Employee Engagement

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background to the Study

This study is part of the ongoing contributions to the subject of alignment of HR practices with

organization missions and goals. Recent studies have confirmed that the survival of any organization

is hinged on its ability to fully realize the potential of its human capital. According to the study by

Shah and Bandi (2000) HR practices has to be focused on the core asset of human capital so as to

enhance the capabilities of organizations in the knowledge intensive IT enabled services in India.

Bontis (2006) empirically studied 38 software development organization of Egypt and found a

positive correlation between human capital and organization performance. Organizations are slowly

dawning to the realization that most people will only give their very best when they feel they are

being adequately rewarded and valued for their work.

Over the last ten years, the noise about scarcity of talent has reverberated until it has reached an all

time high; escalating into the now famous ‘talent war’ where people with valuable skills are being

traded in the talent open market(Simpson, 2009:8). Organizations are currentlyfaced with ‘extremely

pricey talent, less focus on people development and fewer people willing to give that extra to

win’(2009:9). According to Okeakialam(2011:4), the differentiating factor between a high

performance culture and ‘no’ performance culture is when people are enthusiastic about contributing

to the organization rather than giving minimal service out of merely doing a job.

Organizations , no matter how small, have some functions to perform. They exist because certain

objectives have to be achieved by them, and these organizations differ from place to place. However,

they have some factors that are common to them. The factors according to Robbins and DeCenzo

(1998) include people, objectives and structure. Therefore organizations are made up of people who

are individual members of the society. Individuals, with different perceptions, learning, experience

and attitude to their working world are a central factor of any organization. The success of any

organization largely depends on the effective management of people, their commitment and their

involvement with the organization. The management of any organization involves many activities

and the most essential ingredient of any organization is the ability to handle people

effectively(Okubanjo, 2001). It is obvious from this point of view that without people there cannot be

any organization and no meaningful activity could take place, for behind every action or document in

an organization, there are people.

People being referred to here are the individual members of the organization, who are very important

to an organization and necessary in any setting whether acting in isolation or as part of a group. In

response to expectations of the organization, or because of the external environment, people

significantly differ from one another. Each has unique perception, personality and experience from

life events. They have different ethnic backgrounds, different capabilities for learning and for

handling responsibilities; different attitudes, beliefs and aspiration levels(Okubanjo, 2001). Human

resources managers, therefore, need to be aware of various factors affecting individual behavior and

making them different from one another within the organization. The focus on the individual largely

differentiates employee engagement from other related constructs in organization behavior.

Employee engagement has been defined and operationalized in many ways and researchers agreed

that engagement can take different forms and that it is a complex construct(Meyer, Allen and Smith

1993; Mottaz 1998). According Saks (2006) practitioners and academics tend to agree that

consequences of employee engagement are positive. Moreover there is a general belief that there is a

connection between employee engagement and business results (Harter et al, 2002:272). It must be

noted, as earlier pointed out, that enagagement is “an individual level construct and if it does lead to

business results, it must first impact individual level outcomes”(Kular et al, 2008:11). This

consequently leads to the expectation that employee engagement is related to individuals’ attitudes,

intentions, and behaviours (2008:11) but then there is need to draw the line between employee

engagement and similar organizational behavior constructs.

Saks(2006) argues that organizational commitment differs from engagement in the sense that it refers

to a person’s attitude and attachment towards their organization, whilst an it could be argued that

engagement is not merely an attitude but it is the degree to which an individual is attentive to their

work and absorbed in the performance of their role in addition, while Organizationally Committed

Behaviour involves voluntary and informal behaviours that can help co-workers and organization, the

focus of engagement is one’s formal role performance rather than purely extra-role and voluntary

behavior. This view is also shared by Robbins et al (2004) by arguing that “… engagement contains

many of the elements of both commitment and OCB but is by no means a perfect match with either.

In addition, neither commitment nor OCB reflect sufficiently two aspects of engagement – its two

way nature and the extent to which engaged employees are expected to have an element of business

outcomes.

No doubts business leaders face certain workforce challenges which have great impact on business

bottom-line. The Key workforce challenges in achieving organizational goals are as follows

according to Kenny Ong(2011:3), former Vice President, CNI Holdings, Malaysia:

Right person, wrong job[5%]

Wrong person, right job[20%]

Wrong person, wrong job[1%]

Right person, right job but managed wrongly[74%]

The above is a pointer to the strategic importance of how people are managed on the job and it is no

longer news that employee engagement is one of themost powerful deciding factors either in

delivering excellent business results or in determining a company’s demise. According to the Gallup

organization (2010:4), ‘the world’s top-performing organizations understand that employee

engagement is a force that drives performance outcomes. In the best organizations, engagement is

more than a human resources initiative- it is a strategic foundation for the way they do business’.

This probably led Okeakialam(2011, p.5) to see a high performing organization as ‘one where

people can develop and contribute to their fullest potential, which indicates that performance is

directly tied to employee’.

The significant issues that have confronted businesses in the last two or three decades is the

increasing role of human capital as a key component of competitive advantage. Invariably other

issues like changing regulatory environment, corporate re-engineering, creative destructions in

especially the IT industry[to borrow Schumpeter’s popularized concept] and the ripple effects in the

new media and financial industries have more than any other secured the place of people as a

determinant of organizational performance. As a result of these, this study is concerned generally

with the role human capital play in business performance and particularly with the relationship

between employee engagement and business outcomes.

Research suggests that many companies are not succeeding and a huge percentage of ‘engine-room’

employees are disengaged(Haygroup,2001:8). Issues like Job burnout in contrast to vigour and

passion for a job within a typical organization has been increasing over the years(Bayram et al,2010).

Job burn out according to Maslach, Shaufelli and Leiter(2001) has three dimensions: exhaustion,

cynicism and inefficiency. These situations have increasingly led to companies seeing people as a

source of competitive advantage.

Accordingly if people are a key source of competitive advantage, their engagement and performance

levels can make any organizations’ strategy(Haygroup,2001:10). The study by Hay Group defined

engaged performance as ‘a result that is achieved by stimulating employees enthusiasm for their

work and directing it toward organizational success [and] this result can only be achieved when

employers offer an implicit contract to their employees that elicits specific positive behaviours

aligned with the organizational goals’(Haygroup,2001:5)

1.1 Statement of Problem

The Nigerian banking industry has witnessed a lot of turbulence in recent times. This, to much an

extent, was due to banking sector reforms which led to consolidation of banks during the 2004-2007

period and the recent banking reforms which started after the global financial crises of 2008-2009

and which led to the summary acquisition of troubled banks by the government through the Central

Bank of Nigeria in 2009. The reforms in the banking sector also led to the creation of special purpose

vehicle that will enable the government to intervene in the sector and thereby ensure the stability of

the financial system. The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) acquired ‘toxic

assets’ of banks and also managed the nursing back to financial health of the troubled institutions.

These reforms had largely resulted in the employment of downsizing, pay-cuts, staff rationalizing to

keep the financial institutions lean and mean. These measures had however resulted in the unintended

consequences of creating uncertain employment future, low morale and general unsatisfaction within

the sector. These consequences had started impacting on customer relations and business

performance. It must be noted that researches have been conducted to find the causes of the problems

in the Nigerian banking sector, no research work had tried to link employee engagement with

business outcomes as other factors are mostly advanced for the favourable and unfavourable business

outcomes. The high cost of doing business in Nigeria, the comatose level of social infrastructure

and the general uncertain politico-economic environment have been related to business outcomes in

Nigeria. For example the series of robbery events which targeted banks in many States in Nigeria

this year had led to summary and temporary closing down of affected branches and this now doubt

will have significant impact on business performance of the affected banks. To much focus on the

above challenges had obscured the role played by employee engagement in achieving business

outcomes.

Research done by Parasuraman and colleagues (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1988) serves as

the foundation for the framework linking service quality, satisfaction and behavioral intention of

customers. Frontline employees represent the organization and play a pivotal role in the employee-

customer interface. In other words service employees tend to the direct link between an

organizational’s goals and operational missions and the customers. However, while it is important to

gain the perspectives of customer on satisfaction levels of service delivered, it is equally essential to

essential to examine employees perceptions of organizational strategic practices to see how this

related to their levels of engagement which helps to promote service quality (Johnson, 2011:37).

Therefore since the tendency for most studies is to use the customers’ perspectives to gain insights

into level of service quality, the problem which this study set out to solve is firstly linking employee

engagement with service quality excellence. Secondly the study used employees’ perspectives to

know if engagement can be used as antecedents to service quality excellence in financial services

organizations.

1.2 Research Objectives

This study has the general objective of investigating the effect of employee engagement on business

outcomes in the Nigerian banking industry by using Access Bank Plc as case study. Importantly the

study aims at:

1. examining the state of employee engagement in the Nigerian Financial industry.

2. Identifying the role of human resource management practices and employee engagement

play as driver of service quality.

3. Contributing to the present scholarship on employee engagement and business performance

management.

4. Documenting and sharing knowledge of best practices as far as HR functions and policies are

concerned in Nigeria.

5. Understanding the effectiveness of employee engagement measures at bringing about desired

customer-service oriented attitudes.

1.3 Research Questions

The study provided answers to the following questions:

What is the relationship between employee engagement and service excellence?

To what extent does employee engagement constitute the antecedent of service quality

excellence?

1.4 Scope of the Study

The Study is strictly focused on identifying and measuring the variables of employee engagement

and examining their effects on service quality. The study is however limited to the activities of

Access Bank Nigeria Plc. in the financial years 2009 to 2010.

1.5 Significance of the Study

There are both theoretical and practical aspects regarding the significance of conducting a research

study of this nature. The outcomes of this research will improve the understanding of the relationship

between employee engagement and business outcomes in the Nigerian banking industry.

The theoretical significance of the study is demonstrated by the fact that it would contribute to the

existing knowledge and literature on people management and organizational development. Stemming

from this, evidence-based recommendations will be made so as to facilitate better strategies and

policies aimed at creating and sustaining high performing businesses. From the practical point of

view, this study will aid practitioners of strategic human resource management by contributing to

their knowledge on best practices in the linking human resource with the organization strategy.

1.6 Background /Business Context of Access Bank Plc

Access Bank Plc is a Nigeria-based bank, engaged in the provision of money market activities, retail

banking, granting of loans and advances, equipment leasing, corporate finance and foreign exchange

operations. The Bank operates four business segments: Institutional Banking, which provides

banking products and services to corporate organizations; Commercial Banking segment provides

commercial banking products and services to the middle and retail segments of the Nigerian market;

Investment Banking division offers financing and risk management solutions and advisory services

for the Bank’s corporate and institutional customers, and Retail Banking segment provides private

banking services, private customer current accounts, savings accounts deposits, investment savings

products, custody, credit and debit cards, and customer loans. The Bank has nine foreign and three

local subsidiaries include, among others, Access Bank (Gambia) Limited and Access Bank (Sierra

Leone) Limited.

The bank operates within the Nigerian financial system comprises several financial institutions,

instruments and operators. These institutions include the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Federal

Ministry of Finance (FMF) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which are the major

regulatory bodies. Others are the commercial banks, development banks such as the Federal

Mortgage Bank of Nigerian [FMBN], the Bank of Industry [BOI] among others. The banking

Ordinance of 1952 was the first legal instrument that shaped the operation of banking business in

Nigeria (Ekezie,1997). Prior to the ordiance, the era of 1892-1952 has been referred to the free-

banking era. According to Ekezie:

Since anybody could go into a banking business only by having a company registered as a limited liability company under the companies act. It was an era without any banking legislation. Many banks opened their doors to the public, collecting deposits during this period, only to close their doors, after a few years [some ,one year] of operations against their depositors. Thus, this era was defined as an era during which money was thrown down the drains, especially through the establishment of indigenous banks. (Ekezie, 1997:128)

The early 1990s witnessed reforms within the sector which led to gradual increase in the capital base

of commercial banks from One billion naira in 1991 to the present 25 billion capital base. In their

study, Inanga and Soyibo (1989) identified that the era of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) is

characterized by shift from regulation to deregulation and this resulted in the second banking boom

in the economy. As such the government assigned an increasing role to the market in the allocation

of resources. Consequently this period has been identified with an increasing number of new

commercial and merchant banks. According to Inang and Soyibo (1989), between 1986 and 1989, a

total of 40 new commercial and merchant banks opened doors for business. One of such banks is the

Access Bank Plc.

