The Art of Engaging Unionised Employees (eBook)

Jan Hendrick Nel has 22 years of experience as a HR generalist and spent the last 10 years in a professional services environment as HR Director for BDO, South Africa.Bennie Linde is an Associate Professor at the North-West University in South Africa. He is a member of the School of Industrial Psychology and Human Resource Management at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.

Contents 5
About the Authors 6
Acronyms 7
List of Figures 8
List of Tables 9
Chapter 1: Introduction 10
Literature Review Method 14
References 18
Chapter 2: The Emergence of the Employee Engagement Concept 20
The History of Employee Engagement 22
The Psychology of Employee Engagement 25
The Meaning of Employee Engagement 30
Predominant Employee Engagement Definitions 30
Defining Employee Engagement 32
Employee Engagement as a Unique Construct 34
Employee Engagement Frameworks 34
Need-Satisfying Approach 35
Burnout-Antithesis Approach 36
The Job Demands-Resource Model (JD-R) 37
The Affective Shift Model 38
Social Exchange Theory (SET) 38
Measuring Employee Engagement 39
References 40
Chapter 3: Antecedents and Outcomes Associated with High Levels of Engagement 44
Antecedents of Engagement 45
Outcomes of Engagement 49
Cost of Engagement 50
References 51
Chapter 4: Circumstances That Influence Engagement in a Unionised Environment 54
The Employee-Organisation Relationship (EOR) 54
The Psychological Contract and Engagement 56
The Employment Relationship and Engagement 58
Creating an Employment Environment for Engagement 59
Employment Regulations 59
External Influences on the Employment Environment 60
The Changing Nature of Labour Relations: Opportunities and Challenges for Trade Unions 61
The Emergence of a New Global Labour Order 61
Globalisation and Employment 62
Problems for Trade Unions 64
Labour Relations During Political Transitions 65
References 66
Chapter 5: Engaging Unionised Employees 69
Union Worker Dissatisfaction 70
The Changing Nature of Union Management Relations 71
Factors Associated with Good Union and Employer Relationships 72
Strategic Narrative 72
Trust and Integrity 73
Pluralist Tendencies 73
Environmental Factors 74
Collaborative Partnerships 74
Union Involvement 75
The Employment Relationships 76
Employee Voice 77
Employee Participation 78
Human Resources Management Practices 80
Leadership and Line Manager Behaviour 81
High-Performance Work Organisations and Environments 82
References 84
Chapter 6: Framework for Engaging Unionised Employees 89
Findings 89
How Has Engagement Been Defined and Conceptualised Within the Academic and Practitioner Literature? 90
What Do Academics and Practitioners Recognise as Conditions (Antecedents) for High Levels of Engagement (Outcomes)? 91
What Circumstances Influence Engagement Levels in a Unionised Environment? 93
What Approaches and Interventions Have the Greatest Potential to Create and Embed High Levels of Engagement in a Unionised Environment? 94
What Could a Framework for Engagement in a Unionised Context Look Like in Order to Increase Engagement Levels? 95
Propositions of a Conceptual Framework of Engagement 97
Framework of Engagement 101
References 103
Chapter 7: Discussion and Conclusion 108
Discussion 108
Contribution to Engagement Theory 111
Conclusion 112
References 113
References 116
Index 126