Author(s): Betabo Gogsido Sheref, Kinde Alemu Zerihun, Alamirew Getahun Dr. Demis
Strategic Human Resource Management practice (SHRMP) is a dual managerial concept that ensures optimal employee engagement in both creative and innovative dimensions for sustained organizational competitive advantage. However, this has been undermined by the previous studies. In this study, we applied Signal theory to assess the effect of dual managerial-rated High Performance Work System (HPWS) on employees’ engagement using multilevel data collected from 102 department heads and 360 lecturers of three selected Ethiopian public HEIs (Wachemo, Worabe, and Wolaita Sodo). The results indicate that positive managerial-rated HPWS predicted engagement significantly (β =.349, SE=.125, β* =.293, p =.005 at confidence intervals of 95% .104, .593 while the total amount of variance in engagement accounted for by positive managerial HPWS was 8.6%, R2 =.086. We conclude that dual HPWS have a positive impact on employee engagement. Further researchers could expand managerial-rated dual HPWS to enhance employee engagement.