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Bachelor thesis: a literature review
"The effect of employee satisfaction on employee engagement in Asia."
Author: Milou Stoop
ANR: 316712
SNR: U1274741
Supervisor: Jolanda Botke
Second reader: Tina Peeters
Date: December 2019
Faculty: Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Human Resource Studies, Tilburg University
2
ABSTRACT
This literature review examines the impact of employee satisfaction on employee engagement
in the continent Asia. Employee engagement and employee satisfaction are essential concepts
for employees within organizations. Based on earlier research, they can lead to better
organizational performance. Previous literature showed that employee engagement could be
divided into three different aspects: cognitive, affective and behavioral. That literature has
mainly been focused on employee satisfaction and employee engagement in Europe. In contrast
to that this review will focus on employee satisfaction and employee engagement in Asia.
Therefore the research question of this review is: “What is the effect of employee satisfaction
on employee engagement in Asian countries?” Relevant articles were retrieved from multiple
scientific databases (Google Scholar, WorldCat and Web of Science). Fifteen articles in total
were outlined on their essential findings and conclusions. The categorizing of the definitions of
employee satisfaction and employee engagement shows that employee loyalty is most often
used, after that employee commitment and employee identification are also used frequently. An
effect has been found for the influence of employee satisfaction on employee engagement, in
countries within the continent Asia. Factors like communication, immediate supervisor,
commitment, rewards and development programs can influence the effect of employee
satisfaction on employee engagement.
Keywords: employee engagement, employee satisfaction, Asia, engaged employees, job
satisfaction
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INTRODUCTION
Research shows that employee engagement can be a source of competitive advantage
for a company (Albrecht, Bakker, Gruman, Macey & Saks, 2015). Research by Mäkipää (2019)
shows that the majority of the employees in the workplace are not feeling engagement towards
their job and their organization; fifty-eight percent of the employees is not engaged. Mäkipää
(2019) also found that when business teams are highly engaged, the profit will be increased
with more than twenty-one percent. Organizations that have a high employee engagement
would have a performance that is outperforming the organizations with a low employee
engagement with 202 percent (The, 2017). Motivation, innovation, retention and productivity
rise when teamwork, alignment with goals, job satisfaction, workplace well-being, retention
and trust with co-workers take care of the improvement of employee engagement within the
organization (Mäkipää, 2019).
Employee engagement is the passion for work (Truss, Soane, Edwards, Wisdom, Croll
& Burnett, as cited in Abraham, 2012b). Truss et al. (2006) describe employee engagement as
a psychological state existing of the three dimensions of engagement mentioned by Kahn
(1990); the physically, cognitively and emotionally way of expressing themselves during their
job performances. According to Kahn (1990), employee engagement is the utilization of the
employees’ selves to their work roles. Fully engaged workers are according to Loehr and
Schwartz (2003) physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused, and feel
aligned with the purpose of the organization. Abraham (2012b) stated that employee
satisfaction is the key to employee engagement, and that because of the employee satisfaction
the performance of an engaged employee is exceptional.
Abraham (2012a) defined job satisfaction as an antecedent to employee engagement.
Kumar and Pansari (2015) define employee satisfaction as the positive reaction employees have
to their overall job circumstances (their supervisors, pay, and co-workers). The top four drivers
of employee satisfaction which are highlighted by Lavigna (2010) include effective leadership,
employee skills and mission match, work-life balance and training and development.
The influence of employee satisfaction on employee engagement is dependent on the
socio-cultural factors in an organization and country (Ferguson, 2007). Alas and Edwards
(2011) researched the work-related attitudes in Europe and Asia. The general satisfaction level
was measured in Asia and in Europe. They concluded that the general satisfaction level in Asia
was 2.79, while in Europe the general satisfaction level was between 2.17-2.70. Therefore the
general satisfaction level was shown to be a bit higher in Asia (Alas & Edwards, 2011). The
focus of this literature review is on the continent of Asia. This is because when searching for
4
literature in the databases the conclusion could be made that more research about employee
engagement and employee satisfaction was found in Europe, than research about employee
engagement and employee satisfaction in Asia.
The following research question is formulated:
“What is the effect of employee satisfaction on employee engagement in Asian countries?”
This study aims to provide an overview of the research on the effect of employee
satisfaction on employee engagement in Asia. Lee and Eissenstat (2013) said that employee
engagement is a topic which got attention in the last couple of years, but still, there is a lack of
academic research into this topic. According to Saks (2015), employee engagement has rarely
been studied in Asia, and therefore there is not much known about the consequences and the
antecedents of employee engagement in Asia. Hence, the scientific relevance of this research
is to give a clear overview of employee engagement and the influence of employee satisfaction
on employee engagement in Asia.
This literature review is also practically relevant. Employee engagement is one of the
focus points for organizations nowadays, in Europe as well as in Asia (Rana & Chopra, 2019).
This is because organizations have to deal with the increasing amounts of burnouts of
employees (Tottle, 2019). Crawford, LePine and Rich (2010) showed that when employees
have job resources, there is a relationship with the increase of employee engagement. Next to
that, those job resources will take care of a decrease in burnout chances. Andrew and Sofian
(2012) studied employee engagement in Malaysia, Asia. They concluded that when the
employee engagement is high in the organization, it will have a significant influence on the
productivity, strategy delivery and performance of the organization. The devotion and
commitment can only be reached when the employees will get the supportive resources they
need from their organization. Based on this literature overview, the HR-employees of
organizations in Asia could take the results of the influence on employee engagement into
account. The focus of a HR-manager within an organization could be on the categories of
employee engagement which will be described within this literature review. Employee loyalty
is an important category, and therefore the HR manager can take that category into account. In
that way the HR manager could make the concluding remarks of employee engagement of this
literature review, the focus points of the organization and create positive outcomes for their
organizational performance.
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METHOD
The research question will be answered with a systematic literature review. The main
concepts of this literature review are “employee engagement” and “employee satisfaction”. To
answer the research question, relevant articles were retrieved from the scientific databases Web
of Science, WorldCat, and Google Scholar. The keywords “Employee engagement”, “Engaged
employees”, “Asia”, “Employee satisfaction” and “Job engagement” were used in the databases
to find relevant literature. The keywords are shown in Table 1, below on this page. These
keywords were used in different combinations with “AND” to identify relevant articles.
At first, they were screened on the year of publication; the articles that are written in the
years 2009-2019 were used. A selection based on language was also made, only articles written
in English were used. This filter was used to avoid language barriers. The numbers of articles
that came out of this literature search are shown in the column ‘search outcome’ in Table 2.
