Context

ABC Motors is a family owned and run motor retail company in Buckinghamshire. Though the business has grown multi-fold yet it faces tremendous challenges in management of its employees. The major issue faced by the Company includes employee demotivation, high rates of attrition and low morale (Dalal, Baysinger, Brummel & LeBreton, 2012). The Company aims at evaluating employee engagement currently undertaken in order to understand steps taken to motivate, uplift morale and retail employees within the organisation.   

ABC Motors is a family owned retail motor business. The Company undertakes motor trading of new and used car sales, car washing facilities, petrol serving forecourt, maintenance and repairs along with vehicle hire services. The business has a retail dealership for Ford and Hyundai car sales. The business is 100 years old, founded by the father of the current Chairman. The current business employs 135 people and operates across 3 sites. The business currently has disposed their Hyundai site, focussing on Ford Dealership, which is located in Marlow. In recent period there has been considerable decrease in revenue and profits. The reasons has been analysed as;

• The management of the Company aims at finding out the reasons pertinent for such decrease in revenues and profits figured those high rates of recruitment, induction and training costs along with higher rates of attrition (Gruman & Saks, 2011). The Company analysed deeper perspectives that affected increase in recruitment, induction training and subsequently found that lack of employee engagement led to the current challenge.
• Studies reflect that human resource is one of the most integral resources for any organisation. In case of drop in revenue or profit for a service based organisation, then the organisation’s productivity needs to be analysed (Crawford, LePine & Rich 2010).
• Employees of the Company were not focussed and felt burnout, due to which there had been increasing absenteeism and then resulting in leaving the Company. The employees lacked working in an organisation culture that is conducive to remain focussed on the goals and objectives of the organisation.
• The organisation did not have a formal motivation or an in-depth engagement procedure (Kular et al., 2008).
• Further there is an absence of a formal job design, which can create flexibility for its employees.   

Employee engagement is a contemporary term which has emerged in importance currently. Contemporary organisations are adopting employee engagement as their leading strategy which impacts employee morale and levels of motivations. Employee engagement was found to be a pertinent factor, which influenced high levels in employee retention (Macey & Schneider, 2008).

The current organisation has a Human Resource Manager and team, which coordinates various functionalities and processes within the organisation (Shuck & Wollard, 2010). However, the human resource department follows traditional approach and conducts basic human resource activities such as recruitment, selection, induction, training, performance appraisal. Thus, the research here analyses the pertinent employee engagement factors that can be employed by the organisation so as to be able to retain its employees. In the current scope of the organisation, factors evaluated include job design, flexibility, organisation culture, performance appraisal and motivation (Anitha, 2014). All these factors needs to be considered within the organisation and evaluated accordance to Human Resource Management policies and procedures applied. The human resource department does not adopt job designing, flexibility planning, organisation culture development, and employee motivation or employee succession. These stated factors forms an integral part of employee engagement. Thus the current research conducts study to analyse ways, employee engagement factors affect productivity in the organisation and hence influencing its profitability and revenue earning (Brad Shuck, Rocco & Albornoz, 2011).     

The current research will aim at establishing a connection of employee engagement with productivity, hence revenue and profitability (Breevaart et al., 2014). The various employee engagement strategies adopted by the organisation thus, needs to be evaluated. Analysing the above statements, the aims and objectives of the study can be ascertained.

Research Aims

–  To understand employee engagement contribution to productivity and hence profitability and revenue

–  To examine the employee engagement aspects undertaken at the current organisation

Research Objectives

• To analyse contribution of employee engagement to productivity, in turn profitability and revenue earning of the Company
• To examine employee engagement processes applied at the current organisation
• To analyse gaps prevailing in employee engagement processes
• To develop recommendations for accommodation of employee engagement procedures for enhancing productivity    

The stakeholders who will be involved for the study, includes management, human resource manager and employees. The three key stakeholders will be affected by this study as the management will need to reflect regarding the employee engagement procedure and accommodate new changes (Karanges, Johnston, Beatson & Lings, 2015). The HR manager will need to design more procedure and processes such that employee engagement gap present can be diagnosed and procedure for implemented for employee engagement processes. The employees will need to assimilate new changed procedures such that they feel more attached to the organisation.

Discussion of the issue

The stakeholders of the organisation will be interested in this study as the new processes and procedure of employee engagement (Bakker, 2010). The management will be interested in the study as from accommodation of employee engagement procedure will lead to reduction of costs and increase in revenue. Moreover, increase in employee engagement will also lead to rise in productivity (Kompaso & Sridevi, 2010). Secondly, for the HR manager, it will imply lesser pressure on recruitment of employees, lesser induction costs and less amount of employee turnover. The HR manager will be able to coordinate functions of the employees in the better manner. The employees of the organisation will be benefitted highly, from the employee engagement procedure. Employees will be highly motivated, committed, less absent from the organisation and might get training, which will help benefit the organisation (Rama Devi, 2009).  

