Work Engagement. What Do We Know and Where Do We Go

Work engagement is a popular concept, both in business contexts as well as in academia. The term first appeared in the 1990s and meanwhile over 200 scientific publications have appeared on the subject. So it seems that it is time to take stock. The current paper has two main objectives, first to present a brief overview about our current knowledge on engagement (What do we know?) and second to draft a future research agenda (Where do we go?). More specifically, the research literature is summarized on five key issues: (1) the meaning and measurement of work engagement; (2) the antecedents of engagement; (3) the consequences of engagement; (4) state work engagement; and (5) building work engagement. As far as the future research agenda on work engagement is concerned, seven main issues are proposed: (1) conceptualization and measurement (e.g., the use of qualitative methods and peer-ratings); (2) theoretical understanding (e.g., developing unique explanatory frameworks); (3) antecedents and consequences (e.g., focusing on the paths that lead from work engagement to performance); (4) epidemiology (e.g., using national representative samples); (5) cross-cultural validity (e.g., comparing engagement-levels across cultures); (6) the waxing and waning of engagement across time (e.g., studying engagement in changing organizations); and (7) the collective nature of work engagement (e.g., team-level engagement). It is concluded that work engagement is a viable concept for both science and practice and that it needs further focused attention.