Increase Work Engagement Research Articles

Can error management culture increase work engagement in hotels? The moderating role of gender

This study examines (1) the influence of error management culture on employees’ work engagement; (2) how gender affects the proposed relationship; and (3) the mediating effect of work engagement between error management culture and organizational citizenship behaviors. Data were collected from frontline hotel employees in China (Study 1) and hotel managers in the United States (Study 2). The results support the overall moderated mediation model. Results indicated that organizational error management culture has a stronger effect on work engagement for the male group and that increased work engagement resulted in increased organizational citizenship behaviors.

Investigating the impact of a combined approach of perceived organisational support for strengths use and deficit correction on employee outcomes

Orientation: The positive psychology paradigm suggests a balanced focus on employee strengths and deficits. However, an overemphasis on strengths has raised questions regarding the value of a focus on strengths use, deficit improvement or a combined approach with a balanced focus on both.Research purpose: The primary objective was to examine whether perceived organisational support (POS) for strengths use, POS for deficit improvement or a combined approach would be the strongest predictor of work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention.Motivation for the study: In the literature, there is little empirical evidence to support an approach where both employees’ strengths are used and their deficits improved.Research design, approach and method: This study was conducted among 266 teachers from four public schools in the Western Cape. A cross-sectional survey design was used.Main findings: The results suggest that both strengths use and deficit improvement are important predictors of work engagement, learning, job satisfaction and turnover intention. Learning was higher and turnover intention lower for individuals experiencing a combined approach compared to those believing that their school did not support them in either using their strengths or improving their deficits. Furthermore, a combined approach was associated with higher job satisfaction than a strengths-based approach, and a deficit-based approach was shown to be associated with higher levels of work engagement and lower turnover intentions compared to an environment where neither employees’ strengths nor deficits were addressed.Practical or managerial implications: The results urge organisations to invest an equal amount of resources in their employees’ strengths and deficits, as opposed to neglecting either one. Such a combined approach may be associated with increased work engagement, learning and job satisfaction and lower turnover intention.Contribution: This study provides empirical evidence that supports a combined approach where both employees’ strengths are used and their deficits developed.

Do new ways of working increase work engagement?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to shed more light on the impact of the various facets of new ways of working (NWW) on employee work engagement, taking into account multiple sectors and occupational fields.Design/methodology/approachInsights from the literature and the job demands-resources model underpin the hypotheses on how NWW would affect work engagement. The hypotheses were tested using the Preacher and Hayes’ (2008) bootstrap method for multiple mediation and controls, taking into account two potential mediators between (facets of) NWW and work engagement: social interaction in the workplace and transformational leadership.FindingsThe analyses show that three facets of NWW – management of output, access to organizational knowledge, and a freely accessible open workplace – positively affect employees’ work engagement. The latter two facets appear to be fully mediated by social interaction and transformational leadership.Practical implicationsThe results imply that firms should foster transformational leadership styles among their line managers, and social interaction in the workplaces, to maximize the positive impact of NWW on work engagement.Originality/valueThis empirical paper draws on a unique data set on the Dutch working population to provide novel insights with a substantial degree of generalizability into the relation between NWW and work engagement, whilst applying a more comprehensive definition of NWW than previously applied, while incorporating two potential mediators.

Impact of Relational Coordination on Nurse Job Satisfaction, Work Engagement and Burnout: Achieving the Quadruple Aim.

To explore how relational coordination, known to enhance quality and efficiency outcomes for patients and hospitals, impacts direct care nurse outcomes such as burnout, work engagement, and job satisfaction, addressing the "Quadruple Aim," to improve the experience of providing care. Hospitals are complex organizations in which multiple providers work interdependently, under conditions of uncertainty and time constraints, to deliver safe quality care despite differences in specialization, training, and status. Relational coordination-communicating and relating for the purpose of task integration-is known to improve quality, safety, and efficiency under these conditions, but less is known about its impact on the well-being of direct care providers themselves. Surveys measuring relational coordination among nurses and other types of providers as well as job-related outcomes in 5 acute care community hospitals were completed by direct care RNs. Relational coordination was significantly related to increased job satisfaction, increased work engagement, and reduced burnout. Relational coordination contributes to the well-being of direct care nurses, addressing the Quadruple Aim by improving the experience of providing care.