At Present, the Access Bank Plc operates in an increasingly regulatory environment as the global

financial crisis of 2008-2010 had demonstrated the need for increased regulation of the financial

markets and indeed putting place mechanisms that will enhance government intervention so as to

forestall a systemic collapse.

1.7 Need for the Study

There is a general for a study of this proportion so as to empirically link employee engagement with

service quality excellence in the financial services industry. Much of the studies on employee

engagement had been from HRM consulting practitioners, hence the need to contribute to scholarly

discourse on engagement.

There is particular need to examine the extent to organizational culture plays significant role in

creating wellbeing in the workplace and an engaged workforce.

1.8 Structure of the Dissertation

The first chapter introduced the study by providing the background to the study, statement of

problem, research objectives and questions, scope and significance of the study, need for the study.

The second chapter focused on the literature related to employee engagement in relation to the

intellectual development of the concept, its related constructs and the differences. The chapter also

examined the literature on service excellence and also hinged the study on the theoretical frameworks

of organizational culture and social exchange. The third chapter is concerned with materials and

methods. It included the introduction, research design, and population of the study, sampling and

sampling technique, research instruments, procedure for data collection and method of data analysis.

The fourth chapter analysed and interpreted the presented results of the study. It includes the general

description of the data, presentation of results and discussion of findings. The fifth chapter

summarized the findings of the study, inferred conclusion and provide recommendations based on

the findings

1.9 Researcher’s Role

The researcher is by no means connected to the Access Bank Plc as a staff or customer. The

researcher’s role in this study is limited to requesting from the Human Resource director the

permission to access the company’s files and records in terms of labour relations. However the

request was denied on the grounds of confidentiality. The researcher’s role in the study was largely

limited to data collection with research instrument and analysis of such.

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.0 Introduction

Relevant literature materials of theoretical as well as empirical importance are reviewed in this

chapter. It must be noted that employee engagement has received significant attention of human

resource management scholars and practitioners but there is still need for a sustained query of its

fundamental assumptions in the light of new evidences.

2.1 Review of Related Literature

2.1.1 Background Conceptual Issues

According to Masson et al (2008), organizational researchers have long recognized that organizations

cannot function through purely contractual relationships with employees. In their opinion,

organizations require cooperation from employees rather than mere compliance. Strennel (1991)

tested propositions concerning the relationship between organizational commitment, job satisfaction

and perceived availability of alternative employment to intentions to leave or remain in child care

work. Results indicated that commitment, satisfaction with pay and promotion opportunities and

perceived job alternatives contributed significantly to variance in intention to leave. Surveys of 350

teacher trainees in Singapore’s training institution were used by Lam et al (1995) to examine

relationships among quality of life, career commitment and job satisfaction amd withdrawal

cognition. Career commitment and job satisfaction were important predictors of withdrawal

cognition and perceptions of the social status of teaching strongly related to commitment to and

satisfaction with teaching.

Fresko and Barbara (1997) investigated a model for predicting commitment to teaching as measured

by the extent to which Israeli teachers expressed an unwillingness to change careers. Surveys of

elementary and secondary teachers indicated that only job satisfaction directly predicted

commitment; other factors such as professional self-image, abilities, gender, job advancement and

pupil grade level indirectly predicted commitment.

Billingsley and Cross (1992) indicate that work-related variables, such as leadership support, role

conflict, role ambiguity and stress are better predictors of commitment and job satisfaction than are

demographic variables. The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire was used by Sutter (1996) to

survey 335 male and 81 female Ohio secondary assistant principals regarding predictors for job and

career satisfaction. Respondents who believed they were accomplishing much on their jobs, their

talents were being utilized and there were advancement opportunities, reported greater job

satisfaction and therefore feel engaged. Women reported higher satisfaction than men. Friedman and

Farber (1992) investigated the relationship between dimensions of teachers’ self concept and burnout

and between teachers’ perception of of how significant others viewed them and burnout. Results

indicated that teachers needed job satisfaction to avoid burnout. Teachers believed that others

complicated their job failing to understand the complexity and stresses in teaching.

Another determinant of employee engagement according to Schalkwyk, Du Toit, Bothma and

Rothman (2010) is leadership empowerment behaviours. By focusing on the effect of the two

aforementioned variables on employee engagement and intention to leave of employees working in a

petrochemical laboratory, the study found out that engaging individuals at work plays important role

in retaining them and also found out that there is no significant relationship between job insecurity

and employee engagement while there is significant relationship leadership empowerment and

engagement and low turnover intention.

Swaminathan and Rajasekaran (2010) posited that engagement is the combination of job satisfaction,

motivation and effectiveness in that order. Their views as related to job security seems to contrast

with , Du Toit, Bothma and Rothman (2010) above when they opined that the higher the job security,

the more the willingness to continue work. In other words, job security is direct function of continued

commitment. The study also has it that working hours schedule affect job satisfaction and the better

the welfare facilities, the better contribution per employee. It must however be noted linking working

hours schedule to job satisfaction is debatable and that the idea of better welfare facilities are part of

Hertzberg’s Hygeine (Hertzberg, 1959) factors which are dissatisfiers if not available but in way

leads to higher satisfaction. The same also applies to job security which according to Hertzberg is an

hygiene factor whose absence is a dissatisfier but presence not a satisfier. This is largely reinforced

by , Du Toit, Bothma and Rothman (2010) which demonstrated no significant relationship between

employee engagement and job insecurity.

Other than commitment level, there are variables that can affect job performances and thus

determines the level of employee engagement. These include availability of resources; time

management skills and controls over the evaluated outcomes are some of these variables (Mayer

and Allen 1997). It must however be noted that employee engagement as people management

strategy involves direct and appropriate mix of different variables with the objective of producing

favourable business outcomes. Along this line several scholars have paid attention to parts rather the

whole of the system that make up the engagement strategy. For instance Bennett and Durkin (2000)

focused on the impact environment on employee commitment and thus giving them more sense of

involvement and consequently better satisfaction levels at work. According to them these

characteristics are often able to depict variations in commitment among employee segments in

organizations. They found out that organizational change significantly influences employee

commitment to the organization, especially when the perceived values of the organization have

changed. Maintaining and fostering commitment among employees during a period of radical

change, according to some researchers, greatly contributes to speed and ease at which an

organizational transformation can occur.(Begley and Czajka 1993; Mowday 1982; Nijhof, de Jong

and Beukhof 1998). The question, however, is that what strategy or practices is to be deployed to

effect such commitment especially at a period of organizational transformations and turbulence as it

is happening nowadays. This question formed the basis of Sardar, Rehman, Yousuf and Ajaz (2011)

when investigation was carried out on the impact of HR practices on employee engagement in

banking sector of Pakistan. The authors found out that HR practices of decision making/coordination,

employee performance appraisals, performance reward systems, employee involvement, training and

career development all influence employee engagement.

Job satisfaction is part of employee engagement strategy which has the objective of alignining

satisfaction with optimum performance and thus favourable business outcomes. Angle and

Perry(1983) investiagated the effects of two forms of satisfaction: extrinsic and intrinsic on

organizational commitment. The study, which was carried out among 1099 bus operators discovered

that extrinsic satisfaction had a stronger effect on organizational commitment than intrinsic

satisfaction. Angle and Perry explained that extrinsic rewards are more likely to be under the control

of the organization. According to the norm of reciprocity, employees are prone to reciprocate in

situations where the organization has the choice whether to grant or withhold rewards

(Gouldner,1960). Following this rationale, it would seem likely that extrinsic rewards, the award of

which is at the discretion of the employer, constitute a dominant factor in influencing organizational

commitment. In their analysis of Kosovo central public organizations that are in the process of

privatization, Bytyqi and Reshani(2010) opined that job satisfaction and employee commitment is

not a onetime process but changes constantly, especially when the organization deals with high level

of employee work stress. According to them, work stress should not be taken for granted but

pragmatic measures should be employed to deal with it and avoid eventual negative effect on both

job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Organizations should help provide assistance

programs to help employees deal with work stress, by specifically helping them to live and deal with

uncertain situations which are out of their control. In addition, it is very important to enhance

employee empowerment and employee involvement by enabling them to have control over their

work and letting them have input about the decisions made affecting their work. This view is also

shared and supported by Lawler and Worley (2006) when according to them, for a high involvement

work practice to be effective, and for it to have a positive impact on employee engagement,

employee must be given power. They argued this will lead to having the ability to make decisions

that are important to their performance and to the quality of their working lives. They further contend

that that power can mean a relatively low level of influence as in providing input into decisions made

by others or it can mean having final authority and accountability for their decisions and their

outcomes. Involvement is maximized when the highest possible level of power is pushed down to the

employees that have to carry out the decision, resulting in gaining the maximum level of

encouragement possible for employees.

2.1.2 Employee Engagement: Conceptual Clarification

For one thing, the discussion above has shown that there is no consensus as to what constitute the

concepts of employee engagement and for another it had demonstrated its overlapping tendencies

into related concepts, for example organizational commitment behavior. According to Kular et

al(2008) , even though there is a great degree of interest in the subject, there is also a great deal of

confusion. This perhaps, led Masson et al (2008) to admit that there is need for common frameworks

for understanding what enagagement enatails(and what it does not) so as to ensure that studies of its

consequences and antecedents are comparable and complementary. In their words ‘to monitor and

manage levels of engagement in the workplace, however, practitioners would benefit from a better

developed measures of engagement and more complete understanding ’ (2008:7).

The earliest work on employee engagement was Kahn(1990). By addressing a theoretical framework

of personal engagement and disengagement, he defined engagement as a separate concept by using

research and thereby conceptualized that the domains of meaningfulness, safety, and availability

were important to understanding the development of engagement. According to him, “personal

engagement is the simultaneous employment and expression of a person’s preferred self in task

behaviors that promotes connection to work and to others, personal presence and active full role

performances (1990:700).

Maslach, Shanfeli and Leiter (2001) was the first major work on employee engagement after Kahn

and is the other of the two early contributory theories on employee engagement. The Study pioneered

reaching across academic boundaries for definitions of employee engagement and thereby

conceptualizing the concept as the “positive antithesis to burnout”(Shuck and Wollard,2010).

Employee engagement is defined as “ a persistent, positive, affective, motivational state of

fulfillment in employees that is characterized by high levels of activation and pleasure (2001: 417).

A further development in the employee engagement literature is the study by Harter, Schmidt and

Hayes (2002) which examined the concept from the business unit level between the employee

engagement satisfaction and business unit outcomes(profit). The study was one of the first to mention

a profit linkage to employee engagement (Yousef, 2008). According to the study, “employee

engagement refers to individual’s involvement and satisfaction with, as well as enthusiasm, for

work”(Harter et al, 2002:269).

In 2002, May, Gilson and Harter published an empirical research testing Kahn’s(1990)

conceptualization of employee engagement. The work did not explicitly define engagement but

reference was made to Kahn(1990) as saying that “in enagagement, people express themselves

physically, cognitively and emotionally during role performances (May et al, 2004: 12).

