Understanding the Engagement Experiences of Bank Muscat Employees in the Sultanate of Oman during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract: The purpose of this poster session is to present a qualitative study designed to understand the engagement experiences of 13 nonmanagerial Omani employees who were essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic at Bank Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman. The rapid spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), has affected economies and businesses around the world (Hariharan, 2020) including the financial sector (KPMG, 2020). The spread of COVID-19 has added pressure to Omani banks in an already challenging environment due to weakening earnings and capital (Fitch Ratings, 2020). Omani banks and customer service outlets were ‘essential services’ and remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic (Oman Observer, 2020). Thus, bank employees were required to attend work in person as there were minimal provisions made for employees to work from home. This requirement created a challenge for the employees and their families while navigating social distancing, new working hours, and mandatory mask wearing. The new policies and processes introduced during the pandemic altered the engagement experiences of employees. Although the significance of employee engagement for organizations was discussed in studies conducted before the pandemic (Sarangi & Srivastava, 2012, May et al., 2004, Shuck & Rose, 2013, Welbourne, 2011, Shuck & Wollard, 2010), there is a dearth of literature on understanding the impact of the pandemic on the engagement of essential workers, and no studies conducted in the banking sector in the Sultanate of Oman were found.
The term personal engagement was first conceptualized by Kahn (1990), and only in 2001 scholarly interest in employee engagement was rekindled (Shuck & Wollard, 2009). Kahn (1990) defined personal engagement as “the simultaneous employment and expression of a person’s ‘preferred self’ in task behaviors that promote connections to work and to others, personal presence, and active full role performances” (p. 700). Kahn (1992) explains that being present is about believing in the meaning of work, believing that work is safe (physically, emotionally and cognitively), and trusting that support is present to complete the work. Thus, meaningfulness, safety, and availability of resources are key concepts in understanding employee engagement and this conceptualization of engagement together with characteristic of the cultural norms of Oman that impact behaviors and attitudes in the society and the workplace informed the design of this study.
The findings of this study, derived from the data collected via in-depth interviews and analyzed using a constant comparative approach, showed that physical safety, in addition to psychological safety, meaningfulness and availability of resources had a major impact on the participants’ engagement experiences during COVID-19. Norms that are characteristic to Omani society, such as close contact relationships at home and in society and the sharing of daily meals, heightened the importance of the above. Positive work interactions between the participants and the support they received from their supervisors had a positive impact on the participants’ engagement experiences as related to psychological meaningfulness and psychological safety. The role of spiritual energy emerged as an important component of availability in the participants’ experiences of engagement during the pandemic. Given that faith is crucial in every fiber of life in the Omani society, spiritual energy had a positive impact on the participants’ engagement experiences.
HRD scholars should consider conducting research on the impact of physical safety and spiritual energy on engagement during times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in collectivist societies and cultures where families live in close proximity to each other, share meals with each other, and pray together. In order to support employee engagement during times of crises, it is imperative to design clear lines of communication and focus on employees’ well-being. Although the definition of engagement may be the same across cultures, the meaning of its key concepts should be studied in other cultures. The findings of this study showed that the Omani Arab culture and Islamic work ethic influenced the participants’ perceptions of meaningfulness, safety, and availability, and heightened the importance of physical safety and spiritual energy in the understanding of engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic.