Influence of Employee Engagement on Organisational Performance at the Zimbabwe Open University (2019-2023)

Abstract

The study sought to find out the influence of employee engagement on organisational performance at the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU), which is a state university. The study was informed by the persistent feature of ZOU in the media for wrong reasons, which suggested that it was very likely that some of its staff members were exposing the institution. The Nstudy used the interprevitism philosophy which resonated with the qualitative paradigm. A case study design was applied. Data were generated using face-to-face interviews. The population was eight hundred (800) staff members, and a convenience sampling method was used to identify the number of participants who could provide qualitative data, and the actual size was determined by data saturation. An analysis of the qualitative data which characterised the study was done by using thematic analysis. The major finding was that there was low engagement among ZOU employees. Major recommendations included revisiting both the internal and external fairness of remuneration, adopting a flexible working model, employer-assisted occupational stress management, and providing good working conditions.