Measurement invariance of employee engagement across race groups
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
ISSN: 1741-0401
Article publication date: 19 November 2018
Issue publication date: 19 November 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The testing of measurement invariance is important in cross-cultural research to establish whether the psychometric properties of an instrument remain valid and reliable across different sample groups as these assumptions are rarely tested statistically. The purpose of this paper is to determine the factorial invariance of the employee engagement questionnaire across the various race groups by means of structural equation modelling.
Design/methodology/approach
Cross-sectional and descriptive research designs were followed in this study in the form of non-probability, convenience sampling to attract a sample of 1,175 employees in financial institutions. The employee engagement instrument (EEI) was electronically administered to 285,000 people who form part of a research database.
Findings
The results confirmed the reliability and validity of the instrument as determined by the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Lastly, the results indicated that invariance can be assumed across race groups for financial institutions.
Practical implications
It is important for organisations to take cognisance of how specific socio-demographic variables influence the measurement of employee engagement, in this case race. The conclusion reached was that the EEI can be used with confidence in the financial sector for future employee engagement assessments.
Originality/value
These findings add to the current body of literature that exists on employee engagement and race in the South African work context and addresses one of the complexities assessment practitioners might have to comply with regarding questionnaire validity across race groups.
Keywords
Citation
Gallant, W.H. and Martins, N. (2018), "Measurement invariance of employee engagement across race groups", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 67 No. 9, pp. 1463-1481. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-10-2017-0268
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited