Summary
The beneficial effect of strong attachment by employees to their organizations, as manifested by decreased withdrawal behavior (i.e., absenteeism and turnover) and increased loyalty and commitment, has been aptly chronicled in the management literature. Less well investigated and documented is what impact, if any, the dynamic demographic changes in the U.S. workforce have had on that relationship. We used simple logit regression analysis, ordinary least squares regression analysis, and ordered logit regression analysis to analyze data from 1,252 respondents to a nationwide survey to examine the comparative effect of race/ethnicity and attachment (as measured by employee engagement) on a precursor of withdrawal behavior (perceived discrimination), actual withdrawal behavior (days missed), and a withdrawal predictor (intent to remain). Among the significant results, Black and Latino respondents reported significantly higher levels of perceived discrimination than did White respondents, while the level of perceived discrimination reported by Asian respondents did not differ significantly from that of White respondents. Employee engagement was negatively correlated with perceived discrimination and absenteeism, and positively correlated with intent to remain. Employee engagement did not significantly differ by race/ethnicity status. We discuss implications of our findings for organizational research and practice.
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Extract
Comparative Effects of Race/Ethnicity and Employee Engagement On Withdrawal Behavior
An old saw about productivity goes along the lines of "90% of success is just showing up." Nowhere is this truer than when one considers the role of employee attendance at work. If employees don't "show up," whether on a temporary basis via absenteeism or permanently by way of turnover, then "success" (i.e., productivity) is negatively impacted. The exorbitant costs of this withdrawal behavior have been well-chronicled in the management literature (e.g., "Cost of Lost Productivity," 2000; Johnson, 2000; Steers and Porter, 1991). Thus, it is not surprising that ways to motivate employee attendance and retention have been widely studied in academic research (e.g., Branham, 2006; Markham and McKee, 1995; Renstch and Steel, 1998). Another form of not "showing up" occurs when the employee, though physically present, because of various psychological states (dissatisfaction with the job, supervisor, coworkers, etc.), is "absent" from the job from a mental standpoint (e.g., Zellars et al, 2004). This mental disconnect, in combination with literal absence, constitute a detachment from the organization (i.e., a lack of attachment to the organization).
The benefits of organizational commitment as an employee attachment phenomenon are without serious dispute. From an attitudinal perspective, organizational commitment has been described asthe relative strength of an individual's identification with and involvement in a particular organization, which is characterized by belief in and acceptance of organizational values, willingness to exert effort on behalf of the organization, and a desire to maintain membership in the organization (Mowday et al, 1982: 27).Research on employees' commitment to their organizations has established a positive relationship between commitment and organizationallydesired outcomes such as job satisfaction (Bateman and Strasser, 1984) and work attendance (Mathieu and Zajac, 1990). Similarly, organizational commitment has been found to have an inverse correlation with both absenteeism and turnover (Cotton and Tuttle, 1986).Another construct that shares theoretical ground with organizational commitment is employee engagement. Although myriad definitions exist for employee engagement (Finn...See the full content of this document
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