How Employee Voice affects Employee Engagement? A research across Spanish nationals working in multinational companies in Dublin (Ireland) during Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Marc Artacho Master of Arts in Human Resource Management National College of Ireland Submitted to the National College of Ireland, August 2020 Abstract This research aims to contribute to the area of Employee Voice and its relevance and impact on Employee Engagement during COVID-19 global pandemic taking an employee-centric approach for expatriates, specifically Spanish nationals, working remotely for multinationals companies based in Dublin (Ireland). The epistemology orientation taken is mainly a constructive interpretivism focused on the thinking and feeling that underpins people’s behaviour and the subjective ways in which they experience their world. This approach considers an online questionnaire with a mixture of closed-ended and open-ended questions following a mixed method research methodology. The questionnaire is broken down into three sections. The first part is to understand the current employee engagement level. The second part is defined to measure the six key management functions that are impacting the employee engagement and the third part is created to understand directly how the employee voice is impacting Spanish employees’ engagement during the COVID-19 period. In conclusion, Employee Voice impacted negatively Employee Engagement for Spanish nationals working in multinational companies in Dublin (Ireland) during COVID-19 period. On the other hand, they were satisfied with their working environment in their project, the management style of their direct manager, their co- worker relationship, their current side policies and procedures and the wellbeing measures implemented in their side but not with their current training and career development plan and their current side compensation plan. ii Declaration Submission of Thesis and Dissertation, National College of Ireland Research Students Declaration Form (Thesis/Author Declaration Form) Name: Marc Artacho Student Number: 18101160 Degree for which thesis is submitted: Master of Arts in Human Resource Management (CIPD) Material submitted for award: (a) I declare that the work has been composed by myself. (b) I declare that all verbatim extracts contained in the thesis have been distinguished by quotation marks and the sources of information specifically acknowledged. (c) My thesis will be included in electronic format in the College Institutional Repository TRAP (thesis reports and projects). (d) I declare that no material contained in the thesis has been used in any other submission for an academic award. Signature of research student: Marc Artacho Date: 18/08/2020 iii Library Submission Form Submission of Thesis to Norma Smurfit Library - National College of Ireland Student name: Marc Artacho Student number: 18101160 School: School of Business, National College of Ireland Course: MAHRM Degree to be awarded: Master of Arts in Human Resource Management (CIPD) Title of Thesis: How Employee Voice affects Employee Engagement? A research across Spanish nationals working in multinational companies in Dublin (Ireland) during Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) One hard bound copy of your thesis will be lodged in the Norma Smurfit Library and will be available for consultation. The electronic copy will be accessible in TRAP (http://trap.ncirl.ie/), the National College of Ireland’s Institutional Repository. In accordance with normal academic library practice all theses lodged in the National College of Ireland Institutional Repository (TRAP) are made available on open access. I agree to a hard-bound copy of my thesis being available for consultation in the library. I also agree to an electronic copy of my thesis being made publicly available on the National College of Ireland’s Institutional Repository TRAP. Signature of Candidate: Marc Artacho For completion by the School: The aforementioned thesis was received by: Date: This signed form must be appended to all hard bound and electronic copies of your thesis submitted to your school. iv Acknowledgements Thanks to my friend Javier Lopez, who passed away in May 2020 at 37 years old. Thanks to my parents Maria and Juan, who have encouraged me every day to be a better human being and have given plenty of love, great values, morals, ethics and principles. Thanks to my brother Xavier, who has shown me the sense of protection, the sense of family and the sense of responsibility. Thanks to my friends Alex, Almu, Angel, Andrea, Jordi, Miriam, Agus, Cristina, Aure, Toni, Fran, Nuria, Jairo, Ruben, Casandra, Albert, Eli, Manolo, Jaime and Jari who have helped me to be who I am, to be where I am and to know where I go. Thanks to all the participants that have cooperated with this investigation and thanks to all the teachers that have passion for education and their students. And thanks also to me because without my dreams, energy and focus with proper direction this would not be possible. Es el camino, no el destino. v Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... ii Declaration .............................................................................................................................................. iii Library Submission Form ....................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................... vi 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Literature review ............................................................................................................................... 3 2.1. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ........................................................................................... 3 2.2. Working from home (WFH) .............................................................................................................. 6 2.3. Multinational companies in Ireland during COVID-19 ...................................................................... 7 2.4. Remote working in Ireland ............................................................................................................. 10 2.5. Employee Voice ............................................................................................................................. 11 2.6. Employee Engagement .................................................................................................................. 13 2.7. Spanish expatriates in Ireland ........................................................................................................ 15 2.8. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 16 3. Research questions ........................................................................................................................ 17 3.1. Research title ................................................................................................................................. 17 3.2. Central question ............................................................................................................................. 17 3.3. Associated sub-questions .............................................................................................................. 17 4. Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 18 4.1. Research ethics ............................................................................................................................. 18 4.2. Research philosophy ...................................................................................................................... 19 4.3. Mixed methods research ................................................................................................................ 19 4.4. Research methods research instrument ........................................................................................ 20 4.5. Mixed methods sampling technique ............................................................................................... 22 4.6. Data collection method................................................................................................................... 23 4.7. Scope and limitations ..................................................................................................................... 25 5. Analysis and Findings .................................................................................................................... 27 5.1. Demographic and geographic ........................................................................................................ 27 5.2. Employee Engagement .................................................................................................................. 29 5.3. Key Management Functions .........................................................................................................