An Exploration of Engagement Levels in Permanent and Contingent Workers, with a Focus on Psychological Contract and Industry Type

The traditional employment relationship as it was once known, full time, permanent ‘job for life’ type roles are becoming progressively less prevalent in modern organisations. Businesses are choosing to adopt non-standard work arrangements, for increased flexibility in their workforce. This research attempts to further explore the dynamic of temporary and permanent employees in the workplace, with specific focus on the engagement and psychological contracts. The research also concentrates on exploring if these variables differ dependent on the industry; at present there is not an abundance of research or literature with a focus on variances across different industries. It is the hope that this research will provide great practical intelligence for leaders and managers within organisations to better understand the employer-employee relationship for contingent and permanent employees; it is the hope that this information be utilised to adapt HR practices and management styles to suit the psychological contracts of employees, in order to maintain an engaged and productive workforce, whether that be in an industrial or commercial organisation. The study involved a sample of workers from two separate client organisations, an industrial and a commercial, which included both temporary and permanent employees. The sample were surveyed to assess their engagement levels and asked questions relating to the measurement of psychological contract. The hypotheses were tested using general linear and non-parametric analysis. The results demonstrated that the engagement levels for temporary and permanent employees, do not differ significantly, contrasting many of the concepts suggested in previous literature. The data also shows that more permanent employees perceive relational psychological contract obligations, as opposed to temporary employees; which offers insight into the types of exchange relationships present. However, in terms of the variance across industries, the results do not offer significant evidence to suggest that the engagement level or types of psychological contracts present in temporary or permanent employees, differ depending on the industry they are working in