Investigating strengths and deficits to increase work engagement: A longitudinal study in the mining industry

Orientation: The motivational process of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model indicates that job resources are the main predictors of work engagement. Previous research has found that the two job resources perceived organisational support (POS) for strengths use and POS for deficit correction are also positively related to work engagement. However, the causal relationships between these variables have not been investigated longitudinally.Research purpose: To determine if POS for strengths use and POS for deficit correction are significant predictors of work engagement over time.Motivation for the study: In the literature, empirical evidence on the longitudinal relationships between work engagement and specific job resources, namely POS for strengths use and POS for deficit correction, is limited.Research design, approach and method: A longitudinal design was employed in this study. The first wave elicited a total of 376 responses, while the second wave had a total sample size of 79. A web-based survey was used to measure the constructs and to gather data at both points in time. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the hypotheses.Main findings: The results indicated that both POS for strengths use and POS for deficit correction are positively related to work engagement in the short term. However, only POS for deficit correction significantly predicted work engagement over time.Practical and managerial implications: The results provide valuable insights to organisations by providing knowledge regarding which approach influences work engagement levels of their employees in the short and long term.Contribution or value-add: The study contributes to the limited research on what job resources predict work engagement over time.

Servant leadership and work-related well-being in a construction company

Orientation: High levels of work-related well-being are imperative to ensure financial stability, competitiveness and sustainability in the construction industry. Leadership plays a fundamental role to enhance work engagement and to decrease burnout. The interrelationships between servant leadership, job demands, job resources, work engagement and burnout are still unknown, especially within the construction industry. Research purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the interrelationships between servant leadership, job demands, job resources, work engagement and burnout in a construction company. Motivation for the study: The construction industry is a highly demanding and labour intensive industry, which makes it difficult to sustain high work engagement and low burnout. This industry therefore calls for a people-orientated leadership approach, such as servant leadership, to enhance job resources to ultimately increase work engagement and to decrease burnout levels. Research design, approach and method: A quantitative research design was applied and four quantitative surveys were used to collect data. Two hundred and twenty-four sets of questionnaires were completed by employees in a South African construction company. Main findings: The results indicated that job resources mediated a positive relationship between servant leadership and work engagement and a negative relationship between servant leadership and burnout. Servant leadership had a positive significant relationship with job resources and significantly explained a proportion of the variance in job resources. Job resources, in turn, significantly explained a proportion of increase in work engagement levels and a proportion of reduction in burnout levels. An insignificant relationship was found between job demands and servant leadership. Practical or managerial implications: The findings showed that servant leadership could be used as an effective leadership approach to enhance work engagement and to decrease burnout in the construction industry. Contribution or value-add: This study makes a theoretical contribution to the body of knowledge on servant leadership and work-related well-being by providing empirical evidence on the interrelationships between servant leadership, job demands, job resources, work engagement and burnout.

The effects of paternalistic leadership on workplace loneliness, work family conflict and work engagement among air traffic controllers in Turkey

Given the unique nature and extreme work requirements of air traffic control units (e.g., high work demands, intolerance for mistakes, long working hours and night shifts), this study problematizes two critical yet understudied variables in this context, namely, workplace loneliness and work family conflict, and suggests a model in which paternalistic leadership mitigates them through boosted work engagement. Specifically, the study examined the mediating role of work engagement in the links between paternalistic leadership and workplace loneliness, and paternalistic leadership and work family conflict. Data were collected from air traffic controllers employed in İstanbul. The results of structural equation modeling analysis supported the hypothesis that work engagement fully mediated the links in the model. Paternalistic leadership, through increasing work engagement, decreases the workplace loneliness and work family conflict levels of air traffic controllers. The findings provide valuable insights and managerial implications.

Exploring the Job Demands–Resources Model of Work Engagement in Government: Bringing in a Psychological Perspective

Work engagement refers to an active energetic state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. Despite practitioner’s attention for work engagement, few public administration scholars have studied public servants’ work engagement empirically. The goal of this study is to extend the job demands–resources (JD-R) model of work engagement using insights from the public administration literature. The analysis of a large-scale survey ( N = 9,465) shows that (a) work and personal resources, including public service motivation, are positively related to work engagement; (b) red tape moderates these relationships; and (c) work engagement mediates the relationship between JD-R and job outcomes. In conclusion, public organizations can potentially increase work engagement and inherently employee outcomes by increasing work-related resources (autonomy, cooperation with colleagues) and selecting personnel with a proactive personality and high levels of public service motivation.

