The role of organisational culture on employee engagement dissertation

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The Role of Organisational Culture on Employee Engagement

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ABSTRACT
An effective organizational culture which acts well favourable to employee development
helps firms to witness enhancement in employee engagement level. This helps firms to
witness positive changes on its growth and development. The main purpose of the study
was to assess the impact of organisational culture on enhancing employee engagement by
considering HSBC in UK as case study. The researcher has selected HSBC, since the firm is
highly recognized for its perfect organization culture which gives emphasis on diversity,
inclusion and sustainability.
For conducting the study the research has used interpretivism philosophy and inductive
approach. The researcher has used secondary data collection method and thus used case
study approach for addressing research objectives. For developing the case study the
researcher accessed various secondary sources such as company websites, online journals
and articles etc. From the case analysis, the researcher identified that HSBC has perfect
organizational culture which emphasis on sustainability, diversity and inclusion. The
researcher also revealed that employee retention rate was lower in HSBC even though the
firm maintained employee oriented organizational culture. Based on research findings, the
researcher has recommended HSBC to indulge in collaboration with competitors, to adopt
goal alignment techniques, and implement stress management system for enhancing
employee engagement level.

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Contents
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................2
LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS...................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................6
1.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................6
1.2 Research background.......................................................................................................6
1.3 Rationale...........................................................................................................................8
1.4 Research Aim....................................................................................................................9
1.5 Research Objectives.........................................................................................................9
1.6 Research questions ..........................................................................................................9
1.7 Research purpose and significance..................................................................................9
1.8 Research methodology ..................................................................................................10
1.10 Structure of the dissertation........................................................................................10
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................11
2.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................11
2.2 Organizational culture....................................................................................................11
2.3 The Role of Organisational culture.................................................................................12
2.4 HSBC Organisational culture ..........................................................................................14
2.5 Overview of employee engagement..............................................................................15
2.5.1 Definition of employee engagement.......................................................................15
2.6 Factors influencing employee engagement...................................................................18
2.7 Barriers to Engagement..................................................................................................19
2.8 Organisational outcomes of Employee Engagement in the banking sector..................20
2.9 The Influence of organizational culture on employee engagement in UK banking sector
..............................................................................................................................................22
2.10 Link between existing literature and present study ....................................................23
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY............................................................24
3.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................24
3.2 Research philosophy ......................................................................................................24
3.3 Research approach.........................................................................................................25
3.4 Research purpose...........................................................................................................25
3.5 Research strategy...........................................................................................................26

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3.6 Data collection methods ................................................................................................26
3.7 Sample selection ............................................................................................................27
3.8 Data analysis plan...........................................................................................................28
3.9 Ethical issues ..................................................................................................................28
3.10Limitations and Future scope for the study ..................................................................28
3.10 Summary ......................................................................................................................29
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION .................................................................30
4.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................30
4.2 Plan of Analysis...............................................................................................................30
4.3 Case study of HSBC, UK..................................................................................................30
4.4 Case study analysis.........................................................................................................37
4.6 Identifying gaps..............................................................................................................39
4.7 Summary ........................................................................................................................40
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..........................................................41
5.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................41
5.2 Conclusions.....................................................................................................................41
5.3 Evaluation of results.......................................................................................................42
5.4 Recommendation...........................................................................................................43
5.5 Limitations of the research ............................................................................................44
5.6 Recommendations for future researchers .....................................................................44
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................45

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LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS
List of figures
Figure 4.1: Total assets of HSBC from the year 2012 to 2015..................................31
Figure 4.2: Customer satisfaction score of HSBC.....................................................36

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CHAPTER 1-INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
As per Jiony, et al. (2015), organisational culture and employee engagement are the two
interconnected variables and the lack of proper organisational culture will adversely affect
the employee job satisfaction and finally affect employee engagement in the organization.
The concept of employee engagement is a measurement of how happy employees are with
their respective jobs, working environment and how efficient their performance levels are.
Managing high morale among employees can be of remarkable benefit to any organization,
as actively engaged workers are more productive and stay loyal to the company.
Organizations with high employee engagement levels are more productive and more
profitable than those organizations with low levels of employee engagement. In this
context, this chapter of the study will be looking into the influence of organisational culture
on employee engagement using HSBC bank as a case study.
This chapter offers a brief introduction to the research topic by discussing the research aim
and objectives, research background, company overview of the case study, rationale and
research significance, etc.
1.2 Research background
According to Brown, et al. (2015), organizational culture is a system of shared beliefs, values
and assumptions which governs how people perform in the firms. Organisational culture as
a system of values is held and conducted by members of an organisation which thereby
distinguishes the organisation from other organisations. The ideal organisational culture
depicts values of openness, supportive attitudes and good communication between the
organisation and its employees. Fairness and trust as organisational values provide positive
impacts on the creation of employee engagement as well. As argued by Childress (2014), to
ensure its effectiveness, it’s essential to transfer these norms and standards across the
organization.
Employee engagement is rightly viewed as a key aspect of productivity. It makes sense that
the enthusiasm and interest which fully engaged employees bring to their work each day
would be directly tied to both a more unified workplace culture and the extra efforts, better

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ideas and innovations that make organizations thrive. Many organizations have limited their
hiring in recent years due to a slow economic recovery and uncertain economic conditions,
making employee engagement even more important as staff try to do more. Keeping this in
mind it is essential to understand the cultural aspect of organisations and other factors that
influence employee engagement. The importance of employee engagement is clear when
looking at the differences in performance between work teams with high and low levels of
employee engagement. The State of the American Workplace: Employee Engagement
Insights for U.S. Business Leaders report finds that “engaged workers are the lifeblood of
their organizations.” This is more evident in the case of banking industry.
In the banking industry, offering of high quality services to customers is essential for
attaining competitive advantages from business. Thus, banks maintain unique culture to
improve the performance level of the employees and thereby attract large number of
customers (Higginbottom, 2014). However, Childress (2014) note that, over work pressure,
rude attitude of the senior staffs and improper working condition created dissatisfaction
among the employees and it enhances employee turnover in banking industry and it
adversely affect employee engagement in the company. The next session will briefly be
looking into the company profile of HSBC (as a case study) in order to ascertain its
usefulness to the study.
Company overview of HSBC Bank
HSBC stands for the "Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation". HSBC Holdings plc
established in 1990 became the parent company to Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation in preparation for its purchase of Midland Bank in the United Kingdom and
restructuring of ownership domicile for the impending transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong
to China. HSBC is known as one of the largest financial and banking services industries in the
global environment. The company is headquartered in London and has an international
networks which composes of over 10, 000 offices in more than 87 states and territories
within Asia-Pacific Region, Europe, United States of America, Africa and Middle East. HSBC
Holdings Plc are regarded to have around 210,000 shareholders in over 100 nations as noted
in listings in countries like New York, Bermuda, Paris and Hong Kong. It has over 300,000
staffs around the world.

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Because of the global network connects by the implementation of advances technology like
the internet and information communication technology, the company has been able to
provide an intensive range and reach of financial services which includes commercial
banking, investment banking and market personal financial services, and other banking and
financial products and services. The business philosophy of HSBC gives important to values
and principles in all aspects of everyday living.
Strong and effective organizational culture of HSBC with good working environment and
internal communication has helped to improve employee engagement in the company
(HSBC Bank Plc, 2013). However, recent reports question the claim of company’s
compliance to the standards and norms and hence this study will analyse whether this
incompliance has attributed to lowering employee engagement.
1.3 Rationale
In the opinion of Jiony, et al. (2015), organizational culture have important role in
influencing the employees’ commitment towards the firm and it also influence the retention
decision of the employees. However, presently, most of banking organizations face scandal
for improper management of human resources and offering of poor working condition for
the employees and these issues in banking sector enhances employee turnover in the
industry (Peacock, 2010). Even though HSBC tries to offer high quality training and
motivational programs for improving employee engagement and productivity, low rate of
payment, high job stress, poor working condition, etc adversely affect employee job
satisfaction and engagement (The Times of India, 2016).
Very recently, the HSBC Bank has decided to lay off about 15,000 staffs mainly from Europe.
The Times of India (2016) reported that, HSBC has planned to slash nearly one in five jobs
and freeze salaries and hiring as a part of cost saving measure to improve shareholder
return and to boost organizational profitability. This plan of the Bank has adversely affected
employee engagement and reduced employee performance. Hence, the researcher has
taken HSBC to analyse the research context.

