Antecedents of Employee Engagement in the Manufacturing Sector

The purpose of this study is to find the antecedents that influence employee engagement, as the organizational performance deteriorated due to high turnover and related issues such as high absenteeism, low loyalty and productivity. This exploratory research was conducted among employee working in manufacturing sector to test the relationship between the antecedents comprising of employee communication, employee development, reward and recognition and extended employee care. The data was gathered through structured questionnaire. The researcher used statistical inference, more precisely Multiple Regression to test the relationship between variables. The result indicates that there is a significant relationship between antecedents comprising of employee communication, employee development, reward and recognition and extended employee care. Among the antecedents, employee development forms the most significant contributor. This study was based on manufacturing companies in general, hence the attributes unique to a particular industry within manufacturing cannot be uncovered. The data for this research though structured questionnaire was collected directly from employees working in various manufacturing sector across Penang, Malaysia. It provides the first hand information on relationship between Antecedents and Employee engagement.