What makes an engaged employee? A facet-level approach to trait emotional intelligence as a predictor of employee engagement

Abstract

Engagement creates many positive individual and organisational outcomes and recent research suggests that there are individual differences in employees’ tendencies to be engaged (e.g., Akhtar et al., 2015). However, previous research has not examined how specific facets of emotional intelligence can promote or hinder engagement as a function of the psychological resources they provide to employees. The current study investigated how individual facets of Trait Emotional Intelligence predicted engagement levels amongst a sample of three hundred and six employees. Structural Equation Modelling revealed that a facet-level approach explained nearly twice the variance in engagement compared to taking a global representation of emotional intelligence. Results specifically revealed that employees with higher dispositional Happiness, who are good at influencing others’ emotions (Emotion Management), are motivated by an internal need for achievement (Self-Motivation) but who experience greater fluctuations in emotion (Emotion Regulation) experience higher levels of engagement. It is argued that these traits act as an employee's personal resource that facilitate experiences of engagement. The findings are discussed in relation to selection, development, training, and leadership in order to facilitate engagement levels in organisations. Limitations with accompanying directions for future research are also discussed.