Saks(2006) had been described as the first explicit research to test the antecedents and consequences

to employee engagement in the academic literature (Yousef,2008). Prior to Saks (2006), practitioner

research was the only body of work connecting employee engagement drivers to employee

engagement consequences (Yousef, 2008:56). Saks defined employee engagement as “ a distinct and

unique construct that consists of cognitive, emotional and behavioural components that are associated

with individuals role performance” (Saks, 2006:37).

A further development in the body of work defining employee engagement is Macey and Schneider

(2008). Shuck and Wollard, (2010) referred to it as the first to conceptualize trait and behavioural

enagagement as separate but related constructs, presented in various organizational concepts that

mignt feed the development of employee engagement within organizations. The study defined trait

engagement as the inclination or orientation to experience the world from a particular vantage point

(2008:5). Psychological engagement is defined as state antecedents to behavioural engagement ,

encompassing the constructs of satisfaction, involvement, commitment and empowerment (2008: 5-

6). Behavioral engagement is defined in terms of discretionary effort (2008:7).

In the light of the different positions by studies examined above, it is however difficult to pin down

the concept of employee engagement to simple definition that will integrate every aspect of the

metrics that any study of such concept can successfully measure. For instance, Thiagarajan and

Remugadevi (2011) in their study identified what they called the nine factors that defines employee

engagement as follows:

Senior management has sincere interest in employee wellbeing.

Company provides challenging work.

Employees have appropriate decision-making authority

Company cares a great deal about customer satisfaction

Employees have excellent career opportunities

Company has a reputation as a good employer

Employees work well in teams

Employees have decision-making input

Senior management communicates clear vision for long-term success.

The difficulty presented by the different, overlapping and related definitions and explanations of

employee engagement makes this present study to adopt the definition advanced by Shuck and

Wollard,(2010). According to them, employee engagement is “an individual employee’s cognitive,

emotional, and behavioral state directed toward desired organizational outcomes.” (2010: 105). This

definition is appropriate because it encompasses three important areas that will form the basis of

metrics that can be used to measure impacts on business outcomes.

2.1.3 Employee Engagement and Environmental/ Situational Factors

Several Studies had examined the relationship between employee engagement and environment

factors. As mentioned earlier, hygiene factors are not the source of satisfaction but these issues must

be dealt with first to create an environment in which employee satisfaction and motivation and

consequently engagement is possible. The optimal work environment is one where the individual has

a chance to make a difference on the job, experience new skills, exercise discretion, receive feedback

on performance and thrive in an environment that is characterized by support, participation and

equitable treatment. (Ebby et al. 1999; Hackman and Oldman, 1975 and 1976; Thomas and Velthous,

1990). Research has also shown that attitudes held by an individual about the environment are

predictive of turnover behavior in that those who ultimately leave have less favourable attitudes than

those who stay (Porter, Steer, Mowday and Boulain, 1974). Organizations have a vested interest in

seeing that employees who stay do so because they are loyal to their institutions. One of the ways to

protect this interest is to provide a workplace that fosters employees’ affective commitment, which is

a veritable indicator of an engaged workforce. According to Okubanjo (2000), building such an

engaged workforce is no easy task as efforts can get gnarled in politics or sidetracked by changing

aspirations of top management.

For instance, patterns of employment, occupation and service in public organizations substantially

differ from those of private or semi-public systems. In most countries wages of public servants are

lower than those of private sector employees, promotion is slower and rewards are generally not

related to work outcomes (Rainey, 1991). On the other hand, public organizations usually offer a

stable work environment, higher job security and some even a challenge of serving a large and

heterogenous population. Hence, the possible unique effect of internal politics on public agencies and

public servants is still unclear and deserves more attention. Employees’ reactions to organizational

politics in the public sector were examined in two ways. Previous studies, for example Bozeman et

al. 1996, Cropanzano et al. 1997 predicted that organizational politics would be negatively related to

job satisfaction, organization commitment and employee engagement. Researchers have also

suggested that employee attitudes, including job satisfaction and intent to stay, are developed

through interactions with other people ( for example, supervisors) within the context of the work

environment (Salancik and Pfeifer, 1978; Naumann, 1993). This argument offer another explanation

for how loyalty to supervisor will influence employees’ job satisfaction and intent to stay. According

to the definition of loyalty to supervisor, if an employee is loyal to the supervisor, he or she will

share similar values with the supervisor and will psychologically be attached to the supervisor (Chen

et al. 1998). When interacting with this particular supervisor, the employee may feel the work

experience is more satisfying. Thus the employee may develop a positive attitude toward the job or

feel more satisfied with the job. On the other hand, should an employee should be loyal to the

supervisor, by definition; he/she will be willing to stay with the supervisor (Chen et al. 1998), who is

the agent of the organization. As a result, the loyal employee may have a tendency to remain with the

organization. Thus it can be said that leadership issues, a key environmental factor, constitute an

important feature of an effective engagement strategy.

In a study by Gustafson and Mumford (1995), personal style patterns and environmental constraints

and opportunities of the workgroup were identifies by 367 Navy personel and 114 supervisors.

Personal style predicted different job outcomes performance, satisfaction and withdrawal across the

organization and within groups. Recognition of personal style and environmental patterns could

enhance –environment fit.

Meir (1997) found that environmental congruence (fit between personality and environment) was

modestly related to job satisfaction. The magnitude of the effect of importance of belonging to a

group was considerably higher after several months. Jagger (1992) examined relationship between

congruence (fit between personality and occupational choice) and job satisfaction of successfully

rehabilitated vocational rehabilitation clients. He found significant positive correlation between job

satisfaction and congruence. Findings suggest that rehabilitation counselor education programmes

should provide counseling students with specific training in Holland’s person-environment

congruence model.

Lauver and Kristof-Brown (2001) found a low correlation between person-job fit and person-

occupation fit. Person-occupation fit better-predicted intention to quit, both types influenced job

satisfaction and results supported distinction between the two constructs.

Engagement is an emerging job attitude that has been theoretically linked to both leadership and

personality variables as well as important work outcomes. However, given the variations in construct

definitions of engagement as well as limited existing empirical research, Wefald, Reichard and

Serrano (2011) empirically examined the nomological network of multiple measures of engagement

based on Schaufeli’s three-factor engagement, Shirom’s vigor, and Britt’s one-factor engagement.

Using data from an online survey of 382 working professionals, the authors conducted a series of

hierarchical regression analyses and structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses. Results

indicate strong relationships between engagement measures and personality (especially positive

affect) and weaker relationships between engagement and leadership. Furthermore, multiple

measures of engagement demonstrated significant relationships with the important work outcomes of

turnover intentions, job satisfaction, and affective commitment. This research contributes to the

literature on engagement by simultaneously examining multiple conceptualizations and

measurements of work engagement and demonstrating leverage points for leaders to influence the

state-like construct of engagement. Results suggested that engagement is related to important

organizational outcomes and that engagement mediates the relationship between personality and

organizational outcomes.

2.1.3 Service Excellence

Businesses are waking up to the reality that after more than a decade of initiatives of managing

quality and very few success stories, the main conclusion that has surfaced is that people are the key

to both creating and sustaining quality. According to Peters and Austin (1994:98) irrespective of the

state of technology, quality comes from people. Therefore customers’ perception of service value are

increasingly recognized as central to an organizations continued success. According Kandampully

and Coupolon (…) customers focus has shifted from the product and service obtained to that of the

“result” achieved. Surprenant and Solomon, (1987) posits that service providers not only deliver and

create the service but are often seen as synonymous in the eyes of the customer.

Therefore in defining what constitutes ‘service’ Parasuraman et al has it that ‘the service product is

described as an abstract and illusions construct due to the three inherent features unique to services:

Intangibility, heterogeneity, and inseparability of production and consumption. (1985:72). Moreover

services are acknowledged as people intensive, rendering hitherto “heterogeneity” not only a unique

characteristic (Sasser, 1976) but one that affects quality variation in almost all service output.

In a study by Barsky and Labagh (1992), customers ranked employee attitude to be the most

important and influential attribute of services. This view is also supported by Crotts and Ford, (2008)

when it opined that the ultimate key to excellent service is the individual employee who delivers

service to customers.

Services are characterized by high degrees of person-to-person interaction. The strong relational

bond between the service personnel and the customers renders the firm able to anticipate customers’

unexpressed needs. This emotional bonds leads the customer to buy repeatedly or exclusively from

that service provider. Many services are designed to assist, serve, or fulfill customers’ personal needs

and it is in such situations that the customer commonly seeks to establish and maintain a relationship

with the service provider. The most important dimension in meeting customer’s expectations, the

human elements of assurance, responsiveness, and empathy are the most important in exceeding

customer expectations. (Parasuraman etal, 1991). Therefore exceptional services that leads to

customer delight require organizations to undertake a continous transformation of service, not in

terms of what is being offered but rather how it is being offered.

In relation to the above, Archie Hoschschild coined and popularized the phrase “emotional labour” in

1983 to describe the work service employees perform that goes beyond physical or mental duties.

Kruml and Geddes (2000) has the opinion that emotional labour rests heavily on demonstrative

behavior, for example making eye conact, delivering smiles and showing genuine concern for

customers’ needs. Johanson and Hoods (2008) proposed that successful strategies to be used in

identifying and developing the emotional element in service excellence are: recruitment and selection

strategies; training and support strategies; empowerment. In relation to this view, Crotts and Ford

(2008) cited above has it that underlying the concept of fit, congruence, consistency and alignment is

a belief that a firm whose internal policies, procedures and systems are in alignment with its external

contingencies will perform better than one in which these features are not aligned. They therefore

propose that management cannot make satisfied and committed employees unless policies and

systems are aligned with one’s mission and if what management says, writes or does is not aligned

with the mission, then the employees attitudes and behaviours are not likely to be aligned either.

Prabhu and Robson(2000) shared similar views when they commented that effective leadership via a

senior management commitment is one of the most crucial factors in the implementation of change

within an organization and without such a positive commitment, it is arguable that any strategy for

change is likely to fail.

On the whole, Khan and Matlay () opined that service excellence starts with caring for the employees

of an organization and it should not be referred to as ‘an approach’ or ‘programme’ but as a

continous journey to deliver high quality service. The question which the present study is confronting

is that if service excellence is noted as an important source of competitive advantage in the service

oriented industries, why has it being difficult to implement and achieve?

2.2 Theoretical Frameworks

Social Exchange Theory [SET]

This theory has its roots in the social psychology and sociological studies and it seeks to explain

social change and stability as a process of negotiated exchanges between parties. The theory posits

that all human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefits analysis and the

comparison of alternatives. The following are the basic concepts behind the theory:

1. Costs- They are the components of relationships that have negative value to a person such as

the effort put into a relationship and the negatives of a partner (Costs can be time, money,

effort )

2. Rewards- They are the elements of a relationship that have positive value and it can be sense

of acceptance, support and companionships, to mention but a few.

The theory argues that “people calculate the overall worth of a particular relationship by subtracting

its costs from the rewards it provides (Wikipedia, 2011). Therefore if worth is a positive number, it is

positive relationship while a negative number points towards a negative relationship. Accord to the

Wikipedia (2011), Social Exchange theory posits that the major force in interpersonal relationships is

the satisfaction of people’s self interest and “self interest is not considered necessarily bad and can be

used to enhance relationships.” (2011: para.4).

Laura(2008) observes that social exchanges and economic exchanges have some level of differences.

For instance social exchanges involve a connection with person and it has more to do with trust and

less to do with legal obligations; social exchanges are more flexible, and rarely involve explicit

bargaining (2008:18). Interpersonal exchanges are thought to be similar to economic exchanges

where people are satisfied when they receive a fair reward for their expenditures.

