Antecedents And Outcomes Of Employee Engagement In Soft Drink Industry In Uganda

ABSTRACT

This study sought to establish the relationship between antecedents and outcomes of employee engagement in soft drink industry in Uganda. The specific objectives of this study were (1) to ascertain the relationship between engagement antecedents and employee engagement; (2) to determine the relationship between employee engagement and the work outcomes; (3) to establish whether after controlling for the antecedents of engagement, employee engagement will predict unique variance in work outcomes. Adopting a pragmatic philosophy with a sequential mixed methods strategy starting with quantitative cross-sectional survey design (N = 210) followed by key informant interviews with managers the researcher examined the relationship between nine antecedents, employee engagement and four outcomes - job satisfaction, organizational commitment, OCB and turnover intent. Self-administered Questionnaire of four scales were administered to sampled employees of soft drink industry Kampala, Mukono and Buikwe districts of Uganda. Hypotheses were tested through correlation and hierarchical regression analysis techniques. All the nine antecedent variables studied were significantly correlated with employee engagement and employee engagement was significantly correlated with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, OCB and turnover intention. For the job satisfaction model, the hierarchical regression analysis results suggested that employees who experienced a high degree of role clarity, high degree of compensation fairness, and high opportunities for development, also reported being more likely to be satisfied with their place of employment. For the organizational commitment model, the hierarchical regression analysis results shows that three antecedent variables demonstrated a significant relation with organizational commitment, suggesting that employees who experienced a high degree of role clarity, high degree of job security, and high opportunities for development, also reported being more likely to be committed to their organization.