Employee work engagement: a multi-dimensional state of the art review

The construct of work engagement is truly multidimensional and has been has elaborated from various perspectives. Its dynamics have been explored in the context of change in the psychological contract between the employer and the employee in the contemporary era. This paper unveils a lucid understanding of the work engagement construct from a holistic perspective through a comprehensive review of literature. The classic and the contemporary research studies clarifying various dimensions of work engagement have been carefully examined. Findings from extant research have been categorized into various themes elaborated upon in this paper. Construct novelty and uniqueness have been established after a thorough review in comparison with earlier known constructs such as organizational commitment, job involvement and workaholism. The behavioral characteristics of engaged employees have been isolated. The scales available for measurement of work engagement have been explored. A comparison of work engagement frameworks focusing on its antecedents and consequences has been drawn. Interestingly, literature reveals that the phenomenon of work engagement is not limited to individuals and has the tendency to crossover to others in the environment, whether in work life or in family life. Engaged leaders displaying action readiness tend to have a more positive team climate inspiring their team mates to go the extra mile. Work engagement is also reported to have a positive association with work family facilitation. Finally work engagement has been categorically placed on the research agenda highlighting the need for exploring its relationship with job crafting, work life balance, work stress and organizational commitment through empirical studies.