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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Employee engagement is associated with many desirable outcomes, such as
job satisfaction, intention to stay and job performance. Companies with a greater
number of engaged employees typically have lower operating costs, higher customer
satisfaction and higher profits. There is a tangible monetary benefit to companies
investing time and resources in fostering higher engagement within their employees.
The task of precisely defining employee engagement is still ongoing, but it is most
often defined in terms of behaviours exhibited in the workplace. Engaged employees
are prepared to go the extra mile in pursuit of workplace excellence. They are
ambassadors for their organisations, who will speak highly of the company and its
people, even when they are not in a work setting. An engaged employee is identifiable
by workplace behaviours such as losing track of time as they are so absorbed in the
task at hand. This is distinct from excessive overtime in order to give the impression
of ‗hard work.‘ Both look the same, but one is productive for the employer- employee
relationship and one is not! Academics would say that not enough is understood about
what drives employee engagements most research in the area has tended to focus on
business outcomes without investigating underlying causes. As the impact of
engagement on business has been positive and has been linked with higher
profitability, practice has raced ahead of the underpinning research in pursuit of
creating a more engaged and hence profitable workforce. I undertook research to aid
understanding of the area by investigating the relationship of employee engagement
with various aspects of human resources such as employee satisfaction, the retention
level etc. At the same time I looked at the interplay between individual differences
and engagement levels of the organization. I hoped to discover best practices of the
organizations and the individual‘s expectations from such strategies

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2. OBJECTIVES:
1. To measure the percentage of employees who feel engaged towards their
work.
2. To find out the factors that influence employee engagement.
3. To identify the relationship of employee engagement with various aspects of
human resources i.e. employee satisfaction, retention level etc.
4. To study employee engagement practices in apparel retail sector.

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3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
A) TYPE OF RESEARCH:
Exploratory:
Exploratory research might involve a literature search or conducting focus
group interviews. The exploration of new phenomena in this way may help the
researcher‘s need for better understanding, may test the feasibility of a more extensive
study, or determine the best methods to be used in a subsequent study. For these
reasons, exploratory research is broad in focus and rarely provides definite answers to
specific research issues.
B) TOOLS FOR DATA COLLECTION:
Qualitative Data Collection:
Qualitative research is aimed at gaining a deep understanding of a specific
organization or event, rather than surface description of a large sample of a
population. It aims to provide an explicit rendering of the structure, order, and broad
patterns found among a group of participants. It is also called field research. It
generates data about human groups in social settings.
Qualitative data collection methods include observation, participant
observation, interviewing, focus groups and case studies.
Primary Data:
Data Collection Method through Questionnaire Method was used & face to
face interviews with the store managers were taken. The data was collected from
various clothing retailers such as Pantaloons, Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop etc. located in
various places of Mumbai and employee‘s as well as store manager‘s responses on

4. 4
that were tabulated and presented in percentage form, which then were analyzed and
interpreted. This was followed by findings and recommendation.
The questionnaire consisted of both open as well as multiple choice questions
based on 6 factors as listed below:
- Attachment to the job
- Agreeableness
- Emotional Stability
- Openness to experience
- Achievement orientation
- Self-efficacy
The above factors are independent factors and retention of employees
is dependent on it.
Secondary Data:
It was through a list of websites, books, journals, and newspaper and news magazines
articles as given at the end of this project in references, webliography and
bibliography
C) SELECTION OF THE STUDY AREA & SAMPLE SIZE:
50 Samples of employees & 9 samples of store managers were collected from
13 Retail Stores.
1. Pantaloons
2. Lifestyle
3. Global Desi

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4. Provogue
5. Zara
6. Blackberry‘s
7. 1090
8. Marks & Spencer
9. Madame
10. Wrangler
11. Paul Smith
12. Jack & Jones
13. Killers
D) SAMPLING TECHNIQUE:
Convenience Sampling:
A statistical method of drawing representative data by selecting people
because of the ease of their volunteering or selecting units because of
their availability or easy access. The advantages of this type of sampling are the
availability and the quickness with which data can be gathered.
E) SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:
People often lie in exit interviews about why they are leaving. Managers should, of
course, know in advance who is leaving and why. A comprehensive list like this is of
little value unless used as a guide to gather information as to how to engage the
employees so that to retain the talents in the organization.

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4. INTRODUCTION OF THE PROJECT:
4.1 PREVIEW:
Success today requires a good bit more than good attendance. Yet, multiple
studies indifferent countries and across industries show that employees who are
passionate about their jobs and the organizations in which they work are in the
minority. Some of the Survey conducted by few organizations revealed that
approximately 19% of the employees are highly engaged. Towers Perrin‘s recent
―Talent Report‖ is slightly more optimistic, finding just 17 percent of the 35,000
employees surveyed to be highly engaged. 40 to 70 percent of employees can be
classified as neutral, middle of the road, or agnostic. Worse yet, an alarming 10 to 20
percent of employees are actively ―disengaged‖- just putting in their time or, worse
yet, undermining or badmouthing their organizations and bosses. The economic
impact of low engagement can be staggering.
The global survey shows that 34 per cent of the employees in India are fully
engaged and 13 per cent disengaged. As many as 29 per cent are ‗almost engaged‘.
What makes these numbers especially discouraging is that, supposedly, we have
evolved from the dark ages of ―personnel management.‖ On one hand, for the past
two decades we have been trying to realize the benefits of empowerment, teamwork,
recognition, people development, performance management, and new leadership
styles. Evidently, there is a big difference between putting in place initiatives that
have the overall goal of increasing employee engagement and truly seeing the
payoffs. And, on the other hand, one might easily attribute low engagement to
persistent downsizing, which leads to an erosion of loyalty and commitment.

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DEFINITION OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT:
Employee engagement can be defined as an employee putting forth extra
discretionary effort, as well as the likelihood of the employee being loyal and
remaining with the organization over the long haul. Research shows that engaged
employees: perform better, put in extra efforts to help get the job done, show a strong
level of commitment to the organization, and are more motivated and optimistic about
their work goals. Employers with engaged employees tend to experience low
employee turnover and more impressive business outcomes. Employee engagement is
more than just the current HR 'buzzword'; it is essential. In order for organizations to
meet and surpass organizational objectives, employees must be engaged. Research has
proven that wholly engaged employees exhibit,
• Higher self-motivation.
• Confidence to express new ideas.
• Higher productivity.
• Higher levels of customer approval and service quality.
• Reliability.
• Organizational loyalty; less employee turnover.
• Lower absenteeism.

