Locus of control, occupational stress and employee engagement

Abstract

In Uganda today, employees face a high level of occupational stress as a result of varying personal characteristics such as locus of control. This is due to their, low internal locus of control and high external locus of control. This in turn leads to less engagement of those employees, concerning the organisational activities. Personalities high on external locus of control estimate situations beyond their coping abilities. They consequently experience high job stress which they cannot deal with especially when they are surrounded by demotivated work teams. Unless issues of locus of control are dealt with, employees will continue experiencing occupational stress thus negatively affecting their engagement levels.

Purpose of the Study The study sought to investigate the relationships between, locus of control, occupational stress and employee engagement at the work place. Objectives of the study The study sought to address the following objectives 1. Establish the percentage of employees that are high on internal locus of control and those that are high on external locus of control. 2. Examine relationship between locus of control and occupational stress. 3. Establish the relationship between occupational stress and employee engagement. Scope of the study Geographical scope The study was carried out at Lubaga hospital in Kampala district. This location was selected because it was appropriate, favourable, safe and suitable for research to be carried out. Contextual scope Locus of control, Occupational stress and employee engagement are the variables to be examined. The research seeks to find out the relationship between all the above variables. Locus of control is regarded as a personality attribute where people perceive events in their life as contingent on their own action that is to say internal locus of control or as contingent upon fate, chance, luck, or powerful others which is external locus of control (Srivastava, 2009). Occupational stress is defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the resources and needs of the worker (Nakasis and Ouzouni, 2008) Employee engagement is the emotional commitment employees feel towards their organisation success (Melanie 2014). Engagement was described as “a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind characterized by vigour, dedication and absorption” (Schaufeli

2002). Schaufeli further explains his three aspects that is: Vigour which refers to high levels of energy and mental resilience at work. Dedication characterized by being deeply involved at work, and experiencing a sense of significance, enthusiasm and pride. Absorption which is characterized by being fully concentrated and happy at work.