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1.4 Research Aim
The principle aim of the study is to analyse the influence of organizational culture on
employee engagement in UK banking sector using HSBC bank as case study. For analysing
the research problem, the researcher will consider the following objectives:
1.5 Research Objectives
 To critically explain the two main concepts : organisational culture and employee
engagement
 To identify and critically examine the factors influencing employee engagement in
organisations and the barriers to employee engagement.
 To analyse the role of organisational culture on employee engagement in UK banking
sector with HSBC as case study as well as its outcome on employee engagement.
1.6 Research questions
 What are the factors that influence employee engagement in organisations?
 What roles do organisational cultures play on employee engagement in UK banking
sectors?
 How operative is the organisational culture of HSBC in enhancing the engagement of
their employees?
1.7 Research purpose and significance
The main purpose of the study is to analyse the importance of maintaining effective
organizational culture for enhancing employee engagement in UK banking sector. Due to
high competition in the business world, maintaining unique organizational culture is
essential for an organization to improve its association with stakeholders. Through effective
organizational culture with good values and norms, organizations can enhance employee
engagement in the organization. (Brown, et al., 2015). This study will be beneficial for HSBC
and other similar organizations to understand the significance of maintaining good
organizational culture for improving employee engagement.

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1.8 Research methodology
The researcher will use interpretivism philosophy, inductive approach and explanatory
research method to carry out the present study. The researcher will use case study strategy
for analysing the research problem. By using secondary data collection methods, the
researcher will review various books, journals, etc for collecting secondary information for
the study.
1.10 Structure of the dissertation
Through this chapter, the researcher provided a concise introduction to the research topic
by discussing the background of the study, rationale of the research and significance of the
study. The main aims and objectives of the study were also mentioned in this chapter of the
research. Review of related literatures will be discussed in the next chapter.
Chapter 1
•Introduction
•Discuss the backgroung and rationale of the study and also analyse the research aim, objevtives and
research questions
Chapter 2
•Literature review
•Evaluates the previous studies and researches associated with the research problem and frame a
conceptualframework for the study
Chapter 3
•Research design and methodology
•Different methods and techniques used for collecting and analysing data are discuss in this chapter
with adequate justifactions for chosen methods
Chapter 4
•Data analysis and interpretation
•Information collected by using various research methods will be analyse and interpret through this
chapter
Chapter 5
•Conclusion and Recommendations
•Based on the research findings, this chapter summerize the main findings and also offers
recommendations

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
The main purpose of this chapter is to analyse the existing relevant literature associated
with this research topic. In order to collect the relevant data for the research, the researcher
utilised various sources such as journals, online library sources, books, similar case studies
etc. In this chapter, the researcher discussed the meaning of organizational culture as well
as employee engagement, its roles to organisations, their relationship and factors that
affect employee engagement and other aspects as they relate to UK banking sector. Further
the researcher also compares the present research study with that of existing theories and
concepts, based on these, the researcher develops a conceptual frame work that outlines
the various findings of the literature review.
2.2 Organizational culture
According to Alvesson (2012) the behaviour of the employees of an organization is closely
associated with the organizational culture, this includes values, assumptions, beliefs and
norms shared by the individuals of that organization. Every organization has its own culture
along with boundaries and rules that govern its employees. It defines the conditions and
terms that label the behaviour of the organization. It affects the functioning of the
organization both internally as well as externally. Even though a stand culture is set in the
organization, it has also been identified that organizations develop sub cultures in various
departments (Schein, 2010).
There is no fixed, universal definition or understanding for culture, and neither for
organizational culture, there is no single definition for it. In general, as indicated by Jiony et
al. (2015) the organizational concept of culture is an adaptation of the anthropological
concept. Researchers in academic sector have given various ways of defining organizational
culture.
Alvesson (2012) define organizational culture as a set of understandings or meanings shared
by a group of people that are largely tacit among members and are clearly relevant and
distinctive to the particular group which are also passed on to new members. This definition
implies the culture’s characteristic of being shared and learnt.

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Zakari and Owusu-Ansah (2013) describe it as a system of shared assumptions, values, and
beliefs which guide people to be aware of appropriate and inappropriate behaviour.
In other words, Geert (2014), in his website, refers to organizational culture as "the
collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one organisation
from others”.
Another way to define organizational culture is a system of meanings which are accepted by
the members in a given time (Schein, 2010).
Having explained the concept of organisational culture, the researcher goes further to
examine the roles of organisational culture in firms.
2.3 The Role of Organisational culture
According to Lavigna (2013), the significance of organizational culture in developing the
overall performance of an organization is implicit as its impact is significant in more than
one sector of the organization. A healthy organisational culture which includes: having ‘a
clear and consistent set of values that governs the way business is conducted,” “having a
characteristic management style and a distinct set of management practices,” and of course
having “leaders and managers ‘practicing what they preach.’ inspires the employees to work
productively and stay motivated in all situations. Each of these is important to the pride,
enthusiasm and commitment of your employees and is important areas to focus on if you
find your employee engagement scores are low. It promotes healthy rivalry within an
organization as well as plays a key role in aiding the employees to identify their roles and
responsibilities (Schein, 2010).
Organizational culture plays an important role in organisations, regulating the behaviour of
participants, and in extreme cases – of the organisation as a whole. If the organisation
works in a similar and stabilized manner for some time, achieving goals and successes, its
participants (or at least widely understood management staff) learn certain patterns of
behaviour; accept standards that consistently reinforce further successes. Organizational
culture is formed as “idealization of common experience.” It primarily fulfils a function of
the social stabilizing factor, integration and coordination mechanism, which ensures social
balance (mainly internal), and, at least partially, external – the material balance of the

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organisation (Lavigna, 2013). At the same time the main norms of culture focus on
integration of both participants and the relationship between the organisation and its
environment. This is reflected in the emphasis on the product quality, respect for the rights
of the consumer, and protection of the environment. In this way, organizational culture also
creates a basis for the conceptualization of the external balance of the organisation,
determining the model of the desired relationship between the organisation and its
environment and how to maintain it. Organizational culture can effectively promote or
inhibit cooperation, exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas. Open culture, promoting
the participation of all team members in the creative process, is favourable to the activity
and initiative of employees (Dawson, 2010).
Culture affects the behaviours of the member in its society. So a strong organizational
culture would clearly influence the way employees behave in the firm. That is to say the
organizational culture may generate competitive advantages for the organization by
enhancing employees’ performance and cooperation with each other. Besides that, a strong
culture helps to reduce the conflict within the organization, to dispatch, control and
motivate employees (McKenna, 2011).
A strong culture fastens the connection among members, helps them to share the common
understanding for an issue and valuate, choose and orient their action in the same
orientation. When there is a risk of confliction on the organization, the shared norms and
values are the elements to unite people, help them to evaluate the situation correctly and
behave properly. Also, organizational culture dispatches and control members’ behaviours
by the standards, procedures and regulations (Rhoden, 2016). In addition, the culture helps
to narrow down the area to consider during decision making process because a decision
gains the effect only when it matches the culture to get the members’ approval.
On the other hand, organizational culture helps the members to gain a clear view of the
task’s target and orientation. A strong culture also creates good relationship among
members as they share common understanding and interest. It improves the working
environment to be comfortable and healthy (McKenna, 2011). When an organization is
successful in building a strong culture, it creates the employees’ faithfulness to the firm,