The last filter that has been used is the country of the research. The country in which the
research has been done must have been a country in the continent Asia. The countries Jordan
and Saudi-Arabia are located in Southwest-Asia, which is also called the Middle East. In this
literature review, they are considered as countries located in the continent Asia. When the
keyword ‘Asia’ was filled in in the databases, the search outcomes were zero and one result.
Therefore the articles needed to be selected based on their title and abstract.
Table 1. Keywords
Employee engagement Employee engagement
Engaged employees
Job engagement
Employee satisfaction Employee satisfaction
Job satisfaction
Asia Asia
In the next step, the articles were screened for their relevance. The first selection was
made by selecting the articles that looked relevant after reading the title and the abstract. These
articles are shown in the second column of Table 2. The 48 articles that looked relevant after
reading the title and abstract were selected. Next up was reading the whole article to check if
the descriptions were given and if there was a direct effect of employee satisfaction on
employee engagement. The articles that came out of this selection are the articles shown in the
6
third column of Table 2. Fourteen articles were relevant after reading the whole articles, and
those articles were selected for the literature review.
To be considered as a relevant article, there needed to be a definition of employee
satisfaction, as well as employee engagement in the article. In addition to that, there needed to
be a direct effect of employee satisfaction on employee engagement. The last thing that needed
to be checked was whether the article is about employee satisfaction and employee engagement
in a country in Asia. Table 2 presents an overview of the search process.
Table 2. Literature search
Search outcome Articles relevant
after reading the
title + abstract
Articles relevant
after reading the
whole article
Google Scholar: “Employee
engagement” AND “Employee
satisfaction”
255 26 5
WorldCat: “Employee
engagement” AND “Employee
satisfaction”
162 12 3
WorldCat: “Employee
engagement” AND “job
satisfaction”
55 4 3
WorldCat: “Employee
engagement” AND “job
satisfaction” AND “Asia
1 0 0
Web of Science: “Employee
engagement” AND “Employee
satisfaction”
28 4 1
Web of Science: “Employee
engagement” AND “job
satisfaction”
20 2 2
Web of Science: “Employee
engagement” AND “job
satisfaction” AND “Asia
0 0 0
Total 521 48 14
7
Next to that, one article was retrieved via the reference list of one of the other articles.
This way of retrieving articles is known as snowball sampling (Goodman, 1961). By using
snowball sampling articles with the same subject are easier retrieved, because they are seen in
the reference list of another article that is written about the same subject (Goodman, 1961).
In the end, fifteen articles were selected and were used for this paper. In Table 3
(Appendix 1), the fifteen articles are summarized.
RESULTS
In order to give an extensive answer to the research question of this literature review, “What is
the effect of employee satisfaction on employee engagement in Asian countries?” the definitions
of employee satisfaction and employee engagement are identified. When the definitions are
classified, the effect of employee satisfaction on employee engagement will be discussed.
Definitions
In this section of the review, the concepts of employee satisfaction and employee
engagement will be defined. Table 4 (Appendix 2) gives a comprehensive overview of the
definitions and categories of employee satisfaction and employee engagement.
Employee satisfaction
The fifteen articles selected for this literature review, all contain a definition of
employee satisfaction. After the analysis, the definitions can be divided into three groups. The
first category is “the emotional state of the employee”, the second category is “the degree of
satisfaction with the overall job circumstances” and the third category is “the feelings and
attitudes that the employee has towards the job”.
The first group consists of articles in which employee satisfaction is defined as an
emotional state of the employee. This group includes articles in which authors describe this
form of employee satisfaction. This category differs from the other two categories by looking
at the total emotional state of the employee, instead of looking at the attitudes and feelings of
the employee at that moment. Emotions are defined by Hume (2012) as intense feelings that
are directed at something. The emotional state is, therefore, covering the definitions of intense
feelings that are ending in the emotional state of the employee. The authors that define this
category are: Abraham (2012a), Balasubramanian and Lathabhavan (2018), Basit and Arshad
(2016), Bin Shmailan (2016) and Kamalanabhan, Prakash Sai and Mayuri (2009). As an
8
example to define this state; when the employee is enjoying the job and gets a good feeling of
it, the employee will become in a positive emotional state, according to Basit and Arshad (2016)
and Kamalanabhan et al. (2009). But on the other side, when the job is creating a negative
emotional state within the employee, the satisfaction level of the employee will decrease
(Kamalanabhan et al., 2009).
The second group consists of articles in which employee satisfaction is defined as the
degree of satisfaction with the overall job circumstances. This way of describing employee
satisfaction is done by these authors: Abu-Shamaa, Al-Rabayah and Khasawneh (2015),
Bellani, Ramadhani and Tamar (2018), Chandani, Mehta, Mall and Khokhar (2016), Huang,
Ma and Meng (2018) and Kumar and Pansari (2015). Examples of job circumstances that have
an influence are: pay, promotion, supervision, benefit, rewards, operating condition, co-
workers, nature of works and communication (Bellani et al., 2018).
The third group of articles consists of articles in which employee satisfaction is defined
as the feelings and attitudes that the employee has got towards the job. The following authors
have described this form of employee satisfaction: Abraham (2012b), Ali and Farooqi (2014),
Garg, Dar and Mishra (2017), Monica and Krishnaveni (2018) and Tampubolon (2016). When
the organization fulfills the personal characteristics, the needs and values of the employee, then
the job satisfaction level of the employee will increase (Abraham, 2012b). This category differs
from the emotional state of the employee because attitudes are beliefs and intentions that are
directed towards a person, event or an object. Feelings are a representation of your evaluations
of the object, positive as well as negative evaluations (Czezowski, 2000).
Employee engagement
Within the definitions of employee engagement in the fifteen articles selected for this
literature review, fifteen definitions are used. These different definitions are focusing on
multiple aspects of employee engagement. Kumar and Pansari (2015) use five dimensions of
employee engagement: employee satisfaction, employee identification, employee commitment,
employee loyalty and employee performance. The five dimensions are in this literature review
used to analyze the fifteen definitions of employee engagement. This leads to five groups of
definitions.
The first group includes papers which focus on employee satisfaction. Employee
satisfaction is one of the five categories of Kumar and Pansari (2015). Employee satisfaction is
the independent variable of this literature review. Therefore the impact of employee satisfaction
9
on employee satisfaction is something that cannot be measured or explain the impact of
employee satisfaction on employee engagement. Therefore this literature review will not focus
on this category of Kumar and Pansari (2015). The other four categories mentioned by Kumar
and Pansari (2015), are the four categories this literature review will focus on.
The second group of papers includes papers which focus on employee identification.