A Participatory Action Intervention to Increase Work Engagement in Nursing Staff

This study evaluated whether a participatory action research intervention with nursing staff on acute elderly NHS wards in the UK was effective for increasing work engagement. Mediation analyses between job resources, (social support, influence in decision-making), job demands, work-related needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness), and work engagement explored the presumed psychological mechanisms underlying the intervention. A non-randomised, matched control group, pre-test, post-test design involved three intervention and five control wards. A significant decrease in relatedness, and a borderline significant decrease in competence, was observed in the intervention group compared to the control group (N=45). No effect was observed on work engagement. Work-related needs mediated between resources and work engagement, supporting the Job Demands-Resources model and Self-Determination Theory as an underlying explanatory theory. Intervention implementation was poor, highlighting the need for participant and organisational readiness for change, and strong management support. This is the first known study to apply participatory techniques to increase work engagement in nursing staff and explore the underlying explanatory psychological mechanisms, and thus offers a novel means of taking work engagement research forward. Crucially, it highlights the challenges involved in intervention research and the importance of including evaluations of intervention implementation alongside statistical evaluations to avoid erroneous conclusions.

Burnout and Work Engagement Among US Dentists.

Burnout is a threat to patient safety. It relates to emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment. Work engagement conversely composed of levels of vigor, dedication, and absorption in one's profession. The aim of this study was to examine burnout and work engagement among US dentists. This study used the extensively validated Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale to measure burnout in a self-administered survey of 167 US dentists who attended continuing education courses held in Boston, Pittsburg, Iowa City, and Las Vegas. The mean scores on the 3 subscales of Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale were computed. The interscale correlations between the components of burnout and work engagement were assessed using Pearson correlations. We used 1-way analysis of variance and independent 2 sample t tests to examine the relationship between burnout and work engagement across sex and various age categories. Prevalence of burnout in our study population was also computed. We observed that 13.2% of our study population experienced burnout and 16.2% of our study population was highly work engaged. There was a statistically significant, unadjusted association between burnout risk and work engagement (χ2 = 22.51, P < 0.0001). Furthermore, the scores in the subscales of burnout were significantly correlated with scores in the subscales of work engagement. In this preliminary study, we observed some evidence of burnout among practicing US dentists. It is imperative that the dental profession understands this and works to promote professional practices that increase work engagement and decrease burnout.

Building and sustaining work engagement – a participatory action intervention to increase work engagement in nursing staff

ABSTRACTThis study evaluated whether a participatory action research intervention with nursing staff on acute care older people National Health Service wards in the United Kingdom was effective for increasing work engagement. Mediation analyses between job resources (social support, influence in decision-making), job demands, work-related needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness), and work engagement explored the presumed psychological mechanisms underlying the intervention. A non-randomized, matched control group, pretest, post-test design involved three intervention and five control wards. A significant decrease in relatedness, and a borderline significant decrease in competence, was observed in the intervention group compared to the control group, with no effect on work engagement (N = 45). Work-related needs mediated between resources and work engagement, supporting the job demands-resources model and self-determination theory as an underlying explanatory theory. Intervention implementation was difficult, highlighting the need for participant and organizational readiness for change, and strong management support. This is the first known study to apply participatory techniques to increase work engagement in nursing staff and explore the underlying explanatory psychological mechanisms, offering a novel means of taking work engagement research forward. Crucially, it highlights the challenges involved in intervention research and the importance of including evaluations of intervention implementation alongside statistical evaluations to avoid erroneous conclusions.

Physician burnout, work engagement and the quality of patient care.

Research suggests that burnout in physicians is associated with poorer patient care, but evidence is inconclusive. More recently, the concept of work engagement has emerged (i.e. the beneficial counterpart of burnout) and has been associated with better care. Evidence remains markedly sparse however. To examine the associations of burnout and work engagement with physicians' self-perceived quality of care. We drew on cross-sectional data from physicians in Germany. We used a six-item version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory measuring exhaustion and depersonalization. We employed the nine-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale to assess work engagement and its subcomponents: vigour, dedication and absorption. We measured physicians' own perceptions of their quality of care by a six-item instrument covering practices and attitudes. We used continuous and categorized dependent and independent variables in linear and logistic regression analyses. There were 416 participants. In multivariable linear regression analyses, increasing burnout total scores were associated with poorer perceived quality of care [unstandardized regression coefficient (b) = 0.45, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37, 0.54]. This association was stronger for depersonalization (b = 0.37, 95% CI 0.29, 0.44) than for exhaustion (b = 0.26, 95% CI 0.18, 0.33). Increasing work engagement was associated with higher perceived quality care (b for the total score = -0.20, 95% CI -0.28, -0.11). This was confirmed for each subcomponent with stronger associations for vigour (b = -0.21, 95% CI -0.29, -0.13) and dedication (b = -0.16, 95% CI -0.24, -0.09) than for absorption (b = -0.12, 95% CI -0.20, -0.04). Logistic regression analyses yielded comparable results. Physician burnout was associated with self-perceived poorer patient care, while work engagement related to self-reported better care. Studies are needed to corroborate these findings, particularly for work engagement.