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which makes the members feel proud of the organization as well as the job they are doing
(Dawson, 2010).
With the combination of the above roles, organization’s culture can positively influence the
firm’s performance; create its differences in the market. That is a competitive advantage for
the company. For those reasons, the need to build a strong culture and maintain it is
essential for any organization in this era of international competition. In the following
session, the researcher will be looking into the organisational culture of HSBC bank for
analysis.
2.4 HSBC Organisational culture
There are many practices within organisation that tend to keep a culture alive and measure
the relationship between the organisation and its employees.
Looking into the organisational culture of HSBC bank which is the case study, HSBC
believes that to achieve sustainable success, organisations need to grow in a responsible
way and meet the expectations of their customers, regulators, employees and the wider
community. This belief is reflected in the values that are at the heart of their culture and
guide them in their day-to-day operations (HSBC Bank Plc, 2013).
HSBC have an entrepreneurial spirit, always embracing change and listen to staff and
customers, they are known to be forward looking. Forward looking organisations are risk
takers and do well because of it. HSBC may not put them-self in managing the organisation
just by systems and procedures operation at all time (HSBC Bank Plc, 2013). But it could be
a risk that they may have suffered. But a backward looking culture does not embrace
change and is led by systems and procedures. They do not take risk and because of it are
usually left with a business not doing so well and this is why they are known as ‘backward
looking’ some company have suffered the consequences in managing business and have
become slow to change any losses.
So far, the importance of having a positive organisational culture as well as its role to an
organisation has been discussed. In the next section, the concept of employee
engagement will be reviewed with the view to examine factors that influence employee
engagement and barriers to employee engagement, establish the relationship between

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organisational culture and employee engagement, as well as analyse organisational
outcomes of engagement in the banking industry.
2.5 Overview of employee engagement
The term employee engagement, in its present usage, was coined by the Gallup
Organization as a result of 25 years of interviewing and surveying employees and managers.
Their intent was to create a measure of workplaces that could be used for comparisons.
Their research has been published in books, practitioner magazines, and academic journals
and on websites.
2.5.1 Definition of employee engagement
According to Gallup empirically-based research, Omarini (2016), defines employee
engagement as ‘the individual’s involvement and satisfaction with as well as enthusiasm for
work’.
Lee (2015) likens employee engagement to the concept of customer engagement, which has
the dimensions of confidence, integrity, pride and passion.
In this research, employee engagement will be defined from two points of views- The
company definition and the academic definition.
Company Definitions
Organisations are where the theory of engagement is ultimately put into practice; they offer
a great insight into how engagement is viewed and used in ‘the real world’. The following
definitions illustrate how organisations across various industries in the public and private
sectors view employee engagement.
Johnson and Johnson defines employee engagement as the degrees to which employees
are satisfied with their jobs, feel valued, and experience collaboration and trust. Engaged
employees will stay with the company longer and continually find smarter, more effective
ways to add value to the organisation. The end result is a high performing company where
people are flourishing and productivity is increased and sustained (Vogelsang et al., 2012).

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Barclays suggests a formal definition of employee engagement might be, ‘the extent to
which an employee feels a sense of attachment to the organisation he or she works for,
believes in its goals and supports its values.’ Barclays also suggest that it is possible to ‘gain
a good sense of someone’s engagement by asking a simple question, would you recommend
Barclays as a good place to work?’ (Barclays, 2008).
Dell refers to being engaged as ‘giving time and talent to team building activities’ (Dell,
2008)
Nokia Siemens Networks describes being engaged as ‘an emotional attachment to the
organisation, pride and a willingness to be an advocate of the organisation, a rational
understanding of the organisations’ strategic goals, values, and how employees fit, and
motivation and willingness to invest discretionary effort to go above and beyond’.
These company definitions tend to view engagement as an outcome, something given by
the employee. They often refer to the employee’s attachment, commitment and loyalty to
the organisation. They refer to the effort and time they are willing to expend, whilst
constantly finding ways to add value and use talents to the fullest. Several of the definitions
refer to the employee as an enthusiastic advocate showing pride and support for the
organisation’s values and goals. Many see engagement as a step higher than satisfaction or
motivation at work. However, with the exception of Johnson and Johnson, who indicate that
engaged employees experience collaboration and feel valued, there is little mention of a
reciprocal relationship and what the employer offers to enable engagement.
Academic definitions
However, there is a conflicting use of the term engagement in the academic literature. In
their recent review, ‘The Meaning of Employee Engagement’, Macey and Schneider (2008a)
propose that engagement is sometimes defined on the basis of what it ‘is’ (psychological
state), whilst on other occasions on the basis of the behaviours it produces (behavioural)
and sometimes as a disposition or attitude towards one’s work (trait). In defining
engagement, Macey and Schneider (2008a) split engagement into these three areas and
propose that ‘trait engagement’ is an inclination to see the world from a particular vantage
point and this is reflected in the individual’s ‘state engagement’ which leads to ‘behavioural

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engagement’, defined in terms of exerting discretionary effort. This proposition has,
however received criticism by Newman and Harrison (2008) who argue that when
engagement is broken up into the separate aspects of state, trait and behaviour, state
engagement becomes a redundant construct and tells us nothing more than an individual’s
attitude towards their job which, as they point out, has been suitably measured by other
constructs in the past. Instead, they argue that the defining features of employee
engagement are the simultaneous presence of three behaviours in employees, namely their
performance in the job, citizenship behaviour and involvement. However, this proposition
shies away from defining the psychological state of engagement and merely describes its
outcomes.
Furthermore, Omarini (2016) proposes that employee engagement in work place defines
the circumstances which exist in the organization that leads to employees participating
actively in all activities of the organization and doing their best on daily basis and working
enthusiastically in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the organization. The
employees develop a sense of wellbeing within the working environment. The main strength
of employee engagement lies in aspects such as integrity, trust, proper communication
between the employee and the employer. Proper employee engagement contributes to the
overall development and success of the organisation (Lee, 2015).
In the banking sector the Employee engagement technique such as personal development
skills, work recreation, remuneration schemes and individual development strategy are
given high priority as employee engagement is high. The main success of the bank relies on
the performance of its employees in order to obtain loyal customers. Lack of determination
in the employees can affect the business drastically (Lee, 2015). Also these techniques are
important for the banking sector to use in building a strong workforce so as to reduce
employee turnover in order to bring accomplishment in developing strong employee
engagement strategies such as Employee Development and employee support within the
same organization (Omarini, 2016).
However, much as organisations apply these techniques so as to build a strong workforce,
there are still some factors in the organisation that will affect the employee engagement.

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These factors as well as barriers to employee engagement will be discussed in the next
section.
2.6 Factors influencing employee engagement
As Bansal, Phatak and Sharma (2015) opine engaged employees provides an increased level
of dedication in accomplishing organizational objectives which directly reflects on their
output efficiency. As it has a profound role in ascertaining company growth, implementing
effectual strategies to enhance employee engagement in an organization in indispensable.
According to the opinion of Bridger (2015), there exist numerous parameters that directly or
indirectly affect an organizations’ employee engagement. The most significant factors that
effects employee engagement are listed below:
Strategic alignment: This component defines the organizational strategies and its
association with values and beliefs. Alignment of organizational goals with employee values,
fair treatments, equal opportunities and peer culture enhance the job satisfaction and
thereby influence the commitment and dedication level of employees (Byrne, 2015).
Personal influence: As this component determines the friendliness and approachability each
employee experiences from its senior officials, has an incredible role in enhancing employee
engagement. As Bansal, Phatak and Sharma (2015) opine, healthy and robust personal
influence and good relation between the employee and management reduces the
probability of grievances and disputes.
Career support and development opportunities: Implementing efficient training programs
and talent enhancement and appraisal techniques improves the skill set and productivity of
employees. In addition to career growth these also enables employees to nurture their
individual talents, which in turn helps them to actively engage in an organizations’ activities
(Byrne, 2015).
Benefits and recognitions: Effectiveness in an organizations rewarding and appreciations
also enhances the loyalty and contentment of employees, states Bridger (2015). Hence
recognitions and benefits based on performances, fair appreciations without
discriminations, equal pays, play a significant role in enhancing employee engagement.