A major indicator of such fair rewards are benefits. Benefits are but not limited to things such as

material or financial gains, social status and emotional comforts. In general, costs consist of

expenditures of time, money or lost opportunities[opportunity costs]. As a rule, outcome is defined as

the difference between the benefits and the costs (Wikipedia, 201). The following are the basic

assumptions of the theory:

Individuals have different expectations concerning relationships and an individual’s

satisfaction with a relationship depends on more than just the outcome. For any two people

with the same outcomes, their level of satisfaction may differ based on their expectations:

one person may not expect very large outcomes, and therefore would be more easily satisfied

in relationships than someone who expects more. That is to say, there are people who stay in

unhappy relationships as well as those leave happy relationships, what determines whether an

individual stays in a relationship or leaves is the set of alternate relationships available. If

there are many alternatives available to an individual, then that individual is less dependent

on the relationship. The situations are formalized thus:

Satisfaction= Outcome –Comparison Level [EquationOne]

Dependence on a relationship= Outcomes – Comparison Level of Alternatives[Equation

Two]

Outcomes= Benefits – Costs [Equation Three]

Source: Wikipedia(2011) “Social Exchange Theory” www.wikipedia.org/Soical-exchange-

theory accessed and retrieved on 13th December 2011

Humans seek reward and avoid punishment (West, Turner and lynn, 2007)

Humans are rational beings

The standards that human use to evaluate costs and rewards vary over time and from person

to person.

Relationships are interdependent and relational life is a process.

Applications of SET in Human Resource Management Research

Wayne et al. (1997) used the perspectives of social exchange theory to examine the role of Perceived

Organizational Support [POS] between leaders and members. The evidence from the study suggests

that the relationship between leaders and members are positively related to organizational

citizenships behavior and organizational performance. In other words, employees who regard

advantages put forward by leaders as exchangeable, conditions to working well, thus contributing to

organizational outcomes.

http://www.wikipedia.org/Soical-exchange-theory

http://www.wikipedia.org/Soical-exchange-theory

Asselage and Eisenberger (2003) identified that in the development of exchange relationships

between employees and organizations, exchanging valued social and emotional resources is

important. The study further opined that the contributions from one party to another are valuable in

the exchange relations. Thirdly that procedural justice is regarded as an important antecedent of the

relationship between high-quality employees and an organization (Asselage and Eisenberger,

2003:75).

Schein’s Theory of Organization Culture

Organizational culture broadly refers to a relatively stable set of beliefs, values and behaviours

commonly held by a group (Lim, 1995). According to Schein (1992) culture is the most difficult

organizational attribute to change, outlasting organizational products, services, founders and

leadership and all other physical attribute of the organization. It is ‘ a pattern of shared basic

assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaption and internal

integration; that has worked well enough to be considered valid and therefore to be taught to new

members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems (Schein,

1992:12) The main reasons why cultures develop in organizations, according to Schein (1992:67) is

due to external adaptation and internal integration. Schein’s three cognitive levels of organizational

culture shall the model of the study. According to Schein (1992) the first level of organizational

culture model refers attributes that can be seen, felt and heard by the uninitiated observer collectively

known as “artifacts”. This include facilities, offices, furnishings, dress code of members, visible

awards, mode of interaction, slogans, mission, statements and creed. Artifacts comprise the physical

components of the organization relay meaning. The second level relates to the values or professed

culture of members. Information on both the first and the second and first level can be ferreted out

with the use of questionnaire and this leads to an understanding of employee attitudes.

The third level of organizational culture relates to the tacit assumptions. These are elements of

culture that are not seen and not cognitively identified in daily interactions of members. Those with

sufficient experience in the organization and who could understand this level of culture usually

become acclimatized to its attributes over time, thus reinforcing the invisibility. At this level, surveys

and casual interviews with members cannot draw out these attributes. A much more indepth means is

required to first identify and then understand organizational culture at this level.

2.3 Justification of the Study

The literature materials reviewed above and the theoretical framework had demonstrated the gap in

the scholarship. This gap is shown by the lack of firstly, adequate linkage between employee

engagement and service quality. In other words, employee engagement has been largely treated as an

end in itself even though most scholars and practitioners agree that business organizations will

benefit immensely from an engaged workforce. In addition the reviewed materials had demonstrated

the need for the present study in the sense that much work has been done on the linkage between

employees engagement and business outcomes in the Nigerian context. On the whole this study will

prove valuable by contributing firstly to the growing literature on employee engagement;

demonstrate whether it is a mere fad or an important workforce and business development strategy;

and finally provide insights from a Nigerian perspective.

CHAPTER THREE: MATERIALS AND METHODS

3.0 Introduction

This section presents the research design, population and sample used and the sampling procedure ,

instrument development and data collection method. Also to be contained in this section is the

method for data analysis.

3.1 Research Design

The study employed the descriptive research design of ex-post facto type. This is because the

variables being studied have already occurred . The task here is to see the extent to which the

independent variables of independent variables of employee engagement indicators affect and

influence the dependent variables of service quality excellence.

3.2 Population of the Study

The target population of this study consists of all employees of Access Bank Nigeria Plc.

3.3 Sampling techniques and Sample

1. Sampling frame

The sampling frame contains the basic details of all members of the population from which

samples are to be drawn[Omotoso,2009]. The sampling frame for this study is the employee

register of Access bank Plc.

2. Sampling Technique

The Sampling technique adopted for this study is the stratified and random sampling

technique. This is because of the study area, Access Bank Plc in Nigeria is structured along

100 branch network and hence the need for stratified sampling on branch basis and then

simple random sampling per branch. The participating Branches of the Access bank were

selected based on the criterion of the proximity of each branch to at least three other Banks’

branches within a 300 metres radius. Consequently, 12 respondents per branch, were

randomly selected from each branch’s employee register in a sequence of the third nominal

position after the previous. In all the sample consists of 120 respondents as the researcher

thought that this is appropriate for the study location of Lagos, being the commercial capital

of Nigeria.

3.4 Research Instrument

The survey research instrument used for this study was an adaptation of Nigeria’s Chartered Institute

of Personnel Management (CIPM) employee engagement measurement into a service oriented

structure. The CIPM measure fits into the HRM practices of Asset Bank and indeed the Nigerian

Financial services industry.

The design of the questionnaire included a first part that addressed the demographic issues, job

descriptions and branch location. The questionnaire consisted 32 items and was structured in Likert

Scale format so as to elicit the level to which respondents feel about a questionnaire item.

3.5 Validation and reliability of the instruments

The research instrument was validated by the assigned project supervisor from Middlesex University

Business School. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained through a pilot study made of 15

respondents. The pilot study revealed some internal validity problems and therefore necessitated the

need for a new design of the questionnaire.

3.6 Process and Participants

The participants in the research are made up of the permanent staff in the three departments of

banking Operations, Marketing and Office support of Access Bank Plc. The permanent staff are

those employees that works directly with the Bank, that is on payroll and have entitlement to other

benefits like housing, transport, health insurance, annual leave among others. The approval to

administer the question on the staff was gotten from the Group Head, Human Resource Management,

through the regional manager, Lagos 2.

3.7 Method of Data Analysis

The Statistical Package for the Social Science [SPSSVersion 15] was used to analyze the collected

data. The data was nominally code so as to facilitate input on the variable view. The analysis was

achieved with the use of descriptive statistics, particularly measures of central tendencies,

frequencies and simple percentages.

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF RESULTS, DATA ANALYSIS

AND INTERPRETATION

4.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the results, data analysis and interpretation of results. The study set out to

examine how well employee engagement can be linked with and drive service quality excellence in

the Nigerian banking industry. The Data was collected on a branch by branch basis with the help of

two research assistants employed by the researcher. The researcher also got permission from the

Bank’s Director of Human resources to administer the questionnaire on the member of staff in the

selected branches. It must be noted, however, that the Bank did not permit the employees to use

work-time to answer the questionnaires but were encouraged to take the questions home so as to

provide the answers. Access Bank Branches were selected based on the criterion of their proximity to

at least three other Banks’ branches within a 300 meters radius. The reason for this criterion was to

situate the study within a competitive context. On the whole, twelve branches in Lagos satisfied this

criterion and ten employees per branch were sampled.

The Collected data was analyzed through the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences’

[SPSS] Descriptive Statistics. The data was coded by the input of ordinal data.

4.1 Characteristics of the Respondents

The overall number male respondents is 49 and the female respondents, 71. In other words, about

41% of the respondents are male. The age range of the respondents is between 22 years and 46 years.

Of the total respondents, 23 responded YES to the question “do you supervise any-one?”. This

shows that 80% of the respondents have ‘non-supervisory role’ and therefore closer to the customers

because of their frontline role.

4.2 Presentation of Results and Interpretation of Findings

This section presents the results of the analyzed data. The researcher administered 120 questionnaires

and the study recorded a hundred percent rate of completion and return. This was made possible by

simplicity and understandability of the questions asked the relevance of the questions to the

respondent’s experience. Importantly the researcher gave adequate to the respondents to fill the

questionnaires and also followed up on them.

Table 4.1 Descriptive Statistics Analysis of Result

Variables N-Valid N Missing Median ModeRelationship between work and corporate goal

120 0 1.0000 1.00

Intention and ability to build career in the Bank

120 0 3.0000 3.00

The bank values hard work and Commitment among employees

120 0 1.0000 1.00

It is in the interest of employees that the Bank remain a going concern

120 0 1.0000 1.00

Organizational Advocacy 120 0 1.0000 1.00level of balance btw organizational interest and Customer delight

120 0 3.0000 3.00

Empowerment to use discretion 120 0 3.0000 3.00Empowerment to use discretion 120 0 3.0000 3.00Grassroots ownership and contribution to business process

120 0 3.0000 3.00

Bank's employee welfare score 120 0 3.0000 3.00Level of Trust that the organization has on its employees

120 0 5.0000 5.00

Business Process Technology Adequacy 120 0 1.0000 1.00Customer Service Technology deployment level

120 0 2.0000 2.00

Technology Reliability as facilitator of efficiency

120 0 1.0000 1.00

Commitment towards Superior Customer Service

120 0 2.5000 3.00

Level of Employee Identification with Corporate Social Responsibilities

120 0 1.0000 1.00

Level of Employee involvment in CSR fomulation

120 0 2.0000 2.00

The Level of Value that Bank places on Grass-roots opinion

120 0 3.0000 3.00

Relationship btw Supervisors and junior colleagues

120 0 1.0000 1.00

Espirit De Corp 120 0 1.0000 1.00Physical Environment suitability 120 0 1.0000 1.00Opinion on fellow colleagues 120 0 2.0000 2.00Job-Ability Congruence 120 0 2.0000 2.00Professionl/Personal Development Encouragement level

120 0 2.0000 2.00

Personal Development Opportunities 120 0 3.0000 3.00Intention to leave 120 0 5.0000 5.00Labour Market Opportunities 120 0 5.0000 5.00Human Resource Stategy 120 0 1.0000 1.00Competitiveness of Reward and Pay 120 0 2.0000 2.00Recruitment 120 0 2.0000 2.00Adequacy of Training and Induction at Entry 120 0 2.0000 2.00Employee Voice and Grievance Resolution Mechanism

120 0 1.0000 1.00

Source: SPSS Analysis of Author’s field Survey, 2012

Question One: My work in this Bank is central to our customers’ financial well-being.

Table 4.2Relationship between work and corporate goal

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid Strongly Agree

85 70.8 70.8 70.8

Agree 24 20.0 20.0 90.8Neutral 1 .8 .8 91.7Disagree 10 8.3 8.3 100.0Total 120 100.0 100.0

Source: Author’s Field Survey 2012

Figure 4.1

DisagreeNeutralAgreeStrongly Agree

Relationship between work and corporate goal

Interpretation of Findings: From the figure and tables above, it has been shown that most

respondents understand what is expected of them at the workplace and could connect their work with

the corporate bottom-line, which is the customers’ financial well-being. . According to Wrzesniewski

et al (1997) employees that can connect their work to a larger meaningful mission or purpose of the

overall organization are likely to have higher levels of interest. This is much better when such

interest is directed towards the customer.

