Measurement invariance of employee engagement across race groups

Purpose - The testing of measurement invariance is important in cross-cultural research to establish whether the psychometric properties of an instrument remain valid and reliable across different sample groups as these assumptions are rarely tested statistically. The purpose of this paper is to determine the factorial invariance of the employee engagement questionnaire across the various race groups by means of structural equation modelling. Design/methodology/approach - Cross-sectional and descriptive research designs were followed in this study in the form of non-probability, convenience sampling to attract a sample of 1,175 employees in financial institutions. The employee engagement instrument (EEI) was electronically administered to 285,000 people who form part of a research database. Findings - The results confirmed the reliability and validity of the instrument as determined by the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Lastly, the results indicated that invariance can be assumed across race groups for financial institutions. Practical implications - It is important for organisations to take cognisance of how specific socio-demographic variables influence the measurement of employee engagement, in this case race. The conclusion reached was that the EEI can be used with confidence in the financial sector for future employee engagement assessments. Originality/value - These findings add to the current body of literature that exists on employee engagement and race in the South African work context and addresses one of the complexities assessment practitioners might have to comply with regarding questionnaire validity across race groups.