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4.2 NEED OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
The general principles of employee engagement have been around for decades.
During the past five years, though, there has been a surge in the popularity of
employee engagement. There are four primary drivers.
1. People have become the primary source of competitive advantage.
The Brookings Institute (2003) examined the primary source of market value
in today‘s organizations and how it has changed over time. In 1982, 62 percent of an
organization‘s market value came from tangible assets and 38 percent from intangible
assets. Tangible assets include things like machinery, products, facilities, etc.
Intangible assets, on the other hand, include factors such as brand, intellectual
property, and, most important, the quality of the workforce. By 2002, 20years later,
the source of value had almost totally flipped. Almost 80 percent of market value
today comes from the intangible with a scant 20 percent coming from tangible assets.
As we all have heard before, products can easily be copied, a technological edge can
prove fleeting, and more facilities can be built, but the quality of an organization‘s
talent, its passion and commitment, is nearly impossible to replicate. Engagement is
the fuel that drives the value of intangible assets.
2. Retention and the war for talent.
The landmark 1998 McKinsey study, The War for Talent, was among the first
to talk about the potential for workforce shortages due to the aging population. The
study‘s authors called upon organizations to take more seriously their efforts to attract
and retain talent, to assure that they would be able to survive and thrive in the future.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the slump in the global economy quickly took the
spotlight off of the anticipated talent shortage. And some predict that a portion of

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today‘s aging workers will delay their retirements out of necessity, attenuating the
expected talent shortage. Since 2003 the picture is once again changing, albeit not as
quickly as expected. For example, the Society for Human Resources Management
reported that 48 percent of the employees it polled are actively seeking new jobs.
Additionally, the workforce is getting older, with many of the baby boomers hitting
60 in 2006 and ready to retire. Over and above the workforce cost of increased
retirements, companies are beginning to take heed of the enormous financial costs of
turnover and increasingly viewing employee engagement as an imperative for keeping
their key employees— and attracting new ones—as the war for talent heats up once
again.
3. Popular appeal.
Remember the reengineering wave? Even those who used it as more than just
a guise for massive layoffs found it painful. Six Sigma implementations are
invaluable to business performance, but most companies are finding them too
complex to implement well. Engagement is a different matter altogether. While it still
takes patience to implement, engagement gets to the ―hard stuff‖ by focusing on the
―softer stuff.‖ As one manager said: ―It‘s about appealing to the head and the heart.‖
Engagement is about creating passion, it‘s about focusing on what people do well, and
it‘s about development and recognition. Some have called employee engagement a
form of positive psychology which, on the whole, is an easy pill for organizations and
their employees to swallow.

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4. Overwhelming impact.
The human resources function has been under pressure for decades to prove
that it makes a difference. While CEOs may espouse the importance of
their workforces in their annual reports, when times get tough, HR is among the first
to get the budget axe. Why? A lack of convincing evidence on the value of HR
initiatives. HR professionals are scrambling, according to a recent Conference Board
report, to prove that their activities and investments are both efficient and positively
influential to business strategy. The positive relationship between engagement and
performance (documented in hundreds of studies, with the evidence mounting every
day) provides a way for HR to prove its contribution. It‘s a fact: The higher the level
of engagement, the higher the performance of the business. The research is not
inconclusive, not limited to one country or industry, and not contained to a few
hundred people—it‘s overwhelming.
4.2.1 HOW TO MAKE EMPLOYEES ENGAGE?
• Growth and development –
An exciting position, with plenty of opportunity for growth, learning, and
advancement for employees is always helpful in retaining employees.
• Support and recognition –
Giving those rewards and recognition.
• In many instances, employee retention starts just as soon as an employee is hired. If
a company sees an unusual amount of potential in a new hire, management could
make them feel appreciated right off the bat. In a way, this practice can be considered
a combination of recruitment and retention tools.

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• Employee Participation in decision making is also a very effective engagement
activity in the organization.
• Aligning effort with strategy-
Engagement begins with employees‘ clear understanding of what they should be
doing on the job. Each employee needs a solid job description and a clear set of
performance expectations.
• Empowerment-
Empowerment is a feeling of job ownership and commitment brought about through
the ability to make decisions, be responsible, be measured by results, and be
recognized as a thoughtful, contributing human being rather than a pair of hands
doing what others say.
• Teamwork and Collaboration –
In the context of engagement, teamwork and collaboration require good relationships
both within the work group and across work groups. Many organizations have strong
teams with members who work well with each other.

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4.3 THE BENEFITS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT:
The power of employee engagement is that it is closely connected to business
results. When employees work in an environment in which they can focus their
attention on their work and have a drive to do their best, organizations experience
higher levels of productivity and profitability.
Engaged employees look for better ways to do their work, spend less time on
wasted activities, and make effective use of resources. In the end, companies deliver
better products or services and have more resources left to invest in further
improvements. Although it is an important consideration, high financial compensation
is not the only driver of increased employee retention.
As addressed previously, employees decide to stay with organizations for
other reasons, such as growth and development opportunities, strong leadership, and
meaningful work. Turnover costs organizations millions of dollars each year, and
engagement has a proven relationship to employee retention. No one likes going into
a store where the sales clerks are sullen, absent, or uncooperative. It‘s easy to see why
customers notice engaged employees and are more satisfied and willing to purchase
again. For example, Tom Labadie, director of training and development at CompUSA
states, “When you walk into a store with high engagement scores, you can sense the
positive tone. Employees whistle and smile, they approach customers, and the store
gives off that elusive approachable feeling that customers appreciate.‖ Organizations
with engaged employees have more satisfied customers, but it‘s not just because
employees have better interactions with customers. Engaged employees are more
likely to improve other critical factors affecting customer satisfaction, such as
responsiveness, product quality, thought leadership, innovation, etc. Finally, higher
engagement translates into higher and faster revenue growth.

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Engaged employees are more innovative and place more emphasis on meeting
customer needs. The ―what can I do better or differently‖ attitude of engaged
employees versus the ―it‘s not in my job description‖ attitude of the unengaged
simply leads to better financial performance.