Question 2: I see myself working in this Bank in the next 3 to fives years with expanded roles and

responsibilies.

Table 4.3 Intention and ability to build career in the Bank

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


35 29.2 29.2 29.2

Agree 20 16.7 16.7 45.8Neutral 55 45.8 45.8 91.7Disagree 10 8.3 8.3 100.0Total 120 100.0 100.0


Figure 4.2

DisagreeNeutralAgreeStrongly Agree

Intention and ability to build career in the Bank

Interpretations of findings: Men and women do not come to work-places just to work as they also

come there to make and build a career. However and as shown by by Kutty (2008:633), in most

organizations, especially services, management’s biggest challenge is how to kindle enthusiasm and

get the silent – at the branch office, call-centre or field level- to bring life into what they do . Tables

4.3 and 4.4 above shows that when asked about intention to build a career in the Bank, most

respondents were neutral with only few disagreeing. This shows that the employees believe that there

are opportunities to build a career in the Bank and perceive that there are such opportunities in the

bank . A focus on achieving career outcomes is certainly far superior to just drifting as it lifts

employees out of the inertia and dullness that would envelope them other otherwise.

Question 3: The Bank values hardwork, goodwork and commitment and recognizes such when

found in any member of staff.

Table 4.4The bank values hard work and Commitment among employees

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


65 54.2 54.2 54.2

Agree 55 45.8 45.8 100.0Total 120 100.0 100.0


Figure 4.3

AgreeStrongly Agree

The bank values hard work and Commitment among employees

Interpretation of Findings: Tables 4.6 and 4.7 above shows that at all the respondent agrees that the

bank values hardwork, good-work and commitment and also recoginizes such. This shows that the

Bank engage its employees by upholding procedural justice. According to Gaertner and Nollen

(1998) the successful organization is likely to be one that can manage employment practices and

perceptions of those practices by all groups of employees in a way that results in positive job related

outcomes.

Question 4: I understand that the failure of this Bank will affect me directly as our customers are

protected by the government laws and provisions.

Table 4.5 It is in the interest of employees that the Bank remain a going concern

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid Strongly Agree 72 60.0 60.0 60.0Agree 30 25.0 25.0 85.0Neutral 3 2.5 2.5 87.5Disagree 10 8.3 8.3 95.8Strongly Disagree

5 4.2 4.2 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2012

Interpretation of Findings: The tables and above shows the level of understanding of the

responsibility of the employees to the Bank as an on-going concern. This is necessary as it influences

the employees decision and action while on the job. The figure above shows that employees strongly

agree to the view that they will be directly hit if the Bank should fail. Therefore this fact creates an

high motivation for the employee identify with the corporate mission and goal. This is the task

significance element of Hackman and Oldham (1975) three dimensions of meaningfulness of job.

Question 5: It is not unusual for Staff members [including me] to brag about the bank being the best

place to work and to do business.

Table 4. 6 Organizational Advocacy

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


90 75.0 75.0 75.0

Agree 7 5.8 5.8 80.8Neutral 23 19.2 19.2 100.0Total 120 100.0 100.0


Interpretation of findings: The tables above show that employees of Access bank strongly agree

that the bank is the best place to work and do business and they are ready to let others know this fact.

Organizational advocacy is significant element of organizational citizenship behavior and it goes a

long way in driving up service quality. The tendency of organizational citizenship behavior has been

directly linked with higher levels of engagement among employees according to Dyne and Graham

(1994).

Question 6 and 8: “It is true that Customers are always right but I will be severely sanctioned if I

violate rules and established procedures if I help a customer fix a legitimate problem” and “Even if it

is to the ultimate benefit of the Bank, I will have no supervisor to back me up if I take a unilateral

position in relation to a customer’s needs or problems” :

Table 4.7level of balance btw organizational interest and Customer delight

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid Strongly Agree 8 6.7 6.7 6.7 Agree 2 1.7 1.7 8.3 Neutral 98 81.7 81.7 90.0 Disagree 3 2.5 2.5 92.5 Strongly

Disagree9 7.5 7.5 100.0


Table 4.8 Empowerment to use discretion

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


Disagree15 12.5 12.5 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Author’s Field Survey,2012

Interpretation of findings: The two questions above were posed to test the level of power that

employees enjoy to make decisions under uncertainty and also to balance organizational interest with

customer delight. It must be noted that this situation carries an element of risk and it depends on the

level of trust that the organization has in its workforce. The tables above shows that while employees

while employees largely disagreed that they will be severely sanctioned if they violate rules and

established procedures to help a customer fix a legitimate problem and also disagree that in case of

taking unilateral position in relationship to a customer’s need, they are however largely neutral in

both cases. These show that the Bank largely empowers its employees to use their discretion on good

judgment, while the employees are aware of this fact and would largely be guided by the situation on

ground. According to Conger and Kanungo (1988), employee empowerment would be able to give

employee a control over job related situation and decisions. Hartline et al(2000) submitted that with

this control, employees are able to be flexible and adaptive in the face of changing customer needs

and resulting in customer oriented behavior.

Question 7: No matter the uniqueness of the situation, the standard rules apply at all times when

dealing with customers.

Table 4.8 Decision-making under risk and uncertainty

Frequency PercentValid Percent

Cumulative Percent


Disagree13 10.8 10.8 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2012Interpretation of Findings: This questionnaire item was included with the sole purpose of

reinforcing the response in question 6 and 7 as regards the degree of empowerment. The findings

from the table above still affirmed the tendency in the last two questions, which suggests that

employees either disagree or are largely neutral that the will not have organizational support if they

take unilateral position in a situation of a customer need. This perhaps suggests that the type of

customer’s needs will play a crucial role in this situation but they will have organizational support for

their position. Organizational support goes a long way in engaging employees and thereby increasing

service quality as employees are assured of support. Saks (2005) showed that perceived supervisor

support is antecedent of employee engagement and this can have significant impact customer service

quality.

Question 9 and 11: “No matter our individual and collective resolve, suggestions and opinion in this

branch office, the head-office always have its way at all times and going against the head-office is

highly risky” and “It does not matter if the customer is delayed infinitely but when I’m not certain

about a situation, even if no harm will be done, I must refer the issue to my superiors as I can’t use

my discretion at all”.

Table 4.8Grassroots ownership and contribution to business process

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


Disagree15 12.5 12.5 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Author’s Field Survey 2012

Table 4.9Level of Trust that the organization has on its employees

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


Disagree85 70.8 70.8 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2012Interpretation of findings: Grass-roots ownership of business process initiatives is function of the

level of trust that employers have on employees. The tables above shows that most of the employee

were neutral when asked that “No matter our individual and collective resolve, suggestions and

opinion in this branch office, the head-office always have its way at all times and going against the

head-office is highly risky” but vociferously disagreed that “It does not matter if the customer is

delayed infinitely but when I’m not certain about a situation, even if no harm will be done, I must

refer the issue to my superiors as I can’t use my discretion at all”. The fact that respondents were

largely neutral to the first question shows that frontlline employees at the input into the overall

direction of the organization in some situations which is supported and encouraged by the head

office. This situation is called political will defined by Kutty (2008) as when people decide together

to do things by coming together on a platfoam. The fact this was encouraged is in line with the

principle of political authority which according to Kutty (2008) is the will of the authority to back

and implement the collective decision. The second question shows the level of individual

empowerment felt by employees and the fact that a majority strongly disagreed with the stated notion

shows the degree of empowerment enjoyed by the frontline staff. According to Lawler and

Worley(2006) for a high involvement work practices to be effective, and for it to have a positive

impact on employee engagement, employees must be given power as they argued that this will lead

to employees having the ability to make decisions that are important to their performance and to the

quality of the of their working lives, thus engaging them in their works. They further contend that

power can mean having final authority and accountability for decisions and their outcomes because

involvement is maximized when the highest level of power is pushed down to the employees that

have to carry out the decision, resulting in gaining maximum level of engagement possible from

employees.

Question 10: All that the Bank cares about is its profits and business position: Employees are just

mere tools to achieve this objective.

Table 4.9Bank's employee welfare score

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid Strongly Agree 4 3.3 3.3 3.3Agree 3 2.5 2.5 5.8

Neutral 69 57.5 57.5 63.3Disagree 26 21.7 21.7 85.0Strongly Disagree

18 15.0 15.0 100.0


Strongly DisagreeDisagreeNeutralAgreeStrongly Agree

Bank's employee welfare score

Fig.4.11

Interpretation of Findings: Employee welfare is a significant component of the exchange that

occurs within the employer-employee relationship. The Tables above shows that most employees see

the Bank in a favouable light by either disagreeing with the question posed or being neutral.It must

be noted that this is an issue that most employees will not endeavor to hide their feelings on.More on

this will be discussed under reward and pay.

Question 12, 13 and 14: “The Bank has enough technology to complement my efforts of serving the

customers” and “The customers are well motivated to use self-help technologies like ATM, Internet

banking , Call-centres” and “The internet connection, software and hardware have always been

reliable for my customer service operations”.

Table 4.11 Business Process Technology Adequacy


Cumulative Percent


78 65.0 65.0 65.0

Agree 42 35.0 35.0 100.0 Total 120 100.0 100.0

Source: Author’s Field SurveyTable 4.12 Customer Service Technology deployment level

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


Disagree12 10.0 10.0 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source:Author’s Field Survey 2012 and SPSS OutputTable 4.13 Commitment towards Superior Customer Service

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


10 8.3 8.3 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Author’s field survey, 2012

Figure 4.12

Business Process Technology Adequacy2.502.001.501.000.50

Fre

qu

en

cy

80

60

40

20

0

Business Process Technology Adequacy

Mean =1.35Std. Dev. =0.479

N =120

Figure 4.13

Customer Service Technology deployment level6.005.004.003.002.001.000.00

Fre

qu

en

cy

50

40

30

20

10

0

Customer Service Technology deployment level

Mean =2.27Std. Dev. =1.262

N =120

Figure 4.14

Commitment towards Superior Customer Service6.005.004.003.002.001.000.00

Freq

uen

cy

50

40

30

20

10

0

Commitment towards Superior Customer Service

Mean =2.39Std. Dev. =1.252

N =120

Interpretation of Findings: The findings from the tables and figures above shows that most

employee agree that technology deployed to make their jobs easier is adequate, technology is well

deployed to make customers help themselves. Job performance is enhanced when delays are

eliminated from business process. Basic needs in the workplace start with clarity of expectation and

basic materials and equipment being provided. To some extent, when these needs are met, it reflects

the credibility of the organization to the employee. Bart (1998); Bart, Bontis and Taggar (2001)

submit that the degree to which an organization aligns its internal policies, structure and procedures

with its mission was positively associated with employee behavior which in turn had the most direct

relationship with financial performance.

Question 15: I can call or call on a customer at my cost without option of reimbursement if a

customer filled a request form wrongly or possibly might need a service.

Table 4.12 Commitment towards Superior Customer Service

Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


Disagree10 8.3 8.3 100.0


Commitment towards Superior Customer Service6.005.004.003.002.001.000.00

Fre

qu

en

cy

50

40

30

20

10

0

Histogram

Mean =2.39Std. Dev. =1.252

N =120

Figure.4.15

Interpretation of Findings: This questionaire item set out measure the degree of extra effort that

employees are willing to take on behalf of the organization so as to influence the quality of service

delivered. The tables above shows that employees are highly willing to go extra mile to deliver a

superior customer service even if it will be at their cost. These finding tends to support the views o

entrepreneurial orientation as a consequence of employee engagement. According to Dess and

Lumpkin (2005) the five dimensions entrepreneurial orientation are innovativeness, proactivity, risk

taking, competitive aggressiveness and autonomy while at individual level includes personal

initiative ( Krauss, Fresse, Freidrich and Unger, 2005). The impact of entrepreneurial orientation is

that it affects positively the organization’s perception in the eyes of the customer. The entrepreneurial

orientation is however a function of intrinsic motivation which according to Deci and Ryan (2005)

as the desire to exert effort on a task in the absence of external constraints or contingencies.

