Fostering employee innovation through engagement and skills development in the manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe.
Abstract
The study focused on how employee engagement and skills development can influence
employee innovation in the manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe. The study was guided by three
theoretical perspectives namely the Social Exchange Theory, the Human Capital Theory and
the Componential theory. The Social Exchange theory was adopted to explain employee
engagement. The Human Capital theory, which emphasises investment in employees, was
adopted to explain the concept of skills development whilst the Componential theory guided
the concept of employee innovation. The study followed the positivist philosophical world
view which provides the framework for the use of the quantitative research approach. The
sample size of the study consisted of 335 participants comprising managerial and non
managerial employees who were randomly selected. 200 participants responded to the
questionnaires distributed by the researcher. The study adopted quantitative techniques of
analysing data. Specifically, Structural equation modelling with confirmatory factor analysis
was conducted to determine the relationships between the variable items and the variables
themselves. The results of the structural equation modelling showed that there were significant
relationships between the variable items and the variable factor. Multiple regression analysis
was also performed to determine the impact of the independent (employee engagement and
skills development) on the dependent variable (employee innovation). The multiple linear
regression analysis indicated that employee engagement and skills development have a
significant capacity to predict employee innovation with the resultant model explaining more
than fifty per cent of the dependent variable. This, confirmed the viability of the proposed
model of the study. Also, the Pearson Product Moment correlation method was used to explain
the relationships between the research variables. The results of the Pearson’s correlation
analysis revealed that both employee engagement and skills development have moderate
positive influence on employee innovation. These results of the study are significant in that
they have theoretical and managerial implications. The findings represent a meaningful and
incremental contribution towards existing literature on employee engagement, skills
development and employee innovation by uprooting insights and showcasing the nature of the
relationships amongst these variables. The results should assist management in the
manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe on how they can improve employee innovation in their
organisations.