Original Research
The antecedents of employee engagement and their effect on public sector service delivery: The case study of government departments in Harare
Submitted: 07 June 2018 | Published: 13 November 2019
About the author(s)
Tawaziwa Wushe, College of Economic and Management Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; and, Country Cool Air Conditioning Pvt. Ltd, Harare, ZimbabweJacob Shenje, Decision Point Consultants Pvt. Ltd, Harare, Zimbabwe
Abstract
Orientation: Employee engagement has become an impetus behind business success and a deciding factor for service delivery, especially in the Zimbabwean public sector.
Research purpose: This study sought to investigate the antecedents of employee engagement and their effect on public sector service delivery with reference to selected government departments in Harare.
Motivation for the study: The government departments in Harare have witnessed gross employee disengagement as indicated by reduced employee commitment and high absenteeism.
Research approach/design and method: A quantitative research design was adopted for this study. A structured questionnaire was developed, validated and distributed to 260 employees and management working in five selected government departments.
Main findings: This study showed that the antecedents of employee engagement such as effective leadership, training and career development, compensation and incentive programmes, and organisational policies and procedures greatly influenced employee engagement in the public sector. The study also noted that employee engagement positively impacted service delivery in the public sector.
Practical/managerial implications: An important implication of this study is the need for the public sector management to understand the significance of the social exchange for employee engagement and to provide employees with resources and benefits that would oblige them to perform productively.
Contribution/value-add: This study is expected to enrich the empirical evidence on the antecedents of employee engagement and also provide recommendations for practitioners in investigating the influence of employee engagement on service delivery in the public sector.
Keywords
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Crossref Citations
1. Antecedents of Work Engagement in the Public Sector: A Systematic Literature Review
Norfadhillaton Zahari, Maniam Kaliannan
Review of Public Personnel Administration vol: 43 issue: 3 first page: 557 year: 2023
doi: 10.1177/0734371X221106792