LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ (KINH tế) the shifting role of the HR manager in employee engagement (ee) in the irish banking

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TableofContents

Acknowledgements: 4

Abstract 5

Chapter1:Introduction 6

1.1 Overview: 6

1.2 Researchobjectives 7

1.3 ResearchQuestions 8

1.4 Relevanceofthequestions 8

1.5 Rationalefor andintendedrecipientsof theresearch 10

1.6 Researchbiasesandlimitations 10

Chapter2:LiteratureReview 12

2.1 Introduction 12

2.2 Thecurrentrole oftheHRmanagerInEE 12

2.3 DefinitionsofEmployeeEngagement 13

2.3.1 TheBenefitsof EmployeeEngagement 14

2.3.2 Employeedisengagementandthenegatives 16

2.3.3 NegativeFactorsthataffectEmployeeEngagement 16

2.4 PositiveFactorsofEmployee Engagement 17

2.4.1 Twowaycommunication 17

2.4.2 VisionandRole Clarity 18

2.4.3 Trust 18

2.4.4 Empowerment 19

2.4.5 Training anddevelopment 19

2.4.6 Leadership 20

2.5 What is HR doingforEmployeeEngagement(apractitionersview)? 21

2.6 ManagementandEmployee Engagement 22

2.7 EngagementofbankstaffandBankingculture 23

2 8Banksandtheircustomers 25

2.9 Engagementrates 26

2.10 LiteratureGap 27

Chapter3:ResearchMethodology 27

3.1 Introduction 27

3.2 Researchontologyand philosophy 29

3.2.1 Ontology 29

3.2.2 Epistemology 30

3.3 Researchapproach 31

3.4 Researchstrategy 32

3.5 Researchchoice 33

3.6 Researchtime horizon 34

3.9.2 Actualsample 38

3.9.3 Samplingtechnique 39

3.10 Researchlimitationsandpotentialproblems: 40

3.10.1 Limitationsofresearch 40

3.10.2 Practicalissues 40

3.11 Potentialbiases 41

3.12 Ethicalissuesandimplicationsforresearch, 42

Chapter4Findings 44

4.1 Overview 44

4.2 PrimaryResearch:Interviews 46

4.2.1 ResearchQuestion1 47

4.2.2 Analysis 48

4.2.3Researchquestion2 52

4.2.3 Researchquestion2continued 53

4.2.4 Analysis 54

4.2.5 Researchquestion3: 59

4.2.6 Analysis 60

4.2.6 Analysiscontinued 63

4.2.7 Researchquestion4 64

4.2.7 Researchquestion4continued 65

4.2.8 Analysis 65

4.2.9 Researchquestion5 69

4.2.10 Analysis 71

ChapterFiveDiscussionofFindings: 74

5.1 Overview 74

5.2 ResearchObjective1: Howhastheroleof theHRmanagerchangedinrelationt o E E since2008? 74

5.3 ResearchObjective2: To outlinewhatfactorsHRmanagersfeelimpact withEmployeeEngagement: 76

5.4 ResearchObjective3: Howhave engagementlevelschangedsince2008? 78

5.5 ResearchObjective4: Whatapproachesdo HRmanagersfeelbenefits EEw i t h i n financialorganisations? 79

5.6 ResearchObjective5: WhatchallengesdoHRmanagersseearisinginEmployeeEngagementinbankingin thefuture? 81

5.7 Limitationsofresearch: 82

ChapterSixConclusion 83

6.1 Hypotheses: 84

6.2 KeyFindings: 86

6.3 Callfor furtherresearch 87

Bibliography 89

Appendices 100

Appendix1Reflectiononlearning 101

Introduction: 101

Reflectionson selectingtheMBAandthe courseitself 101

Reflectionson topicselectionanddissertationproposal: 103

Reflectionson thedissertation: 104

Conclusion: 105

Appendix2poster 106

3 AEstimateofTotalSample 107

3 BListofemployeesofBanksinIreland 107

Appendix4.A 108

Appendix4.B:ConfidentialityAgreementwithInterviewee 109

Appendix5Interviewresearcherlogs: 110

Interview1–7July2014: 110

Interview2: 8thJuly2014 111

Interview3: 10July2014 112

Interview4: 11thJuly2014 112

Interview5: 17thJuly2014 113

Interview6: 24thJuly2014 114

ListofTables Table1:Globaltrendsinengagement2013 26

Table2:IrishorganisationsengagementperformanceVSHighpower organisations26Table3: theresearchonion 28

