We present theory suggesting that experiences at work that meet employees' expectations of need fulfillment drive work engagement. Employees have needs (e.g., a desire to be authentic) and they also have expectations for how their job or their organization will fulfil them. We argue that experiences at work that confirm employees' need fulfillment expectations yield a positive emotional state that is energizing, and that this energy is manifested in employees' behaviors at work. Our theorizing draws on a review of the work engagement literature, in which we identify three core characteristics of work engagement: (a) a positive emotional state that (b) yields a feeling of energy and (c) leads to positive work-oriented behaviors. These key themes provide the foundation for further theorizing suggesting that interactions at work confirm or disconfirm employees' need fulfillment expectations, leading to different levels of engagement. We extend our theorizing to argue that confirmation, or disconfirmation, of different need expectations will yield emotional experience of varying magnitudes, with confirmation of approach-oriented need expectations exerting stronger effects than the confirmation of avoidance-oriented need expectations. We close with a review suggesting that organizational contextual features influence the expression of these needs, sustaining or undermining the positive emotional experiences that fuel work engagement.

How best to structure the work day is an important operational question for organizations. A key structural consideration is the effective use of breaks from work. Breaks serve the critical purpose of allowing employees to recharge, but in the short term, translate to a loss of time that usually leads to reduced productivity. We evaluate the effects of two types of breaks (expected versus unexpected), and two distinct forms of unexpected breaks, and find that unexpected breaks can, under certain conditions, yield immediate post-break performance increases. We test our hypotheses using productivity data from 212 fruit harvesters collected over one harvesting season yielding nearly 250,000 truckloads of fruit harvested over the course of 9,832 shifts. We provide a conceptual laboratory replication of these findings, showing that unexpected breaks lead to increased performance when they allow people to maintain attention on the focal task. Our results suggest that the characteristics of a break can lead the break to be experienced as an interruption, with all consequent negative outcomes, or as a rejuvenating and experience, with positive post-break consequences.

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Problem definition: We examine the impact of four classes of workplace interruptions on short-term (working hours) and long-term (across-shifts) worker performance in an agribusiness setting. The interruptions are organized in a two-by-two framework in which they result (or do not result) in a physical task requirement and lead to a varying degree of attention shift from the primary task. Academic/practical relevance: Prior operations management literature primarily examines the long-term effects of a single class of interruption that reduces performance. Our study contributes to this literature by examining multiple classes of interruptions that lead to positive and negative outcomes over the short-term in addition to the long-term. Further, our study also contributes to understanding the impact of general task transitions (interruptions) on worker performance, and the interrupting tasks include tasks that are not part of workers’ primary job duties. Our study is relevant to work settings that envelop high manual labor and experience interruptions regularly. Finally, we offer strategies to improve operational performance. Methodology: Using a granular data set on worker productivity from 211 harvesters yielding 117,581 truckloads of fruit harvested for 9,819 worker shifts, we utilize an instrumental variable approach with two-stage residual inclusion estimation on a mix of linear and nonlinear models to examine and quantify the impact of interruptions on both short- and long-term worker productivity. Results: We identify a new interruption class, a pause—interruptions that provide the physical respite and limit the degree of attention shift from the primary task. We find that pauses improve worker productivity in the short- and long-term. Next, we find that scheduled breaks hurt (improve) the worker’s productivity in the short-term (long-term). Finally, we find that harvester breakdown and travel across field interruptions that drain physical resources and cause attention shift hurt worker productivity in the short- and long-term. We quantify the impact (in our field context) of a five-minute increase in each of these work interruptions on average worker productivity. Managerial implications: Our study demonstrates that various work interruptions can have positive or negative effects on workers’ productivity. We suggest that introducing brief pauses in a workday and simultaneously reminding (before initiating the pause) employees about the tasks yet to be completed or goals to be achieved for the rest of the shift can help maintain their focus on the work and yield high-performance benefits. We also suggest strategies that limit the restart costs and increase the predictability of interruptions that hurt performance. For example, in regards to scheduled breaks, planning the break after completing a subtask or reaching a subgoal can limit their adverse effects. Further, informing workers on the possibility of interruption circumstances at the beginning of the work shift can help them plan for these events and improve engagement and performance on the primary job.

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