Work engagement and performance: daily fluctuations

Abstract

The relationship that employees develop with their work is evolving one. Researchers approach to it has also been changing, currently exploring its positive aspects such as engagement and flow and its impact on employee performance. Engaged employees enjoy their work and because of that work more, revealing an intrinsic motivation towards their tasks. The main purpose of this case study is to explore work engagement, specifically if there are any fluctuations of work engagement during one workday. We also analysed the relationship between work engagement and employee performance. Twenty-three employees of a hospital answered a questionnaire twice a day with the purpose of evaluating their work engagement (UWES-9) and performance (Griffin and Mason performance scale). The results indicate a positive relationship between work engagement and performance. Although employee work engagement had not changed during the day, we found that absorption, one of the three dimensions of work engagement, had diminished during the day.