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In addition to these factors, communication effectiveness, conflict resolution and
performance management techniques of an organization also have an equal role in
influencing employee engagement.
2.7 Barriers to Engagement
Whilst part of the literature has focused upon factors influencing employee engagement,
there is also a growing need to identify those aspects that will inhibit employees’ ability to
engage.
Key factors include bureaucracy and heavy workloads. Byrne (2015) maintains that
bureaucratic behaviour in organisations severely handicaps the potential of an organisation
to engage its employees, as well as being over‐worked, as both increase an employee’s
susceptibility to stress. These findings are supported by research of Roffey Park Institute,
who found, in their survey of UK managers, that workload pressure along with poor
management and poor communication were key barriers to engagement. This was
particularly true during times of change, with bureaucracy and lack of time to achieve
workload being the biggest de‐motivators, and workload being one of the biggest causes of
stress (Bansal, Phatak and Sharma. 2015). Speaking at the Employee Engagement Summit in
2009, John Purcell, Strategic Academic Advisor at Acas National, suggested six key factors
that limit or damage engagement:
■ Job insecurity: fear of job loss is particularly likely during a recession.
■ Unfairness, particularly in reward and pay systems.
■ Jobs with no space ie rep Bansal, Phatak and Sharma (2015) etitive work with short cycle
times such as call centre work with very short call times.
■ Highly stressful jobs with very little flexibility or autonomy.
■ Poor line management behaviour and bullying.
■ Working for long periods of time without a break.
Other research, such as that of Rhoden (2016) and Handy (2011) found that a lack of trust
may be a precursor to disengagement in organisations, particularly a lack of trust in senior

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leadership. This is particularly poignant during tough economic times and Purcell (2009)
suggests trust can have a considerable effect on employee commitment when the question
of who is to blame in tough times is raised, ‘us and them’ (ie management) or ‘we’. Other
barriers include an individual’s availability at work. The lower the availability, the lower the
engagement.
2.8 Organisational outcomes of Employee Engagement in the banking sector
The correlation between employee engagement and organisational culture can be explained
using Social Exchange Theory. As being known, the engagement of employees and their
organisation is a result of 2-way interaction between the employees and the organisation
(Higginbottom, 2014). Employees who feel that they get good facilities and attention from
the company may feel that they have responsibility to repay to the company, for example,
by working better. Good organisational culture assumed by the employees can bring a
feeling of being safe to the employees themselves. Engaged employees are more likely to
stay with the organisation, perform 20 per cent better than their colleagues, and act as
advocates of the organisation. Some examples of these outcomes are:
Customer loyalty
Arden (2016) suggests that employees who are happy in their work are more likely to create
loyal customers. Engaged employees tend to have a better understanding of how to meet
customer needs and, as a result, customer loyalty tends to be better in organisations where
the employees are engaged (Higginbottom, 2014). Nam and Kim (2016) claims that ‘in
departments where [highly] engaged employees sell to engage customers, customer loyalty,
repeat purchases and recommendations to friends are double to that of companies with
average employee engagement’. Ultimately, this may lead to what is sometimes termed
‘customer engagement’, where there is a mental and emotional connection between the
organisation and the customer.
Employee retention
Kaliannan and Adjovu (2015) also suggests that employees who are happy in their work are
more likely to stay in the organisation and also observed that work engagement is indeed
positively related to organisational commitment. Blessing White (2008) in a survey he

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conducted, reports that 85 per cent of engaged employees plan on sticking around
compared to 27 per cent of disengaged employees. In addition, 41 per cent of engaged
employees said that they would stay if the organisation is struggling to survive.
Employee productivity
Engagement affects employee performance. Engaged employees work harder, are more
loyal and are more likely to go the ‘extra mile’ for the corporation (Holbeche and Matthews,
2012). Engagement is an ‘illusive force’ that motivates an individual to achieve higher levels
of performance. A study of 50,000 employees found that the most engaged and committed
perform 20 per cent better than their colleagues survey of employees from six public service
organisations found that high levels of engagement at work support employees in ‘taking
initiative and pursuing learning goals. Likewise, it was found from another survey of 946
companies across 22 countries that employees who are highly engaged are more than twice
as likely to be top performers as are other employees. However, Balain and Sparrow (2009)
argue that the idea, often presented in practitioner literature, that once an employee is
engaged, the impact on performance is linear, whereby more engagement equals more
performance, is somewhat simplistic. They suggest that at an individual level engagement is
too complex to be able to reliably explain much performance and that engagement surveys
measure the symptoms of performance rather than the causes.
Advocacy of the organisation ‘
Engaged employees are more likely to advocate the organisation as a place to work and
actively promote its products and services (Balain and Sparrow, 2009). In the same way,
Kruse (2012) found that some organisations contain particularly disengaged individuals who
would actually discourage others from joining their current organisation. These individuals
are referred to as ‘corporate terrorists’.
Manager self-efficacy
Academic research by Holbeche and Matthews (2012) found employees who are engaged in
their organisation and their work are more likely to respond positively to their managers,
demonstrate good performance and achieve success. This then helps their manager to be
more effective and successful, which in turn increases the manager’s self‐efficacy. Research

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has shown that self‐efficacy is positively linked to work performance, in that individuals with
higher self‐efficacy are more likely to be proactive in initiating work, and show sustained
effort and determination in their pursuit to achieve the task, even when problems occur
(Kruse, 2012). Engaged employees bring about the psychological arousal of the manager.
The manager becomes enthusiastic about their employees which enhances their
self‐efficacy and they feel good and efficacious about being able to build an engaged work
team (Holbeche and Matthews, 2012). The reverse may also occur whereby manager
self‐efficacy can lead to enhanced employee engagement. Therefore, both engagement and
manager self‐efficacy can have a positive effect on one another to lead to more effective
managers and employees.
Alfes et al (2010) asserted that engaged employees perform better, are more innovative
than others, are more likely to want to stay with their employers, enjoy greater levels of
personal well-being and perceive their workload to be more sustainable than others.
However, Sparrow (2013) warned against over-confident claims that high engagement
results in high performance. He suggested that it is possible that being in a well-performing
unit makes employees engaged, not the other way round a possible. In other words ‘reverse
causation’ (A situation where A might have caused B but it is just as likely that B caused, A).
2.9 The Influence of organizational culture on employee engagement in UK banking sector
Comprehending the increasing significance of organizational culture and its influence on
employee engagement, UK banking sector has implemented various transformational
strategies. As Arden (2016) reports, one example of the prominent UK banking firm that has
implemented efficient and high-quality cultural transformation includes the, Barclays. The
author states that, utilizing decision making tools and enhancing corporate culture, Barclays
aimed in improving its employee engagement activities such as keeping an open
communication, provision of mentoring opportunities, encouraging collaboration among
members of staff, setting up ice breaker activities and many more. According to the reports
of Higginbottom (2014) most of the banks have now recognized their deprived culture in
prior era. The adverse impacts due to the poor organizational culture on employees and
company performance that resulted in reduced loyalty in workforce and scandals have been
recognized by most of the UK retail banks. Clear comprehension on these facts has

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persuaded most of the banking organizations to transform its prevailing organizational
cultures which thereby improved employee engagement at these firms (Higginbottom,
2014).
2.10 Link between existing literature and present study
Employee Engagement has become as an important challenging task for the organisations in
the recent few years. Almost all the industries have given proper space to Employee
Engagement but banking sector has focused on this aspect with greater emphasis as the
turnover rate of employees is comparatively high in this sector. So it is a matter of interest
for conducting a research on the determinants of Employee Engagement in Banking Sector.
Employee engagement is believed to have positive impact on the organisation and is one
key factor to the success of an organisation. A number of empirical studies showed that
employee engagement provides positive influencetoward the work attitudes, work
behaviours and employee performance.
The influence of organizational culture on working attitudes of employees has also been
studied (Nam and Kim, 2016). Various investigations have also been studied on employee
engagement of an organization. The significant role employee engagement possess in
achieving the organizational growth has been studied by Kaliannan and Adjovu (2015). Thus
from these prior works it is evident that direct association between organizational culture
and employee engagement has not been widely studied.
The study is expected to contribute to the human resources policy makers of bank
organisations so that the engagement of the employees in the banking sector may be
enhanced.

