Liat Eldor

The nature of employee engagement: rethinking the employee–organization relationship

Abstract Research interest in the new concept of employee engagement has grown dramatically in recent years. Employee engagement represents a work-related state of mind characterized by feelings of vigor, fulfillment, enthusiasm, absorption and dedication. However, scholars are still ambivalent about its theoretical contribution to explaining the employee–organization relationship. The goal of the study is to strengthen the theoretical foundation of the employee engagement concept in light of this relationship. We first compared employee engagement to other close concepts such as psychological empowerment and psychological contract. We then examined its contribution to the explanation of work centrality over and above psychological empowerment and psychological contract. Our study is based on an interactive sample of 593 employees from both private and public organizations in Israel. Our findings demonstrate that employee engagement is distinct from psychological empowerment and psychological contract and has an incremental value for work centrality over and above psychological empowerment and psychological contract. Implications of our findings are discussed the light of the employee–organization relationship.

Work Engagement Toward a General Theoretical Enriching Model

This article proposes a theoretical model linking the relatively new concept of work engagement to three major domains of employees’ lives—work, personal life, and community—and demonstrates the added value of engagement to each of these domains, above and beyond other well-known concepts in the employee–organization relationship. We propose that promoting work engagement among employees provides organizations with a competitive advantage. Moreover, we maintain that work engagement also creates added value beyond the boundaries of the workplace and has the potential to enrich other major areas in an employee’s life. When compared with similar work-related attitudes such as job involvement and job satisfaction, the work engagement concept also provides added value to organizations, their employees, and their community beyond these similar concepts. This article addresses the paucity of structured literature on the multiple facets and added value of work engagement within organizations and beyond, and presents a comprehensive, holistic model for improving engagement in work that human resource development practitioners can implement.

The Work/Nonwork Spillover The Enrichment Role of Work Engagement

This study examines whether work engagement enriches employees beyond the contribution of the domain of work, focusing on satisfaction with life and community involvement. Moreover, the ambivalence of scholars about the added value of the work engagement concept compared with similar work-related attitudes prompted us to assess the benefits that work engagement offers with regard to improving one’s satisfaction with life and community involvement compared with the benefits of other, similar work-related attitudes such as job involvement and job satisfaction. Furthermore, given the studies indicating the impact of sector of employment (public vs. business) on understanding the work/nonwork nexus, the current study also investigates the effect of the sector of employment on this enrichment process. Utilizing multilevel modeling analysis techniques on data from 554 employees in public and business sector organizations, we obtained results consistent with our hypotheses. Work engagement and employees’ outcomes beyond work had positive and significant relationships. Moreover, the relationship between work engagement and community involvement was stronger in public sector employees than in business sector employees. The implications for organizational theory, research, and practice are discussed as possible leverage points for creating conditions that promote engagement at work and beyond.

The relationship between perceptions of learning climate and employee innovative behavior and proficiency

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceptions of learning climate and employee innovative behavior and proficiency. Design/methodology/approach Using robust analysis techniques on data from a sample of 419 employees and their supervisors from four different business and public sector organizations, the author tested the proposed relationships, as mediated by job engagement. Moreover, this mediation effect was examined in the light of sector of employment differences (business vs public). Findings The results were generally consistent with the hypothesized conceptual scheme, in that the indirect relationship between perceptions of learning climate and employees’ innovative behavior and proficiency was mediated by job engagement. However, with regard to sector employment differences, this mediation process was demonstrated among business sector employees only to the relationship between perceptions of learning climate and innovative behavior. When proficiency was included in the mediation model, this mediation effect was evident among public sector employees. Originality/value The research on perceptions of learning climate lacks empirical evidence on its implications for employees’ innovative behavior and proficiency. Although scholars contend that employees’ perceptions of learning climate should enhance their in-role and extra-role performance behaviors, these arguments are mainly non-empirical. Understanding whether perceptions of learning have an impact on employee intra- and extra-role performance behaviors is important, considering that the majority of workplace learning occurs through daily ongoing means that are part of the working environment and previous research results show that structured learning and formal training are less effective in improving employees’ performance at work.

The Nature of Learning Climate in Public Administration: A Cross-Sectorial Examination of Its Relationship With Employee Job Involvement, Proactivity, and Creativity

To study the relation of learning climate in public organizations to desired employee performance in this sector, namely proactivity and creativity, we engaged a sample of 227 public-sector employees, 295 business-sector employees, and their supervisors, from an array of public and business organizations in Israel. The hypothesized relation was examined as a moderated mediation model where employment sector (public vs. business) moderated the indirect relation of learning climate to employee proactivity and creativity (through job involvement). Results were consistent with our theoretical model: Learning climate in the public-sector workplace was positively associated with employee job involvement, proactivity, and creativity. The indirect relation of learning climate to employee proactivity and creativity (through job involvement) was moderated by employment sector (public vs. business). We conclude that learning climate is meaningful for public administration theory and practice and deserves dedicated sectorial research as it is an important tool to foster employee performance, tapping into present challenges before the public sector.

The experience of work stress and the context of time: Analyzing the role of subjective time

Scholars have generally neglected the importance of the subjective aspects of time in the field of work stress. In this paper we analyze the joint effects of employee perceptions of subjective time and cultural, organizational, individual, and situational factors on employee experiences of stress. By explicitly considering the role of subjective time in stress research, we develop several propositions and discuss recommendations for future research. We discuss implications for organizational practice in reducing stress, revolving around the manipulation and experience of time.