'Employee engagement': does it exist, and if so, how does it relate to performance, other job constructs and industry differences?

The concept of ‘employee engagement’ is highly popular in the workplace and is increasingly being examined in the literature. Yet there is no consistency in definition. Engagement has been operationalised and measured in many diverse ways. Engagement may be a global construct as it appears to be a combination of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and intention to stay. Indeed, some have argued that engagement is a multidimensional construct, in that employees could be emotionally, cognitively or physically engaged. Further, there is debate over whether it is a valid and reliable construct. Despite confusion in the literature, corporate results have demonstrated a strong link between some conceptualisations of engagement, performance and business outcomes. This paper reports on research conducted as part of a PhD degree. It presents the results of tests of current industry instruments that claim to measure engagement. It also presents findings from a comparison of corporate and clinical populations. Unless engagement can be universally defined and measured, it can not be managed, nor can it be known if efforts to improve it are working. This research attempts to clarify what is meant by engagement and whether there are significant differences in its application to different populations.