SELF EFFICACY EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Self Efficacy Employee Engagement in Beauty Industry

Self Efficacy Employee Engagement in Beauty Industry

Introduction

Although technology still dominates, human resources and how they are managed is receiving increased attention in the analysis of gaining competitive advantage. Yet, many complex questions remain. This study first examines the theoretical understanding of employee engagement. Then an empirical investigation is made of the role that a wide variety of managers' (n = 170) psychological state of self-efficacy plays in the relationship between their employees' (average of about 16 per manager) measured engagement and a multiple measure (self, subordinates and peers) of the managers' effectiveness. Results of the statistical analysis indicate that the manager's self-efficacy is a partial mediator of the relationship between his or her employees' engagement and the manager's rated effectiveness. Overall, these findings suggest that both employee engagement and manager self-efficacy are important antecedents that together may more positively influence manager effectiveness than either predictor by itself. Implications for effective management development and practice are discussed.

Discussion

Organizations have traditionally relied upon financial measures or hard numbers to evaluate their performance, value, and health. Although metrics such as profitability, revenue, and cash flow remain important financial indicators of effective performance, the so-called “soft”, human-oriented measures such as employee attitudes, traits, and perceptions are also now being recognized as important predictors of employee behavior and performance (Pfeffer, 1998). For instance, researchers have found a significant positive relationship between employee cognitive attitudes and performance (Petty et al., 1984; Ostroff, 1992), personality traits and job performance (Barrick and Mount, 1991; Tett et al., 1991), and emotions and favorable job outcomes (Staw et al., 1994). Moreover, a recent meta-analysis conducted by the ABC Organization concluded that the most profitable work units of beauty industry have people doing what they do best, with people they like, and with a strong sense of psychological ownership for the outcomes of their work (see Harter, 1999).

Theoretical foundation for employee engagement

Much of ABC's current research has focused on the empirical relationship between employee engagement, as measured by the 12 questions of the ABC, and desirable organizational outcomes. At this point, an alternative theoretical framework published in the management literature may add further understanding and convergent validity to this empirical research stream. Specifically, we propose that the work done by Kahn (1990, 1992) on personal engagement can provide one such convergent theory for ABC's empirically derived employee engagement.

According to Kahn (1990), employee engagement is different from other employee role constructs such as job involvement (Lawler and Hall, 1970; Lodahl and Kejner, 1965), commitment to organizations (Mowday et al., 1982), or intrinsic motivation (Deci, 1975). Instead, Kahn (1990, p. 693) suggests that:

While these constructs add to our understanding of how employees perceive themselves, their work, and the relation between the two, the understandings are too general, existing at some distance from the day-to-day process of people experiencing and behaving within particular work situations.

Employee engagement, on the other hand, focuses on how the psychological experiences of work and work contexts shape the process of people ...