An examination of the key drivers influencing employee engagement in a declining outsourcing company in Dublin

This study seeks to examine the key drivers of employee engagement in a declining outsourcing company in Dublin. The aim of the study is to identify the current engagement levels of a sub group of employees with a specialist skillset, and understand what impact the Company decline has on employee engagement. The research was prompted by the lack of employee engagement monitoring by the Company in recent years, where previously it was surveyed on a bi-annual basis. The author is presently employed by the Company. The research strategy adopted was a quantitative, deductive approach using an online survey. The survey requested respondents’ views on five key drivers of engagement: Leadership, Communication, Organisational Support, Learning and Development and Environment. These drivers were found to be the most common drivers of employee engagement surfacing in the literature. The survey findings strongly support that these drivers influence engagement levels. Results revealed that only half of the respondents are engaged and there is considerable scope for improvement. The results of the survey showed that respondents placed a strong emphasis on feeling safe in the work environment by having close working relationships with their line manager and colleagues. Respondents want to feel that they have someone to confide in without fear of negative consequences, during the decline period. Opportunities for development, together with having both upward and downward communication between leadership and employees, were also seen as important factors influencing engagement levels. Both descriptive and inferential statistics through SPSS, were used to illustrate the findings from the survey. The findings indicate that it is important to monitor employee engagement at every stage of the company lifecycle. This study will contribute to the literature on employee engagement in declining companies