According to Gayne and Deci (2005) , it is promoted by both work contexts and individual

differences that foster feelings of competence, autonomy and relatedness.

Question 16 and 17: “The bank had always carried out genuine CSR that I really love and which

keeps up with my beliefs and the aspirations of the external community” and “I have had opportunity

to suggest CSR initiatives and even if my suggestions have not been adopted, I believe that mine will

be adopted in future”.

Table 4.13Level of Employee Identification with Corporate Social Responsibilities

FrequencyPercent Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


Disagree2 1.7 1.7 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2012Table 4.14 Level of Employee involvment in CSR fomulation

Frequency Percent Valid PercentCumulative Percent


23 19.2 19.2 19.2

Agree 74 61.7 61.7 80.8 Neutral 23 19.2 19.2 100.0 Total 120 100.0 100.0

Source; Author’s Field Survey, 2012Figure 4.


6.005.004.003.002.001.000.00

Fre

qu

en

cy

80

60

40

20

0


Mean =1.53Std. Dev. =0.809

N =120

Figure 4.

Level of Employee involvment in CSR fomulation3.503.002.502.001.501.000.50

Freq

uen

cy

80

60

40

20

0

Level of Employee involvment in CSR fomulation

Mean =2.00Std. Dev. =0.622

N =120

Interpretation of findings: Corporate Social Responsibilities are an organization altruistic

initiatives in its relation with external community. Part of CSR success largely depends on the level

of identification with it by its internal customers, the employees. The tables above shows that not

only are employees knowledgeable about the Bank’s CSR initiatives but also take part in their

formulation. This fosters the two-way communication between the Bank and its employees thus

increasing their perception of being valued.

Question18: The Bank values our reports about customer needs and act on them at all times

The Level of Value that Bank places on Grass-roots opinion

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


35 29.2 29.2 29.2


Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2012Interpretation of Findings: From the tables above, the results suggest that most employees believe

that the Bank values their reports and views on the customers and the situations affecting them. This

also creates a high level of involvement which had been found to be a key driver of employee

engagement. When this is achieved, it can have significant impact on service quality excellence.

Robinson (2006) suggests that there is considerable evidence that many employees are greatly under-

utilized in the work place through the lack of involvement in work-based decisions. Employee

involvement is seen as a central principle of ‘soft HRM’ where the emphasis is on capturing the

ideas of employees and securing their commitment (Beardwell and Claydon, 2006).

Questions 19 and 20: “Many times during the peak hours when customers are numerous, our

supervisors join us in the front to attend to customers” and “Even though we have superiors, the truth

is that everyone is treated with mutual respect as fellow team-members”.

Relationship between Supervisors and junior colleagues

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid Strongly Agree 75 62.5 62.5 62.5 Agree 24 20.0 20.0 82.5 Neutral 1 .8 .8 83.3

Disagree 20 16.7 16.7 100.0 Total 120 100.0 100.0

Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2012

Espirit De Corp


Cumulative Percent


Disagree5 4.2 4.2 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2012Interpretation of findings: Supervisor’s support is as important as organizational support to

employees. The tables above shows that supervisors in Access bank are largely seen as supportive

and also treat other employees with mutual respect which is sine qua non of any team-work. Cufaude

(2004) argues that when managers employ a philosophy of ‘servant-leadership’ whereby a manager’s

primary role is supportive and serving those around them, the environment becomes highly engaged.

Question 21: The physical environment in my workplace is highly suitable for the job I’m doing.

Physical Environment suitability

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


4 3.3 3.3 100.0


Interpretations of Findings: Physical environment of the workplace can be seen as a hygiene factor

which does not motivate high performance but absence of which may lead to de-motivation.

Question 22: My Colleagues are highly efficient.

Opinion on fellow colleagues

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


5 4.2 4.2 100.0


Interpretation of Findings: The tables above shows that Access bank employees thinks highly of

their fellow colleagues as being highly efficient. The relationship between employees and their

opinion of co-workers goes a long way in determining the level of job –turnover in an organization

which is key driver of employee engagement. In their study, Walter and Buch (2008) has it that

positive group affective similarity and within group relationship quality are reciprocally related in the

form of a self reinforcing spiral which is driven by mechanism of affective sharing and affective

similarity –attraction between group members. This positive group effect spiral is proposed to

strengthen both the similarity of group members’ positive effect and the quality of their interpersonal

relationship (2008:12).

Question 23: I get the opportunity to do what I do best everyday at work.

Job-Ability Congruence

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


5 4.2 4.2 100.0


Figure 4.


Job-Ability Congruence

Interpretation of findings: The person-environment fit addresses the question of whether the

individual employee have an opportunity to do what they do best in their current roles(Harter,

Schmidt and Keyes, 2002:7). This is key driver of employee engagement which will in turn have

significant impact on service quality as employees have the chance to do what fits their talents,

qualifications and interest. The tables above shows that employees in Access bank largely agrees that

they have the opportunity to do what they do best at work.

Question 24: There is someone at work who encourages my development.

Professionl/Personal Development Encouragement level

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


5 4.2 4.2 100.0


Interpretation of findings: The tables above shows that majority of the employees agree that there

is somenone at work that encourages there growth and and development at workplace. More insight

to this shall be gotten from the next question.

Question 25: I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow in the last one year.

Personal Development Opportunities

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


15 12.5 12.5 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0


Interpretation of Findings: To the question of having had opportunities at work to learn and grow

in the last one year, more than half of the respondents agree while sizable few remain neutral. This

question is a follow-up to the previous one and it is know if the Bank encourages employees’

personal growth and development. Acccording to Harter Schmidt and Keyes (2002), creation of an

environment in which employees have opportunities to discuss progress and growth leads to positive

emotions that can build intellectual resources at work. According to Deci and Ryan (1987), when

management is supportive of an employee’s self-determination, the trust between the two parties is

enhanced.

Question 26 and 27: “I intend to quit this company in the next six months if the opportunity

appears” and “If I quit this job today, it will be difficult to get another related job with same level of

pay”.

Intention to leave

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid Strongly Agree 2 1.7 1.7 1.7Agree 8 6.7 6.7 8.3Neutral 26 21.7 21.7 30.0Disagree 1 .8 .8 30.8Strongly Disagree

83 69.2 69.2 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2012Figure 4.

Intention to leave6.005.004.003.002.001.000.00

Freq

uen

cy

100

80

60

40

20

0

Intention to leave

Mean =4.29Std. Dev. =1.118

N =120

Figure 4.

Labour Market Opportunities6.005.004.003.002.001.000.00

Freq

uen

cy

80

60

40

20

0

Labour Market Opportunities

Mean =4.28Std. Dev. =1.124

N =120

Interpretation of Findings: The two questions are posed to determine if employees intends to stay

and make a career within the bank and at the same time now if such decision is based on choice or by

realities in the labour market as perceived by each respondent. The results of the fist question shows

that employees demonstrated a high degree of willingness to stay with the bank while the second

question shows that employees intends to stay out of choice and not because they will not find a job

that is at least on the same level with their present job at the bank. Perhaps the most veritable

indicator an engaged workforce is rate of intention to stay in relation to Labour market opportunities.

Therefore the fact that most respondents agreed largely to the fist question and largely disagreed to

the second shows there is high level of engagement among the employees. According to Hallberg

and Schaufeli, (2006) more engaged employees will display higher levels of affective commitment

and lower levels of intention to leave intention to leave the organization than their less engaged

colleagues. Christian and Slaughter (2006), also show a negative relationship between engagement

and turnover intentions.

Question 28: I get rotated between departments and roles regularly.

Human Resource Stategy


Cumulative Percent


90 75.0 75.0 75.0



Interpretation of findings: The tables above shows that most responds strongly agree that they are

rotated regularly between jobs and roles regularly. According to Sak (2006) job enrichment and role

fit are possible predictors of engagement.

Question 29: When compared to the industry standard I am well remunerated for my job.

Competitiveness of Reward and Pay

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


4 3.3 3.3 100.0


Interpretation of findings: Remuneration and pay item are posed as follow up on intention to leave.

The tables above show that most respondents agree that remuneration is well above industry standard

thus making the bank a great place to work.

Question 30: The recruitment process is independent, fair and based on genuine need and merit.

Recruitment

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


3 2.5 2.5 100.0


Interpretation of findings: The tables above show that a significant majority of the respondents

agree that the recruitment process is fair and based on merit. This is key indicator of organizational

distributive and procedural justice which according Saks (2006) is an antecedent of engagement and

for this study could also be an indirect predictor of service quality excellence. According to Niehoff

and Moorman (1993) distributive justice is the degree to which rewards are allocated in an equitable

manner and procedural justice refers to the degree to which those affected by allocation decisions

perceive them to have been made according to fair methods and guidelines

Question 31: I was well trained and inducted into the operation process when I joined the bank.

Adequacy of Training and Induction at Entry

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


3 2.5 2.5 100.0

Total 120 100.0 100.0 Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2012Figure 4.


Adequacy of Training and Induction at Entry

Interpretation of Findings: The tables above show that a significant majority of the respondents

agree that they were well trained and inducted into the operational process of the bank when they

joined it. Training and induction enhances the meaningfulness of the job and the role of the employee

in achieving the job’s specifics. This is also in line with Hackman and Oldham (1975) already cited,

which states that perceived meaningfulness of a job depends on the presence of three core job

dimensions- Skill variety, task identity and task significance.

Question 32: The grievance resolution structure is visible, accessible and fair to all employees and customers.

Employee Voice and Grievance Resolution Mechanism

Frequency Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent


90 75.0 75.0 75.0

Agree 23 19.2 19.2 94.2 Neutral 7 5.8 5.8 100.0 Total

120 100.0 100.0

Source: Author’s field survey, 2012

Employee Voice and Grievance Resolution Mechanism3.503.002.502.001.501.000.50

Freq

uen

cy

100

80

60

40

20

0

Histogram

Mean =1.31Std. Dev. =0.577

N =120

Figure 4.

Interpretation of Findings: The tables above shows that most respondents agree that there is

efficient and visible grievance reolution mechanism that is accessible to all employees and customer.

It must be noted that employees would not have agreed to this question if it is non existence or

ineffectual. This also underscores the concept of organizational justice discussed in the previous

question.

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND

RECOMMENDATION

5.0 Introduction

In this chapter, the summary of the discussions in the previous chapter is provided as well as the

conclusion of the study , recommendations and suggestions for future studies.

5.1 Summary of the study

The aim of the study is to understand how and to what extent does employee engagement constitute

antecedents to service quality excellence in the Nigerian Banking Industry, with Access Bank Plc as

case study.

Chapter one introduced the topic of the research. The chapter stated the aims and the objectives of

the research, the need for study, significance of study, brief information about the study organisation

and its industry were all discussed.

Chapter two reviewed previous literature of some authors on employee engagement and service

excellence. The chapter discussed largely what constitutes employee engagement, its predictors and

set the study within the theoretical frameworks of the various job satisfaction theories and the Social

Exchange Theory. Job satisfaction can affect labour market behavior and influence work

productivity, work effort, employee absenteeism and staff turnover. Job satisfaction has been

discovered to be a strong predictor of overall individual well-being. The social exchange theory

posits that all human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefits analysis and the

comparison of alternatives.

Chapter three presented the research methods used in carrying out this research. The participants in

the research organisation were chosen randomly, and most of them were highly skilled employees.

Questionnaires were administered to 120 employees in order to have their views and also to get first

hand information. The statistical tool chosen to analyse the data collected was with the use of SPSS

(Statistical Package for Social Sciences).

