The Antecedents of Employee Engagement Professor Katie Truss

The Antecedents of Employee Engagement Professor Katie Truss University of Sussex

Enhancing and Embedding Staff Engagement in the NHS: Putting Theory into Practice Research team: Professor Katie Truss (Sussex University), Dr Adrian Madden (Sussex University), Dilys Robinson (IES), Dr Kerstin Alfes (Tilburg University), Luke Fletcher (IES), Jenny Holmes (IES), Jonathan Buzzeo (IES), Professor Graeme Currie (Warwick University) These are emerging findings based on independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (Health Services and Delivery Research, 12/5004/01 – Enhancing and Embedding Staff Engagement in the NHS: Putting Theory into Practice). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health. COPYRIGHT TO THE CONTENTS OF THE SLIDES BELONGS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX AND THE NIHR, AND COPYRIGHT TO THE SLIDES BELONGS TO PROFESSOR KATIE TRUSS. THE SLIDES CANNOT BE COPIED OR REFERRED TO WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION. THIS PRESENTATION IS BASED ON PREPUBLICATION FINDINGS AND SHOULD NOT BE CITED. © Katie Truss

Drivers of Engagement in Health Care Total: 42 studies in health care, 2 in UK Psychological states: 11 studies Most cross sectional: motivation, self-tuning, personal resources, low levels of negative affect. Two more complex studies found eg job satisfaction driver of engagement © Katie Truss

Example: van Beek et al (2012) Examined whether workaholism, burnout and engagement were driven by the same motivation Studied 544 nurses and 216 doctors in China Found that workaholism was associated with motivation to avoid negative self perception Found that engagement was positively associated and burnout negatively associated with meaningful work and enjoyment of work © Katie Truss

Drivers of Engagement in Health Care: Leadership & Management Leadership and management: 8 studies Cross-sectional studies: authentic leadership, supervisory support, empowering leadership, 2 complex studies looked at authentic and ‘consideration-focused’ leadership © Katie Truss

Example: Wong et al (2010) Examined link between authentic leadership, nurses’ trust in their manager, engagement, voice behaviour and unit care quality Study of 280 nurses in acute care hospitals in Ontario Authentic leadership was associated with trust in manager and engagement, which in turn predicted voice behaviour and perceived unit care quality © Katie Truss

Drivers of Engagement in Health Care: Job Design Job design: 22 studies Job resources: 12 studies incl 2 longitudinal Job demands: 9 studies, inconclusive Single cross-sectional studies eg: joy of working, autonomy, control, positive work relationships, active coping, empowerment linked with engagement. © Katie Truss

Drivers of Engagement in Health Care: Other � Organisational and team factors: 12 studies � Range of factors eg service climate, positive psychological contract, developmental management approaches, empowerment, the nurse practice environment, satisfaction with teamworking and support, a holistic care climate; one study found a negative link between sexual harassment and engagement. � All studies were cross-sectional � Responses to interventions: 2 studies � Participation in an offsite programme focused on the true meaning of caring raised engagement levels amongst 17 nurses. But, engagement levels did not significantly change amongst a large group of hospital nurses and midwives following a workload intervention exercise. © Katie Truss

Example: Bishop (2013) Study of the impact of a caring based programme aimed at improving work engagement of nurses in USA 3 day off-site programme for nurses over the age of 45 17 participants completed pre-and post-programme survey Showed that leadership strategies aimed at improving engagement using caring theories have a positive impact on engagement Showed that work environments with a sense of belonging and teamwork and where staff are allowed time to ‘decompress’ and build positive work relationships improve engagement. © Katie Truss