Work Engagement:

A Key Concept of a Positive Occupational Health Psychology?

Wilmar B. Schaufeli
Utrecht University The Netherlands

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The Netherlands

Utrecht
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Utrecht University

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City of Utrecht

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Topics
The positive turn of Occupational Health
Psychology

Work engagement
What is it? How to understand it? How to enhance it?

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The Janus-face of work

Labor: Animal laborans
Effort Strain Sacrifice Blood, sweat & tears

Opus: Homo faber

Creativity Productivity Challenge Development

The traditional view

Disease Disorder Damage Disability

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Negative versus Positive

17:1
8,072 Anger 57,800 Anxiety 70,856 Depression 5,361 Burnout 22:1 851 Joy 2,958 Happiness 5,701 Satisfaction
Myers (2000)

261 Engagement

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Typical topics in OHP

Accidents Aggression Alcoholism Anti-social behavior Burnout Cardiovascular disease Conflict Discrimination Drug abuse Emotional dissonance Harassment Incivility Injury Job insecurity Mobbing Musculoskeletal disorders Obesity Post-traumatic stress disorder Psychosomatic complaints Repetitive strain injury Sickness absenteeism Sleep problems Turnover Violence Workaholism Work-home interference

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Its time for a change..

Positive Psychology is the scientific study of optimal human functioning. It aims to discover and promote the factors that allow individuals and communities to thrive
Martin Seligman (1999)

Positive Occupational Psychology is the scientific study of optimal employee functioning. It aims to discover and promote the factors that allow employees and organizations to thrive.
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From burnout to engagement

A personal history

After 10 years of burnout research (1989-1999).

1990

1993

1998

Is that all there is? But what about those who thrive?
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How organizations change

From To

Stability Monoculture

Continuous change Diversity Late retirement Employee motivation Horizontal networks Self-control & empowerment Own responsibility (employability) Boundarylessness

Early retirement

Employee satisfaction Vertical hierarchy External supervision & control Dependence on organization Fixed schedules & patterns

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How jobs change

From To

Physical demands

Mental and emotional demands Work intensification Work-home interference Team work Job crafting Precarious employment Innovation, creativity, learning

Less intensive work rhythm

Separation from work & home Individual work Detailed job descriptions Life-time jobs Work experience

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Conclusion
Psychologization

For modern organizations, mental capital is of increasing importance. Therefore they do not need a merely healthy workforce but a motivated workforce that is prepared to go the extra mile. Organizations need engaged workers!
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Common interest or worlds apart ?

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What is engagement?
Concept and measurement

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Employee engagement in business and academia

1.870.000 hits (in 0.28 sec.) All major consultancy firms are involved
Fuzzy concept: old wine in new bottles
Organizational commitment (affective and continuance) Extra-role behavior (discretionary effort)

Claim: Engagement drives business performance.

Only 261

hits.

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Definition
Work engagement is a positive, affective-motivational state of fulfillment that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption
Schaufeli et al. (2001)

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Engaged workers
.. are active agents .. believe in themselves .. generate their own positive feedback .. have values that match with the organization .. sometimes feel tired, but satisfied .. are no workaholics
Schaufeli et al. (2000)

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Utrecht Work Engagement Scale

Vigor
At my job I feel strong and vigorous

Dedication
I am enthusiastic about my work

Absorption
I get carried away by my work
Available in 22 language versions from www.schaufeli.com
Schaufeli et al. (2002, 2006)

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A taxonomy of employee well-being

ACTIVATION

WORK ADDICTED
DISPLEASURE

ENGAGED

PLEASURE

BURNED-OUT

SATISFIED

DEACTIVATION

Adapted from Russell (2003)

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Engagement goes beyond mere job satisfaction

Correlation between engagement and satisfaction: .53 (k=4, N=9712) k N Satisfaction Engagement Task performance 5 1175 1139 .30 .24 .39 .43

Contextual performance 4

Engagement adds 19% unique variance in task performance -- after controlling for job satisfaction, job involvement and organizational commitment. Engagement adds 21% unique variance in contextual performance -- after controlling for job satisfaction, job involvement and organizational commitment.
Christian, Garza & Slaughter (2011)

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Demographics of engagement
(N = 4,000 representative Dutch national sample)

Weak positive relationship with age (r = .10) No systematic gender differences Differences between professions:
High in engagement: entrepreneurs teachers managers artists farmers sales persons nurses Low in engagement: blue-collar workers food processing printers police officers ICT-workers home care staff retail workers
Smulders (2006)
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Engagement across the globe

(Total sample N = 76,437)

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How to understand work engagement?

Causes and consequences of work engagement

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The Job Demands-Resources Model

Overload Work-life bal.

Conflict

Job demands

+ Burnout -

Ect.

Personal resources Personal and organizational outcomes +

Support Job control

Feedback Ect.