Chapter four also presented in detail the data analysis and its interpretation. With the use of SPSS,

frequencies and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data collated in order to achieve the

aims and objectives of the research.

5.2 Summary of Findings

This section presents the key findings of the research which shows the level and the extent that

employee engagement act as antecedent to service quality excellence.

5.2.1 Discussion of Empirical Findings

The fact that more than 70% strongly agreed that they believe that their job is central to the

customer’s financial wellbeing shows a high degree of organizational service orientation. According

to Wrzesniewski et al (1997) employees that can connect their work to a larger meaningful mission

or purpose of the overall organization are likely to have higher levels of interest. This is much better

when such interest is directed towards the customer. In addition, the study had further extended the

concept of organizational service orientation, which had been linked to employees attitudes such as

organizational commitment (Lytle and Timmerman, 2006), job satisfaction and organizational

citizenship behavior (Gonzalez and Gerazo, 2006), as a sine qua non of a service organization. It

must however be noted that employees’ perception of the relationship of their roles with the customer

cannot be seen as a ‘stand-alone construct’. Hence it has to be examined in relationship with their

perception of the criticality of their roles within various aspects of the service delivery ladder. 85% of

the respondents agreed that the failure of the bank will affect them directly. Therefore this fact

creates an high motivation for the employee identify with the corporate mission and goal. This is the

task significance element of Hackman and Oldham (1975) three dimensions of meaningfulness of

job.

Only 8.3% disagreed to seeing themselves working in the bank in the next three to five years with

expanded roles and responsibilities while around 40% were neutral. It must be noted that Men and

women do not come to work-places just to work as they also come there to make and build a career.

This shows that the employees believe that there are opportunities to build a career in the Bank and

perceive that there are such opportunities in the bank . A focus on achieving career outcomes is

certainly far superior to just drifting as it lifts employees out of the inertia and dullness that would

envelope them other otherwise. The employees’ perception on career opportunities in the bank is best

placed alongside other variables. Question three states that “ the Bank values hardwork, goodwork

and commitment and recognizes such when found in any member of staff”. This shows that the Bank

engage its employees by upholding procedural justice. According to Gaertner and Nollen (1998) the

successful organization is likely to be one that can manage employment practices and perceptions of

those practices by all groups of employees in a way that results in positive job related outcomes. The

person-environment fit addresses the question of whether the individual employee have an

opportunity to do what they do best in their current roles(Harter, Schmidt and Keyes, 2002:7). This is

key driver of employee engagement which will in turn have significant impact on service quality as

employees have the chance to do what fits their talents, qualifications and interest. This variable is

measured by the questionnaire 23, “ I get the opportunity to do what I do best everyday at work”.

That 69.2 % of the respondents strongly disagreed and 21.7% remained neutral when asked if they

intend to quit the company in the next six months if the opportunity appears only tends to reinforce

the perception that employees have high intention to build a career and stay with the bank, and this is

not because they were constrained by the structure of the labour market. 69% also strongly disagreed

to the view that if they quit their jobs today, it will be difficult to get another related job with same

level of pay”.

75% of the respondents agreed that it is not unusual for the staff members to brag about the bank

being the best place to work and do business. Organizational advocacy is significant element of

organizational citizenship behavior and it goes a long way in driving up service quality. The

tendency of organizational citizenship behavior has been directly linked with higher levels of

engagement among employees according to Dyne and Graham (1994).

81.7% of the respondents are neutral when asked that is it true that customers are always right and

whether they will be sanctioned severely if they violate rules and established procedures so as to

cater for a customer’s legitimate request The question was posed to test the level of power that

employees enjoy to make decisions under uncertainty and also to balance organizational interest with

customer delight. It must be noted that this situation carries an element of risk and it depends on the

level of trust that the organization has in its workforce. This shows that the Bank largely empowers

its employees to use their discretion on good judgment, while the employees are aware of this fact

and would largely be guided by the situation on ground. According to Conger and Kanungo (1988),

employee empowerment would be able to give employee a control over job related situation and

decisions. Hartline et al(2000) submitted that with this control, employees are able to be flexible and

adaptive in the face of changing customer needs and resulting in customer oriented behavior.

60% of the respondents are neutral when asked whether if the standard rules apply, no matter the

uniqueness the situation. This perhaps suggests that the type of customer’s needs will play a crucial

role in this situation but they will have organizational support for their position. Organizational

support goes a long way in engaging employees and thereby increasing service quality as employees

are assured of support. Saks (2005) showed that perceived supervisor support is antecedent of

employee engagement and this can have significant impact customer service quality. Herkett etal

(1996:164) has it that service managers are cognizant of the fact that frontline workers and customers

need to be the center of the management’s concern.

54.2% of the respondents are neutral when asked “No matter our individual and collective resolve,

suggestions and opinion in this branch office, the head-office always have its way at all times and

going against the head-office is highly risky” . The fact that respondents were largely neutral to the

above question shows that frontlline employees at the input into the overall direction of the

organization in some situations which is supported and encouraged by the head office. This situation

is called political will defined by Kutty (2008) as when people decide together to do things by

coming together on a platfoam. The fact this was encouraged is in line with the principle of political

authority which according to Kutty (2008) is the will of the authority to back and implement the

collective decision. 70.8% of the respondents disagreed when asked It does not matter if the

customer is delayed infinitely but when I’m not certain about a situation, even if no harm will be

done, I must refer the issue to my superiors as I can’t use my discretion at all”. This shows the level

of individual empowerment felt by employees and the fact that a majority strongly disagreed with the

stated notion shows the degree of empowerment enjoyed by the frontline staff. According to Lawler

and Worley(2006) for a high involvement work practices to be effective, and for it to have a positive

impact on employee engagement, employees must be given power as they argued that this will lead

to employees having the ability to make decisions that are important to their performance and to the

quality of the of their working lives, thus engaging them in their works. They further contend that

power can mean having final authority and accountability for decisions and their outcomes because

involvement is maximized when the highest level of power is pushed down to the employees that

have to carry out the decision, resulting in gaining maximum level of engagement possible from

employees.

57.5% of the respondents are neutral when asked whether all the Bank cares about is its profits and

business position and employees are just mere tools to achieve this objective. Employee welfare is a

significant component of the exchange that occurs within the employer-employee relationship. 80%

of the respondents agreed that when compared to the industry standard they are well remunerated for

their jobs. 80% of the respondents also agreed that the bank’s recruitment process is independent,

fair and based on genuine need and merit. According to Johnson (2011:25), HRM practices have

been found to have a strong relationship with Employee Engagement and these practices pertain to

performance appraisal, benefits, reward, compensation, development and labour relations. Therefore

employees who perceive their organizations as having sound and satisfactory HRM practices may be

exchanging or paying back to their respective organizations by being positive, courteous and

hospitable toward customers (Tsaur and Lin, 2004). Salary level has also been revealed as being

significantly associated with organizational performance for both manager and non-managers (Fey,

Bjorkman and Pavlovskaya, 1988). Schneider etal (1985) had also found out that employee

perception of HRM practices were significantly related to customer perceptions of service quality.

This is demonstrated by the around 50% rate of the respondents that agreed and 35% neutral when

asked if they can call or call on a customer at their cost without option of reimbursement if a

customer filled a request form wrongly or possibly might need a service.

65% of the respondents agreed while 35% strongly agreed that the Bank has enough technology to

complement their efforts of serving the customers. 31.7% of the respondents strongly agreed, 37.5%

agreed and 13.3 % are neutral when asked if the customers are well motivated to use self-help

technologies like ATM, Internet banking , Call-centres . Around 50% of the respondents

agreed and 35% neutral when asked if the internet connection, software and hardware have always

been reliable for my customer service operations. Job performance is enhanced when delays are

eliminated from business process. Basic needs in the workplace start with clarity of expectation and

basic materials and equipment being provided. To some extent, when these needs are met, it reflects

the credibility of the organization to the employee. Bart (1998); Bart, Bontis and Taggar (2001)

submit that the degree to which an organization aligns its internal policies, structure and procedures

with its mission was positively associated with employee behavior which in turn had the most direct

relationship with financial performance.

More than 90% of the respondents agreed that if the bank had always carried out genuine CSR that

they really love and which keeps up with their beliefs and the aspirations of the external community.

Around 80% of the respondents agreed when asked if they have had opportunity to suggest CSR

initiatives and even if their suggestions have not been adopted ,will be adopted in future.

54.2 of the respondents are neutral while over 40% agreed when asked if the Bank values their

reports about customer needs and act on them at all times.

62.% of the respondents strongly agreed and 20% agreed that many times during the peak hours

when customers are numerous,their supervisors join them in the front to attend to customers. More

than 80 % of the respondents agreed that even though they have superiors, the truth is that everyone

is treated with mutual respect. This findings tends to support the view advocated in Church (1995)

that it is important that leaders create a service culture that will promote servce giving attitudes of

employees. Other studies have found that leadership behaviours of mangers are directly related to

service quality and performance at the unit level in organizations with attitudes of managers and

leaders shaping the service orientation of the organization( Berry, Parasuraman, Zeithaml, 1994). In a

study of study of airline service employees, it was found that employees’ satisfaction with leadership

and work demands were strongest predictor of service behavior.

More than 80% of the respondents thought that each of the fellow colleagues are highly efficient and

more than 80% of the respondents believed that they get the opportunity to do what they do best

everyday at work. The relationship between employees and their opinion of co-workers and the

suitability of the work physical environment goes a long way in determining the level of job –

turnover in an organization which is key driver of employee engagement. In their study, Walter and

Buch (2008) has it that positive group affective similarity and within group relationship quality are

reciprocally related in the form of a self reinforcing spiral which is driven by mechanism of affective

sharing and affective similarity –attraction between group members. This positive group effect spiral

is proposed to strengthen both the similarity of group members’ positive effect and the quality of

their interpersonal relationship (2008:12).

More than 80% of the respondents has the opinion that there is someone at work who encourages

their development. 45% are neutral while around 30% agreed that they have had opportunities at

work to learn and grow in the last one year. More than 70% of the respondents agreed that they

were well trained and inducted into the operation process when they joined the bank.Several studies,

for example Al-Emadi and Marquardt (2007), Bartlett (2001), Meyer and Smith (2000) and Hartline

and Jones (1996), have shown that there is significant relationship between various measures of

training and employee attitudes, especially higher level of employee service attitudes that been

strongly correlated with training. The importance of opportunities for such training is underscored by

Moorman and Felter (1990) by pointing out that influential situational characteristics to a great extent

reside at leadership levels.

Around 75% strongly agreed that the bank’s grievance resolution structure is visible, accessible and

fair to all employees and customers. Schneider and Bowen (1993) have shown that internal

organizational elements that are visible to employees spill over on the customers because of the

psychological and physical closeness that is encountered between both parties.

5.3 Conclusion

The above findings suggest that there is high level of employee engagement as shown by the low

intention to leave despite the fact that there is no constraint posed by the structure of the labour

market. In other words, the Access Banks employees demonstrated high intention to stay with the

bank because they have chosen to do so; because there are opportunities to make a career in the bank;

because the Human Resource Management Practices, a significant component of organizational

justice, is perceived to be fair and just by the employees; because the bank values the opinions of the

employees in relation to the business process and empowers them to make discretionary decisions

that will help the organization; because there are opportunities for personal development and learning

and the management also encourages such; and finally because through adequate training and

induction, the employees understand the mission of the Bank and the importance of their roles

towards achieving this mission.

Based on the above, the employees demonstrated engagement importantly by an high level of

commitment to superior customer service as most are ready to incur personal costs to help the

customers. This has shown that Access bank had managed to transform its employees into customers’

champions. Customer Champions are employees that are ready and motivated to serve the customer

and make his day [Kutty,2008:676). The customer champion organizations are peopled with

employees who have the eye for quality and that are ready and willing to go the extra-mile to satisfy

the customer. Therefore when employees are highly engaged in the financial services industry, the

customers are the top gainers as they are kept satisfied by the internal customers of the organization

who had in turn discovered that the only way to reward an organization to satisfies them both bodily

and spiritually is to repay by giving their best at their jobs.

