A state of total commitment to one's work

Kahn's (1990) concept of personal engagement was the precursor to work-related engagement research and pioneered the notion of engagement in industrial organization research. In summary, the state of being fully immersed and involved in one's work role is defined as engagement. According to Kahn, employees become truly engaged when they fulfill three key psychological conditions: meaningfulness, safety, and availability. “Meaningfulness” refers to the sense of gaining a return on the investment of one's self in role performance. “Safety” implies a feeling of being able to express oneself and utilize one’s abilities without fear of negative consequences to self-image, status, or career. Lastly, “availability” denotes having the necessary physical, emotional, and psychological resources to invest oneself in role performance.

A behavioral, group-level measure of satisfaction

Employee engagement is a term applied to a concept measured by the Gallup Workplace Audit (GWA), a scale developed by Dr. Harter and others at Gallup. Employee engagement is predicated on the notion that an individual is part of a workgroup or team. It reflects the positive fulfillment that comes from being part of a group, rather than just individual experiences. This includes feelings like meeting expectations, feeling fulfilled, demonstrating skills, receiving praise, experiencing kindness, aspiring to goals, feeling valued, and enjoying closeness with others. Harter and colleagues describe this concept as a form of satisfaction that is unique to group settings.

GWA is a behavior-based scale, consisting of questions that ask about specific actions taken, rather than measuring psychological states. Currently, the GWA is more widely known as the Q12.

Enhanced satisfaction and reduced turnover

In the study of engagement, three primary outcome metrics are commonly assessed: job satisfaction, affective organizational commitment, and intent to quit. A substantial body of research supports the notion that higher levels of engagement lead to increased job satisfaction and organizational commitment, while simultaneously decreasing the likelihood of employees intending to quit.

A key meta-analysis conducted by Harter and colleagues (2002) establishes a positive correlation between organization engagement, customer satisfaction, and productivity. Similarly, Saks' study in 2006 demonstrates a significant link between organization engagement and organizational citizenship behavior.

Highly engaged individuals tend to be fully committed to their work, avoiding the practice of cutting corners. This often results in elevated productivity levels, as tasks are typically completed with a high degree of success, fostering greater job satisfaction. The quality of their work also positively impacts customer satisfaction. Furthermore, as these employees are generally satisfied with their work, they are less inclined to consider leaving their jobs.

However, while employees may think about wanting to grow or achieve, they rarely consider wanting to increase their engagement. Since engagement is merely a state, what causes an employee's engagement must be measured with different indicators. Therefore, there are many engagement survey services available that comprehensively explore these factors.

Minimum set for investigating engagement and its factors

In our engagement research, we have created a survey form that includes only factors with proven relationships, based on work engagement as a standard.