Table4:Differencesbetweendeductiveandinductiveapproaches 31

Table5:Myresearchpath 34

Table6:KeyQuotesfromresearchquestion1 47

Table7 : Outliningrecurringthemesforthechangingroleof theHRmanagerin EEs i n c e 2008 48

Table8:KeyQuotesonresearchquestion2 52

Table9:RecurringThemes of thefactorsHRmanagersbelieve impactEmployeeEngagement 54

Table10:Keyquotes onresearchquestion3 59

Table11:Engagementlevelssince2008 accordingto HRmanagers 60

Table12:keyquotesresearchquestion4 64

Table13:ThemesofapproachesHRmanagersfeelbenefitEEwithininbankingorganisations .65

Table14:Keyquotes onresearchquestion5 69

Table15: Frequencyof themes ofchallengesdoHRmanagersseearising inEmployeeEngagementinbankingin thefuture 71

Iwould

liketothanksmyfamily,friendsandmylecturersfortheirhelpthroughoutt h e courseof thisyear.Iamsincerelygratefulto all theintervieweeswhoparticipatedi n

t h e researchproject

In2008 theglobalfinancialcrisiscrippledthe banksworldwide

andledtothefallofm a n y of themarket’sprincipalparticipants.Notably,Irelandwas oneof theworsthitcountriesbythiscrisis.Ireland’sbankingsystemwentin to a stateof turmoilvergingo n collapse,onlytobebailed

Europe’sbasketcase.ThiswashighlightedbyMcCormick(2011, p41):

“In2008, the worldeconomicforum hadrankedIreland’sbankingsystemas

then i n t h strongestin theworld.Howeverby2010therankinghad fallen to 139 th ,

theweakestof all thecountriessurveyed,behindbothIcelandand Zimbabwe”

Todatethebankingcrisishascost the stateup to€

64.1bnaccordingtoDepartmento f Finance

(2012)andplayedapivotalroleinIrelandhavingtojoin theEU/IMFbailoutfund

Thefinancialcrisishadanunfavourableeffecton

theemploymentconditionsofemployeesofIrishbanks,with manyofthefrontline staff

beingsubjectt o a b u s e bycustomers.Accordingto theNewStatesman(2010, p 5)

“TheIrishpublicisexperiencinganextremeformof

whattheHarvardphilosopherMichaelSandel has called “bailoutoutrage”

Employeesin thebankingsector havehadboth

duringt h i s chaotictime,aswellthefactorstheyfeltimpactedengagement.Inlookingto thefutureof

thisindustry,HRmanagersmustconsiderwhatpotentialfuturechallengest h a t

t h e y mayfacein theareaofengagement

1.2

Research objectives

Thepurposeofthisstudyis to explorethe shiftingroleoftheHRmanagerinfostering

Employee Engagement(EE)in theIrishbankingsector

sincetheeconomicdownturn.Thereis particularreferenceon thefactorsthathave

examinetherelevanttheoriesaroundt h e areaofEEin order

tounderstandhowHRmanagersfeeltheirrolehaschangedint h i s area andthefactorsthat theyfeltimpactedEEwithin theirorganisation.Itwillt h e n attemptto

applytheoreticalframeworks to

theroleoftheHRmanagerandthefactorsofdisengagement/engagementthroughthisdifficultperiodforthoseemployedi n t h e industry.Itwill also

examinethechangesinengagementratesfrom 2008 until2 0 1 4 w i t h a n emphasison

theapproachesHRmanagersfeelwill benefitEEin thebankingindustryin

thefutureaswellasthe potentialchallenges

Research Questions

 Howhasthe roleof HRmanagersintheIrish

bankingsectorchangedin( i n termsofEE) sincethe economicdownturn?

 Whatdo HRManagersbelieve are thefactors

Relevance ofthe questions

Theaboveresearchquestions will examineanareainmoderndaybankingthat

hasbeenoverlookedto datethesealsopresentcriticalissuesthatneedto

beaddressedifIreland’sbankingandfinancialservicessectors areto

moveforwardandawayfromt h e culturethatledthemin

tosuchfinancialdisarray.Theresearchquestionsanalyset h e shiftingroleofHRmanagersandhow thelevels of EEhave changedover thoseyearsandthefactorstheybelieve

impactedonengagementlevelsin theirindustry.Italsoanalyseswhatapproachescan

positivelyimpact on EE in thebankingsectoraswellastheneedto

identifythefuturechallenges.Itishypothesisedthat the

disengagementandquestionableleadershipbythetopmanagementhadaneffectont h e financialcrisis.