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
According to Bryman and Bell (2011) one of the most import segments in the research study
is the research methodology because it determined the quality of the research and the data
collected. Research methodology can be stated as the scientific and theoretical methods
followed to collect the research data, the main aim of research methodology is to
accumulate the data required to carry out the research in a systematic manner (Gill and
Johnson, 2010). This chapter will include the various research methods in brief and the
methods that will be adopted by the researcher and a justification on how the methods
have aided the researcher to meet the objectives of the research.
3.2 Research philosophy
The nature of knowledge gain through the research is determined by the research
philosophy, it acts as a general lay out to the methods used to collect the required data. The
researcher philosophy is classified into positivism, realism and interpretivism based on the
nature of the data to be collected. In the positivism philosophy the reality is believed to be
stable and the research is focused on gathering the quantifiable data through statistical
analysis as opined by Bryman and Bell (2011). In realism philosophy the conceptual practices
are not given priority and hence it is not appropriate for works that required analyzing from
different perspectives. Interpretivism is considered as the most flexible philosophy as it
focuses on the human interests as well as includes the interpretations of the researcher (Gill
and Johnson, 2010).
In this study the Interpretivism philosophy is used by the researcher in order to understand
the role of organizational culture on employee engagement in detail. The researcher was
able to interpret the general data obtained by the researcher as well as analyse and
compare the general role of the organizational culture on the banking sector using HSBC
bank as a case study. This method aided the researcher to analyze the research topic in
detail and provide subjective interpretation. The researcher was also able to analyze the key
factors influencing employee engagement in banking industry.

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3.3 Research approach
The procedures and plans used to collect the data required for the research is known as
research approach. It provides the theoretical assumptions and other aspects of the study.
The research approach is further categorized into inductive and deductive approach. In the
inductive approach the available data is used to generalize the data it is considered as a
flexible approach as it is not based on pre-defined data’s. In using this deductive approach,
the researcher develops the hypothesis based on the existing theories (Singh and Nath,
2010).
The researcher has adopted inductive approach for the study because it aided the
researcher to generalize the collected data, this method is also the most compactable with
the interpretivism philosophy. This method enables the researcher to develop the research
question effectively, as well as analyze the research problem related to the organizational
culture on employee engagement in HSBC. The main advantage of this approach is that the
researcher was able to analyze the secondary data and case study in detail. Hence the
researcher was able to identify the importance of maintaining effective organizational
culture for enhancing employee engagement in UK banking sector.
3.4 Research purpose
In order to identify the primary objective of the research the research purpose is
mandatory. In this research the researcher used the explanatory research method to
explore the details regarding the organizational culture and the role it plays in employee
engagement in UK banking sector. The researcher was also able to investigate the effect of
organizational culture of HSBC on employee engagement. As the researcher was able to
explore into the background of the topic the researcher gained enough data and knowledge
as to provide recommendations for improving the organizational culture of HSBC in
improving employee engagement. The researcher was able to understand that even though
HSBC tried to offer high quality motivational programs and training for improving employee
engagement and productivity, issues such as low rate of payment, high job stress, poor
working condition, etc. adversely affected employee job satisfaction in the organization.

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3.5 Research strategy
The method used to collect the data in a systematic manner is known as research strategy.
It enables the researcher to gather the qualitative data required for the research study.
There exist many research strategies such as survey, interview, case study etc. In the
interview strategy the conversation is bidirectional and hence this method is used in cases
were more specific data’s are required. The case study strategy is another effective method
which helps the researcher to obtain in depth and practical situations to analyze the
research topic (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2012). Survey strategy helps in collecting
relevant data fromlarge audience in a cost and time effective manner.
The researcher has selected case study for collecting data for the study. The qualitative
information required for the study is carried out by conducting an in-depth case study on
HSBC, UK. The researcher identified that most of banking organizations face scandal for
improper management of human resources and offering of poor working condition for the
employees and these issues in banking sector enhances employee turnover in the industry.
Comparing this to the case of HSBC the researcher identified that even though HSBC offered
high quality training as well as motivational programs for improving the productivity and
employee engagement, various issues such as poor working condition, high job stress, low
rate of payment resulted in the poor employee engagement in the organization.
3.6 Data collection methods
As per the observation of Olsen (2011) data collection methods plays a crucial role in
collecting the necessary data and this method is highly considered as a significant step as it
helps in achieving the information needed for meeting the research objectives and aims.
Primary and secondary data mainly forms the two classifications of this method and helps in
gathering the qualitative and quantitative data. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2012)
observes primary data as the data that is collected through personally and directly from the
participants by mingling with them whereas secondary data are those data that are
collected from a third person and is available through various internal and external sources.
In this study the researcher has adopted secondary data collection methods for analyzing
the impact of organizational culture on employee engagement. Secondary data highly helps

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in improving the perception regarding the research topic and also gives a detailed
understanding about the research issue on the basis of the earlier studies (Saunders, Lewis
and Thornhill, 2012). Secondary data required for the study was mainly gathered by the
researcher by analyzing various external and internal secondary sources such as journals,
online publications, company documents, sales and annual reports, articles, newspapers,
company websites etc. With the help of secondary data the researcher was able to develop
a detailed case study on the organizational culture of HSBC and the impact of organizational
culture of HSBC on employee engagement. The secondary data also enabled the researcher
to understand the major issues faced by the bank due to its ineffective organizational
culture and how it affected the employee engagement at the bank. An appropriate
literature review was also prepared on the basis of the secondary data collected. The
researcher was also able to analyze the key factors influencing employee engagement in
banking industry with the secondary information.
3.7 Sample selection
For getting an outline about the research outcome and for carrying out study in a time and
cost effective manner sample selection is highly inevitable as conducting the study on a
large population is highly considered as a complicated task (Levy and Lemeshow, 2013).
Thus sampling methods are adopted for selecting the required case studies relevant for
determining the research issue. In the case study research selection the main sampling
techniques used are extreme case sampling, homogenous sampling, convenience sampling,
criterion sampling and maximum variation sampling.
The researcher for collecting the cases relevant to the HSBC and the research topic has used
criterion sampling method. Criterion sampling method highly helps in selecting relevant
cases that discusses the research variables and also highly give importance in choosing case
studies that discusses organizational culture and employee engagement in the context of
banking industry. This method also emphasizes on the cases that rate relevant with the
current research topic.

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3.8 Data analysis plan
The researcher has used secondary data for the case study required for the study and has
also used descriptive analysis method for analyzing the data collected in the case study.
Case study enabled the gathering of both qualitative and quantitative information. The
secondary data needed for preparing the case study was gathered by reviewing company
websites, documents, journals, sales and annual reports of the company. The researcher for
reaching at appropriate conclusions has finally cross evaluated the findings of the
researcher with the theoretical framework developed for the present research study.
3.9 Ethical issues
One of the major ethical issues faced was the avoidance of plagiarism and to adopt an
appropriate reference list for the secondary data collected for preparing the case study. The
researcher while performing the study strictly pursued University Guidelines on plagiarism
and also adopted a clear referencing list for the secondary information collected. The
researcher also received the consent of company management for taking information from
the company websites and documents and also highly maintained the privacy and
confidentiality of the data collected.
3.10Limitations and Future scope for the study
One of the main limitations of the current research is that the secondary data collected
minimized the scope of the study and focusing on a single organization for carrying out the
study failed in analyzing the research issue in an effective manner.
As the research highly gave importance in analyzing the impact of organizational culture on
employee engagement in the context of HSBC only, there exist a future scope for the study
to include more organizations from different industries for attaining a general
understanding about the research issue. The absence of primary data is also a limitations it
reduces the accuracy of the study thus the future researchers are also recommended to
include primary data collection such as interview, survey etc for enhancing the reliability of
the study. It is also suggested to involve more members of staff in the collection of primary
data from the company management and employees so that it would help in evaluating the

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research problem in a general manner and would also increase the scope of the study. This
will also help in understanding the research topic in a broad manner.
3.10 Summary
In this chapter the researcher discussed the various methods used by the researcher to
collect the data’s for the study on the impact of organizational culture on employee
engagement. The researcher used interpretivism philosophy, inductive approach and
explanatory research method for carry out the study along with secondary data collection
methods, the researcher reviewed review books, journals, etc for collecting secondary
information for the study and was able to identify the major factors influencing employee
engagement in HSBC and through the detailed case study was also able to understand the
major issues faced by HSBC in association to its organizational culture and how it affected
employee engagement in the company.

