Balanced between support and strain: levels of work engagement

Abstract

Work engagement has recently been identified as an important outcome of healthy work environments. Engagement of workers empowers organisations and provides them with a solid basis for sustainability and strategic planning for productivity gains. Using the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) this research compared antecedents of work engagement within workers based in four countries: Australia, New Zealand, China and Hong Kong (N = 10,614). A K-means cluster analysis established five groups of like-minded participants: Highly Engaged (15%), Engaged (27%), Unengaged (30%), Disengaged (19%) and Very Disengaged (9%). The categorical engagement variable so derived was used to assess self-report levels of Work Demands, Work-life Balance, Work Family Conflict, Social Support, and Psychological Strain. Significant differences between the engagement groups were identified for all of these variables, with the largest effect sizes reflected in those variables measuring workplace relationships. In addition, significant differences across the national samples were identified. This research therefore demonstrates: (1) endorsement of previous research findings that organisations can consciously provide environments that foster employee engagement; (2) general consistency across cultural divides with some important differences.