Engagement of employees in a research organisation: A relational perspective

Background: Increasing work engagement in a sustainable way remains a challenge despite years of research on the topic. Relationships at work are vital to foster engagement or disengagement. While the relational model by Kahn and Heaphy is conceptually appealing to explain work engagement, it lacks empirical support.Aims: The aims of this study were to investigate the associations among relational factors, psychological conditions (psychological meaningfulness, availability and safety) and work engagement and to test a structural model of work engagement.Setting: A total of 443 individuals in an agricultural research organisation participated in a cross-sectional study.Methods: Four scales that measured relational factors, the Psychological Conditions Scale and the Work Engagement Scale were administered. Latent variable modelling was used to test the measurement and structural models.Results: The results confirmed a structural model in which relational facets of job design contributed to psychological meaningfulness. Emotional exhaustion (inverse) and co-worker relationships contributed to psychological availability. Supervisor relationships contributed to psychological safety. Psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability contributed to work engagement, while emotional exhaustion contributed to disengagement.Conclusion: The relational context is an important target for intervention to affect the psychological conditions which precede work engagement. To promote work engagement, it is vital to focus on psychological meaningfulness, psychological availability and emotional exhaustion.

Job Demands, Job Resources, Burnout, Work Engagement, and Their Relationships: An Analysis Across Sectors.

The aim of this study was to gain insight in the importance of job demands and resources and the validity of the Job Demands Resources Model across sectors. We used one-way analyses of variance to examine mean differences, and multi-group Structural Equation Modeling analyses to test the strength of the relationships among job demands, resources, burnout, and work engagement across the health care, industry, service, and public sector. The four sectors differed in the experience of job demands, resources, burnout, and work engagement, but they did not vary in how (strongly) job demands and resources associated with burnout and work engagement. More attention is needed to decrease burnout and increase work engagement, particularly in industry, service, and the public sector. The Job Demands-Resources model may be helpful in this regard, as it is valid across sectors.

Jordanian faculty members: will autonomy increase work engagement?

The relationship between autonomy, as a job resource, and work engagement of faculty members at Jordanian private universities was examined. This relationship was found of interest to assist in identifying the reason behind the low level of job satisfaction among Jordanian faculty members. A quantitative correlational survey design research method was used to collect data from 112 faculty members who are currently employed at Jordanian private universities. Correlational statistics were used to answer the research question related to the relationship between autonomy and work engagement. The P-value was found at a significant level of .000 for autonomy on the level of work engagement of faculty members. It was found that by providing autonomy to faculty member of Jordanian private universities might increase their work engagement and performance. Future research recommendations made to encourage researchers to explore the appropriate level of autonomy that might be sufficient to improve faculty members' work engagement.

Jordanian faculty members: will autonomy increase work engagement?

Jordanian faculty members: will autonomy increase work engagement?

"Mental retirement?" Trajectories of work engagement preceding retirement among older workers.

Objectives Before actual retirement, employees may already distance themselves from work, which could be referred to as "mental retirement". However, trajectories of work motivation, ie, work engagement, have not been studied yet. The present study aimed to (i) identify different trajectories of work engagement among older workers approaching the retirement age, and (ii) examine their associations with actual retirement. Methods In total 3171 employees aged 55-62 years, who participated in the Dutch Study on Transitions in Employment, Ability and Motivation were included in this study. Participants completed questionnaires in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Latent class growth mixture modeling was performed to identify groups of employees with similar three-year trajectories in work engagement. Logistic regression analyses were performed to study whether trajectory membership was associated with retirement. Results Of the 3171 employees, 16.2% made a transition from work to (early) retirement (N=513). Four trajectories of work engagement were identified: steady high (76.3%), steady low (12.7%), decreasing (6.2%), and increasing (4.8%). A steady low work engagement trajectory was associated with retirement [odds ratio (OR) 1.46], compared to a steady high work engagement trajectory. Although not statistically significant, an increasing work engagement trajectory seemed to be associated with retirement as well (OR 1.60). Conclusions This study did not support the concept of mental retirement before actual retirement, ie, a decrease in work engagement among those facing retirement. However, as one in eight employees did experience steady low work engagement in the years before retirement, interventions promoting work motivation are recommended to support the employability of these employees.