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CHAPTER 4: RESULTS, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction
In this chapter the researcher has collected secondary information related to organisational
culture and employee engagement in HSBC and has analysed the gathered data in relation
to the research questions. The present chapter has adopted case study approach to collect
relevant data required for meeting research objectives. In the initial part of the chapter the
researcher has prepared case study of HSBC based on research objectives and in the further
part the researcher has illustrated case study analysis by comparing the information on
HSBC with existing literatures. The researcher has also mentioned the major gaps identified
by comparing case study with literature review. The researcher has followed descriptive
analysis method and has derived at the major results of this study.
4.2 Plan of Analysis
In the current study the researcher has used case study to collect data. According to
researchers like Mills, Durepos and Wiebe (2012) etc, the quality of case analysis improves
when requisite information is gathered from diverse sources. Therefore the current
researcher utilized various sources like company website and reports, banking bulletins and
magazines, news reports, various online sources etc for the preparation of HSBC case study.
The case study of HSBC was supported using charts and graphs and this study has ensured
that the case analysis covered every research objective.
4.3 Case study of HSBC, UK
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited or the HSBC Ltd is a multinational
banking company based in London. It is also noteworthy to find from the report of Hyde
(2011) that HSBC is one among the only three British financial entities that have entered
into the list of 50 safest banks in the world.

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Figure 4.1: Total assets of HSBC from the year 2012 to 2015
Source: Statista (2015)
HSBC is currently the largest bank in the European continent with a total asset of
£2.55billion (Statista, 2015). HSBC gives primary importance to fulfilling the needs of its
customers and empowering global economy (Treanor, 2015). It is the excellence in
performance that makes HSBC different from its competitors. Also, the wide range of
product selection has augmented customer walk-in and support to the banking institution in
UK (Finkelstein, 2013).
To evaluate the organizational culture of HSBC
As per the observation of Kulkarni (2016) HSBC has placed its home markets both in London
and Hongkong and thus a diversified multi-culture is reflected by the banking institutions.
Compared to other global banking firms, HSBC is based on both Chinese and British culture.
Though, maintaining symmetry between these two cultures is challenging, it makes the
Bank one of the high-up examples of UK organizations with triumph and superior quality
cultural revolution compared to its major rivals RBS, Barclay’s etc (Schneider and Barbera,
2014). The attractive part of HSBC‘s culture is its localization policy and with this policy, the
banking and financial service firm opens opportunities to diverse work force. According to
Steeves (2015) it is the localization culture of HSBC that has enabled it to recruit top quality
employees from various parts of the world. The author also cites that the culture of HSBC is

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based on the grounds of work-ethic endorsement and due to the same the organisation has
high reputation in the global industry.
A culture of encouragement could be observed in HSBC, says Chen (2015). As per the
researcher, the banking institution finds its employees to be an integral part in decision
making processes and provides opportunity for suggestions and feedback for all its
employees. The banking firm believes that competitive advantage could be earned only
through the acceptance of multi-cultural and diverse workforce and hence has lain down
organizational polices which ensures respect to the culture and beliefs of every employee.
Apart from the above, HSBC (2016) report states that its culture is built on the rounds of
commitment and integrity. The financial institution creates and maintains an inclusive
environment where due respect is given to every person associated with HSBC, including
employees, customers and general public.
A thorough evaluation of HSBC’s culture reflects that it is based on two main principles,
namely diversity and inclusion and sustainability.
Diversity and inclusion: As per HSBC (2016), the organisation embraces varied ideas and
perceptions from its stakeholders and this has been the primary reason for its higher
customer satisfaction rates. It is found that HSBC has more than 50 staff-network and
discrimination based on factors like race, gender, age, qualification, skills, disability and
sexual orientation are totally discouraged in HSBC culture (HSBC, 2012). A welcoming
network is always ensured by the bank, both for its employees and other stakeholders and
this has assisted the banking firm to have a strong channel of communication between the
management and its staffs.
Besides, every employee in HSBC is provided with flexible working opportunities and the
banking institution provides alternative working systems for its human resources. Thus
employees in HSBC are able to meet both personal and professional commitments and this
has led to higher employee productivity and performance in the organisation.
Sustainability: While organisations focus on meeting needs and preferences of its
stakeholders, HSBC focuses on its responsibility towards society and environment also
(Groenfeldt, 2015). A part of HSBC’s culture is aimed in improving ecological condition and

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reducing carbon emissions (Finkelstein, 2013). Currently the per employee annual carbon
emission of HSBC is 3.5tonnes and the financial institution targets to reduce it to 2.5tonnes
by the end of 2020. For the same, the bank maintains a culture that supports and finances
projects of low-carbon emissions. Also, while making potential investments HSBC ensures
that such investments do not harm the environment and society and participates in many
social development initiatives.
It is observed that the bank is based on a centralized power culture where decision-making
is ultimately done by the head of management. The role culture of HSBC gives every
employee the opportunity to trade and specialize in the area of their expertise. The task
culture of HSBC has led to creation of working groups and is based on entrepreneurial spirit,
thus promoting team members an opportunity to make suggestions and changes in banking
decisions (HSBC, 2013). As per the observations of Singh, Pangarkar and Heracleous (2014)
and Werther and Chandler (2010) HSBC has an effective working culture within the firm and
the attractive employee engagement strategies adopted by the organization to build it
present motivated workforce signifies this fact.
Employee engagement practices of HSBC
HSBC understands that strong employee engagement direct towards potential commercial
results, and supports enhanced business performance, augmented customer satisfaction
level, talent retention, enhanced productivity and limited absenteeism (HSBC, 2015). The
firm adopts large number of complementary initiatives in UK to engage and get employee
opinions such as My Health & Wellbeing, Idea of the Month, regular exchange meetings
with senior managers etc. Different programs are implemented by HSBC for enhancing
employee engagement in the organizations and which have high impact on employee
performance. The cooperation between HSBC and TWI (Team working International) aided
HSBC to considerably increase employee engagement level in the company by using their
“An Even Better Place to Work" Programme (TWI, 2016).
Barton (2013) note that, fear of change and poor communication are the main issues faced
by HSBC for enhancing employee engagement. The collaboration with TWI aided HSBC to
adopt innovative solution for the issue. Effective teambuilding programme of HSBC helps

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them to improve employee engagement. For assessing the employee engagement level in
HSBC, the company has annually conduct online survey.
In the opinion of TWI (2016), Career Management and Development program of HSBC is
useful for the staffs to manage their career with the company and also aid them to
understand their career options effectively. Through this program, HSBC is able to ensure
employee retention and engagement. Based on the employees’ contribution for the firm,
HSBC provides a broad, competitive pay and benefit package to employees for improving
employee engagement. Corporate Employee Programme, Pension, flexible working
practices, private medical insurance (PMI), income protection, holidays, maternity leave, etc
offered by HSBC enhance employee job satisfaction and which improve employee
engagement in the company (HSBC, 2016).
This range of opportunities provides HSBC staffs a voice which is recognised and reacted
upon. Collecting and assessing staff reviews helps leaders and managers to get overviews
that highly inform employee decisions and the present business and engagements in
contributing the business objectives (HSBC, 2015).
Key factors influencing employee engagement in HSBC
Employee engagement in HSBC is effected by various factors and this includes higher career
support, and developmental opportunities, positive approach from staffs, benefits and
recognitions etc. HSBC have perfect employee orientated organizational culture which
emphasis on promoting employee welfare and developmental activities for the long term
growth and development of the firm (HSBC, 2014). The business school of HSBC offers
effective learning and developmental programs to employees for enhancing their level of
personal and professional skill sets (Barton, 2013). Based on the area of specialization,
employees are offered with complete set of learning materials and tools and this has
facilitated them to make improvement in presentation, communication and leadership and
development skills. In addition to this, HSBC offered e-learning, instructor led workshops,
on-job-coaching for enabling employees to set up professional and client network around
the globe. The international Management Programs implemented by HSBC provided
employees with an opportunity to pursue internationally itinerant career with range of
location and roles (HSBC, 2015). This clearly indicates that HSBC’s strategic alignment of

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goals integrating employee fair treatment and equal opportunities has played a major role
in not only enhancing employee job satisfaction level but also influenced the dedication and
commitment level of employees towards the bank.
To support employees with their personal and professional needs, HSBC offered competitive
salary, package and other benefits based on individual as well as group performances. HSBC
has offered various benefits such as holiday allowances, private medical insurances, buy and
sell holidays, rewards and recognitions, pension schemes, share save schemes etc. In
addition to this, the firm also offered supplementary benefits to employees including health
club memberships, health assessment (dental and optical), retail voucher cards etc (HSBC,
2014).
The working environment of HSBC is open and supportive and thus facilitating for
employees to enhance their level of engagement and commitment towards the
accomplishment of tasks assigned (HSBC, 2015).
The impact of organizational culture of HSBC on employee engagement
The organizational culture of HSBC is open, supportive, inclusive and well favourable for
employees to build excellent professional career. The vision and mission of HSBC respects
employees and values their beliefs for creating sustainable and positive working
environment. The healthy organizational culture has brought significant level of changes in
the engagement level of employees. As indicated by Treanor (2016) HSBC value employees
and thereby initiates various welfare activities and developmental programs to enhance
their both professional and personal life. The enhanced support from HSBC in terms of
learning opportunities, rewards and recognitions, inclusive working environment etc
benefited the firm to witness increased contribution from employees (Barton, 2013). The
employee oriented working culture of HSBC enabled the firm to attain highly engaged
workforce supporting to perform well for meeting the needs and expectations of customers.

