ENGAGING WITH A GLOBAL IDENTITY IN A MAJOR MULTINATIONAL CHEMICALS FIRM Elaine Farndale
As a major producer of specialty chemicals and related consumer products based in Western Europe, this firm supplies industries and consumers worldwide with innovative products. Operations are based in more than 80 countries, involving over 50,000 employees worldwide. Despite previous success, the firm is now operating in a very difficult market, where significant organisation change and downsizing is a business reality. Jobs are therefore no longer secure for employees. There are also very few opportunities for alternative employment currently because of a downturn in the economy. Therefore, despite necessary downsizing across the company, there are few employees leaving the firm voluntarily. On a more positive note, employees enjoy a very generous employment package, including substantial severance payments should they be laid off. The latter is in part because of local legislation setting minimum requirements for payments, and in part because of the efforts of the trade unions recognised by the firm. Although trade union membership is low influence is high as they work in partnership with the firm to ensure employees are supported. The firm’s history is one of focusing on individual product brands that are well-known across Europe. The emphasis in recent years to deal with increased competition, however,

has been on shifting the values and culture from the product brand level to the level of the identity of the firm as a whole. Global corporate brand recognition is increasing, but it is not yet as high as for many of the traditional product brands. Because of the product brand history, different parts of the business operate quite independently, despite some co-location. Employee moves across business units are therefore rare. Employee engagement in this firm is defined as a combination of devotion, working hard, being optimistic and constructive and being a team player. It is also seen as a two-way process in which employees expect something in return for their engagement, such as work–life balance. Levels of work engagement are reported as being moderately high, with an equal focus on behavioural willingness to take initiative and learn on the job, and on emotional attachment to the work. In general, workload levels are relatively low.

Organisation engagement (defined here at the product brand business unit level) is somewhat higher than work engagement, particularly from a behavioural perspective, including willingness to put in extra effort to see the product brand succeed. Various HRM practices can stimulate engagement, such as providing development opportunities and constructive performance management. Communication and involvement have also been seen as key ways to increase employee engagement in the past, as well as intrinsic motivation being considered essential. In general, once a person joins this firm, they are likely to stay for a very long time, with the majority of the workforce having over twenty years’ service. This is largely facilitated by the generous employment package, alongside strong product brand loyalty. However, because of the long tenure, most employees have already reached the top of their salary scale (set by a collective bargaining agreement), so financial incentives are difficult to offer to improve performance.
Questions
1 What job resources and job demands can be identified in this case that may be contributing to engagement levels?
2 As the firm transforms its focus from multiple product brands to a single global corporate brand, how might it go about ensuring levels of employee engagement are maintained or increased at both work and organisation level?
3 How might a firm such as this increase engagement amongst employees when there is no room to offer additional financial incentives?
4 What do you think will be the effect on the engagement of remaining employees when their colleagues are laid off involuntarily across the organisation because of downsizing requirements? How might any negative effects be minimised?