From the foregoing it could be generally submitted that employee engagement tends to act as

antecedent to the achievement of service quality excellence in the Nigerian banking industry.

This study is a contribution to the extant studies on the drivers of service quality in the service

industry, especially the financial sector. According to Cronin and Taylor (1992), service quality, an

antecedent of customer satisfaction measures how well the level of service delivered is compatible

with the expectation of customers.

5.4 Theoretical Implications

The study had shown that, for employee engagement to be a successful driver of service quality

excellence, it had to be seeped within the organization culture and not as a one-off HR intervention

or program. This is demonstrated by the suggestion of grass-root ownership and contributions to

trivial issues like getting employee suggestions for CSR initiatives. Importantly the value placed by

the Bank on employee reports, the carte-blanche given to the branch office by the head office in

some issues all suggest an organizational culture of engagement. This had reinforced the theoretical

underpinnings of the study: Theories of Organization Culture and Social Exchange.

According to Bowen and Schneider (1988) and Gronroos (1990), the task of managing the

relationship between employees and customers requires a service oriented culture. In service

organizations, like banks, a strong and firmly rooted culture which develops an appreciation for good

services is very important. This is more so when it is realized that situations vary in that customers

behavior cannot be fully predetermined and standardized(Johnson, 2011:22). Therefore a service

oriented culture is needed to convey to employees how they should respond to new and unforeseen

circumstances. The study has shown that Access bank demonstrated a mastery of the service oriented

culture by equipping employees with discretionary powers as 60% of the respondents are neutral,

with a few disagreeing when asked whether if the standard rules apply, no matter the uniqueness the

situation. This perhaps suggests that the type of customer’s needs will play a crucial role in this

situation but they will have organizational support for their position.

The low intention to leave and the willingness to go extra-mile to satisfy the customer, perhaps

provides an insight into the employee side of the social exchange occurring between the employer

and employees. The research suggests that the employees are willing to make a career in the bank as

there are opportunities for such, understood there role in ensuring that the bank remains a going

concern and are ready to provide superior customer service. This is because the employees

understand that their jobs are crucial to customer’s financial wellbeing.

The major theoretical implication of this study is that it had extended the bilateral model of Social

Exchange Theory, that is employer-employee relations to a trilateral model of Employer-Employee-

Customer relations, with employees being at the centre and thus the critical path for the exchange of

values going on within the relationship portrayed.

5.5 Recommendations

Stephen R. Covey in his book, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness has it that people do

have and make choices, whether consciously or subconsciously. According to Covey(2004:22), their

choices can ascend incrementally from rebel or quit; engage in malicious obedient; willing

compliance; cheerful cooperation; heartfelt commitment; to the highest rung of creative excitement.

This study therefore recommends that:

In the time of global economic crises, it is the onus of the leadership of the financial services

organization to implement sound corporate governance because employees apart from

earning money desire the job security that will provide the opportunities to build career. If

unsound decisions by the corporate leadership lead to crises, experience has shown that it is

the hardworking frontline employees that become victim of downsizing or rightsizing. Hence

service organizations had to get it right from the beginning.

Stemming from above, the financial services organizations should understand that employees

are really the tangible product as they are the ones that translate the intended meanings of the

intangible services provided to the purchasing public. It is suggested that one-off HRM

programmes will not work as they will betray the temporariness of such interventions.

Therefore, what is needed is an organization culture of service orientation that is bent on

creating the much needed win-win scenarios at all times. The major problem that is being

witnessed in the Nigerian Insurance industry is that Insurance agents are not remunerated in

terms of basic salary at all, hence they lack the financial security to start-off in the business.

This had resulted into huge rate of agents turnover in that industry and the consequence is the

low market penetration by the insurance industries. In fact according to Okeke(2012) most

insurance companies in Nigeria depend and rely solely on government and institutional

patronage.

The greatest source of empowerment comes from adequate and consistent training and

mentorship programs. Financial service organizations should take training as the canon of the

business.

Finally it is necessary for financial services organizations should periodically carry out

organizational service climate surveys because as it has been noted several times, a hundred

years of business success does not determine the future success.

5.6 Limitations of the Study and Suggestions for future research

All research studies have limitations and this study is by no means an exception. The study largely

suffers from limitation imposed by methodology. The use of survey research design is accompanied

by several limitations that may have influenced the direction of the study. The study relied solely on

self-report questionnaire data and single source informants (employees at branch offices). As a result,

common method variance could have created possible threat to internal validity. According to Gall,

Gall and Borg,(2007), common method variance applies when variable are assessed using the same

research method. In addition participants could have misinterpreted questions or deliberately

answered questions falsely. When this happens, there is a threat to internal validity. Moreover

differences in individual motivation an knowledge of respondents are also limitations that are

inherent in surveys (Schneider, etal, 1996).

Based on the above limitations, the study suggests that the research should be extended to other areas

of financial service industry with emphasis on the adoption of other methods of data collection like

interviews, direct observations and focus group discussions to address the issue of limitations

suffered by relying solely on surveys. This will, however, involve deployment of higher level of

financial resources which is another limitation suffered by the present study.

CHAPTER SIX: LEARNING REVIEW

6.0 Introduction

This section presents the researcher’s learning review which is a part of the dissertation process.

Limitations, findings, expectations, strengths, and skills developed are discussed with some other

identified issues.

6.1 Review

The research had been intellectually renewing and interesting. This is because there were initial false

starts but with the help of the project supervisor, the researcher was able to be guided in the right

direction. At the end what had largely been tentative came to be empirically tested. Employee

engagement, in the view of the researcher is not a new HRM fad but is a concept that is defining

winning organizations in the new knowledge economy. Organizations that have discovered this key

to success will always achieve business success.

The researcher was exposed to insights in the area HR practices, especially employee enagement

from a practical point of view and the study had largely shown that as far as the financial services

industry is concerned, where the product remains inseparable from the mode of delivery or

distribution, employee engagement is the sole determiner of service quality. Employees personalize

good or bad service and it lies in the management to kindle the flame of creative excitement in their

employees or go on with business as usual.

The dissertation initially started with the topic “the impact of employee engagement of business

outcomes in the Nigerian financial services industry-A case study of Access Bank”. However with

the help of the supervisor, the researcher was able to firstly clarify the “business outcome” part of the

topic as profits, credit ratings, customer perception/loyalty. This approach however created a

problem as the supervisor logically showed that it will be virtually impossible to interview or sample

the opinions of customers. Besides, the supervisor also pointed out that there are several intervening

variables between employee engagement and the business outcomes issues identified above.

Consequently the topic witnessed metamorphosis until the researcher found out from literature

reviews that there is gap in scholarship between employee engagement and service quality. In fact

employee engagement in most literature materials tend to be treated as an end on it self and in cases

where it is identified as a means to an end, the extant studies in a large part glossed over the issue.

Therefore the research had been enlightening as it had contributed, howbeit in little way, to existing

knowledge on employee engagement, where it is the antecedent to service quality excellence in the

services industry.

The researcher encountered some limitations while on the course of the study. For example the

Access Bank Plc Officials did not provide the opportunity for employees to answer the qustioaire

during work hours. This invariably increased the research cost as the researcher had to return at

different times to retrieve the completed questionnaire. In fact, the researcher had to return to the

same branch more than twice because an employee forgot to bring the completed questionnaire from

home.

The feedback on the research outcome has been sent by email to the Group Head, Human Resources

Management, who initially gave the permission for the questionnaires to be administered on the

employees.

Om the whole, the researcher had learnt critical reasoning, problem analysis and a high level report

writing skills. The researcher had also been exposed to dexterity in the use of search engines to get

needed journal materials for the study. In fact the study relied 100% on online journal materials.

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APPENDIX I

DEPARTMENT OF -----------------------------------------------------

FACULTY OF ----------------------------------------------------------

MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY------------------------------------------

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Fasiku Abidemi and I am a student of the above named institution. I am conducting a

research in partial fulfillment of the requirements of M.A Human Resource Management and I need

you to answer the following questions honestly and within your ability. The research is strictly for

academic purpose and all responses will be treated with utmost confidentiality and care.

Thank you.

PART A: RESPONDENTS’ BIO-DATA

Please fill the below. Information you supply here shall strictly be treated confidentially.

Age: ……………………………………………………………………..

Sex: ………………………………………………………………………

Job Title…………………………………………………………………

Department…………………………………………………………………...

Branch Location: ………………………………………………………….

Do you supervise anyone[answer YES or NO]…………………………….

Part B: I would like to get your opinion concerning your work in Access Bank Plc. This part deals extensively with your experience on the job as well as your general career objectives. You do not need to answer any question that you feel you do not want to answer. However what is needed

is simply your views and feelings concerning your job experience your job experience. Strict confidentiality of responses is assured. There are no right or wrong answers so please tick the answer you feel is appropriate. Thank you

S/No Questions SD D N A SA1 My work in this Bank is central to our customers’

financial wellbeing2 I see myself working in this bank in the next 3-5 years

with expanded roles and responsibilities3 The Bank values hardwork, good-work and

commitment and recognizes such when found in any staff member.

4 I understand that the failure of this Bank will affect me directly as our customers are protected by the government laws and provisions.

5 It is not unusual for Staff members [including me] to brag about the bank being the best place to work and to do business

6 It is true that ‘Customers are always right’ but I will be severely sanctioned if I violate rules and established procedures if I help a customer fix a legitimate problem

7 No matter the uniqueness of the situation, the standard rules applies at all times when dealing with customers.

8 Even if it is in ultimate benefit of the Bank, I will have no supervisor to back me up, if I take a unilateral position relating to a customer need

9 No matter our collective resolve, suggestions and opinion in this Branch office, the head-office always have its way at all time and going against the head-office directive is highly risky

10 All that the Bank cares about is its profits and business position. Employees are just mere tools to achieve this objective

11 It does not matter if the customer is delayed infinitely but when I’m not certain about a situation, even if no harm will done, I must refer the issue to my superiors as I can’t use my discretion at all

12 The Bank has enough technology to complement my effort of serving the customers

13 The customers are well motivated to use self-help technologies like ATM, Internet banking and Call-centres and only some of the issues are resolved in the Banking hall

14 The internet connection and the Software have always been reliable for my customer service operations

15 I can call or call on a customer at my cost without

option of reimbursement if a customer filled a request form wrongly or possibly might need a service,.

16 The Bank had always carried out genuine CSR that I really love and keeps up with my beliefs and the aspirations of the external community

17 I have had opportunity to suggest CSR initiatives and even if mine suggestions have not been adopted, I believe that mine can be adopted in future

18 The Bank values our reports about customer needs and act on them at all times

19 Many times during the peak hours when customers are numerous, our supervisors join us in the front to attend to customers

20 Even though we have superiors, the truth is that everyone is treated with mutual respect as fellow team members.

21 The physical environment in my workplace is highly suitable for the job I’m doing

22 My Colleagues are highly efficient 23 I get the opportunity to do what I do best everyday at

work24 There is someone at work who encourages my

development 25 I have had opportunities at work, learn and grow in

the last one year26 I intend to quit this company in the next six months if

the opportunity appears27 If I quit this job today, it will take me years to get

another related job with same level of pay28 I get rotated between departments and roles regularly 29 When compared to the industry standard I am well

remunerated for my job.30 The recruitment process is independent, fair and

based genuine need and merit31 I was well trained and inducted into the operation

process when I joined the bank32 The grievance voicing and resolution mechanism is

visible and accessible to all staff members and customers.

Documents

Employee Engagement