The articles that are written by Chandani et al. (2016), Kumar and Pansari (2015) and Monica
and Krishnaveni (2018) belong to this category. Employee identification is the emotional state
of the employee. In this emotional state, the employee identifies himself/herself as part of the
organization (Kumar & Pansari, 2015).
The third group of articles includes articles that focus on employee commitment. The
articles that are written by Abraham (2012b), Bellani et al. (2018), Kumar and Pansari (2015)
and Garg et al. (2017) belong to this category. Employee commitment might be described as
the dedication of the employee towards the organization and their goals and strategies (Kumar
& Pansari, 2015). The employees who feel the commitment are doing more for their job than
what is stated in the description of their job (Kumar & Pansari, 2015).
The fourth group of articles includes articles that focus on employee loyalty. The articles
written by Kamalanabhan et al. (2009), Basit and Arshad (2016), Abu-Shamaa et al. (2015),
Huang et al. (2018), Kumar and Pansari (2015), Ali and Farooqi (2014), Tampubolon (2016)
and Abraham (2012a) belong to this category. Employee loyalty is the extent to which the
employee is loyal to the organization (Kumar & Pansari, 2015). Mostly this is because the
organization wants what is best for the employee. The employees will stay working at the
organization for as long as the organization is good for them (Kumar & Pansari, 2015).
The fifth group of articles includes articles that focus on employee performance.
Balasubramanian and Lathabhavan (2018), Bin Shmailan (2016) and Kumar and Pansari (2015)
wrote articles that belong to the category of employee performance. According to Kumar and
Pansari (2015) it is the extent to which the employee performs in a good way. It is the result
that can be seen in the services the company produces, the customer interactions, feedback and
in the quality of goods of the organization.
The impact of employee satisfaction on employee identification
The influence of employee satisfaction on employee identification has been described
in four articles. The first category of “employee satisfaction” is the emotional state that the
employee can get in. Within the measurement of the impact of employee satisfaction on
employee identification, one article was identified in this category. Kamalanabhan et al. (2009)
10
focused in their research on the information technology industry, and the job satisfaction and
employee engagement in that sector. The target group was IT professionals in India. In their
research, Kamalanabhan et al. (2009) concluded that there was a significant and positive
correlation of employee engagement on job satisfaction.
Two articles described the influence of satisfaction with the overall job circumstances,
on employee identification. Chandani et al. (2016) researched the effect of influencing factors
on employee engagement in India. This research showed that the process of engaging
employees is a long-term task and is not possible to be accomplished with the use of a one-day
training program. They found that this is independent of the quality of the program. Their
research provided some way that can help with improving the engagement of the employees as
an organization by increasing the decision-making, commitment and opportunity thinking of
the employee. Chandani et al. (2016) concluded that the satisfaction of the employee is the
steppingstone to engagement. For the organization it is therefore important to focus on the goals
that the employee sets as individual goals. In that way the employee can feel satisfied with the
job. Another article that described employee satisfaction as employee identification is an article
written by Kumar and Pansari (2015). Kumar and Pansari (2015) did a literature review in Asia,
North America and Europe. In this research, the focus was on the measurement of the benefits
of employee engagement. Out of this research, they concluded that five different components
of employee engagement influence the organization directly. These five components are:
employee satisfaction, employee identification, employee commitment, employee loyalty and
employee performance (Kumar & Pansari, 2015). They concluded with the description of the
overall employee engagement level as describing it as the gathering of these five components.
In another article the influence of employee satisfaction on employee identification has
been described according to the third category of employee satisfaction; the feelings and
attitudes of the employee. In this research, Monica and Krishnaveni (2018) did a research on
the three subscales of engagement in India: the cognitive engagement, emotional engagement
and physical engagement. Their target group was IT firms in India. This research showed that
all of the three subscales of engagement had a strong and positive relationship with job
satisfaction. To describe this; employees who are engaged, who can be in one of the three
subscales, will be more likely to feel satisfied in their job.
11
The impact of employee satisfaction on employee commitment
The influence of employee satisfaction on employee commitment has been described in
three articles. The first category of employee satisfaction, the emotional state of the employee,
has been found in no article that was identified by employee commitment.
The satisfaction with the overall job circumstances of the employee, which is the second
category of employee satisfaction, has been described in two articles. Bellani et al. (2018)
focused in their research on Indonesia, where they did a self-administered questionnaire.
Approximately 100 employees of a private property company were identified in the target group
for this research. Bellani et al. (2018) specified in their research on finding more information
about job satisfaction as being the predictor of employee engagement. The conclusion of the
research is that there are suggestions that an incensement of job satisfaction can have an effect
on employee engagement. This effect will be there because the employees are satisfied with the
fulfillment of their socioemotional needs and economic needs. Therefore they will increase
their positive attitude towards the organization and their job. Consequently, they will increase
their willingness to contribute to the organization and its goals. Another article in this category
of employee satisfaction is written by Kumar and Pansari (2015). This research focused on
measuring the benefits of employee engagement and has already been described in the category
mentioned above.
The third category of employee satisfaction, the feelings and attitudes of the employee,
has been described in two articles. The article that was written by Garg et al. (2017) focused on
job satisfaction and work engagement in the target group of private sector banks in India. This
research showed that when the organization hands over more intrinsic motivational factors to
the employees, the job satisfaction level of the employee will increase and can be achieved. The
research of Abraham (2012b) was done with the aim of finding the level of satisfaction of the
employees in the organization. Another aim of the research was the development of an
employee engagement program with the result of increasing productivity in the organization.
The conclusion of Abraham (2012b) was that the engaged employees were performing on an
exceptional level in the organization, in comparison to the employees who were not engaged.
Another conclusion of Abraham (2012b) was that only an employee who was satisfied could
become an engaged employee. Therefore the influence of employee satisfaction on employee
engagement was clear; the satisfaction is necessary to let the employee be engaged (Abraham,
2012b).
12
The impact of employee satisfaction on employee loyalty
The influence of employee satisfaction on employee loyalty has been described in seven
articles. The emotional state of the employee is the first category of employee satisfaction.
Within the measurement of the impact of employee satisfaction on employee loyalty, two
articles were identified in this category. Basit and Arshad (2016) researched the role of job
satisfaction and the needs-supplies fit in predicting employee engagement. The research was
done in Malaysia, with the employees of a public university. Out of this this research, they
concluded that there is a positive correlation of employee engagement with job satisfaction and
the needs-supplies fit. The second article that belongs to this category is the article of Abraham
(2012a). The research focused on the effect of job satisfaction on employee engagement. The
location of the research was Cochin in India, where employees of a private insurance company
were investigated. The result of the research was that the engaged employees showed that they
perform exceptionally well in their job. Abraham (2012a) said that when the management
focusses and takes care of the participation of the employees in monetary benefits and
developmental activates, these high engagement levels can be enhanced.
