Employee Engagement in Turbulent Times: The Case of a Pharmaceutical Organisation in Lebanon

Abstract

To survive in a competitive world, organisations depend on their employees. Previous studies showed that engaging employees increases productivity and drives organisational success. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory thesis was to investigate the phenomenon of employee engagement in a pharmaceutical organisation in Beirut, Lebanon. This study aims to understand how employee engagement is defined by participants in the selected organisation. Another aim is to explore employee engagement strategies implemented by PHARM from managers’ perspectives. Also, the drivers of employee engagement from employees’ perspectives were explored. This study applied qualitative methodology based on constructivist grounded theory as an epistemological perspective guiding a single case study approach. Five managers and twenty employees working in different departments in PHARM participated in face to face semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data revealed three themes: multifaceted employee engagement definition, strategies of employee engagement, and drivers of employee engagement. Some factors that affect negatively employee engagement include work load, time flexibility, favoritism, unfairness and mistrust. The contribution of this study to theory includes a new definition of employee engagement using Macey and Schneider (2008) conceptual model. The contribution to practice includes the construction of a model of employee engagement drivers that would help PHARM engage their employees. Further quantitative research is recommended on the topic of employee engagement definitions, strategies and drivers in the Lebanese pharmaceutical sector in order to support the research findings