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4.4 ASSESSING ENGAGEMENT
Over the past eight years, The Gallup Organisation has been conducting
exhaustive studies of employee engagement to try and answer these fundamental
questions. One of a handful of engagement evangelists, Gallup has promoted the
value of measuring employee engagement through a series of books, seminars and
programmes; it has also taken the lead in identifying and managing the factors that
impact engagement levels.
4.4.1 Why Measure Employee Engagement?
A company is only as strong and successful as its members, its employees, are. By
measuring employee engagement in key areas, organizations can gain the information
needed to improve employee satisfaction, retention, and productivity. However, a
recent study by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) indicated that
often the HR department's perceptions of employee engagement versus the true
measure of employee satisfaction are not always in sync.
Employees who aren‘t engaged with their jobs are very likely to leave. If they
don‘t leave they can become a source of bad morale and do a great deal of harm in the
organization. In many cases employers without proper data will assume the wrong
reasons for employee dissatisfaction. Many bosses will automatically think that
money is the top reason for leaving a job. Wouldn‘t it be better to have real data and
react accordingly?
Surveying employees on a regular basis is a great way to stay in touch with the
pulse of the business. Before launching a survey though it is important to establish the
ground rules. Many employees will be unwilling to express their honest feelings if
they think they will be singled out. Make sure that the surveys are conducted with

15. 15
anonymity. Be certain to have the support of company management all the way to the
top. Employees want to know that the leadership is behind the survey and that their
responses will be taken seriously.
Explain that employee comments are important to the company. State what
will be done with the results. And then live up to those statements. Employees will
become doubtful of management‘s intentions if they don‘t follow through.

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4.5 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Over the past decade, the way in which people are managed and developed at
work has come to be recognized as one of the primary factors in achieving
improvement in organizational performance. This is reflected by popular idioms such
as ―people are our most important assets‖. Back in the good old days of corporate
world, things were pretty simple. Companies put people on career tracks straight out
of college; they gave employees a job for life and waved them goodbye with a gold
watch at retirement. The promise of the stable life as a company employee kept both
morale and productivity high. Then things changed. Competition increased, margins
shrank and shareholders got more demanding. Suddenly, company staff were finding
the very job security they‘d counted on was disappearing, and at speed. This upheaval
meant companies had to find new ways to motivate their employees in order to make
them more productive since, without stability, employees were looking for something
else from their employers. And thus, Engagement was born. In itself, engagement
isn‘t really a new idea; owners and managers have been talking about engagement, in
one form or another, for centuries… they just used different words to express it. In
former times, engagement focused more on productivity and achieving results through
threat of punishment or by means of reward. But common sense - and good
communication -eventually won out and, today, organizations everywhere are
spending serious money on all forms of employee engagement. Boiled down, it
simply means ‗developing a happy and loyal workforce‘. Enlightened managers now
realize that any company as a whole will benefit when its employees know what‘s
going on and they feel part of the team. The tricky part is in defining what makes a
workforce happy, and in understanding how this good will translates into company
success. From the extant literature review, it is acknowledged that successful

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organizations share a fundamental philosophy of valuing and investing in their
employees. In fact many research studies have described human resource
management as a means of achieving competitive advantage. Consistent with this it is
an equally important issue for the organization to retain their critical (core)
employees. Most organization today continues to struggle with retention because they
are relying on salary increases and bonuses to prevent turnover. Essentially more
organizations are now realizing that retention is a strategic issue and continues to be a
competitive advantage. The term ―engagement‖ stems from the work of Kahn (1990)
who distinguished between being engaged and disengaged at work. Putting the
humanistic factors together, Beer, Specter, Lawrence, Quinn-Mills and Walton (1984)
created the ‗Harvard Business School‘ model of HRM which focused on people in an
organization to be the key resource. In light of such critical emphasis being placed on
human capital, Paula Ketter has aptly noted,
“Engagement is all about creating a culture where people do not feel
misused, overused, underused or abused.”
At a very basic level, employee engagement draws from the tenets of the
‗Hierarchy of Needs‘ as conceptualized by Maslow, the highest stage of which is
self-actualization; the pinnacle of an individual‘s fulfillment of talent and potential.
This theory of ‗higher order needs‘ was largely overlooked in the heydays of
scientific ‗assembly line‘ manufacturing.

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4.6 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN INDIA
The recent WorkAsia research study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide indicates
that India has the highest percentage of highly engaged workers at 78% in Asia as
compared to Japan, which has the lowest employee engagement level at 39%. Head to
head with China, the engagement level of the Indian worker is 20% more than his
Chinese counterpart. These are all encouraging signs - but the challenges and the
opportunities ahead are manifold. The imminent US slowdown, shrinking of talent
pool, slowdown in hiring, larger employee expectations are all challenges for internal
communicators to cope with. The Gallup Organization describes employee
engagement as the "the involvement with and enthusiasm for work". The challenges
faced by organizations in India are around attrition, communication,
career development and engagement while trying to keep pace with the explosive
growth. Outsourcing outfits have the highest attrition rates losing staff at a rate of
between 100% and 200% a year. It is widely believed that organizations spend an
average of 36% of their revenues on their employees but do not have a tangible way
to measure its impact. A Mercer study – ‗What‘s Working‘ – a series of national
research on worker insights, highlights factors that make a difference to employee
engagement. The survey‘s 125 questions elicit views in the areas defined by Mercer‘s
Human Capital Strategy Model and cover training and development, work
environment, leadership, performance management, work/life balance,
communication, compensation, benefits, and engagement. The India study throws up
some fascinating directions for HR and internal communication professionals.
Employee engagement is no more just about the employee‘s intent to leave. The
employee‘s commitment to the organization and motivation to contribute to the
organization‘s success plays a significant role. The top three drivers in India are trust

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in senior management, how the organization is perceived for customer service and fair
pay. Surprisingly, from an Indian context, the least valued factors in the continuum
were benefits, compensation and performance management. In India, having a long-
term career is considered positive and stable. Frequent job changes are viewed
negatively and therefore the high scores around the commitment count are in line with
the mindset. Internal communication and HR professionals need to take note of the
employee‘s need for giving feedback and to observe action taken from this.
Employees seem to be getting very little information on the organization‘s vision and
future plans, a cause of concern. Other areas for action include the organization‘s
reputation in the market – congruent to other research in this space which believes
that organization‘s which are socially responsible are considered better places to
work. In the talent management bracket, managers fare poorly for their involvement,
understanding and support as well as for merit based appraisals.
In India, with a large number of global players entering the market, the talent
pool has now a plethora of choices and even these multinationals are finding it tough
to retain staff. The Canadian HR Reporter writes that employees want to know where
their careers are heading and that is a critical component of the talent retention
strategy organizations need to focus on. Softer styles of leadership have a better
impact in India and China leaving organizations to develop or seek leaders who can
fill this need.

