FOSTERING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF POST-MERGER INTEGRATION IN THE AGROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY

Employee engagement has been a topic of constant interest over the past two decades, particularly in the modern business environment where frequent mergers and acquisitions occur. This study aims to identify the driving factors influencing engagement during PMI, ultimately affecting both employee and company performance. Unfortunately, very few studies examine how PMI affects employee engagement in the context of qualitative studies, particularly in Indonesia's agrochemical sector; therefore, this study is vital. These qualitative studies are drawn from semi-structured, in-depth interviews face-toface and via Zoom. The target informants consisted of 5 senior managers, 3 middle managers, and 4 staff members who possessed at least 1 merger and acquisition of the target company. The results were analyzed using the Miles, Huberman, and Saldana methods. The results indicate work-life balance, employee resilience, the role of the leader, and career growth opportunities are the main driving factors in enhancing engagement throughout PMI. From this study, the novelty found in the impact of PMI is that employees are becoming more generalists instead of specialists in managing work, and on top of that, they are more engaged with the organization. Organizational policies may encourage employee engagement by promoting work-life balance, resilience, the role of leader, and career growth, fostering a deeper sense of employee commitment.