Job/work engagement: Understanding a different aspect of engagement

Past HR Network Event

13 September 2018

Event resources

View the slides (for HR Network members)

Slides

Understanding a different aspect of engagement
Dilys Robinson, Principle Associate, IES

Measuring job/work engagement in higher education
Nicola Carter, Head of HR Advice, Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA)

Journey of engagement
Paul Neville, Assistant Director, HR and Staff Engagement, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance 

Resources 

Internal communications and employee engagement: the role of trust - information sheet
Megan Edwards, Research Fellow, IES

IES Perspectives on HR 2018: Bridging the gap: an evidence-based approach to employee engagement
Megan Edwards, IES

This workshop covered such topics as:

  •  What is job/work engagement?

  • How does it differ from organisation engagement?

  • Why it is important to understand the engagement profiles of different employee groups?

  • What are the benefits to organisations of understanding different facets of engagement?

Facilitator

Dilys Robinson, Principal Associate, Institute for Employment Studies

Speakers

Nicola Carter, Head of HR Advice, Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA)

Paul Neville, Assistant Director, HR and Staff Engagement, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

Event details

Anyone who investigates employee engagement will soon discover that there are two separate ‘camps’ active in the field. 

Firstly, researchers publishing in academic journals, who focus almost entirely on job/work engagement; and secondly, those in the ‘real world’ (notably HR practitioners and managers/leaders), who are interested in the extent to which employees engage with their organisations.

Employee surveys typically measure organisation engagement and job satisfaction, but lack a measure of the subtly different concept of job/work engagement. However, many HR practitioners have noticed that some types of employee – such as professionals, scientists and, indeed, academics – tend to have high levels of job satisfaction but relatively low levels of organisation engagement.

 An understanding of job/work engagement should help organisations to understand the different ways in which employees are motivated and engaged, and plan engagement programmes accordingly. At this workshop, we presented the results of IES research into this area, and led discussions of its applicability and usefulness.