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4.7 RETAILING IN INDIA:
Retailing in India is one of the pillars of its economy and accounts for 14 to
15 percent of its GDP. The Indian retail market is estimated to be US$ 500 billion and
one of the top five retail markets in the world by economic value. India is one of the
fastest growing retail markets in the world, with 1.2 billion people.
As of 2013, India's retailing industry was essentially owner manned small shops. In
2010, larger format convenience stores and supermarkets accounted for about 4
percent of the industry, and these were present only in large urban centers. India's
retail and logistics industry employs about 40 million Indians (3.3% of Indian
population).
Until 2011, Indian central government denied foreign direct investment (FDI)
in multi-brand retail, forbidding foreign groups from any ownership in supermarkets,
convenience stores or any retail outlets. Even single-brand retail was limited to 51%
ownership and a bureaucratic process.
In November 2011, India's central government announced retail reforms for both
multi-brand stores and single-brand stores. These market reforms paved the way for
retail innovation and competition with multi-brand retailers such
as Walmart, Carrefour and Tesco, as well single brand majors such as IKEA, Nike,
and Apple. The announcement sparked intense activism, both in opposition and in
support of the reforms. In December 2011, under pressure from the opposition, Indian
government placed the retail reforms on hold till it reaches a consensus.
In January 2012, India approved reforms for single-brand stores welcoming
anyone in the world to innovate in Indian retail market with 100% ownership, but
imposed the requirement that the single brand retailer source 30 percent of its goods

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from India. Indian government continues the hold on retail reforms for multi-brand
stores.
In June 2012, IKEA announced it had applied for permission to invest $1.9
billion in India and set up 25 retail stores. An analyst from Fitch Group stated that the
30 percent requirement was likely to significantly delay if not prevent most single
brand majors from Europe, USA and Japan from opening stores and creating
associated jobs in India.
On 14 September 2012, the government of India announced the opening of
FDI in multi-brand retail, subject to approvals by individual states. This decision was
welcomed by economists]
and the markets, but caused protests and an upheaval in
India's central government's political coalition structure. On 20 September 2012, the
Government of India formally notified the FDI reforms for single and multi-brand
retail, thereby making it effective under Indian law.
On 7 December 2012, the Federal Government of India allowed 51% FDI in
multi-brand retail in India. The government managed to get the approval of multi-
brand retail in the parliament despite heavy uproar from the opposition (the NDA and
leftist parties). Some states will allow foreign supermarkets
like Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour to open while other states will not.

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5. REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
5.1 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Before explaining deepened about employee engagement and the scientific
research related to it, we consider important to mention the significance of Human
Resources management in order to measure the employee performance and manage
the human assets of the organization. People should be considered as the most
important asset of the company (Oraman et al., 2011, p.413). They are the key and
differentiating factor in making a strategy successful, adding value to the customers,
and acting differently than the competitors (Oraman et al., 2011, p.414). Employee
engagement is a huge notion within human resources, which requires an explanation.
Several theories have been written to explain this concept based on motivation and
job satisfaction as theoretical foundation and it appears necessary to expose those
theories to understand better the notion of employee engagement.
Definition :
The term employee engagement was first presented by the Gallup
Organization, a consulting company, as a result of years of investigation in a
particular company, which purpose was to have a concept that measures and evaluates
performance (Little and Little, 2006, p.111). For that matter, the concept was created
by practitioners with direct application to the company. Employee engagement is a
wide notion rather recent, and it has been created by human resources consultancy
firms, but academics are sluggishly joining this concept (Macey and Schneider, 2008,
p.3). Hence it appears as the existence of several definitions of employee engagement
can create misunderstanding; for instance, Macey and Schneider (2008, pp.4-5),
suggest the folk theory as a good foundation to define employee engagement. This

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theory states that employee engagement ensues from the common intuitive sense that
employees have concerning work motivation, as passion, enthusiasm, involvement
and so forth. This implies a dualistic component, attitudinal and behavioral. While,
Macey and Schneider (2008) explain that engagement is at the same time a
psychological state, a performance construct, and a disposition such as positive affect.
As for employee engagement, Allen and Meyer (1996, p.252) define it as a
psychological link between the employee and his/her organization which is related
and influenced by job characteristics and job satisfaction (Shin et al., 2002, p.189).
Moreover, personal engagement is defined by Kahn (1990, p.700) as personal
presence, active role performances (physical, cognitive and emotional) and individual
behavior to promote connections to work. Therefore, the motivated employees take
initiative and participate actively, so engaged employees have a high level of activity,
initiative and responsibility (Dvir et al., 2002, p.737) and it induces that motivated
employees prefer to work in a company where people has a positive behavior such as
taking initiatives (Colbert et al, 2004, p.603). In consequence, a negative perception
of the work environment could influence employees‘ p.599).

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5.2 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT FACTORS:
It was long thought that the fundamental interest of employees was high salary
and wages (Taylor, 1914, p 9); however, more recently, academics found that job
characteristics in general, not merely the remuneration, are impacting on motivation
and employee engagement. The founder of the human relation movement, Elton
Mayo (1945) found in his study that employee‘s engagement performance are
correlated and with social environment and job characteristics. He states that there is
an emotional dimension in work which impacts on employees‘ motivation.
Furthermore, a hierarchical approach Maslow of human motivation, by constructing a
pyramid largely known, from the top to the bottom, such as, self-actualization,
esteem, love, safety, and immediate psychological needs (Kenrick et al., 2010).
Through this pyramid, he shows the full range of individual needs, and he joins the
Mayo‘s approach by explaining that human is money. Thus, as motivation
means to be moved to do something (Deci and Ryan, 2000, p.54) it is necessary to
define that job characteristics, such as responsibility, advancement, growth, salary or
relationships, for instance, can affect the job attitude (Herzberg, 1987, p.91) and
employee engagement.