The study will progress post analysis of relevant data that has been collected for the study. The researcher will collect relevant data for the study and then analyse them to arrive at the findings of the study (Neuman, 2013). The researcher will collect qualitative data and analyse it using descriptive methods, referring to past literature source on the topic. Further the researcher for this study will collect primary data or first-hand data source. The data will be collected from the management, HR manager and employees of the organisation. The two key methods for collecting relevant primary data for the chosen project includes survey methods and interview method through questionnaire (Brannen, 2017). While employees will be surveyed, the HR manager and the management will be provided with the questionnaire for the study. Two sets of questions will be devised; one set for posing to management and HR manager, the other set will be posed for employees. The strength of the survey method that it allows flexibility and extensive analysis. The survey conducted on the management and HR managers can offer an inexpensive method for describing the characteristics of the population. It can ensure capability for more accurate targeted results for making important decision. Being an extensive procedure, it allows drawing conclusion from the characteristics of the population (Fowler Jr, 2013). Surveys are dependable and flexible in nature. In this study, there might be required that survey participants, such as senior managers are contacted over the telephone or over mobile to understand their opinion. HR managers and other senior management can provide more valid and candid answers for arriving at more accurate and honest data. Weakness of a survey is that some participants might be dishonest in their replies. The responses might lack conscientious response and there might be skipped questions. Certain questions of mine might be difficult to be analysed by the HR managers and other senior manager. A survey might lack personalization and it might be difficult to formulate questions as per the participants.               

The researcher will pose interview questionnaire for employees in order to collect data. A detailed questionnaire will be included for the purpose of collecting data from employees regarding employee engagement procedure. There are several benefits and disadvantages of questionnaire. Strengths of interview questionnaire include their cost affordability, practicality and speedy results   (Bernard & Bernard, 2012). A detailed questionnaire will cover all aspects of actual employee engagement procedure and it will be sent across online, thus saving huge amounts of costs. The questionnaire will be practically oriented and will yield speedy results to arrive at the findings of the study in an easy manner. There are disadvantages of interview questionnaire as well such as dishonesty, difference in understanding and interpretation and responded might have a hidden agenda. Employees might have provided a dishonest opinion to the questionnaire and different employees might respond differently on the questions. This might raise complication of arriving at an appropriate finding for the study.   

Research aims and objectives

The study will make use of secondary sources in order that the findings of the study can be correlated with the current findings. Secondary sources include data sources that have already been published. Secondary sources of data that will be used for the current study includes, main reasons for employees leaving jobs in the UK, it will be sourced from thecareercafe.co.uk and number of people employed in the United Kingdom motor vehicle parts industry between 2008 to 2018, the secondary data will be sourced from statistica.com. Both the secondary sources have tremendous contribution in designing the framework for the study. The primary reasons for employees leaving job in the UK, allowed examining the facts of employee dissatisfaction and then connecting them to employee engagement procedures. The number of employees in the UK employed in the motor vehicle parts industry allows to analyse the importance of the topic for the study.

Secondary sources	Information needed	Research source	Justification for the source	Advantages of the source	Disadvantages of the source
main reasons for employees leaving jobs in the UK	Thecareercafe.com	Extensive coverage and up-to-date data	Detailed information	Limited information available
number of people employed in the United Kingdom motor vehicle parts industry between 2008 to 2018	Statistica.com	Detailed data	Reliable information	More diverse information on the topic not available
Primary methods	Information needed	Research method	Justification for the method	Advantages of the method	Disadvantages of the method
Employee engagement applied	Interview Questionnaire	Allows to collect in-depth information	Detailed information extraction	Might be dishonest
Employee engagement applied	Survey	Includes views regarding employee engagement	Can give wide array of information	Not reliable

Figure 1: Number of people employed in the UK motor vehicle parts industry between 2008 till 2018′

Source: statistica, 2018

Figure 2: Main Reason for Employees Leaving Jobs in the UK

Source: thecareercafe, 2018

The research activity will be conducted using primary as well as secondary data. The study will be initiated by identifying the key factors, which can determine the findings of the study. The key factors analysis allows to derive the pertinent areas on which the study will need to be conducted, such as employee motivation, employee satisfaction, employee job design, employee turnover rate, succession planning and organisation culture (Dollard & Bakker, 2010). Once the data field has been determined then the specific fields for the questionnaire can be devised. Two sets of questionnaire will be devised for survey of managers and interview of employees. A total of 100 employees and 20 managers including HR manager will be targeted for the study. Then the researcher will make use of random stratified sampling technique to select data and arrive at the findings of the study (Macey, Schneider, Barbera & Young, 2011). The data collection will focus on mainly qualitative data for the study and then once data is collected it will be analysed in a descriptive manner. The key stage of the research process is highlighted in the Gantt Chart below. The final data analysis will be analysed to match the final findings of the study in order to understand the study’s applicability (Welch, 2011). Though the study will aim at extensive coverage of factors that affect employee productivity and hence employee engagement, it will be limited in nature. The study is conducted using data from ABC Motors only and does not include scope from any other organisation, thus has limited applicability and the findings cannot be extended to other studies. Moreover, the study is based in the UK and might not be applicable in other parts of the world.