The second category of employee satisfaction is the satisfaction with the overall job
satisfaction; three articles that belong to employee loyalty describe this influence. Abu-Shamaa
et al. (2015) researched the effect of work engagement and job satisfaction on the organization
commitment in Jordan. Out of their research, they concluded that there was a positive impact
of job satisfaction on organizational commitment. Another article that belongs to this category
is the article written by Huang et al. (2018). In this article, they researched employee
engagement and the High-Performance Work Systems in China. The target group was
employees working in the service and manufacturing sectors. They concluded that a positive
mood of the employee and job satisfaction would lead to a high level of employee engagement.
The last article that belongs to this category of employee satisfaction is the article of Kumar
and Pansari (2015). They researched the benefits of employee engagement, via a qualitative
research in North-America, South-America, Asia, Africa and Europe. Their target group was
marketing managers and HR managers from companies in diverse industries. In their research,
Kumar and Pansari (2015) stated that employee performance is the most tangible aspect of
employee engagement.
The third, and last, category of employee satisfaction is the feelings and attitudes of the
employee. Within the influence of employee satisfaction on employee loyalty, two articles
describe this category. The first of them is an article written by Ali and Farooqi (2014). They
did a research in Pakistan, were they researched via questionnaires. Their target group was
13
employees working at the Public Sector University; the teaching faculty, as well as the non-
teaching staff, were included. Ali and Farooqi (2015) concluded that the higher the job
satisfaction of an employee is, the higher the employee performance will be. And because of
that high employee performance, the employee engagement will be higher as well. Another
article that belongs to this category of employee satisfaction, is an article written by
Tampubolon (2016). Tampubolon (2016) focused on the relationship between job motivation,
employee engagement and job satisfaction, towards the employee performance. The research
has been done in Jakarta, with the target group being the employees who work at the Export
and Import Department of Indonesia Ministry of Trade. The results of the research showed that
employee performance has significantly and positively been influenced by employee
engagement. Next to that, employee performance has been significantly and positively
influenced by job satisfaction.
The impact of employee satisfaction on employee performance
The influence of employee satisfaction on employee performance has been described in
three articles. The first category of employee satisfaction, the emotional state of the employee,
is used in two articles. The first article is an article written by Balasubramanian and
Lathabhavan (2018). In their research, they focused on the glass ceiling beliefs of women, by
linking it together with the employee satisfaction to engagement. The mediation of engagement
has been researched. The research has been done in India, and the target group was women.
The result of the research was that changes in the attitude or gender have an impact on the
relationship between job satisfaction and work engagement (Balasubramanian & Lathabhavan,
2018). The other article that belongs to this category is the article of Bin Shmailan (2016). Bin
Shmailan (2016) focused on the relationship between job performance, job satisfaction and
employee engagement. The research has been done in Saudi-Arabia. In the research, the top
motivators for employee engagement were identified, e.g. trust and integrity, nature of the job,
the link between employees and organizational performance and the career growth
opportunities. Bin Shmailan (2016) concluded that the performance of satisfied employees is
better, and the better performance of the engaged employees is a contribution to the overall
success of an organization. The employee engagement contributes to this as well; by having
satisfied employees in the organization the engagement level will be fostered.
The second category of employee satisfaction is the satisfaction with the overall job
circumstances of the employee. From these articles that identify the impact of employee
satisfaction on employee performance one article focusses on this category. This article is
14
written by Kumar and Pansari (2015). The research of Kumar and Pansari (2015) has already
been described in the other categories mentioned above.
The bar chart (Figure 1) gives an overview of the three categories of employee
satisfaction and the four categories of employee engagement. In this chart, it is shown which
category of employee satisfaction is related to which aspect of employee engagement.
Figure 1. Categories of employee satisfaction and employee engagement
The first category, the emotional state of the employee, has got two categories that are
most often discovered, these are employee performance and employee loyalty. Both have been
described two times. Employee identification is used once to define, and employee commitment
is not used to define the definitions that were used. Therefore the statement can be made that
the emotional state of the employee is mostly related employee performance and employee
loyalty.
In the second category, the degree of satisfaction with the overall job circumstances, all
four categories of employee engagement are defined at least once. The fact that all four
categories are present can be explained by the fact that the article of Kumar and Pansari (2015)
belongs to this category of employee satisfaction. In their article, they mentioned the five
different categories of employee engagement, and therefore all the four categories that are the
categories of this literature review are used in their article. In this category, three categories are
most frequently used; employee loyalty, employee commitment and employee identification.
0 1 2 3 4
3. The attitudes and feelings of the employee
2. The degree of satisfaction with the overall jobcircumstances
1. The emotional state of the employee
Frequency
Cat
ego
ry o
f em
plo
yee
sati
sfac
tio
n
Employee performance Employee loyalty Employee commitment Employee identification
15
Employee loyalty has been used three times, employee commitment and employee
identification have been used two times. The category of employee performance is only once
used in the descriptions of this category. To conclude, the degree of satisfaction with the overall
job circumstances shows the biggest attachment to employee loyalty, employee commitment
and employee identification.
In the third category, the attitudes and feelings of the employee, three out of the four
categories are used. Employee loyalty and employee commitment are the categories that are
most frequently used, which is two times. Employee identification is defined once. The
category of employee performance is not used in the references to the descriptions of this
category. Therefore the determination can be made that the attitudes and feelings of the
employee are mostly defined with employee loyalty and employee commitment.
Figure 2. The total frequency of every category of employee engagement
The bar chart in Figure 2 shows the frequency of times that the different categories of
employee engagement are related to the definitions of the different categories of employee
satisfaction. The category that is referred to the most often is employee loyalty. Employee
loyalty is the extent to which the employee is loyal to the organization and creates a display of
devotion to the organization. Seven out of the fifteen definitions of employee satisfaction were
assigned to this category of employee engagement. Employee commitment and employee
identification are after that the most used in the definitions, a quarter of the definitions contained
employee commitment and a quarter of the definitions contained employee identification. The
fourth category, employee performance, has been used three times in the fifteen definitions.
The statistical analysis of the categories shows that employee loyalty is by far the most
used definition. Employee loyalty is important for the influence of employee satisfaction on
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Total
Frequency
Employee performance Employee loyalty Employee commitment Employee identification
16
employee engagement in Asia. The other categories are close to each other. Employee
identification, employee commitment and employee performance all three have an impact on
the influence, but is only half of the impact of employee loyalty.
Factors that have an influence on the effect of employee satisfaction on employee
engagement
The following factors emerge from the analysis of the fifteen articles that influence the
effect of employee satisfaction and employee engagement.
