Overview of Employee Engagement Literature: The How Issue

Notwithstanding the numerous research on engagement antecedents, findings are not easy to generalize. This implies the risk of an ineffective approach. The chapter presents the research evidence on the determinants of employee engagement and clarifies the theoretical rationales to inform managerial actions, starting from solid and accurate theoretical explanations and evidence that enable more effective decisions in relation to people management practices. First, three engagement theoretical rationales are presented: motivation theory, job demands and job resources model; social exchange theory. Second, research distinguishes five levels of the engagement antecedents: job characteristics, interpersonal relationships, personal features, HRM practices, organization solutions. Finally, research suggests that three significant ingredients contribute to building employee perceptions of their work relationship: meaningfulness, safety, and resource availability. They are related to the role of cultural values and frames (national but also organizational culture) that provide sense; the role of HRM practices that contributes to building a fair work environment; the role of management and leadership styles and behaviours as organizational processes that intermediate the relationship between employees and the organization. At the end of the chapter, some widespread clichés of employee engagement are discussed and reviewed in light of the research evidence.