Where does employee engagement come from?
My dissertation involved over a year of reading about engagement research and doing a novel study. Here’s what I found.
What we now call “employee engagement” started with an article in 1990 by William Kahn. He defined it as:
“…the simultaneous employment and expression of a person's ‘preferred self’ in task behaviors that promote connections to work and to others, personal presence (physical, cognitive, and emotional), and active, full role performances” (p. 700)
If you draw a picture of this definition, it looks like this:
Engagement Matters
Numerous studies since the early 2000’s consistently find that engaged employees are healthier, more satisfied, and less likely to leave their job. This results in higher profits, customer satisfaction, and more.
What We Know
Most engagement research is based one of three theories about what causes engagement:
Job Design & Management
Jobs that provide more autonomy, developmental feedback, and skill variety are more engaging. The way to get more engagement is to change the general management practices.
Culture & Leadership
Employees are more engaged when they are treated fairly, feel cared for by their employer, and believe in the mission of the organization. If you can build trust with employees and build a strong culture, you’ll have a more engaged workforce!
Employee Characteristics
We each bring a unique set of personality and values with us to work. Sure, the job and culture matter to some degree, but the best way to get more engagement is to hire applicants who have the right personality.
Most people argue the best approach is a combination of these theories. However, most research involves only one or two theories, meaning that the right mix remains elusive.
My Research
I worked with an HR tech company to study the data gathered on over 170,000 employees across five years. They had a wealth of data about each employee, enabling the first large-sample comparison of all three theories simultaneously.
What I Found
When all the theories are combined into the same model…
Job design was the most important factor
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Culture almost didn’t matter (but is very important…what?)
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Personality was significant, but small
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Lingering Questions
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