Antecedent & Consequences of Employee Engagement In IT industry
The Antecedents & Consequences of Employee Engagement in the IT Industry
INTRODUCTION
Employee engagement at work was conceptualized by Kahn (1990) as the “harnessing of organizational members’ selves to their work roles.” In engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during their role performances. Employee engagement, thus, denotes the level of commitment and involvement that an employee harbors towards her or his organization and its values and goals. An engaged employee is aware of the larger business context to her individual work, and is able to work with her other colleagues synergistically and harmoniously to improve performance and raise productivity and profits. Employee engagement represents a two-way process of reinforcement and reward between the employer and the employee. Role of clarity, perceived control over job performance, identification with job are various antecedent of Employee Engagement and health & well-being and Job Performance (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) are consequences of Employee Engagement.
Since computers have become a ubiquitous feature in every home, office, industry, and government department, the IT industry is among the most dynamic industries in the world today. Working with the IT industry is the aspiration of millions of youngsters as well, since the work is lucrative and offers scope for professional advancement. However, in the hope of achieving faster career growth, the IT employees work long hours, fail to maintain a healthy work-life balance, and this leads to rising stress among them. Stress takes a gradual but severe toll on a person’s health, sense of well-being, as well as productivity. Several researchers have demonstrated the direct and indirect costs of stress (Matteson and Ivancevich, 1987). Due to the high costs of stress to the society and the economy, the creation of a stress-free work life acquires great importance in an organization,
INTRODUCTION
Employee engagement at work was conceptualized by Kahn (1990) as the “harnessing of organizational members’ selves to their work roles.” In engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during their role performances. Employee engagement, thus, denotes the level of commitment and involvement that an employee harbors towards her or his organization and its values and goals. An engaged employee is aware of the larger business context to her individual work, and is able to work with her other colleagues synergistically and harmoniously to improve performance and raise productivity and profits. Employee engagement represents a two-way process of reinforcement and reward between the employer and the employee. Role of clarity, perceived control over job performance, identification with job are various antecedent of Employee Engagement and health & well-being and Job Performance (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) are consequences of Employee Engagement.
Since computers have become a ubiquitous feature in every home, office, industry, and government department, the IT industry is among the most dynamic industries in the world today. Working with the IT industry is the aspiration of millions of youngsters as well, since the work is lucrative and offers scope for professional advancement. However, in the hope of achieving faster career growth, the IT employees work long hours, fail to maintain a healthy work-life balance, and this leads to rising stress among them. Stress takes a gradual but severe toll on a person’s health, sense of well-being, as well as productivity. Several researchers have demonstrated the direct and indirect costs of stress (Matteson and Ivancevich, 1987). Due to the high costs of stress to the society and the economy, the creation of a stress-free work life acquires great importance in an organization,