AN ASSESSMENT ON THE IMPACT OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE AND ETHICAL LEADERSHIP ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN RETAIL INDUSTRY. A CASE OF N RICHARDS ZIMBABWE

Abstract

Research Title: The Impact of Organisational Culture and Ethical Leadership on Employee Engagement in Retail Industry. A Case of N Richards Zimbabwe Name of Researcher: Lovemore Sikosana Name of Supervisor: Professor Sibanda Date Completed: February 2020 Statement of the problem The retail/wholesale industry of Zimbabwe has grown by 10% in the last 3 years 2017-2019 (Makoni, 2019). In the same period N Richards invested by building and opening up 5 more new branches. The projection was to tap into the growth of the market share brought about by foreign nationals especially Zambia, Malawi DRC nationals who were buying from Zimbabwe. A performance review of the same period has shown that the wholesale chain lost a 3% market share (Finance, HR., & Bulletin, 2019). The loss of market share by the N Richards wholesale Chain despite the investments in market that has grown by 10% in the same period is surely a challenge that requires investigation. During the same period the entity experienced a high level of employee turnover. The employees were joining fellow competitors who gained on the market share that was lost by N Richards despite their less investment activities in comparison to N Richards (Finance, HR., & Bulletin, 2019). A team building expect who conducted a workshop with the employees of the group indicated he detected low morale and disengagement from the team. Previous researchers (Anitha, 2014) have linked employee engagement to the organisational culture and leadership ethics that these determinants of engagement are embedded within the organization and therefore the importance of developing a good culture and setting vi high moral standards (Meintjes, 2017). Hence the researcher will investigate if the disengagement is significantly caused by the created and practiced cultures and ethics displayed by the leaders in the organisation. An assessment on the impact of organisational culture and ethical leadership on employee engagement in retail industry. A case of N Richards Zimbabwe. Research Methodology The main objective of this study was to unravel the levels of employee engagement at N. Richards. Existing literature established organisational culture and leadership ethics as the leading constructs of employee engagement. The researcher then applied these constructs in assessing their impact on employee engagement in the Retail Sector. 311 N. Richards branch members of staff were surveyed through the use of a self-constructed questionnaire with close ended questions. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was used in the collection of data and analysed using SPSS version 23. The questionnaire was tested for reliability and validity prior to distribution and a Cronbach Alpha of 0.817 was obtained. Tables were drawn for interpretation and analysis. Findings of the Study The following were the key findings of the study; 1. In the demographics N. Richards employees more male than females, males accounted for 63% of the respondents. vii 2. N. Richards majority of employees are Polytechnic graduates with the National Diploma qualification. The diploma qualification accounted for 56% of the total respondents. 3. The research findings revealed that the level of employee engagement was average. This was evidenced by a mean score of 3.0228 (SD=.46906) with a standard deviation showing homogeneity in responses. This result implies that he employees of N. Richards neither highly nor lowly engaged. As discussed in the literature review where (Robbin & Judge, 2012) that employee engagement as “a positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization and its value. An engaged employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization. It would mean that N. Richards are not benefitting the outcomes that come with a highly engaged workforce. 4. Ethical leadership had a mean score of 2.9849 (SD=0.49967) meaning ethical leadership was also average. The average mean score implies a challenge as it might not inspire subordinates to be highly engaged. The standard deviation shows homogeneity in responses as evidenced by a score 0.49967, below 1. In chapter 2 (Brown & & Mitchell, 2010) referred to an ethical leader as a manager with moral value, how the manager uses his or her formal position and if it is viewed as weak or not strong the he or she cannot influence high level of engagement. 5. The current level of organisational culture at N. Richards is revealed by Table 11 which is indicating that organisational culture has a mean score of 3.1122 (SD=0.52408) meaning organisational culture was average according the Likert scale alluded to in chapter 3 on research methodology. The average mean score implies a challenge as it might not inspire subordinates to be highly engaged. The standard deviation shows viii homogeneity in responses as evidenced by a score 0.49967, below 1. (Krog, 2014) stressed that the strength of organisational culture is an important factor in determining the organisational performance. In this particular instance it was established to be average which is not favourable for N. Richards. 6. The research findings established organisational culture as the strongest predictor of employee engagement as evidenced by a 1 point increase in organisational culture is associated with a 0.459 point increase in overall employee engagement. However, a weak beta value 34.6% implies there are other factors which are more important to the respondents but beyond the scope of this study and they require further interrogation. 7. The null hypothesis stating that there is no significant impact between organisational culture and ethical leadership on employee engagement. The summary results of this study as per table 14 above determined that organisational culture and ethical leadership was not statistically significant predictor of employee engagement at N. Richards (Beta=0.346, p>0.05). Conclusion The researcher embarked on the study in order to unravel the reasons why the employees at N. Richards were disengaged. The organisation was investing in other tangible assets but the organisation had not received growth in its returns. The objectives were therefore formulated to evidently establish the existing levels of employee engagement and analyse and assess variables that influence employee engagement. Literature revealed organisational culture and ethical leadership were amount the variables that were identified as influential in determining employee engagement. The research established that ix organisational culture had more influence on employee engagement when compared to ethical leadership. The Beta score attained of 34.6% suggests that there other variables that affects employee engagement other than organisational culture and ethical leadership that were evaluated in the study. Recommendations Based on the research findings, the study recommends the following action plans for the management and shareholders of N. Richards Zimbabwe for an improved performance of the organisation. 1. There is need for the management and shareholders at N. Richards to uphold the existing good cultures and improve on the demotivating cultures so they significantly improve employee engagement. 2. The leaders should have high moral standards in ethics and morals as the research established that where these are low or average, it equally affects the level of engagement of the employees. Recommendations for further studies 1. Further studies are required to establish the other variables that influence employee engagement as the study scored a significance of 34.6% on employee engagement from the independent variables of organisational culture and ethical leadership. 2. Employee engagement could be evaluated comparing two or more companies in further studies in order to ascertain the contribution of different management styles