The first factor is employee commitment. Abraham (2012b) stated that employee
commitment is a moderator in the relationship between employee satisfaction and employee
engagement. Employee commitment is a tension towards an action that is for an individual
important to reach a specific goal or target (Collier & Esteban, 2007). There are four categories
with which employee commitment plays a big role in the influence of employee satisfaction on
employee engagement (Abraham, 2012b). These four categories are; communication activities,
reward schemes, activities to build the culture of the organization and team-building activities
(Abraham, 2012b).
The second factor that has an effect in the influence of employee satisfaction on
employee engagement is the work overload. Work overload is when the employee is asked to
do more work than what is possible to do in the amount of time available, and to do work that
is too difficult for the employee (Ali & Farooqi, 2014). The analysis of Ali and Farooqi (2014)
shows that the work overload of an employee has a significant negative relationship with the
job satisfaction level of the employee. The research of Ali and Farooqi (2014) also showed that
that job satisfaction has a significant relationship with employee engagement, and therefore the
work overload has a relationship with employee engagement as well.. The work overload level
can be minimized when the organization implements efficient strategies for the employees (Ali
& Farooqi, 2014). Examples of efficient strategies are according to them; training, reward
systems and job rotation.
Additionally, Basit and Arshad (2016) and Ali and Farooqi (2014) stated that the needs-
supplies fit is a moderator in the effect of employee satisfaction on employee engagement. Basit
and Arshad (2016) found in their study that when the employee experiences a good fit between
what they need from their job and what their job supplies to them, they tend to expose
engagement in their job. Ali and Farooqi (2014) concluded that it is essential for organizations
to keep the needs of the employee in mind. They need to focus on the needs and understand
what the employee needs to be happy and satisfied. The next step is to provide the employees
17
with what is best for them; examples for this are appreciation and constant appraisal programs
(Ali & Farooqi, 2014). Via these ways, the employees will feel that they are appreciated and
that will have a positive effect on the employee satisfaction and employee engagement level of
the employee (Ali & Farooqi, 2014).
According to Bellani et al. (2018), Bin Shmailan (2016) and Abraham (2012b)
communication could be seen as an influencer of the effect of employee satisfaction on
employee engagement. Bellani et al. (2018) found three significant effects on employee
engagement: nature of works, communication and operating conditions. These three facets are
all related to the job itself. The satisfaction with the realization of socioemotional and economic
needs will lead to an increase in the positive attitudes of the employee towards their job. This
increase in the positive attitudes of the employee will have an effect on their eagerness to
contribute more to the organization, which as a result will increase their level of engagement.
The employees will feel more engaged when they are doing a job that has meaning for them
when their work gives them motivation, when it is a safe place to work and when the employee
has good communication with their superiors (Bin Shmailan, 2016). Communication is vital for
improving employee engagement (Bellani et al., 2018) (Abraham, 2012b) (Bin Shmailan,
2016). Abraham (2012b) conceptualized six factors that have an influence on the extent to
which employee engagement is present. Communication is one of them. Additionally;
recognition and reward, training program, leadership and planning, immediate supervisor and
culture and ethics.
The fifth factor that is influencing the impact of employee satisfaction on employee
engagement is the education of the employee. The education of the employee was defined in
four different categories; diploma, bachelor degree, master degree and a doctorate degree (Basit
& Arshad, 2016). Basit and Arshad (2016) found a significant positive correlation for
education, with job satisfaction and employee engagement. This means that when an employee
is higher educated, this employee will be more engaged and will be more satisfied.
The sixth factor is the job type of the employee. The job type was defined in two
different categories; academic and non-academic (Basit & Arshad, 2016). The job type was
negatively correlated with both job satisfaction and employee engagement (Basit & Arshad,
2016). This negative correlation means that academic staff scores higher on employee
engagement and job satisfaction than the non-academic staff of the company does (Basit &
Arshad, 2016).
The seventh factor is the mood of the employee. A positive mood and job satisfaction
within an employee will lead to high employee engagement within the individual (Huang et al.,
18
2017). When the employee is satisfied with the job, they will show more engagement,
commitment to their job and will have less absenteeism. This will have a positive influence on
the services and profit of the organization (Kumar & Pansari, 2015).
CONCLUSION
The research question of this literature research was: “What is the effect of employee
satisfaction on employee engagement in Asian countries?” A total of fifteen articles were
retrieved from different databases (Google Scholar, WorldCat and Web of Science). First, the
definitions of the concepts were compared to create a comparison of the different meanings the
authors gave to employee engagement and employee satisfaction. The definition of employee
engagement is defined with the use of four categories; employee loyalty, employee
commitment, employee identification and employee performance. Employee loyalty is the
category that has been used most often in the definitions of employee engagement. The category
of employee satisfaction in which employee loyalty occurs most frequent is the degree of
satisfaction of the overall job circumstances. Employee commitment and employee
identification are after that the most used. The construct of employee satisfaction is defined by
the emotional state of the employee, the degree of satisfaction of the overall job circumstances
and the feelings and attitudes of the employee towards the job.
An engaged employee can only exist when the employee is a satisfied employee
(Abraham, 2012b). Therefore; the key to employee engagement is employee satisfaction. The
employee who experiences job satisfaction will be performing at an exceptional level in the
organization (Abraham, 2012b). They will feel the commitment towards the organization to do
their job in the best way they possibly can do. To perform on this exceptional level, there are a
few segments on which the organization needs to focus; recognition and reward, leadership and
planning, culture and ethics, training program, immediate supervisor and communication
(Abraham, 2012b). The focus of the organization needs to be on the participation of the
employee in monetary benefits and developmental activities. The construct employee
engagement consists of five different components (Kumar & Pansari, 2015). The five
components are: employee satisfaction, employee identification, employee commitment,
employee loyalty and employee performance. In this literature research, four of these five
components are taken into account; employee satisfaction is not taken into account, because it
is the independent variable of this research. These four components all directly influence the
overall employee level of engagement for the organization. When the right circumstances are
available in the organization, the employees will feel appreciated and they will feel like they
19
are ambassadors of their organization (Chandani et al., 2016). It will cost some time to develop
an effective strategy; the organization needs to take that time and start from the top and work
to the bottom.
To conclude, employee satisfaction has a positive effect on the employee engagement
of an employee. Employee loyalty is the most used definition of employee engagement in this
literature review, according to the link with the categories of employee satisfaction. Next to
that, employee commitment and employee identification are commonly defined with employee
engagement as well.