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5.3 THEORIES OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT:
5.3.1 Classical Theories of Employee Engagement:
First of all, the concept of the scientific management was stated by Taylor
(1914, p.9), and, according to him, the management has dualistic objectives which are
the maximization of prosperity for both employers and employees. The main idea of
the scientific management suggests that the real motivation for employers and
employees is the same, in fact “prosperity for the employer cannot exist through a
long term of years unless it is accompanied by prosperity for the (Taylor,
employee1914,.9).This and hypothesis vice induces that versa” the first motivation
for employees is wages; consequently, Taylor did not consider any other factor as
relevant when analyzing employees‘
Secondly, Mayo (1945) has conducted a study commonly named the
Hawthorne Effect, this experiment sustains that motivation increases productivity and
performance. According to Mayo (1945), the determination of optimum working
condition for employees is mainly built on tradition and dogma, or close to a
philosophical thought in a modern large scale industry, management faced three
problems. First of all is the shift between the employee the materials; secondly,
employees are not responsible and do not take any initiatives, and finally, the last one
which concerns the team work, which induces a narrow cooperation between
employees. By analyzing those problems, Mayo has discovered, and then suggested,
that employees became more motivated when their managers expected more from
them. This assumption means that the more responsibilities and liberties the employee
obtains, the more he/she will be motivated to be efficient in his/her work and reach
the objectives expecting from him/her.
Around the same period, Maslow (1943) created the concept of the pyramid of

26. 26
needs. According to Kenrick et al. (2010) this model has been largely used as
foundation for other motivational theories within behavioral science. Maslow created
a several rank of human motives, thus, he defined a hierarchical approach of human
motivation. The basic postulated is the following, superior needs could not be
satisfied while the inferior needs are not satisfied. However, this approach should be
considered with wariness, because as Maslow (1943, p.374) explains “Human
organism when is dominated whole philosophy of the. Thus, future through this
pyramid, tends he showed also the full range of individual needs, and he joined the
Mayo‘s approach that by human beings are looking for something else at work than
money.
5.3.2 The Modern Factors of Employee Engagement:
Nowadays, the attitude towards human resources management has changed,
and the human focus is occupying a central position in the organizations. Several
academic researchers have point out criteria which have an impact on the employee
engagement. Most of the theories consider motivation as a unitary phenomenon; it
appears that people and more especially employees have different levels and
orientations of the motivation (Deci and Ryan, 2000, p.54). In the self-determination
theory (SDT), Deci and Ryan (1985, p.112) distinguish different types of motivation,
the main distinction is about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Deci and Ryan, 2000;
Petrescu and Simmons, 2008, p.653). The intrinsic motivation suggests a motivation
to do something which is pleasant, while the extrinsic motivation is dominated by the
idea of doing something because “it leads to a (Deciseparab and Ryan, 2000, p.55).
Intrinsic motivation is related to the funny part of an activity, which means,
there is no interest or advantages to do something except the pleasure encountered.

27. 27
This phenomenon was exposed in several researches, but one experiment is especially
interesting which was done on animal behavior, and the reason about the tendency to
explore the place where they are. White (1959, p.298) explains that exploratory
behavior could be the consequence of avoiding uncertainty and reducing anxiety, but
it could be as well an independent motive. Related to human beings, it appears that
people are naturally creative, active and curious but this natural tendency is ensued
from their skills and knowledge, and this phenomenon states that all people are not
intrinsically motivated by the same things (Deci and Ryan, 2000, p.56). Furthermore,
Deci and Ryan (1985, p.62) developed a theory related to the intrinsic motivation,
named the Cognitive evaluation Theory (CET). This theory considers the social
variables determining the intrinsic motivation, and focus on the necessity for people
to obtain competence and autonomy (Deci and Ryan, 2000, p 58), which refers to the
other aspects of motivation, as the extrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic motivation is as well an important factor about employee
engagement. People are sometimes acting without any intrinsic motivation, however,
according to Deci and Ryan (2000, p.60), the same activities can be done through an
extrinsic motivation, but with different objectives and autonomy.
In addition, Skinner (1953, p.183) highlights that several behaviors are
motivated by the expectation of receiving rewards. Hence, the approach of reward
strategy differs between organizations and it is not a typical or perfect reward practice
(Armstrong, 2007, p.3). Thus Nohria et al., (2008, p.3), defines the reward system as a
part of the organizational levels of motivation. According to them, human beings got
four drives and every drive is associated to levels of motivation, firstly, the reward
system is associated with the need to acquire and it implicates that only good workers
could expect opportunities for advancement. Then, the need of bond implies a good

28. 28
environment through cooperative team for instance. Thirdly, individuals need to
realize that their contribution at the workplace is useful, thus to motivate employees,
it is important to make their tasks understandable and explain clearly the way they
contribute to the company. And finally, to avoid consequence of a poor engagement
ensuring from the uncertainty, it is important to describe the whole process clearly.
Furthermore, several researchers join the scientific management theory, by
explaining the importance of the wages in employee motivation even if “professionals
are likely to seriously underestimate the motivational (Ryneset.,2004, potential.382).
In fact, of remuneration could be classified as an extrinsic motivation, reward could
be verbal (Deci et al., 1999, p.629), but could be financial too. According to Rynes et
al., (2004, pp.382- 383) it occurs that researchers found out that people are ranking
salary as the first motivator at work.
For this reason, according to Kenrick et al., (2010) there are several needs
which can motivate employees. To build their theory they start to be applicable to the
contemporary economy and business organization. By using a functional analysis,
they added to the pyramid several criteria such as mate acquisition, mate retention and
parenting in the top.
Kenrick et al. (2010), pyramid is not Maslow‘s sufficient to determine the
issues related to human survival as reproduction approach with the biological life-
history approach, which com motivational behavior to provide a better understanding
of the human motives evolution. The Figure N°1 shows the link and the importance of
all the factors. It explains that people classify their needs through an importance
order, but all the needs are interrelated with each other. For instance, self-protection
has an impact on parenting. The pyramid is divided in seven parts. First of all, the
immediate physiological needs which represents the human being needs such as eat,

29. 29
drink, breath, sleep and so on, then the self-protection which represents the need to
feel safe. Afterwards, the affiliation which refers to the need to feel accepted to a
group (family, to friends consideration the…) status/esteem, that means to feel
recognize by the society, the family, etc. Then appears the mate acquisition and
retention which refers to the need to find a partner to live and try to build something
with that person. Finally, human being needs to be parent by having children and a
family.
Figure 1: An updated version of Maslow’s pyramid
(Source: Kenrick et al., 2010, p292-314.)