		GANTT CHART
	Research for analysing employee engagement in ABC Motors
Topic	Days
1	30	50	65	75	90	100	105	110	120	130	150
Factors for Employee Engagement
Collecting Secondary Sources of Information
Identifying Problem Statement & Research Questions
Developing Questionnaire for Survey & Interview
Sending Questionnaire
Data Collection
Rejecting redundant data
Analysis of Data Collected
Making possible correction and again confirming data
Arriving at final finding

Figure 3: Key Stages of the Project Plan

Source: Author

Research activity summary

The primary research activity that has been conducted for the current study includes collecting two sets of different data from employees and management including the HR manager. The participants were clarified regarding the research objectives, goal and research questions before they took part in the study. The participants were allowed to express their consent freely. The participants were given certificates of participation and they were assured that their personal information will not be used in the study. Both the set of participants were provided with different set of questionnaire so that information could be brought out regarding employee engagement procedure. While the management including HR manager reflected over email, employees mostly filled out the questionnaire. The researcher collected all pertinent data in the questionnaire form and then analysed the transcript in a descriptive manner. There were codes which were developed for the study, such as “employee satisfaction”, “motivation”, “burnout”, “job design”, “absenteeism”, “productivity” and “employee engagement”. Then to analyse the data further in a descriptive manner sub-codes were devised. Each of the transcripts findings were then grouped into separate codes and sub-codes to arrive at the findings for the study.

Planning

The above method of analysis had been undertaken for this particular study as there would be several varied types of interview and survey answers found for the study. The development of codes and sub-codes allow detecting trends or answers to particular query for the study.    

The research findings have been devised for the stakeholders such that they could apply the same for the organisation. Arriving at the findings for the study, there are two prominent understanding that has been derived for the project as given below.

The first findings reflects a connect between employee engagement with higher employee productivity which leads to greater customer satisfaction and finally which converts into higher revenues and profitability for the organisation. The transcript interview found that employee engagement had a positive impact on bringing about changes in employee productivity, which in turn led to higher customer satisfaction, converting into higher revenues and profitability for the organisation.         

Figure 4: Findings 1

Source: Author

Analysing the transcripts of management, HR manager and employees it was found that employee engagement was found to be connected with several factors. An appropriate job design, motivation, employee satisfaction was affected in presence of employee engagement. Other factors which were also found to be associated with employee engagement was low stress or burnout, greater commitment towards the organisation, presence of high morale, lesser absenteeism and lower turnover.   

Figure 5: Findings 2

Source: Author

Conclusions

The findings from the study reveal that ABC Motors have been successful in adopting various employee engagement strategies. Employee engagement has been deemed to be one of the leading factors which contribute towards productivity within an organisation.  Employee engagement has become the focal strategy for today’s workforce as companies are aiming at making their end customers happy through engaged employees. The low rate of employee engagement around the world can lead to substantial disengagement costs for the company. Engaged workers are more likely to have higher satisfaction levels and commit to their roles in a more enthusiastic manner. This would lead to overall higher growth and productivity for the Company through higher retention, increased profitability, productivity, lower absenteeism, with increase in employee loyalty. The long term benefits associated with employee engagement cannot be overstated. Employee engagement is associated with higher employee satisfaction, as employees are more likely to be more enthusiastic regarding their role and growth in the company. Employees once engaged are more likely to feel satisfied with their position and have greater connection with the Company. Once employees are satisfied, they are more likely to provide quality work, which will reflect in customer’s happiness. Employees being the primary connects with the customers are more likely to influence customers. Happy customers lead to increased sales and profitability and hence increase in revenues. Employee engagement thus offers a best possible way for a company to thrive.    

The organisation’s HR department adopts a number of strategies so as to adopt employee engagement strategies. The recommendations will aim at changing the project stakeholders, which includes HR managers, senior management and employees of the organisation. The following recommendations will need to be adopted;

• Accommodating appropriate job design for employees. The HR managers need to undertake job design for each and every employee such that employees can get an appropriate fit for their jobs. Adequate job design will lower stress and burnout in employees and lead to greater productivity.   
• Adopt appropriate training for the employees such that they feel more committed and motivated for their job roles. The training programs need to offer assistance such that employees can perform their job roles in a better manner.
• Develop job flexibility for employees. Most contemporary organisations have adopted flexible job structures allowing employees to perform their roles easily. It allows employee develop a comfort factor with the organisation and remain committed towards it.
• The organisation needs to adopt a succession planning structure for its employees. An appropriate training and guidance can allow the HR managers to easily fill out various vacant positions at the organisation. With succession planning the management can take advantage of experienced employees in the organisation.    

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