Abstract
Research consistently confirms that engaged employees significantly raise team and organisational performance, and yet in the majority of organisations engagement levels hover around 25 percent, with the remainder being either non-engaged or disengaged. Theoreticians, practitioners and consultants are aware of this problem and are attempting to address it. Unfortunately, while there are eight widely used engagement constructs, there is no coherent theory of engagement and hence no coherent research agenda. Engagement constructs variously overlap with or contradict each other, unnecessarily “compete for turf”, some cannot be differentiated, and relationships among them remain obscure. This paper therefore proposes a coherent engagement theory that is expressed as a hierarchical graphical model that not only integrates the eight extant engagement constructs, but also identifies and resolves three substantial gaps in the engagement literature: namely, engagement (a) at the group-level, (b) in non-work walks of life, and (c) of persons other than employees (e.g. managers and boards). We posit that a holistic theory supported by clear definitions will assist more targeted, bounded and integrative engagement research, theory and practice, and hence will facilitate efforts to raise organisational performance.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Sustainable Leadership, 2013 |
Editors | Bronwyn Hughes, Gayle C. Avery |
Place of Publication | Pymble, NSW |
Publisher | Institute for Sustainable Leadership |
Pages | 9-9 |
Number of pages | 1 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780987461827 |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Event | International Symposium on Sustainable Leadership (8th : 2013) - Nice, France Duration: 4 Jun 2013 → 7 Jun 2013 |
Conference
Conference | International Symposium on Sustainable Leadership (8th : 2013) |
---|---|
City | Nice, France |
Period | 4/06/13 → 7/06/13 |
Keywords
- commitment
- engagement
- engagement constructs
- engagement model
- engagement theory