An Assessment of Employee Engagement at Work: Evidence from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation was to assess factors essential for employee engagement by drawing evidence from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Employee engagement is a broad term that encompasses employee motivation and organisational commitment, several theories such as Abraham Maslow’s theory of needs and Penna theory had provided factors (pay, salaries, working conditions, leadership, promotional opportunities, meaning at work) which leads to employee motivation, organisational commitment and employee engagement. This study thus tried to apply these factors to the NNPC to discover if there is a correlation, thereby authenticating the Maslow’s or Penna Theory. The study adopted the qualitative methodology which used the interpretivist research philosophy, and the qualitative survey as a research strategy. The study further collected data through semi-structured interviews conducted with 8 participants of the NNPC. The study used thematic analysis to analyse data and present its findings. The study discovered that both Maslow and Penna’s theory were significant for employee engagement, however, factors noted by Penna’s theory was more accurate in explaining employee engagement, as the participants revealed that they were adequately motivated in their workplace due to pay, salaries and working conditions. They also revealed that they were committed to their organisation based on the credibility of promotional opportunities and attitude of leadership. Furthermore, they displayed high levels of employee engagement due to attaining meaning at work via their attitude to work, attitudes to other employees and organisational values. The study thus recommends that the factors as postulated by the Penna’s theory be reinforced and strengthened in the NNPC to provoke greater levels of motivation, commitment and engagement. Also, the research recommends that a quantitative research should be carried out to investigate the potency of the Penna’s theory on a wider range of employees, this will enable the ability to generalise the findings of the accuracy and authenticity of Penna’s theory.