30. 30
5.4 JOB SATISFACTION:
The dual factor theory
The dual factor theory was cited by Herzberg (1987) and Herzberg et al.
(1959); his research points out primary that human beings have two major needs. On
one hand, people need to avoid the pain, as animals, this idea refers to the hygienic
aspect; on the other hand, human beings need to grow psychologically (House and
Wigdor, 1967, p.369). The Herzberg research, conducted by studying approximately
one thousand employees, highlights that dissatisfaction motives are mainly linked
with the context or part of it that employees cannot control directly, while the
dissatisfaction comes from hygienic factors and the satisfaction comes from the job
factors; to contextualize the theory it is important to mention some examples of the
factors, for that matter, hygienic factors according to Herzberg (1987, p.8) are the
salary, supervision, personal life, status, security, relations policies and
administration, etc; while the motivators are considered as achievement, recognition,
work itself, responsibility, growth and advancement.
The bottom-up theory
The bottom-up theory supports that the individual implicitly measures work role
outputs and summate the positive and negative factors to determine whether he or she
is happy and satisfied with the job (Oraman et al., 2011, p.419). The bottom-up
approach helps to analyze the various ways in which relationships and variables
interact, resulting in allocation of different levels of importance to different types of
relationships and interactions (Bititci and Muir, 1997, p.367). Nowadays, people
spend a lot of time in business organizations, and it allows them to satisfy their
material and socials needs. Thus, they become easily dependent on their organization

31. 31
to satisfy some of their needs (Oraman et al., 2011, p.419).
The role of leadership in motivation
Even when most of the theories focus on the factors that may influence the
engagement and motivation of the employees, the role of the leader is crucial and has
a direct impact on the employee performance and his/her degree of satisfaction
(Tietjen and Myers, 1998, p.229). As Sarros and Santora (2001, p.387) state, leaders
have to balance in caring for the employees and coaching them to achieve results, but
also taking direction and being focused on effectiveness when the occasion demands.
The Life cycle theory analyses the diverse dimensions of management and the
relation between tasks and relationship-oriented, simultaneously gives a framework to
managers to understand how they should adjust their leadership style according to the
situation and maturity of the employee (Tietjen and Myers, 1998, p.229).

32. 32
5.5 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
After analyzing the theories and scientific research existent about the subject,
we consider that theories as Maslow and Mayo are the foundation of motivational
models, which help us to explain the main reasons of the human being behavior.
However, we also consider that those theories are not enough in trying to understand
employee engagement within the employees in sporting goods retail stores. That is the
reason why we have taken into consideration theories and models about employee
engagement and job satisfaction as directly related variables, in particular, the self-
determination theory (SDT) formulated by Deci and Ryan (1985, p.112) which make
a distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. We have identified three
important aspects, related with our research questions, that may influence the
engagement among the employees: job factors, personal factors and relationships
interactions, the first two parts respond to the first research question and use concepts
of the dual factor theory cited by Herzberg (1987), the bottom up theory (Oraman, et.
al., 2011), the updated version of
Maslow‘s pyramid Kenricket alof.,2010), needs scientific management( theory
(Rynes et al., 2004, p.382) and the self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 1985,
p.112). While the last point of relationships interactions answers to the second
research question. It also takes into consideration the life cycle theory (Tietjen and
Myers, 1998) which examines the role played by the leader on the employee
engagement, and Nohria et al., (2008, p.3) and Atkinson (1964) that highlights the
importance for employees to have a good relationship with the team. We consider
both interactions of great relevance for our study.
We have considered that the theories presented on the literature review are
relevant for the study which has the purpose to analyze in which degree the

33. 33
employees are engaged working on a retail store. The theoretical framework we have
developed contains our comprehension of the theories and has been formulated using
our own words to denominate the various factors that constitute it. The figure N° 2
below present the theoretical framework which tries to find a response to the research
questions formulated. That is the reason why we focus the first two parts on
describing the possible factors that may influence the employee engagement, and the
third part on relationship interactions.
Job Factors are related with extrinsic motivation (Deci and Ryan, 2000;
Petrescu & Simmons, 2008, p.653) which refers to the idea that employees are
motivated in doing something because it will give an outcome as a result for the work
done. In this context, factors mentioned in diverse theories by Herzberg (1987),
Kenrick et al. (2010), Rynes et al. (2004) and Skinner (1953), such as: financial
compensation (salary), authority, promotion, complexity of the job (is the job position
correctly described and understand by the employee), task variety (the job position is
diverse and allows the employee to learn different things), autonomy, benefits
(working time, vacations, compensations, etc) and safety (physical work
environment).
Personal Factors are related with intrinsic motivation (Deci and Ryan, 2000)
which affirms that an employee is motivated because he/she is doing something
pleasant, and job satisfaction factors. However it is also related to the extrinsic
motivation. In fact some personal factors are done by expecting a separable outcome
such as the recognition. Moreover, the factors mentioned here are also related with
Herzberg (1987), as well as take into consideration the base concepts and factors of
the theories stated by Maslow and Mayo, Kenrick et al. (2010), and Atkinson (1964).

34. 34
The factors we consider important to analyze are: sense of control (does the employee
have control over his/her work), feeling of accomplishment (achievement and
advancement on the carrier), feeling of contribution (is the employee doing something
relevant with his/her work that contributes with something at a certain level),
belongingness (social affiliation) and recognition (is the work done by the employee
that is recognized). Additionally, according to Colbert et al., (2003, p.599), the
perception the employee has about the work environment influence directly the
employees behavior and his/her motivation and engagement.
The last part, which refers to Relationship Interactions, is associated with the
second research question formulated, that wants to determine how employees are
influenced by the leader and co-workers. The items considered are based on the life
cycle theory (Tietjen and Myers, 1998) and Nohria et al., (2008, p.3), which
highlights the importance of a good relationship with the team, stating that employees
need to positively bond with a cooperative team, which implies a good work
environment. They examine the interactions between the employee and the leader,
and, the employee and co-workers.

35. 35
6. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:
6.1 FOR EMPLOYEES
Q 1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
33%
67%
0%
0%
0%
Q 1.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable
Interpretation:
67% of the sample agreed to the fact that they are aware about the work which
they have to perform while 33% are strongly agree on this fact.

36. 36
Q 2. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
17%
55%
28%
0% 0%
Q 2.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable
Interpretation:
Majority (55%) of the employees get the opportunity to do best of their work
every day while 28% of them disagreed on this and 17% of them strongly agreed.

37. 37
Q 3. In the last three months, have you received recognition or praise for doing
good work?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
11%
74%
15%
0% 0%
Q 3.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable
Interpretation:
74% of the employees have received recognition or praise in the last three
months for doing good work while 11% of the employees are highly satisfied with
recognition in their organization and 15% of them have not received any praise in the
last 3 months.

38. 38
Q 4. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
5%
75%
20%
0% 0%
Q 4.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable
Interpretation:
Generally people feel sense of belongingness when someone is there at their
work place to support them and 75% of the employees agreed on this fact while 5%
have strongly agreed and the other 20% disagreed.

