Influence of Employee Attributes, Work Context and Human Resource Management Practices on Employee Job Engagement

Scholars have suggested that employee engagement depends on their personal attributes, as well as the work contexts and human resources management practices of organizations. Little study however exists in professional firm contexts. This study set out to investigate the influence of work context, employee attributes and human resource management practices on the job engagement of employees, taking samples from architectural firms, where employees are considered as core resources. Data for this survey were obtained with the use of questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Moderate level of job engagement was found among the employees. The level of engagement was mostly predicted by the human resource practices and employees’ personal attributes. In particular, feedback from principal and clear job description were found to be core human resource management practices that architectural firms can leverage to enhance employee job engagement. Flexible work practices like lunch arrangements, work hours and autonomy were found to also influence job engagement among the architects. This study fills the gap in the literature on the need to fully understand the concept of job engagement in the context of architectural professional service firms, where such study is sparse.