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.