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journal article Jul 29, 2015

The Meaning, Antecedents and Outcomes of Employee Engagement: A Narrative Synthesis

Catherine Bailey ORCID Adrian Madden ORCID Kerstin Alfes ORCID Luke Fletcher ORCID
International Journal of Management Reviews Vol. 19 No. 1 pp. 31-53 · Wiley
View at Publisher Save 10.1111/ijmr.12077
Abstract
The claim that high levels of engagement can enhance organizational performance and individual well‐being has not previously been tested through a systematic review of the evidence. To bring coherence to the diffuse body of literature on engagement, the authors conducted a systematic synthesis of narrative evidence involving 214 studies focused on the meaning, antecedents and outcomes of engagement. The authors identified six distinct conceptualizations of engagement, with the field dominated by the Utrecht Group's ‘work engagement’ construct and measure, and by the theorization of engagement within the ‘job demands–resources’ framework. Five groups of factors served as antecedents to engagement: psychological states; job design; leadership; organizational and team factors; and organizational interventions. Engagement was found to be positively associated with individual morale, task performance, extra‐role performance and organizational performance, and the evidence was most robust in relation to task performance. However, there was an over‐reliance on quantitative, cross‐sectional and self‐report studies within the field, which limited claims of causality. To address controversies over the commonly used measures and concepts in the field and gaps in the evidence‐base, the authors set out an agenda for future research that integrates emerging critical sociological perspectives on engagement with the psychological perspectives that currently dominate the field.
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Metrics
580
Citations
140
References
Details
Published
Jul 29, 2015
Vol/Issue
19(1)
Pages
31-53
License
View
Authors
C
Catherine Bailey

Department of Business and Management University of Sussex Falmer Brighton BN1 9RH UK

A
Adrian Madden

Faculty of Business Department of Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour, University of Greenwich Greenwich SE10 9LS

K
Kerstin Alfes

Department of Human Resource Studies Tilburg University Warandelaan 2 5037 Tilburg The Netherlands

L
Luke Fletcher

Brighton Business School University of Brighton Brighton BN2 4AT UK

Funding
National Institute for Health Research Award: 12/5004/01
Cite This Article
Catherine Bailey, Adrian Madden, Kerstin Alfes, et al. (2015). The Meaning, Antecedents and Outcomes of Employee Engagement: A Narrative Synthesis. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(1), 31-53. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12077
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