Job resources

Engagement +

Schaufeli & Bakker (2004; 2009); Hakanen et.al. (2006, 2008); Korunka et al. (2009); Llorens et al (2006)
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Job resources
Engagement is caused by
job autonomy social support and coaching performance feedback opportunities to learn and to develop task variety responsibility transformational leaderschip value fit* organizational justice*

Challenging jobs produce engagement

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Personal resources
Engagement is related to
emotional stability extraversion conscientiousness optimism self-esteem (organization based) achievement striving self-efficacy flexibility, adaptability adaptive perfectionism (e.g. personal standards)

Engaged workers can draw upon various personal resources

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Health outcomes

Engagement is related to
very low levels anxiety and depression excellent perceived physical health low levels of burnout positive emotions reactivity of the HPA (Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal) axis quick recovery after yesterdays effort

Engaged workers enjoy good health

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Performance
Motivational performance indicators contextual performance
intrinsic rather than extrinsic work motivation personal initiative, proactive behavior

HR performance indicators
frequency of sickness absenteeism turnover

Economical performance indicators

financial turnover business unit performance
(profitability, productivity, turnover, customer loyalty)

Engaged workers are motivated, present, and they pay off

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Performance
Behavioral performance indicators
academic performance (GPA) quality of service as perceived by customers self-reported medical errors occupational injuries managers rated effectiveness and job performance innovativeness (personal and work-unit)

Engaged workers perform well

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An upward gain spiral ?

Job resources

Self-efficacy

Work engagement

Job performance

Salanova et al. (2006, 2010); Llorens et al. (2007); Hakanen et al. (2008); Ouweneel et al. (in press)
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Emotional contagion

- Social comparison - Empathy - Proximity - Contact frequency

Others engagement

Emotional contagion

Own engagement

Bakker et al.(2005, 2006); Bakker & Demerouti (2009)

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Conclusion
Work engagement is related to job resources, personal resources, health, and organizational outcomes in ways as predicted by the Job-Demands Resources model. Moreover, an upward gain spiral seems to exist, and work engagement seems to be contagious.

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How to enhance work engagement?

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Interventions

Treatment

Prevention

Amplition

Ouweneel, Schaufeli & Le Blanc (2010)

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Three pillars

Largest Occupational Health Service in Holland

Private business Serves 70,000 employers with 1.3 million employees 1,400 employees 50 group practices 380 occupational physicians 450 other health professonals
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Three pillars

Treatment

Prevention

Amplition

Sickness absence

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Engagement

Lifestyle

Three types of interventions

Individual-based interventions
Behavioral (e.g. acts of kindness, gratitude, share positive news) Cognitive (e.g. count ones blessings, savoring, cultivate optimism) Motivational (e.g. set and pursue meaningful goals, find flow)

Team-based interventions
Participative, strengths-based action approach Foster transformational leadership Increase collective/team-efficacy

Organization-based interventions
Job (re)design: increase job resources Leadership training: use contagiousness principle Career development: keep the jobs challenging

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Individual and group strategies

Self-assessment and monitoring

Use a self assessment tool periodically

Goal setting and motivation

Set and pursue challenging, SMART goals

Increase positive emotions

Commit acts of kindness, show gratitude, share good news, savoring, etc.
http://www.hartenziel.nl/ecoaching

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Background E-coaching intervention

Job situation

Assignments and exercises Goal setting Induce pos. emotions Mastery Experiences Positive emotions

Time Time

Selfefficacy

Work engagement Optimism Resilience

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The E-coaching intervention

Content: 12 assignment and 10 brief behavioral experiments Time: 15-20 minutes per assignment; experiments are shorter Duration: 4 weeks Support:
Coaches are available via internet for support Short instruction movies Keep personal blog and read that of others

Pre-test and follow-up after three months

Survey feedback

Daily completion of the Motivation Monitor

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Preliminary results
Participants
Coaching group (N = 86) Control group (N = 225) Mainly higher educated (80% college degree) Employment sectors education (20%), public administration (17%) health care (15%)

Effects
Increase in positive emotions Increase in self efficacy No increase in engagement, resilience and optimism

Wild, Ouweneel, Schaufeli & Le Blanc (submitted)

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Significant effects

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10 ways to foster work engagement

1. Establish an optimal fit between the abilities and needs of your employees and their work. 2. Stimulate on open dialogue about how your employees experience their work. 3. Invest in social leadership and not only in task oriented leadership. 4. Use the talents, strengths, and passions of your employees. 5. Stimulate a team climate where people support and respect each other. 6. Provide regular feedback; not only negative but also positive. 7. Provide meaningful jobs with variety and control. 8. Create trust by being open, consistent, and fair. 9. Have an open ear performance appraisals and take care that the job remains challenging. 10. Monitor employees engagement levels.

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Final conclusion

It seems that work engagement is a promising concept for establishing a truly occupational health psychology

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Thank you for your attention !

More information www.schaufeli.com

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Examples of assignments
Do-good day: commit acts of kindness at work Know your saboteur: write all undermining thoughts in a black box and
analyze these later

Seek social support: ask for compliments and tips from a buddy I can have impact: what can you control at your work and what not? Drafting an action plan: what goals, what actions, what obstacles, what time? Look through pink glasses: write down whats fun during the day Be curious and nosy: ask others what they (dis)like at work, etc.
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