DISCUSSION
Based on the results of this literature review, employee loyalty is the one that is most
common in the definitions. Furthermore, employee commitment and employee identification
are identified commonly as well. To emphasize employee loyalty in the organization, the focus
of the supervisors and managers needs to be on showing the employees that they care about
them. This display of care can be done by rewarding the employee when they are doing a good
job, and by showing recognition in situations when the employee needs it (Garg et al., 2018).
Chandani et al. (2016) focused on the enhancing of employee decision making, the opportunity
thinking of employees and the commitment for their job and towards the organization.
Developmental activities and monetary benefits are two other ways which can contribute to the
increase in employee satisfaction and employee engagement of the employees (Abraham,
2012a).
Employee engagement is a construct that is not possible to be created in one day. It is a
long term task and dependent on the quality of the practices and systems involved (Chandani
et al., 2016). The HR managers need to focus on the process and make a long term plan, and
the focus needs to be on the future. The important feature is that it needs to be started on day
one and from the top (Bin Shmailan, 2016). The way in which it can be enhanced is via two-
way communication. The organization needs to focus on the availability of employees’
appropriate training, a reliable feedback system, the creation of a strong feedback system and a
distinctive corporate culture. In that way, the employee identification of the individual can grow
with the growth of employee engagement as well. In the survey of Bin Shmailan (2016), three
factors regulated employee engagement: career development activities and training, more
challenging work and more opportunities to do what one does best. When the organization is
offering these three factors, it will create positive outcomes for the organization.
Communication activities, team building activities, reward schemes and the activities to build
20
the culture of the organization are according to Journal of Economic Development,
Management, IT, Finance and Marketing (2012) the approach to improve the employee
engagement in the organization.
The results of this literature review will be a contribution to the existing literature
because this literature review focusses on the effect of employee satisfaction on employee
engagement in Asia. The effect of employee satisfaction on employee engagement has often
been researched in Europe, but not in Asia. That is one of the reasons what makes this literature
review different. Furthermore, it focusses on and shows the different categories of both
employee satisfaction and employee engagement, and takes a look at the link between these
categories. This literature review shows which category of employee satisfaction creates which
category of employee engagement and that is a new contribution to the existing literature. This
is a distinction that has not been made before in a literature review.
In the interviews that were done with individuals who have worked in Asia, specifically
in Japan and in Indonesia, the respondents concluded that there were differences in the work
atmosphere in Asia and Europe. In Europe the employees are more individualistic and self-
interested. While in Asia the employees are more working from a team approach, instead of an
individual approach. In Asia the employees are committed to stay loyal to the organization for
as long as possible. The respondent that has worked in Indonesia, mentioned that when there is
a good commitment to the organization from the employee, it makes the employee more
satisfied with the job, and therefore more willing to do more work for the company. When that
employee gets the feeling that the company trusts him/her, the employee is willing to give the
best he/she can possible do for the company. The employees want to commit to the
organization, and the employee engagement to the company will therefore rise.
When these investigations are taken into account, the conclusion can be made that there
are differences between the personal characteristics of Asian employees and European
employees. As in agreement with the findings of Bin Shmailan (2016), employee engagement
varies per country. The Asian employees are scoring higher on the working responsibility factor
and the willingness to take risks for the organization, on the remuneration satisfaction level and
the development opportunities satisfaction level.
Limitations and suggestions for future research
In this literature review, some limitations need to be considered. The first limitation of
this literature review is that it covers only ten years of articles. Only articles that are written in
the period from 2009 until 2019 are used. Because of this timeframe, it is possible that some
21
relevant literature about the topic has not been embodied in this research. For further research,
it is a notion to expand the period, so that the articles written from the start of the 21st century
are all taken into account and that it covers all the years of the 21st century.
The second limitation is that the dataset contains data out of different organizations and
companies. They have different employees and are specified in a different sector. Every sector
can demand different things of an employee. Next to that, they are researched differently.
Because of the differences in the research methods and respondents, the results are hard to
generalize.
The third and last limitation that needs to be discussed is the countries that are taken
into account in this literature review. The focus was on the continent Asia. Some countries in
Asia are not used in this literature review, and consequently, it is hard to generalize the outcome
of this result to the whole continent. India was the country which was the most common; six
times the research was done in India. Furthermore, the countries were: Jordan, Pakistan,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi-Arabia, China and Jakarta. When other countries in Asia would
have been taken into account, it could have had different outcomes.
Theoretical and practical implications
Theoretical implications
In this literature review, the focus is on showing the different categories of both
employee satisfaction and employee engagement and to show the categories of employee
engagement that are defined in employee satisfaction. The results of this literature review will
be a contribution to the existing literature, because this aspect of employee engagement, the
categories, are not researched before in Asia.
Practical implications
Employee engagement is one of the main focus points of organizations nowadays. HR
managers want to implement practices that stimulate the development of employee
engagement. In this literature review, there are some aspects mentioned that employees want
from their organization. For example, the interest in their personal needs and wishes, and the
feeling of appreciation. It is essential for the organization to make use of the results of this
review to keep their employees happy and satisfied. Because in that way, they can create a
competitive advantage for their organization. Every organization can benefit from these results,
but especially the countries in the continent Asia because the research focused on the countries
in Asia. Asian individuals do have different personality traits than, for example, European
22
individuals have, and therefore these results are most beneficial for the Asian employees and
companies.
Two interviews were done to create an insight into the personal experiences of people
that have worked in Asia (Appendix 2, Interview 1 and 2). Two individuals who worked in Asia
were interviewed to ask their point of view on the influence of employee satisfaction on
employee engagement. Their answers confirmed the results of this literature research. Both
respondents answered that the company has been focusing on the employee commitment, by
taking care of good circumstances and services for the employee. By treating the employees in
a good way, and by wanting them to work in the company for as long as possible, they focus
on the employee loyalty and employee commitment of the employee. Consequently, the
employee satisfaction and employee engagement of the employees will be higher, according to
the two respondents.
23
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28
Appendix 1
Table 3. Overview of articles obtained by WorldCat Discovery, Web of Science and Google Scholar
Author Keywords Sample/type of
research
Main findings Journal + Index
Abraham (2012a)
Job satisfaction as an
antecedent to
employee engagement
Job satisfaction,
employee engagement,
talent strategy, benefits,
recognition, feedback.
o Descriptive study,
survey
o n = 30 participants
o India
The antecedent to employee engagement is
job satisfaction.
SIES Journal of
Management
a. H Index =
unknown
b. Impact Factor =
unknown
Abraham (2012b)
Development of
employee engagement
programme on the
basis of employee
satisfaction
Employee engagement,
employee engagement
programme, employee
satisfaction
o Literature review
o n = 150
employees
o India
The key to employee engagement is
employee satisfaction. The engaged
employee is performing at an exceptional
level in their job.
