The term employee engagement has gained considerable popularity in the past 20 years yet it remains inconsistently defined and conceptualized. Although much has been written on the subject, little rigorous academic research has been done. This gap has resulted in a disjointed approach to understanding and developing strategies around employee engagement within organizations. This article explores the development of employee engagement through a historical lens using an integrated literature review to define and situate the concept within the HRD field by systematically reviewing and organizing literature across various disciplines and fields of study. Seminal works on the topic were identified and reviewed to gain an understanding of the topic’s development.A working definition is proposed and implications for theory, scholarship, and organizational practice are discussed.

The concept of employee engagement has garnered attention in both practitioner and academic communities and several approaches for understanding engagement have developed. Whereas many authors have taken their own approach to understanding employee engagement, others have offered reinterpretations of the concept wrapped in well-researched and documented organizational variables. Fortunately, distinct streams of literature have emerged but are widely disparate, surfacing intermittently in the fields of psychology, sociology, management, human resource development (HRD), human resource management, and health care. This lack of continuity is a significant hurdle for HRD professionals being called on to develop innovative solutions to the absence of engagement inside organizations. The purpose of this integrative literature review was to synthesize the current state of scholarly research on employee engagement. As a result, four major approaches emerged, defining the existing state of employee engagement in the academic community. Each approach is explored and interpretations offered. Implications and questions for HRD bring this article to a close.

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The relationship between how an employee perceives support for participation in human resource development (HRD) practices, engagement, and turnover intent has been underrepresented in the literature. Using social exchange theory as a guiding framework, this research sought to better understand the possible linkages of HRD practices and employee engagement to turnover intentions. An Internet‐based self‐report survey battery utilizing a four‐stage preparation method was used as the primary data collection tool. Research was conducted in the health care industry ( N = 207). Linear, simultaneous, and mediated regression analyses were used to examine the variables of interest. Results suggested that participation in HRD practices and cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement were negatively related to turnover intent. Mediated regression analyses indicated that engagement partially mediated the relation between HRD practices and turnover intent. The findings support the utility of supporting employee participation in HRD practices to improve employee engagement and reduce turnover intent.

Interest in the employee engagement construct has gained increasing attention in recent years. Measurement tools focused on nuanced areas of engagement (i.e., job engagement and organizational engagement) have been offered; however, no measure of employee engagement has been advanced despite persistent calls in the research. We present the development, method, and results of a three‐dimensional employee engagement measurement tool developed for use in the human resource and management fields of study. Across four independent studies, the employee engagement scale (EES) was found to consist of three subfactors (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral) and a higher‐order factor (employee engagement). Across a series of four studies, we explored the factor structure and reliability of the EES (Study 1), then refined the scale, confirmed the factor structure, and examined reliability and both convergent and nomological validity evidence (Study 2). Next (Study 3), we completed a final reduction in scale items and examined additional evidence of reliability and nomological validity as well as evidence of discriminant validity. Finally (Study 4), we tested for evidence of incremental validity. In the implications for theory and practice section, we discuss the importance of an employee engagement measure aligned alongside an agreed‐upon definition and framework. Limitations and future directions for research—such as the need for further psychometric testing and exploring issues of measurement invariance—are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.