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Figure 4.2: Customer satisfaction score of HSBC
Source: Barton (2013)
It has been identified from the annual reports of HBSC (2015) that the firm provides an
inclusive working environment to employees. Inclusive working environment helps
employees to feel valued equally and this hence promote their commitment and
engagement level towards the accomplishment of organizational tasks. Moreover, it is
understood that the HSBC integrate the policy of work ethic endorsement in its culture
which means hiring of candidates have been done by the firm through careful screening.
This process helps the firm to select more talented and highly skilled employees for meeting
long term goals of the firm (HSBC, 2013). From this it can be revealed that, the
organizational culture of HSBC has given prime importance on selecting right and competent
employees for meeting organizational tasks.
The organizational culture of HSBC is well favourable for employees, since it embraces the
concept of diverse working force where the perceptions and ideas from employees are
equally valued and considered for bringing out considerable improvement in organizations
performances. The initiative of HSBC to establish diverse and inclusive working environment
enabled the firm to strengthen employee network and this has helped HSBC to witness
enhanced productivity from the employees (HSBC, 2014). In addition to this, HSBC has also
given higher importance to keep healthier relationship with employees by way of
establishing fairs and positive working environment.

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Moreover, the supportive organizational culture of HSBC enabled the firm to reduce cost of
employee absenteeism and also benefited to achieve higher customers satisfaction score of
76 for the admirable performance of employees in meeting their banking needs (Kulkarni,
2016). Even though HSBC provided impeccable benefits and other supplementary packages
to employees, the main reasons such as higher stress level, leading competition between
firms and positions, high end individual targets etc led HSBC to face sharp increase in its
employee turnover rate, almost around 19% per year (Moore, 2015).
4.4 Case study analysis
In this section, the researcher makes comparison of findings from case study with that of
literature review and identifies similarities and contradicting findings. From the analysis of
case study, the researcher identified that HSBC has maintained perfect organizational
culture that is well favourable to employees for building up excellent professional life. It was
identified from the case study that the organizational culture of HSBC is integrated with two
main principles and they are diversity and inclusion and sustainability. It was identified from
the literature review that effectual working culture that takes account of sustainability is
pivotal for enhancing employee engagement (Calnan, 2016). From both these findings it
can be revealed that organizational culture embedded with sustainability concerns and
diversity and inclusion is pivotal for enhancing employee engagement. Hence it can be
deduced that findings from literature are in line with findings from the case study.
The case study findings revealed that, “An Even Better Place to Work" Programme”,
teambuilding programme, Career Management and Development program, Corporate
Employee Programme, competitive pay and benefits, etc are the main employee
engagement programs of HSBC and which have high impact on employee job satisfaction. In
the literature review, Byrne (2015) and Bridger (2015) also mentioned that, career support
and development opportunities, benefits and recognitions, etc improve employee
commitment and loyalty. So, case study finding was in agreement with literature review
observation.
The researcher from the case study was able to reveal that employee engagement in HSBC
has been affected by various factors such as positive approach from superiors, benefits and
recognitions, learning and employee developmental programs etc. Similarly, the researcher

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from the literature review also revealed that employee engagement in an organization were
affected by various factors such as strategic alignment, personal influence, career support
and developmental opportunities, rewards and recognition etc.
From the case study analysis the researcher revealed that HSBC have been providing various
career developmental and learning opportunities to employees. It was also identified by the
researcher from the case study analysis that the business school of HSBC have been offering
various training and developmental programs to employees for enhancing their personal
and professional skill sets. The researcher from case study analysis revealed that HSBC
provided various benefits to employees based on the individual as well as group
performances and apart from this, the researcher also identified that HSBC also offered
reward schemes like holiday allowances, private medical insurance, buy and sell holidays,
pension schemes, share save schemes, pension schemes, rewards and recognitions etc
(HSBC, 2014). Moreover, the case study analysis also indicated that, the engagement and
commitment level of employees towards HSBC has been enhanced with respect to the
benefits and employee developmental program offered to them. Similar findings have been
observed from the literature review.
From the case study, it can be revealed that HSBC has maintained perfect organizational
culture which is well favourable for motivating and encouraging employees and also the
firm has given increased attention to establish inclusive and diverse workforce which
promotes equality among employees. The employee oriented organizational culture of
HSBC well facilitated the firm to enhance employee engagement and thereby their level of
productivity. From the literature review, it is identified that the behaviour of employees is
directly linked with organizational culture and therefore the healthier organizational culture
is more influential in enhancing the overall engagement and productivity of employees
(Alvesson, 2012). Hence the findings from case study concur with the findings from
literature review.
The researcher from the literature review revealed that effective rewarding strategies and
providing addition benefits, helps firms to enhance motivational and engagement level of
employees (Bridger, 2015). Moreover, it was also identified from the literature review that
implementing effective performance appraisal systems, training programs and talent

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enhancement activities helps firms to enhance employee performances and thereby their
productivity level (Byrne, 2015). Thus it can be deduced that the findings from the case
study are in line with the findings from the literature review. The researcher from the case
study revealed that work stress and competition in banking industry has paved HSBC to
witness sharp increase in staff turnover rate (Moore, 2015). Similarly, the researcher from
the literature review identified that it is pivotal to build positive working environment and
employee supporting ad developmental programs for enhancing employee engagement
level and thereby to reduce employee turnover rate (Omarini, 2016). Thus it can be deduced
that employee developmental and welfare programs which include providing positive
working environment is pivotal to reduce employee turnover rate in an organization.
4.6 Identifying gaps
 The case study outlines that HSBC is one of the prominent examples of UK firms with
successful and high quality cultural revolution in comparison with its major
competitors Barclay’s, RBS etc (Schneider and Barbera, 2014). However, in the
literature review it was identified that one of the prominent examples of UK firms
which has implemented effective and high quality cultural transformation evolves
Barclays in UK (Arden, 2016). This indicates that there exists a gap between the
findings of the literature review and the case study.
 From the case study, it can be inferred that HSBC comprise an effective working
culture and the attractive employee engagement strategies adopted by the bank to
construct its present motivated workforce proves the fact that the firm has efficient
working culture (Singh, Pangarkar and Heracleous, 2014; Werther and Chandler,
2010). This is in contradiction to the view propounded by Scotsman (2012) in the
literature review that RBS offered an ineffective as well as deprived organizational
culture which impacted their workforce. Literature review also indicated that RBS
has failed in their decision making tactics (Treanor and Bowers, 2011). This indicates
there is a gap between existing literature and research findings.
 The researcher from the case study revealed that, the organizational culture of HSBC
was well favourable for enhancing the engagement level of employees. The
researcher also revealed from the case study that HSBC has given significant

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consideration for establishing diverse working environment especially to stimulate
employee engagement level. But, from the observation of Moore (2015) mentioned
in the case study, it is revealed that the employee retention of HSBC was low even
though the firm maintained perfect working environment. But contradicting to this
observation, Pfister (2009) in literature review indicated that it was the poor
organizational culture which leads to lowered employee retention rate. Thus while
analysing the findings it can be thus identified that findings from case study
contradict with findings from the literature review.
4.7 Summary
In the current chapter, the researcher has developed case study of HSBC in UK for collecting
the data required data to meet the research objectives. The case study has helped the
researcher to collect secondary information regarding HSBC’s organizational culture and its
impact on employee engagement practices within the bank. The researcher has also carried
out a case study analysis to identify similar and contradicting findings from case study with
that of literature review. Further, cross-referencing of case study with the literature helped
the researcher to identify the gaps between literature review and case study findings.

