School of Psychology

The Influence of Individual Differences and Organisational Factors on Employee Engagement

Researcher:             Valerie Yeo

Supervisor:              Dr Graeme Ditchburn

Date:                        results available Dec 2009

Ethics Approval number: 2009/ 146

Increasing evidence suggests that employee engagement is related to organisational outcomes such as productivity, customer satisfaction, job performance, employee retention; and employee health and well-being. However, there is a need for more research to establish a clearer understanding of employee (or work) engagement. Although the antecedents of engagement have received increased attention, the focus has mainly been on environmental factors within the work/ organisational context. There is limited knowledge about how personality characteristics may predispose employees to be engaged.

The aim of the proposed study is to test a model of employee engagement in order to have a better appreciation of how engagement develops. This study will examine how different personality traits and work/organisational characteristics influence employees’ attitudes and performance, specifically their level of engagement at work. The three key research questions which this study aims to address are:
1.      What is the relationship between organisational factors (job characteristics, perceived support from the organisation and supervisor) and engagement?
2.      What is the relationship between various personality characteristics (such as Conscientiousness, Extraversion, etc) and engagement?
3.      How would organizational factors interact with employees’ personality traits to influence engagement at work?