictory. The survey results indicate that respondents are engaged within the workwear distribution company, whilst the findings of the focus groups depict a different narrative. The researcher believes that participant responses to the different methodologies explains this contradiction. The survey contained a number of closed-ended statements, where participants were required to tick a particular box, indicating their responses. The researcher believes that this approach was very clinical and elicited certain responses. Furthermore, participants might not have felt comfortable sharing their true feelings in writing. The approach to the focus group was very interactive and the researcher posed open-ended questions to the participants. This approach was organic and participants might have felt more comfortable sharing their feelings and views in this forum. The study revealed that a work environment characterised by poor communication and conflict impacted negatively on employee engagement. It also revealed that the organisation is characterised by an autocratic leadership style whereby top management make the decisions and are not open to suggestions from employees. While support between co-workers was acknowledged, relationships were also described as strained and that there is no synergy between departments. Maintaining positive relationships with management and co-workers are vital drivers to achieving increased employee engagement. Although these findings are particular to one organisation, they will hopefully assist other organisations to expand their understanding of employee engagement and thus refine their employee engagement strategies. 2020-02-25T12:12:53Z 2020-02-25T12:12:53Z 2019 2020-02-25T08:42:56Z Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31334 eng application/pdf School of Management Studies Faculty of Commerce |
| spellingShingle | Employee engagement work environment leadership co-worker relations van Wyk, Randall Alvin An investigation into employee engagement in a workwear distribution company |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | An investigation into employee engagement in a workwear distribution company |
| title_full | An investigation into employee engagement in a workwear distribution company |
| title_fullStr | An investigation into employee engagement in a workwear distribution company |
| title_full_unstemmed | An investigation into employee engagement in a workwear distribution company |
| title_short | An investigation into employee engagement in a workwear distribution company |
| title_sort | investigation into employee engagement in a workwear distribution company |
| topic | Employee engagement work environment leadership co-worker relations |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31334 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vanwykrandallalvin aninvestigationintoemployeeengagementinaworkweardistributioncompany AT vanwykrandallalvin investigationintoemployeeengagementinaworkweardistributioncompany |