Exploring Employee Engagement in the New Zealand Healthcare Industry During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Erlita Cabal-Roberts () and Jacob Wood
Additional contact information
Erlita Cabal-Roberts: Southern Institute of Technology

Chapter Chapter 18 in Innovation-Driven Business and Sustainability in the Tropics, 2023, pp 309-322 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Our research examines employee engagement in the New Zealand healthcare industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our qualitative study examines 17 management staff (2 Chief Executive Officers and 15 Managers) employed in healthcare organizations across New Zealand. Our study specifically addressed the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on employee engagement, the factors that diminish organisational commitment and strategies that boost employee engagement in the New Zealand healthcare industry during the COVID pandemic. Following an interpretivist approach, this research examined the different workplace realities of 17 research participants. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted as the primary basis of data collection. The results of which were then interpreted using thematic analysis as this research sought to identify emerging themes and patterns around factors that affect employee engagement. Our results showed that the pandemic had negative impacts on employee engagement among healthcare employees in New Zealand. Burnout associated with overwhelming job demands, extended work hours, and staffing shortages diminished organisational commitment. In order to address these issues, open communication, appreciation, authentic leadership, succession planning, and a positive organisational culture were found to be effective in boosting employee engagement.

Keywords: Employee engagement; Healthcare industry; COVID-19 pandemic; New Zealand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-981-99-2909-2_18

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9789819929092

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-99-2909-2_18

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().