Work Engagement

Work Engagement

Reviewed by Faisal Zaidi

A positive, energetic and absorbed relationship with work.

What it is

In four occupational samples it was predicted by job resources alone, while burnout was predicted by demands and a lack of resources, and a 587-manager survey found workaholism, burnout and engagement to be three distinct but correlated constructs.

In effect

The article on why burnout hits people who like their jobs uses it to show that enjoying the work and carrying its load are measured separately.

What it does not say

The findings are correlational and come from occupational surveys. They do not say that an engaged worker cannot be exhausted, only that the two are measured separately.

Sources

  1. Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499-512.
  2. Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(3), 293-315.
  3. Schaufeli, W. B., Taris, T. W., & Van Rhenen, W. (2008). Workaholism, burnout, and work engagement: Three of a kind or three different kinds of employee well-being? Applied Psychology, 57(2), 173-203.
  4. Innanen, H., Tolvanen, A., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2014). Burnout, work engagement and workaholism among highly educated employees: Profiles, antecedents and outcomes. Burnout Research, 1(1), 38-49.