39. 39
Q 5. At work, do your opinions seem to count?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
9%
70%
21%
0% 0%
Q 5.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable
Interpretation:
Employee‘s participation in decision making is again a criteria of measuring
employee engagement. 70% of the employees have agreed that their decision seems to
count, 9% strongly agreed to this and only 21% have disagreed.

40. 40
Q 6. Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
6%
79%
10%
0%
5%
Q 6.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Agree Not Applicable
Interpretation:
79% of the sample agreed that their fellow employees are committed to do
quality work while 10% have disagreed on this fact. 6% of them have chosen strongly
on this and the other 5% has given no comments on this.

41. 41
Q 7. In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
15%
60%
10%
0% 15%
Q 7.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable
Interpretation:
Learning and Development is one of the most important aspects to find out the
employee engagement in the organization. 60% have agreed that they get the
opportunity to learn and grow in the organization while 15% of them have strongly
agreed on it. 15% of the employees have not given any reply and 10% were disagreed.

42. 42
Q 8. Are the pay and benefits in your organization comparable to similar
companies?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
Interpretation:
40% of the sample is satisfied with pay and packages of their organization
while 33% are highly satisfied with it. 27% disagree on the competitive pay and
benefit packages.

43. 43
Q 9. Are job promotions in this organization fair and objective?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
27%
54%
19%
0% 0%
Q 9.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable
Interpretation:
Half the percentages (50%) of the employees believe that the promotions are
done objectively, 25% strongly agree to the fairness of the same while 17% doubt the
fairness and objectivity of the process.

44. 44
Q 10. Are organization policies clearly communicated in the organization?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
37%
55%
8%
0% 0%
Q 10.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable
Interpretation:
55% of the sample has agreed to be clear on the policies that prevail in their
respective organizations. A good proportion of 37% strongly agreed on the clarity
while only 8% reported ambiguity on the policies.

45. 45
Q 11. Do you see yourself continuing to work for this organization two years
from now?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
22%
50%
20%
0%
8%
Q 11.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable
Interpretation:
A majority of 50% has agreed to continue to serve in the same organization for
next two years, 22% are very much willing to do the same whereas a striking 20% of
the employees are those who are on the verge to leave the organization since they are
not even committing for next two years & 8% employees have not given any answer.

46. 46
Q 12. Do you recommend your friends/relatives in your organization?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree e) Not Applicable
24%
50%
26%
0% 0%
Q 12.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable
Interpretation:
24% of the sample surveyed strongly believes in recommending friends and
relatives to their organizations, 50% agreed to this while 26% has disregarded the
option.

47. 47
Q13. Select and rank the following engagement tools applicable in your
organization. Please rate the options, from 1- 8 (1 being the lowest and 8 being
the highest).
a) Stress Management b) Work life balance
c) Career development d) Employees Participation in decision making
e) Counseling/ Feedback f) Rewards and Recognition Schemes
g) Employee Referral Scheme h) Retirement Plans
Interpretation:
Rewards and recognition schemes to be the most popular engagement tool
amongst the employees, next is efforts on Career development. Employee
participation in decision making and Counseling/ Feedback seems to be equally
effective, next in line is Employee referral scheme. Stress management is then
regarded as important but Retirement plans and Work life balance surprisingly seem
to be of least effective.

48. 48
6.2 FOR MANAGERS:
1. Does your company have a clearly stated and published employment policy?
a) Yes b) No
100%
0%
Q 1.
Yes No
Interpretation:
A whopping majority of 100% of the managers has agreed to the existence of
a clearly stated and published employment policy & only 11% has denied it.

49. 49
2. Does your company communicate its corporate goals to all employees?
a) Yes b) No
Interpretation:
95% managers stated that their company communicated the corporate goals to
the all employees, where as 5% of them denied it.

50. 50
3. Do you communicate what is expected out of the employee?
a) Yes b) No
Interpretation:
100% positive response has been received when asked about whether the
expectations are communicated to the employees.

51. 51
4. Do you allow your subordinates to take their own decisions?
a) Yes b) No
Interpretation:
89% of managers allow their subordinates to take their own decisions, whereas
11% said that they do not delegate decision authority as they will be held responsible
for any mistake happens.

52. 52
5. Is there any involvement of employees in their performance appraisal?
a) Totally involved b) Partially involved c) Not involved
52%
40%
8%
Q 5.
Totally involved Partially involved Not involved
Interpretation:
52% of the managers agreed in totally involving the employees in the
performance appraisal process, 40% agreed on a partial participation while 8% said
there is no involvement at all.

53. 53
6. After appraisal, do you communicate to the employees the areas in which they
are lacking?
a) Yes b) No
89%
11%
Q 6.
Yes No
Interpretation:
Employees are given feedback about their performance after the appraisals in
view point of 89% of the managers but 11% has denied any such feedback system in
place.

54. 54
7. What are the engagement tools which have gained popularity amongst the
employees? Please rate the options on a scale of 1 to 8, 1 being the lowest & 8
being the highest.
a) Stress Management b) Work life balance
c) Career development d) Employees Participation in decision making
e) Counseling/ Feedback f) Rewards and Recognition Schemes
g) Employee Referral Scheme h) Retirement Plans
Interpretation:
Employee participation in decision making to be the most popular engagement
tool amongst the managers closely followed by Rewards and recognition schemes,
next is efforts on Career development. Work life balance seem to be the next priority,
next in line is Employee referral scheme. Stress management and Counseling/
Feedback are then regarded as important and Retirement plans surprisingly seem to be
the least effective.

55. 55
8. Are incentives linked to achievement of individual goals?
a) Yes b) No
87%
13%
Q 8.
Yes No
Interpretation:
87% of the managers have agreed to a close association of incentives and
individual goals but 13% has denied any such association.

56. 56
9. What factors of the rewards scheme contribute the most in engaging the
employees? Please rate the options on a scale of 1 to 7, 1 being the lowest.
a) Compensation and benefit programmes
b) Idea collection schemes linked to rewards for idea generation
c) Stock ownership and profit sharing
d) Recognition programmes
e) Material benefits like trips, food and discount coupons, etc.
f) Competitive compensation packages
g) Long service and good performance awards
Interpretation:
Compensation & Benefit programs are observed as the most effective rewards
scheme closely followed by Competitive compensation packages. Idea collection
scheme is the next important tool and Long service & good performance awards
follow that. Next in line is Stock ownership & Profit sharing. Material benefits and
Recognition programs have come up as the least effective tools.

