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The Enhancement of Work Engagement through Job, Personal and Work Characteristics
Abstract   Peer reviewed

The Enhancement of Work Engagement through Job, Personal and Work Characteristics

Roxane Gervais and Prudence M Millear
12th EAOHP Conference: Book of Proceedings, pp.139-140
European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology: Occupational Health Psychology in Times of Change: Society and the workplace, 12th (Athens, Greece, 11-Apr-2016–13-Apr-2016)
2016
url
http://www.eaohp.org/uploads/1/1/0/2/11022736/eaohp_2016_-_book_of_proceedings.pdfView
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Abstract

Psychology
The benefits of work engagement to workers have been noted, such as with job performance and client satisfaction (e.g., Bakker, Schaufeli, Leiter, & Taris, 2008). However, as engagement research has developed, it has been suggested that the topic should be considered within a broader context (George, 2011) to allow a more diverse understanding of the drivers of such behaviour, as well as its impact outside of the work sphere. The present research explored those more traditional work characteristics used in work engagement research thus far, but included more varied predictors: work climate, perception of income, positive and negative affect, hours of work; to assess their impact on workers' engagement levels. The design was cross-sectional and the data were collected using an online survey. The participants completed measures of work engagement, work climate, hours worked, skill discretion, decision authority, co-worker social support, job autonomy, positive and negative affect, perception of income, psychological job demands, and work-life conflict, as well as demographic information. The data were subjected to psychometric testing to assess the robustness of the variables; followed by correlation and regression analyses to allow an understanding of the relationships and interdependence of the factors in the present study. The participants (N = 117) were between 17 and 64 years old (M = 41.83; SD = 13.95) and consisted of more women than men (M = 1.76; SD = 0.43). The psychometric properties of the variables were strong, e.g., work engagement: α = .89, with the relationships in the expected direction, such as skill discretion leading to higher work engagement (r = .65, p < .001); while a better work climate resulted in higher job autonomy (r = .48, p < .001). The hierarchical multiple regression consisted of five steps, with age and gender controlled on the first step. The final step of the model accounted for 81% of the variance (Adj R2 = .81, ∆R2 = .19, F[13, 92] = 36.33, p < .001). Work climate (β = .35, p < .001), skill discretion (β = .61, p < .001), lower decision authority (β = -.44, p < .01), job autonomy (β = .52, p < .001), positive affect (β = .33, p < .001), job demands (β = .11, p < .053), and lower work-life conflict (β = .68, p < .001), were all predictors of engagement. The benefits of job and personal resources in supporting work engagement have been highlighted (Bakker et al., 2008) and the present research supports that assertion. Moreover, the findings showed that other broader characteristics, such as work climate and positive affect, contributed to higher engagement levels. More extrinsic characteristics, such as perception of income and hours of work that might be expected to contribute to engagement, did not; while more work demands, did. The findings showed that engagement is not contingent only on job and personal resources, and a better understanding of the most appropriate climate in which engagement flourishes should be explored. These issues will be discussed.

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