TheMcCloudreviewcitesthatdisengagementoftopmanagementmayhavebeenoneo f thefactorsthatledto thefinancialcrisis:

“It was averysmall group ofpeopleat theverytop who werenot engaged who hadhijackedtheinvestmentandcapitaldecisions.Perhapstheworld

Rationale for and intendedrecipients of the research

Themotivation forthisresearchis

simplythat;asallaspectsofIrishbankingsectorhasbeenheavilycriticisedonissuesofcorporategovernance,cultureandriskappetitehavebeen

heavilyscrutinizedbyallaspectsofIrishsocietyin the past.Itisnowt i m e l y to probesomeofthepossibleunderlying reasonsforthe

bankingcrisisandtheimpacttheirimpactonemployeesparticularlyEmployee

Engagement.Thisstudyaimsto show thebenefitsofanengagedworkforceandhow this willhelpto

carryIrishbankingbacktowardsbeingthecompetitiveindustryitwasbeforetheeconomiccrisis.Inorder to do this,wemust putfaithin themorethancapableworkforcethat isi n

t h e bankingsector Thereis aneedto identifyhow theroleoftheHRmanager

haschangedduringthis periodandto identifythe methods

theybelievehelptomaintainEElevelsandkeepemployeesmotivatedduringtheeconomiccrisisandbeyond

Thereis also aneedto identifywhatconceivablechallengeslayaheadfor HRpractitionersinthearea

ofEE.Thisresearchis aimed to be ausefultool forstudents

ofDBSandHRstudentsasagatewaytoresearchin theareaofEE.Itwillalsobe ofinterestto HRpractitionerswhoconsiderEEto beimportantin theirwork.Thisresearchis

alsointendedto beusefulto

thefinancialinstitutionsandtherepresentativebodyofstaffo f thosefinancialinstitutions.Inconclusion, this studyshould beofinteresttoanyonew i t h interestin

maintainingEEinturbulenttimesfororganisations

1.6

Research biases and limitations

Themainobstaclesto thisresearcharethe issuesoftime,resourcesandaccess

tointerviewees.Themethodologyusedissetout ingreaterdetailinchapter3of

thisdissertation.Nonetheless,thisresearchfollows

aqualitative,inductive,subjectivistmethodology

havebeenabletocompletetheresearchprojectin theallottedtimegivenbyDBS.The

limitedsamples i z e andthefactthatdatawasof aqualitative

naturemadeitanarduoustasktryingtoi n d u c e ahypothesisfrommydata.Otherweaknessesofthisresearchproject isthatqualitativemethodsofresearchformeditsbasisand

tern(2007),StraussandCorbin(2008)concludethatallqualitative researchs h o u l d

m a k e senseandbeabletospeakforitself;theaimisthatthefindingsofthisresearchwillechothis sentiment

reviewIhaveprovided acriticaloutlineof thetraitsin EEando n

t h e differentfactorswhich mayimpact on itslevels.Ihavealsolookedat

thechangingroleoftheHRmanagerandrelevantissuessuchaspublictrustinbanking,t h e bankingculture,engagementlevelsin bankingandin

ageneralsenseinordertoa p p l y context tomystudy

andtheintroductionofprogrammesoractivitiescentredonengagementorre-engagementofemployees

Saks

(2006)seesEmployeeEngagementasalong-termandongoingprocessitrequiresHRmanagerstocontinuallyinteractwithemployees

Definitions of Employee Engagement

EmployeeEngagementis akin to theideaofmotivationbut it is amorethan

simplym o t i v a t i n g employees.Motivation,seekstoincentiviseperformance,engagementseeksto stimulateasense of identityandencourageasenseofalignmentwith

theaimsandgoalsof theorganisation.Kahn(1990,p 694)wasthefirstto

bringtheconstructofengagementinto

theworkplace.Heconceptualizedthatengagementwast h e “harnessingoforganisationm

embers’selvestotheirworkroles;inengagement,peopleemployandexpressthemselvesphy sically,cognitively,and