Journal of Economic
Development,
Management, IT,
Finance and
Marketing
a. H Index =
unknown
b. Impact Factor =
unknown
29
Abu-Shamaa, Al-
Rabayah &
Khasawneh (2015)
Job satisfaction, job
involvement,
organizational
commitment, work
environment –
psychological aspects,
employee psychology
o Literature review,
empirical review
o n = 100
employees
o Jordan
The organization should improve the work
conditions and give each employee the needs
and resources they need for their job.
The IUP Journal of
Organizational
Behavior
a. H Index =
unknown
b. Impact Factor =
unknown
Ali & Farooqi (2014) Work overload, job
satisfaction, employee
performance, employee
engagement
o Descriptive study,
survey
o n = 207
o Pakistan
The organization needs to focus
on/understand the needs of the employee and
provide employees with what is best for
them.
International Journal
of Multidisciplinary
Sciences and
Engineering,
a. H Index =
unknown
b. Impact Factor =
unknown
Balasubramanian &
Lathabhavan (2018)
Glass ceiling beliefs,
work engagement, job
satisfaction, mediation,
o Descriptive study,
survey
o n = 420
o India
The relationship between job satisfaction and
the glass ceiling beliefs is fully mediated by
work engagement.
International Journal
of Human Resources
Development and
Management,
30
women’s career
barriers, glass ceiling
a. H Index = 14
b. Impact Factor =
0.52
Basit & Arshad
(2016)
Employee engagement,
needs-supplies fit, job
satisfaction, self-in-role
view, Malaysia
o Descriptive study,
self-administered
survey
o n = 161
o Malaysia
- Positive correlation for education, with
job satisfaction and employee
engagement
- Age was only positively correlated with
employee engagement
- Job type was negatively correlated with
both job satisfaction and employee
engagement
Jurnal Pengurusan,
a. H Index = 8
b. Impact Factor =
0.58
Bellani, Ramadhani
& Tamar (2018)
Job satisfaction,
employee engagement
o Descriptive study,
self-administered
questionnaire
o n = 110
o Indonesia
Job satisfaction can potentially influence
employee engagement. The nature of works,
operating conditions, communication are
significant predictors.
Advances in Social
Science, Education
and Humanities
Research (ASSEHR)
a. H Index =
unknown
b. Impact Factor =
unknown
31
Bin Shmailan (2016) Employee satisfaction,
job performance, job
satisfaction, employee
engagement
o Literature review
o Saudi-Arabia
To foster engagement as an organization, it
is essential to have employees who are
satisfied, are in the right jobs, perform better,
are present and are committed.
Issues in Business
Management and
Economics
a. H Index = 7
b. Impact Factor =
unknown
Chandani, Mehta,
Mall & Khokhar
(2016)
Engagement, Human
Resource strategies,
organisation,
performance, retention
o Literature review
o India
Engaging employees is a long term task and
cannot be accomplished by one training
program, no matter how good its quality is.
Indian Journal of
Science and
Technology,
a. H Index = 33
b. Impact Factor =
0.60
Garg, Dar & Mishra
(2017)
Extrinsic job
satisfaction, intrinsic
job satisfaction,
managers, work
engagement
o Descriptive study,
questionnaire.
o n = 148 managers
in private sector
banks
o India
A positive relationship between work
engagement and job satisfaction is found
with the managers.
Advances in
Developing Human
Resources,
a. H Index = 38
b. Impact Factor =
0.93
32
Huang, Ma & Meng
(2018)
China, employee
engagement, high-
performance work
systems
o Literature review
o n = 782
employees
o China
High-Performance Work System-practices
have an impact on the improvement of the
positive mood of employees and can increase
job satisfaction. This impact will activate
engagement.
Asia Pacific Journal
of Human Resources,
a. H Index = 26
b. Impact Factor =
1.46
Kamalanabhan,
Prakash Sai &
Mayuri (2009)
Employee engagement,
job satisfaction,
employee performance,
employee productivity
o Survey
o n = 159 IT
professionals
o India
There is a significant correlation between job
satisfaction and employee engagement.
There was no significant effect on job
satisfaction for age.
Psychological
Reports
a. H Index = 59
b. Impact Factor =
1.06
Kumar & Pansari
(2015)
Employee involvement,
operations research, job
satisfaction, talent
management
o Literature review
+ descriptive
study
o n = 208 managers
o Asia, North
America, Europe
The overall employee level of engagement of
an organization is influenced directly by the
five different components of employee
engagement.
MITSloan
Management Review,
a. H Index = 87
b. Impact Factor =
2.19
33
Monica &
Krishnaveni (2018)
Communication,
competence
development practices,
employee engagement,
enablers, job
characteristics, job
satisfaction, social
support
o Descriptive study,
questionnaire
o n = 421, from 15
IT firms
o India
Three subscales of engagement: cognitive
engagement, emotional engagement and
physical engagement. They all had a very
positive and strong relationship with job
satisfaction.
Human Resources
Development and
Management,
a. H Index = 14
b. Impact Factor =
0.52
Tampubolon (2016) Employee engagement,
job motivation, job
satisfaction, employee
performance
o Literature review,
correlational study
o n = 90
o Jakarta
Employee performance gets higher results,
because of high job motivation, high
employee engagement and high job
satisfaction of the employees.
Corporate Ownership
& Control,
a. H Index = 16
b. Impact factor =
0.30
34
Appendix 2
Table 4. Overview of the definitions and categories of employee satisfaction and employee engagement
Author Employee
satisfaction
Definition
Employee
satisfaction
Category
Employee engagement
Definition
Employee engagement
Category
Influencer
Abraham (2012a) The extent to which
the employees like
their job. It is a
pleasurable or
positive emotional
state.
Emotional state The extent to which the
employees experience job
satisfaction and a
connection with the
performance and success
of the organization.
Employee loyalty -
Abraham (2012b) The extent to which
the employees like
their job. A positive
or negative attitude
towards their job and
environment that is
developed based on
perceptions that the
employee develops.
Feelings and
attitudes
Passion or work, a
psychological state.
Employee commitment Employee
commitment
35
Abu-Shamaa, Al-
Rabayah &
Khasawneh (2015)
The level of
satisfaction that the
employee feels
towards the job.
Satisfaction with the
overall job
circumstances
The extent to which the
employee feels that he/she
is satisfied with, involved
in and emotionally
connected.
Employee loyalty -
Ali & Farooqi
(2014)
The feelings and
attitudes the
employee has
towards their job.
Feelings and
attitudes
The individual’s
satisfaction, involvement
and enthusiasm for their
job and the work they do.
