THE IMPACT OF ENGAGEMENT ON SUSTAINABILITY OF CAR DEALERSHIPS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The automotive industry with its dealerships in South Africa, has the potential to contribute to domestic economic growth, create jobs and stimulate economic competition. However, the industry faces several challenges that affect its long-term viability, organisational outcome and sustainability. Employee exposure to psychological stress and insufficient job resources impact negatively on engagement and organisational outcome. This study examined the influence of job demands and job resources on employee work engagement and work engagement on the sustainability of car dealerships in South Africa. It identified a gap in the literature in the correlation between work engagement and its impact on organisational sustainability outcomes. Against this background, the primary objective of this study was to measure the effect of engagement on the sustainability of car dealerships in South Africa. A quantitative research paradigm was applied and a sample of sales and service employees working in dealerships in South Africa was drawn. An online survey was conducted and a total of 375 usable questionnaires were returned for statistical analysis. The validity of the scales was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha values for the individual study variables. The validity of the scales was confirmed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The collected data were also subjected to several statistical analyses. These included descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product moment correlations, multiple regression analysis (MRA) and the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The majority of the respondents agreed regarding their experience of work engagement at the dealerships. The regression analyses showed that mental demands, social support and autonomy have significant positive influence on work engagement. A significant positive correlation was also identified between work engagement and sustainability. The results also showed that some of the demographic variables examined in this study had significant impact on the level of work engagement. In light of the findings of this study, several recommendations were made to increase the level of work engagement of employees and the sustainability of the dealerships in order to support the achievement of the company’s goals and visions. KEY WORDS: Car dealerships, job demands, job resources, mental demands, emotional demands, pace and amount of work, social support, autonomy, development resources, work engagement, Triple Bottom Line, sustainability, community engagement, pollution prevention, profitability, organisational outcome