Engagementisseentobeonesuchhigherorderpositivepsychologyconstructwhichi s concernedwith theemployees’experiencesofworkandorganisation thatfurtherdeterminestheextent to which theyworkinconsonancewith

combinationo f commitmentto theorganisationand

itsvaluesplusawillingnesstohelpoutcolleagues.Itgoesbeyond job satisfaction and isnot just motivation.Engagementissomethinganemployeehas tooffer.Itcannotberequiredas

part oftheircontract,”(Cipd.co.uk,2013)

Whilethereismuchvariationin theliteraturethatIreviewedin

thewhatacademicsandworkingprofessionalseeasEmployeeEngagement,whatcanbeagreedon is thatthereis a focus on theemployeegoingaboveandbeyondtheircontractofwork.Defining whatpeopleseeEmployeeEngagementas is

vitalwhentryingtoanalyseaH R manager’srolein fosteringEmployeeEngagement

2.3.1 The BenefitsofEmployeeEngagement

Thereiscontinualfocuson therolethatan engagedemployeecanmake in

theworkplaceandhow it can beofbenefitto

additiontothetaskperformance(Bakker,2011;ChristianetAl.,2011).Engagedemployee

kker(2004)andtheyaremore

likelytod o thingsthataugmentorganisationaleffectivenessSaks(2008).

mprovingcustomerservice

Considerable focushas beengiventoEEin contemporaryorganisationsdueto

ther e c e n t l y reportedpositiverelationshipbetweenengagementanddirectmeasuresoforganisationaleffectivenessas

jobperformance,output,quality,customersatisfaction,profits,andbusinessgrowthSundar

ay(2011,p.53).As aresultEE is thecentralfocusof variousorganisationsin

thecurrentenvironment.Organisationsareseekingwaystoembracetheconcept,designingdevelopment plans,andsurveyingtheiremployeesto explorewhat

theyneedaccordingtoWollardandShuck(2011).Saks(2006,p.602)hassuggestedemploy

eesarelikelytoexchangetheirengagementasas t a t e ofreciprocalinterdependence foreconomicand socio-emotionalresourcesfromt h e i r organisation

Studieshavepositedengagementasthe most influential

businessdriveroforganisationalsuccessandperformance.This is

duetofactthatengagedemployeesaremoreenthusiasticanddedicatedto theorganisation; theymorecapableofi n v e s t i n g theirphysicalstrengthandemotionalenergytowardstheorganisationalgoals.Thisengagementleads

tobetterorganisationalperformance,studieshaves h o w n thatorganisationswithengagedemployeescreate higherperformance

2.3.2 Employeedisengagement and thenegatives

Khan,(1990,p.694),seesemployeedisengagement as“theuncouplingofselvesf r o m

w o r k roles;indisengagement,peoplewithdrawthemselvesphysically,cognitively,or emotionally during roleperformances”.Hesuggestedthat

aperson’snatureaffectedtheirabilitytoengagein sometypesofroleroles

Thenegativeimpactthatdisengagedemployeescanhavein

theworkplacewashighlightedbyBuckingham (2001,p

37)suchemployeeswere“intenton sharingw i t h colleaguesthemanyreasons for

whichthey believetheir organisation is sucharottenplaceto

work”.Theyalsofoundthelongeremployeesremainedin theorganisationthemore

disengagedtheybecame.Astudyover30yearsdonebytheGallupin theUS

foundthattheratioofengagedemployeestodisengagedemployeesi n organisationswas1.83to 1

This smallimbalancewasestimatedtohave costmoretheUSD300 billion in

lostp r o d u c t i v i t y eachyearBuckinghamandCoffman(1999).NitaClarke;jointaut horo f theMacLeodreviewhadstatedthatbetterengagementcouldhavepreventedthenea

r-collapseoftheRoyalBankofScotland,Someseniorstrategistswere

farfromengagedaccordingtoPhillips (2009).

2.3.3 Negative Factors thataffectEmployeeEngagement

Pechand Slade(2006,p.24)citethat someformsofdisengagementcanbeattributedt o

t h e externalenvironment.Theyarguethat theemployeemayfeela

eesto haveanegativeviewoftheirworkenvironmentandthatit canleadto

jobinsecurity.Bosman,Buitendachand

Rothmann(2005)foundjobinsecurityto be negativelyrelatedto EmployeeEngagement.

Itcanthreatenthehappinessandpeaceof mind ofemployeesdueto theloss of

theyarealsousefulforHRmanagersinthe workplaceast h e y canpreventor

minimisefactorsthat lead todisengagementorfoster theenvironmentorfactorsthatleadto EE