Employee loyalty Work overload
Balasubramanian
& Lathabhavan
(2018)
A pleasurable
emotional state. The
way the employee is
feeling about the job.
Result of the
achievement or
facilitation of the job
values.
Emotional state The positive and fulfilling
work-related state of mind
which is affective-
motivational.
Employee performance -
Basit & Arshad
(2016)
The positive
emotional state that is
a result of the
Emotional state The degree of the
employee’s physical,
cognitive and emotional
Employee loyalty Needs-supplies
fit, education,
job type
36
assessment of the job
experiences.
availability and
connection with work.
Bellani,
Ramadhani &
Tamar (2018)
The degree of
satisfaction with the
overall job, or aspect
of their job.
Satisfaction with the
overall job
circumstances
The engaged employee is
physically involved,
cognitively vigilant and
emotionally connected.
Employee commitment Operating
conditions,
nature of works,
communication
Bin Shmailan
(2016)
The emotional state
employees get from
the pleasure of their
job. This state is
dependent on their
values and motives.
Emotional state The preparedness of the
employee to perform
successful and flexible in
different situations, to
help the organization.
Employee performance -
Chandani, Mehta,
Mall & Khokhar
(2016)
The overall level of
satisfaction of the
individual with the
job, the way the
individual goals of
the employee match
with the goals of the
job.
Satisfaction with the
overall job
circumstances
Passion for the goals of
the organization. The
employee feels like an
ambassador of the
organization.
Employee
identification
-
37
Garg, Dar &
Mishra (2017)
An expressive or
emotional reaction
towards the job.
Feelings and
attitudes
The attachment of an
individual towards his/her
work. The emotional,
physical and cognitive
attachment to the
performance.
Employee commitment -
Huang, Ma &
Meng (2018)
The overall level of
how content the
individual is with the
job.
Satisfaction with the
overall job
circumstances
The emotional, physical
and cognitive engagement
are related to the
involvement, satisfaction
and enthusiasm of the
individual towards their
job.
Employee loyalty -
Kamalanabhan,
Prakash Sai &
Mayuri (2009)
A pleasurable
emotional state. An
evaluative
understanding,
positive or negative,
which is made by the
individual about the
job (situation).
Emotional state The intensity of the
individuals’ selves to the
work roles, the physical,
cognitive and emotional
expression.
Employee
identification
-
38
Kumar & Pansari
(2015)
The positive reaction
to the overall job
circumstances (the
supervisors, their pay
and the co-workers).
Satisfaction with the
overall job
circumstances
Construct consisting of
multidimensional facets of
the behaviors and attitudes
towards the organization
of employees.
Employee satisfaction
Employee
identification
Employee commitment
Employee loyalty
Employee performance
-
Monica &
Krishnaveni (2018)
The attitude of the
individual that can be
seen as the net sum of
the positive and
negative emotions the
employee
experiences at work.
Feelings and
attitudes
The intensity of the
individuals’ selves to the
work roles, the physical,
cognitive and emotional
expression.
Employee
identification
-
Tampubolon (2016) A reflection of the
feelings or condition
of the mind of the
individual, a positive
attitude towards the
job. Measured at a
specific moment in
time.
Feelings and
attitudes
The emotional
commitment of the
employee to the
organization and the goals
of the organization. A
process of improvement,
learning and action that
continuously goes on.
Employee loyalty -
39
Appendix 3 – Interviews with HR professionals
Interview 1 – Keisha Bawono (Garuda Indonesia)
Keisha is a 24 years old women. She did a bachelor study in psychology in Singapore. After
doing the bachelor, she did an internship at the airlines in Indonesia for three months, at Garuda
Indonesia. In general, Keisha is positive about the effect of employee satisfaction on employee
engagement. The employee engagement was quite nice at the place she worked. There was an
organizational environment department in the company that was entirely focusing on the human
capital of the organization and the employees. They had that department to hold events to
increase the engagement of the employees. On every big day in Indonesia they had events; these
were big and were there with the purpose for the employees to get to know each other. Another
example she used was; when an employee had a business trip to cities in other countries, the
persons brought presents for the other employees who stayed in Singapore. For example; food
from that city so that they could taste the type of food from that country.
When naming three characteristics of Asian employees, she used: hard-worker, administrative
workers but not innovative and resistant. She said that the company is quite conservative, things
must go according to plan, and therefore employees do not have a lot of own space and freedom
to do something in the way they want it.
According to Keisha, when looking at the four components of employee engagement, employee
loyalty and employee commitment would be the best options. She said that if you have a good
commitment to the organization, it makes you willing to do more work for the company. When
you feel like the company trusts you, you are willing to give your best to the company.
The working environment was quite stressful in the company. There was a big difference
between different departments. In the department she worked, they had good working hours, 9
hours per day. Something quite ironic is that at the organizational environment department,
where they are focusing on the mental health and environment of the employees, the employees
working there had a lot of working hours and experienced a lot of stress because of it. Because
the company is an old company and is conservative, they are not changing and keeping things
like this.
She liked working there and learned a lot. But after three months it was enough for her, it’s not
her kind of vibes for working. This organization is conservative, while she wants to work in a
company that is more like a start-up company. A company in which there is a fast pace and that
is innovative.
40
Interview 2 – Jan Stoop (FujiFilm)
Jan has worked six months in Ashigara/Odawara in Japan for Fuji Photo Film. He was an
engineer that, together with some other colleagues, was going to learn the process of the making
of photo paper. The mission was to later start a factory in the Netherlands with that. They have
worked for a time over there and lived so that they could experience the culture and to research
what they could use when they were going to start the factory of Fuji in the Netherlands. He
described that in Asian companies, the commitment they have towards the company is actively
developing. The focus is more on a team approach.
He described an Asian employee with these three characteristics, he mentioned; commitment,
working from collective and quality orientation. When asked about whether he thought that
Asian employees were more satisfied and engaged, or not, he said that this is not so clear,
because a Japanese does not talk about his/her feelings. When you work with them a little
longer, they give a bit more insight into what touches them in life. They do have a strong
commitment to their employer.
The organization focusses on employee engagement. They take good care of their staff – both
financially and conditionally. Also, many things are arranged to retain the “family feeling”. In
the Western countries, the staff association takes care of these things, but in Japan, the
organization does it themselves. So, the organization was focused on keeping the employees
happy. Life Time Employment was the credo at that time. People want to work at the company
for a long time. The company uses many instruments to make it fun too.
Listening to the employees and giving them space for their own input is very important. Job
rotations are also a very important tool. After three or four years, you got another job within
the company. This was done to continue to motivate you and to keep learning. However, there
are also more sporting spectacles/events with staff or eating/singing together. To have fun and
have a good bond together with the employees.
