Main Drivers of Work Engagement
Research has identified two key sets of variables that drive work engagement:
• Job resources: Work engagement is found to be positively associated with job resources such as social support from co-workers and from one’s superior, performance feedback, coaching, job control, task variety, opportunities for learning and development, and training facilities. These resources are helpful in reducing the impact of job demands on strain, but they are also useful in the achievement of work goals, and they stimulate learning, personal growth and development. One consistent finding is that the motivational potential of job resources is particularly salient in the face of high job demands.
--> Example: In a longitudinal study among 2555 Finnish dentists, researchers found that job resources lead to work engagement, which in turn had an influence on the level of personal initiative and consequently on work-unit innovativeness.
• Personal resources: personal resources, such as optimism, self-efficacy and resilience are functional in controlling the environment and exerting impact on it in a successful way. Furthermore, engaged employees have several personal characteristics that differentiate them from less engaged employees. Examples are extraversion, conscientiousness and emotional stability. Psychological capital also seems to be related to work engagement.
--> Example: Xanthopoulou, Bakker, Demerouti, and Schaufeli (2007) studied Dutch technicians’ work engagement in relation to three personal resources (self-efficacy, organizational-based self-esteem, and optimism). Results indicated that these resources were related to work engagement.
For an overall model of work engagement, see Bakker & Demerouti (2008).
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