Integrative Literature Review: Four Emerging Perspectives of Employee Engagement: An Integrative Literature Review

Abstract

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.

An examination of individual teacher engagement and school climate characteristics that influence highly effective veteran teachers to remain teaching in low-performing schools.

“…Further, schools that were led by principals who were transformational leaders were more likely to see decreasing gaps between minority and non-minority students' performances in achievement tests. Macey and Schneider's (2008) framework is supported in this study by Kahn's (1990) needs-satisfying approach, which proposed that an employee's mindset is influenced by outside forces (Shuck, 2011). Employees are more willing to invest time, physical, and mental energy into the job if the job is meaningful, safe, and if the employee receives needed resources to get the job done.…”

“…Employees are more willing to invest time, physical, and mental energy into the job if the job is meaningful, safe, and if the employee receives needed resources to get the job done. The need-satisfaction approach also suggested a strong association between employee engagement and employee retention (Shuck, 2011). Employees whose needs were being met by the organization were more likely to remain and make valued contributions to the organization.…”

“…According to Meyer and Gagné (2008), Macey and Schneider's (2008) engagement framework provides a better understanding of the key components of engagement. Employee engagement (EE) is an emerging concept generally linked to human resource development (Macey & Schneider, 2008;Shuck, 2011). Explanation of the framework follows in subsequent paragraphs in this section.…”

“…The concept of engagement is gaining attention in academia (Shuck, 2011). It is an evolving concept typically associated with business, management, industrial and organizational psychology, and human resource development (HRD) (Macey & Schneider, 2008;Shuck, 2011).…”

“…It is an evolving concept typically associated with business, management, industrial and organizational psychology, and human resource development (HRD) (Macey & Schneider, 2008;Shuck, 2011). Literature on employee engagement highlights the difference between employee engagement and job or employee satisfaction.…”