From Grey Nothingness to Holistic Healing: A Non-Dual Approach to the Treatment of Burnout

The phenomenon of burnout has been studied extensively, as it often plagues those in helping professions involving “people work” (e.g., counselling). Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion and depersonalization that translates into a sense of lostness, lack of motivation, and the experience of “running on empty.” Unfortunately, conventional treatments (e.g., positive psychology, existential psychology, and psycho-analytic existentialism) focus on the avoidance of darker emotional experiences and emphasize the individual traits of the burnout sufferer, the search for hope, ways to increase work engagement, and the glorification of the hero’s journey. This emphasis can perpetuate the cycle of striving for meaning through work and career that initially triggered the burnt out state. The experiences and definitions of burnout parallel descriptions of the “grey realm” that is commonly experienced along the non-dual journey to awakening in the paradox of darkness. There appears to be something missing in conventional burnout treatment and prevention methods that ignore the greyness of burnout located within the individual. In contrast, Eastern traditions, transpersonal psychology, and non-duality dive into the dark emotions and understand the root of work-driven striving as the tendency to avoid mortality (i.e., to run from the inevitability of death). The authors propose a novel, non-dual approach to burnout treatment that views burnout as an invitation to embrace and accept the death experience of one’s sense of self that, in turn, offers an expansive, transformative opportunity to move into wholeness, healing, and an abundance of energy. To illustrate this, the authors outline the conventional understandings of burnout and contrast them with non-dual understandings. The non-dual approach to therapy is examined, and burnout is framed as a spiritual emergency and fuel for awakening. Furthermore, two case studies are presented to illustrate the non-dual psychotherapy approach to holistic burnout treatment. Implications of this approach and avenues for future research into the utilization and efficacy of non-dual psychotherapy to treat and prevent burnout are discussed.

Positive Aging in Demanding Workplaces: The Gain Cycle between Job Satisfaction and Work Engagement.

Nowadays organizations have to cope with two related challenges: maintaining an engaged and highly performing workforce and, at the same time, protecting and increasing employees’ well-being and job satisfaction under conditions of a generalized increase of job demand, in an increasingly growing older population. According to the motivational process of the JD-R model, a work environment with many organizational resources will foster work engagement, which in turn will increase the likelihood of positive personal and organizational outcomes, such as job satisfaction, performance, and intention to stay. However, it is not clear how this motivational process could work in different age cohorts, as older workers may have different priorities to those of younger colleagues. Postulating the existence of a gain-cycle in the relationship between work engagement and outcomes, in this study we tested a longitudinal moderated mediation model in which job satisfaction increases over time through an increment in work engagement. We hypothesized that this process is moderated by job demand and aging. We collected data in public administrations in Northern Italy in order to measure work engagement and job satisfaction. 556 workers aged between 50 and 64 replied to the survey twice (the first time and 8 months later). The findings confirmed a moderated mediation model, in which job satisfaction at time 1 increased work engagement, which in turn fostered job satisfaction 8 months later, confirming the hypothesized gain-cycle. This relationship was shown to be moderated by the joint influence of job demand intensity and age: higher job demands and younger age are related to the maximum level of level gain cycle, while the same high level of job demands, when associated with older age, appears unable to stimulate a similar effect. The results confirm that, on one hand, older workers cannot be seen as a homogeneous group and, on the other hand, the importance of considering the role played by the gain cycle of resources. Our findings show that age matters, and that greater consideration should be devoted to age differences in order to design appropriate human resources practices that foster work engagement and satisfaction.

Can job crafting reduce job boredom and increase work engagement? A three-year cross-lagged panel study

Building upon the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this longitudinal study examined whether job crafting behaviors (i.e. increasing structural and social job resources and increasing challenges) predict less job boredom and more work engagement. We also tested the reverse causation effects of job boredom and work engagement on job crafting and the dynamics between the three job crafting behaviors over time. We employed a two-wave, three-year panel design and included 1630 highly educated Finnish employees from a broad spectrum of occupations in various organizations. Our results indicated that seeking challenges in particular negatively predicted job boredom and positively predicted work engagement. Seeking challenges fueled other job crafting behaviors, which, in their turn, predicted seeking more challenges over time, thus supporting the accumulation of resources. Job boredom negatively predicted increasing structural resources, whereas work engagement positively predicted increasing both structural and social resources. These findings suggest that seeking challenges at work enhances employee work engagement, prevents job boredom, and generates other job crafting behaviors. Conversely, job boredom seems to impede job crafting.