Macquarie Graduate School of Management Mgsm Working Papers in Management Improving Employee Engagement and Performance: a Self-efficacy Based Intervention

Self-efficacy is a social psychological construct that is conceptualized from an agentic perspective. It refers to people‟s beliefs about their capabilities to perform designated tasks. Numerous studies have shown a strong positive relationship between an individual‟s self-efficacy and their performance. However, there is a paucity of studies examining the longitudinal effect of self-efficacy-based interventions, their impact on self-efficacy and subsequent individual and organizational performance. This paper reports on the results of a field experiment conducted within an Australasian financial services organization that assessed the effect of an intervention on participants‟ self-efficacy and customer service skills. Two sets of workshops were designed and delivered using Forum Theatre, a technique traditionally used as a catalyst for political action amongst oppressed groups, as the principle vehicle to increase employee self efficacy. A specifically-designed measure of employee selfefficacy and a range of workplace customer service measures were used for evaluation purposes. Preliminary results indicate a positive change in customer service, in part due to enhanced self-efficacy. Correspondence Details Richard Carter Macquarie Graduate School of Management Macquarie University NSW 2109 AUSTRALIA Phone: + 61 414 782 182 Fax: + 61 2 9850 9019 Email: [email protected]