TBS Education’s Executive DBA: Understanding employee engagement through science
Engagement is a recognized management issue. Science can provide valuable insights for companies in understanding the driving forces behind engagement and assessing the impact of motivation on employee performance. In this article, we take a closer look at this issue with research professor Stéphane Thion, head of the Executive DBA (Doctorate of Business Administration) program at TBS Education.
Stéphane Thion recognizes that the academic world and business world often find it hard to understand each other. “People in the field often criticise researchers for the lack of practical relevance and clarity in their work,” he says. Nevertheless, the academic world, and in particular the methods used by researchers in their work, can make a real contribution to objectives. By drawing upon and challenging the latest data in a given field, they help to further develop these data. “Mastering these skills gives us access to a vast body of scientific literature that we can analyze and use. By mastering scientific methods, we can ultimately improve decision-making processes in the business world,” says the research professor.
Understanding employee engagement: an example illustrating the deployment of an academic approach in business
The director of the Executive DBA (Doctorate of Business Administration) program wants to give managers and executives the opportunity to learn this method, so that they can make informed strategic decisions. “Let’s take the example of sales staff, their motivation, engagement and the results of that engagement. The first step in any scientific method is to clearly set out the issue: In this case, the aim is to assess the impact of the level of engagement of sales representatives on their performance, in order to understand the driving forces behind it,” he explains. The issue can be broken down into two specific questions: To what extent does the motivation of sales representatives contribute to their engagement? To what extent does the engagement of sales representatives contribute to their performance?
A step-by-step methodology
When the first stage has been completed, we take a “theoretical framework” and conduct a “literature review” of the current state of knowledge. “Two psychology researchers, Deci and Ryan, have developed a theory explaining the impact of different aspects of motivation on employee engagement. This theory is referred to as ‘the theory of cognitive evaluation’”, continues Stéphane Thion. This theory teaches us that extrinsic motivation, in the form of rewards, for example, can undermine the main driver of engagement, intrinsic motivation.
The second stage is to verify the validity of this theory in a specific context. We submitted a questionnaire to an international sample of 224 managers, sales representatives, business developers, and consultants. The results showed that the main driver among this sample is intrinsic motivation, i.e. an engagement driven by personal enjoyment. Extrinsic motivation, i.e. rewards, and introjected motivation, i.e. engagement in pursuit of recognition (reputation, personal ego), also play a contributory role, but to a lesser extent. This last result is particularly interesting, since it confirms that the most extrinsic of motivations—engaging in work for financial incentives—has no direct significant effect on engagement, although it does have a negative effect on performance. This theory, rarely applied to date in this context, has now been confirmed.
The third stage is to dig deeper in order to answer new questions. For example: Does motivation impact the level of engagement of men and women in different ways? “It would appear not, as the differences are not ‘significant’. In other words, the lower impact of extrinsic motivation observed in this sample for women is not thought to be ‘statistically significant’”.
QED
“The scientific method gives us a clear overview of the study theme in a particular context: in this example, the behaviour of sales representatives from several companies. We can use the powerful model developed in this way for predictive purposes. For example, what results can I expect if I use such and such a lever?,” continues Stéphane Thion.
One of the goals of the TBS Education Executive DBA is to bridge the gap between the worlds of business and research. “By merging scientific knowledge and the benefits of experience, we can create exceptional profiles, able to take on new challenges. These graduates will probably crystallize the key skills of tomorrow,” concludes Stéphane Thion.