57. 57
10. What are the activities you conduct to build the team-spirit in the
organisation?
a) Small team recreational activities, such as cricket, trips to the cinema
b) Social activities, such as family gatherings
c) Community outreach activities such as volunteering and fund-raising
d) Any other, please specify.
e) All of the above
72%
25%
3% 0% 0%
Q 10.
Small team recreational activities, such as cricket, trips to the cinema
Social activities, such as family gatherings
Community outreach activities such as volunteering and fund-raising
Any other, please specify.
All of the above
Interpretation:
Only three of the options have received some response when asked about the
efforts to be made in team building in the organization. Here Small team recreational
activities are the most preferred way and some importance is given to Social activities
in the organizations surveyed.

58. 58
11. How often do you conduct training programs?
a) Yearly b) Half Yearly c) Quarterly d) After 2 years.
81%
19%
0% 0%
Q 11.
Yearly As per the requirement Half Yearly Quarterly
Interpretation:
Most of the Managers (81%) agreed that the training is undertaken annually by
the organization. And 19% said they take it as per the requirements.

59. 59
12. What is the objective of training the employees?
a) To enhance their current set of skills as per the organization‘s requirement
b) To unleash the hidden skills/ talent
c) To update them on the technological advancements
d) To fill the gap of expected-actual performance
e) All of the above
f) Any other, please specify
Interpretation:
A combination of all the options has scored the highest when asked about the
objective of training the employees. Individually, enhancing the current skills as per
the organization‘s requirement, unleashing the hidden skills/ talent and updating them
on the technological advancement have also scored well.

60. 60
13. Is there a provision of flexibility in terms of working hours? Please tick the
appropriate option.
a) Flex-time b) Telecommuting c) Job Sharing d) Any other
Interpretation:
When asked about providing flexibility in terms of working hours, maximum
managers agreed to provide flex-time. Telecommuting, Job sharing, a combination of
all these options and any other, each has scored equally.

61. 61
15. Do you think the current engagement strategies are effective in retaining the
employees in the organization?
a) Yes b) No
Interpretation:
67% of the managers agreed that the engagement strategies of their
organization help in retaining the employees in the organization while 33% has
disagreed on this fact.

62. 62
16. In general, how do the employees respond to such engagement policies?
a) Positively b) Negatively c) Indifferent
Interpretation:
68% of the managers have observed positive effect on the employees of the
engagement strategies while 22% said it is indifferent for the employees and 10% has
responded negatively.
17. Have you come up with any innovative idea for engaging & retaining
employees? Please mention.
Interpretation:
Majority of the sample survey has not been able to come up with any of the
innovative ideas in line with retaining employees.

63. 63
7. FINDINGS:
 To engage the workforce, most of the organization surveyed periodically
recognize employees and provides flexible working hours.
 Nowadays employees are involved in decision making in the organization and
majority of the employees agreed on this fact.
 Most of the organizations allow their employees to participate in performance
appraisals and to set their own Key Performance Areas.
 Compensation & Benefit programs are observed as the most effective rewards
scheme.
 For team building companies generally do small team recreational activities
and social activities.
 Majority of the samples are loyal towards their organization and they also
recommend their friends and relatives to join the organization.
 Stress management, Retirement plans and Work life balance surprisingly seem
to be of least effective engagement strategies according to the employees.
 Majority of the organizations agreed that the engagement strategies of
their organization help in retaining the employees in the organization.

64. 64
8. LIMITATIONS:
 Scope of Area - The scope area was limited to South Mumbai only. Moreover,
I encountered limitations regarding the distribution of the questionnaires and
the choice of the employees interviewed. While I gave & collected the
questionnaires to/ from employees in apparel retail stores, it was managers
who gave and collected the questionnaires.
 Age limit - I had access to the young employees that‘s why the study is mainly
on the youngsters.
 Family issues – The reason being I did not want to go into personal details and
stick only to job & organizational related issues.

65. 65
9. SUGGESTIONS:
 As contrary to what managers believe that decision making is the most
effective tool, the employees still prefer rewards and recognition. The
Managers should focus on the rewards and recognition schemes in their
organization.
 Practically people don‘t give much importance to stress management
programs, work life balance and retirement plans so there is scope of
improvement in this area.
 To increase employee engagement, the organizations should:
 Provide variety: Tedious, repetitive tasks can cause burn out and
boredom over time. If the job requires repetitive tasks, look for ways to
introduce variety by rotating duties, areas of responsibility, delivery of
service etc.
 Conduct periodic meetings with employees to communicate good
news, challenges & easy-to-understand company financial information.
Managers should be comfortable communicating with their staff, &
able to give & receive constructive feedback.
 Communicate openly and clearly about what's expected of employees
at every level - your vision, priorities, success measures, etc.
 Get to know employees' interests, goals, stressors, etc. Show an
interest in their well-being and do what it takes enable them to feel
more fulfilled and better balanced in work and life.
 Celebrate individual, team and organizational successes.
 As responses from employees are very good so the companies should have the
engagement strategies to retain the employees.

66. 66
10. CONCLUSION:
Employee retention continues to remain a top priority at many
organizations and one that companies increasingly view as a driver of business
strategy. Business-critical knowledge can walk out the door when an employee leaves
the company. While employee retention figures have long been used by companies as
a measure of their performance in developing an effective organization, this view of
employee retention is not only outdated, but these figures may not be comprehensive
enough to truly determine the organization's effectiveness. The concept of employee
retention is more complex than simply evaluating employee turnover from one year to
the next. These figures of employee retention can be somewhat misleading — it isn't
necessarily the number of employees an organization loses, it's the number of top-
performing employees that leave the company that should be of concern.
For example, management is one of the key reasons employees decide to stay or leave
an organization. If there is high turnover among the management ranks, employees
may also feel unstable in this ever-changing environment. Yet, on the other hand, it
may not be the best business strategy to retain a manager that is disliked by
employees. The business strategy of employee retention actually lies with employee
engagement; retention is an outcome of engagement. What most organizations fail to
realize is that employee engagement is the biggest retention factor they have control
over. Engaged employees not only stay longer with the organization, they are more
productive, more conscientious, make fewer errors, and take better care of customers.
The business strategy of employee retention must incorporate methods that achieve a
high level of employee engagement among the organization's top performers, not
necessarily the entire workforce. Thus the research study proves the significance of
engagement activities as a part of retention strategy in an organization.