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Availability

Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Employee motivation; Employees--Rating of; Labor turnover; Academic theses;

Abstract

"Employee Engagement", a new motivational construct, has become popular in recent years. Most of the definitions of engagement formulated in different time periods share the understanding of engagement as a three dimension construct consisting of vigor, dedication, and absorption. Motivation is an important determinant of employee performance. Through the study contained in this paper, I aim to find out whether employee engagement mediates a relationship between management support (as one of the specific antecedents of employee engagement) and employee performance and turnover, as specific consequences of employee engagement. It appears that there is a full mediation between an antecedent variable of employee engagement, management support and one of the outcomes, turnover. A partial mediation was found between management support and performance ratings. Also, management support is positively related to employee engagement, and employee engagement is positively related to job performance and negatively related to turnover. Employee engagement accounted for 2.6% of the variance in turnover, and explained 0.6% of the variance in performance ratings. Although the magnitude of effects is small, the practical significance of the results may depend on the size of the organizations and the cost of replacing lost employees. It is becoming more crucial for organizations to improve employee performance and reduce turnover due to the fact that a systemic labor shortage is slowly developing in the U.S. as more of the older, skilled generation and baby boomers retire. Therefore, retention will become an increasingly important factor in business success in the future. The results of my study will be a valuable tool in the hands of organizations and employers which inspire to increase motivation. Organizations that are armed with a clear understanding of employee engagement are in better position to influence employee behavior, reduce turnover and consequently improve the outcome of their business.

Year of Submission

2007

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Psychology

First Advisor

Adam Butler

Second Advisor

Michael Gasser

Third Advisor

Seth Brown

Comments

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Date Original

2007

Object Description

1 PDF file (55 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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