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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction
In this chapter the researcher on the basis of the research findings deals with the
conclusions of the study. This chapter also discusses the evaluation of the results along with
the limitations of the research. Moreover appropriate recommendations are also provided
to HSBC for improving the organizational culture of the bank so that it leads to improvement
of employee engagement. On the basis of the research work the research has also provided
adequate recommendations to the future researchers for enhancing the excellence of the
future studies.
5.2 Conclusions
The researcher on the basis of the research findings discuses the conclusions in this section
and also analyze the extent to which the research objectives have been accomplished in the
study.
Objective 1: To evaluate the organizational culture of HSBC
The major objective of the study was to evaluate the organizational culture of HSBC. In the
case study, it was noted that HSBC considered employees as its main assets and highly
involved the employees in the decision-making process. The bank also included diverse
workforce and followed sustainable business practices and maintained effective relationship
with the stakeholders (Groenfeldt, 2015). HSBC integrated business practices and policies
with the culture for maintaining environmental sustainable business operations. Handy
(2011) and Rhoden (2016) in the literature review also opines similar view points. Thus this
shows that the main objective has been achieved by the researcher effectively.
Objective 2: To analyse the key factors influencing employee engagement in banking
industry
One of the other objectives of the study was to analyze the key factors influencing
employee engagement in banking industry. It was understood from the case study of HSBC
that, the main factors that influenced employee engagement in HSBC are benefits and
recognitions, developmental opportunities, positive approach from staffs, higher career

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support etc. It was also found that, “An Even Better Place to Work" Programme”,
teambuilding programme, Career Management and Development program, Corporate
Employee Programme, competitive pay and benefits, etc were offered by HSBC for
enhancing employee engagement. In the literature review Bridger (2015) and Byrne (2015)
also stated similar factors that influenced employee engagement in banking industry. Hence
it can be inferred that the researcher was able to successfully analyze the key factors that
influenced employee engagement in banking industry.
Objective 3: To investigate the impact of organizational culture of HSBC on employee
engagement
The third objective of the research study was to investigate the impact of organizational
culture of HSBC on employee engagement. The researcher also found from the case study
analysis that, HSBC provided a supportive, favourable and open organizational culture for
the employees and this highly helped the employees to build up an excellent professional
career. Organizational culture of their bank encouraged employees and provided them high
opportunities by promoting employee development activities and by holding an effective
employee oriented organizational culture. Higginbottom (2014) and Arden (2016) also
reported similar statements in the literature review thus indicating that efficient and high-
quality organizational culture improves the employee engagement. Thus it can be found
that the case study and literature review findings concurs with each other and successfully
accomplishes the third objective.
5.3 Evaluation of results
From the case study analysis it was found that HSBC maintained highly employee friendly
organizational culture and gave more importance to its employees and considered them as
the main assets of the organization. It was also found that the bank incorporated
sustainable business practices and highly gave more opportunities to diverse work force. It
was found that HSBC for improving the personal and professional skill sets offered the
employees with effective learning and developmental programs and these all highly
improved the engagement of the employees thereby making them more loyal towards the
bank. The findings of the case study also revealed that open and supportive were offered in
HSBC leading to high commitment and engagement of the employees towards the

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objectives and goals of the bank. It was found that the bank maintained diversified multi-
organizational culture and carried out environmentally sustainable business operations. It
also highly involved the employees in the decision making processes and gave high career
support and development opportunities by offering excellent benefits and recognition for
encouraging their commitment level towards the organization. It was noted that the
employee oriented organizational culture highly enhanced the employee engagement and
offered the employees with more opportunities for offering feedbacks and making
suggestions. Thus it can be found that an effective organizational culture can highly result in
the enhancement of employee engagement in the banking industry.
5.4 Recommendation
 Goal alignment: The research findings indicated that establishing high-end
individual targets is a major issue in HSBC (Moore, 2015). From the studies like
Schneider and Barbera (2014) and Werther and Chandler (2010) it can be
identified that high-end individual targets as the major area that needs further
improvements to enhance employee engagement levels in terms of
organizational culture in HSBC. Hence, it is recommended that HSBC adopt Goal
Alignment techniques such as “Line of Sight” or “Business Information
Requirements” to ensure that each staff can clearly observe the business
direction and understand how their roles suits in with the ‘Big Frame’. This
strategy will also benefit HSBC to be positive and to anticipate the perspectives
of employees with respect to the management of business practices.
 Indulge in collaborations with competitors: The findings of the research reveal
that leading competition between firms and positions as major threat faced by
HSBC. However, it is recommended HSBC to indulge in collaborations with
competitors such as major banking and financial firms in UK like RBS, in order to
widen its organizational culture and thereby to enhance employee commitment
and engagement level within the organization.
 Stress management: The research findings have also indicated that high stress
level as a major issue in HSBC bank. Hence, it is recommended to focus more on
stress management practices such as regular relaxation periods, work life

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balance etc for employees. The firm could also reduce the stress level of
employees through effectively using its present online discussion forum (HSBC,
2015) where staffs can get information regarding variety of topics and can be
able to post their own views and ideas which helps them to reduce their stress
level.
5.5 Limitations of the research
The major limitation of the research was the adoption of a single case study and so the
scope of the study was highly limited to the case of HSBC, UK only. The adoption of case
study research strategy focussed on a particular case and lacked generalisability. It also was
ineffective in analyzing the fundamental relationship among the research variables. It is also
considered as a time and cost consuming strategy and due to this the researcher had to
choose limited number of cases for the case study which highly affected the quality of the
information collected. The researcher was not able to collect primary data for the study and
which reduced the reliability of research findings.
5.6 Recommendations for future researchers
Due to the limitation created by the case study research strategy it is propped to future
researchers to adopt other research strategies such as survey, interview, observation
method, experiment etc for enhancing the reliability of the study. It is also recommended
to review more number of cases of different organizations of various sectors for attaining
general view on the research.

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REFERENCES
Alvesson, M., 2012. Understanding Organizational Culture. London: Sage.
Arden, Z., 2016. Transforming culture at Barclays, Enel and Campbell Soup. [online]
Available at: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/transforming-culture-barclays-enel-and-
campbell-soup [Accessed 27 September 2016].
Bansal, A., Phatak, Y. and Sharma, R.K., 2015. Quality management practices for global
excellence. New Delhi: Allied Publishers.
Barton , T., 2013. HSBC implements new all-employee benefits strategy. [online] Available
at: https://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/issues/august-2013/hsbc-implements-new-all-
employee-benefits-strategy/ [Accessed 8 November 2016].
Bridger, E., 2015. Employee engagement. London: Kogan Page Publishers.
Brown, D., Chheng, S., Melian, V., Parker, K. and Solow, M., 2015. Culture and engagement.
[online] Available at: http://dupress.com/articles/employee-engagement-culture-human-
capital-trends-2015/ [Accessed 8 November 2016].
Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2011. Business research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Byrne, Z.S., 2015. Understanding employee engagement: theory, research, and practice.
Abingdon: Routledge.
Calnan, M., 2016. Exclusive: Royal Bank of Scotland engages staff with its sustainability
goals. [online] Available at: https://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/issues/february-online-
2016/exclusive-rbs-engages-staff-with-its-sustainability-goals/ [Accessed 27 September
2016].
Chen, L., 2015. 2015 Global 2000: the world's largest banks. Forbes, [online] 6 May.
Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/liyanchen/2015/05/06/2015-global-2000-the-
worlds-largest-banks/#739dd8d724f1 [Accessed 25 October 25].
Childress, J. R., 2014. The challenge of managing ethical behaviour in banking. [pdf]
Available at: http://www.ftiecla.com/wp-

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