The literature on work-related wellbeing and more specifically on employee engagement and burnout is vast and varied. It is noteworthy that the ratio of the number of publications on burnout and engaged is rather skewed: 17:1. In addition to these scientific publications, also quite interesting case studies and best practices are available. To help you navigate through this extensive literature, we have made a personal selection for you.
Academic publications
The number of scholarly publications on employee engagement is growing rapidly, as can be seen in the figure above. In quite some publications, the Job Demands- Resources model is featuring as a conceptual model that links antecedents and consequences to burnout and work engagement. Therefore, this model plays a crucial role in our services. Below, you find the most interesting publications – both from academia as well as from practice. On the personal website of Wilmar Schaufeli, you will find a comprehensive list of all his publications.
| Enhancing Work-Related Attitudes and Work Engagement: A Quasi-Experimental Study of the Impact of an Organizational Intervention (in: International Journal of Stress Management, 2014) | This article describes a research project that has indicated the (positive) influence of a leadership development intervention on job resources (such as strategic alignement and leader support). Through the strengthening of job resources, subordinates of the leaders that participated in the intervention reported higher job satisfaction and work engagement. |
| Transformational leadership and performance: An experimental investigation of the mediating effects of basic needs satisfaction and work engagement (in: JOOP, 2013) | An article that explores the power of transformational leadership in relation to strengthening employee engagement through satisfying basic needs in work (like growth and connectedness) |
| How changes in job demands and resources predict burnout, work engagement, and sickness absenteeism. (Journal of Organizational behavior, 2009) | Main publication on the Job Demands – Resources Model that links burnout and engagement in relation to sickness absenteeism. Receiver of the Emerald Citations of Excellence Award 2013. |
Practice
Non-academic publications usually include case-studies, best practices or specific interventions. Also the business-effects of engagement have been researched thoroughly (in so-called linkage studies), mostly by commercial consultancy firms. Below you will find some interesting reports on employee engagement.
| Meeting the Challenge: Successful Employee Engagement in the NHS (IPA, 2014) | An inspiring report which contains deeper insight in employee engagement in the NHS. The importance of shared values, leadership and employee voice is being stressed as well as illustrated with numerous case studies. |
| Dealing with burnout, which doesn’t always stem from overwork (NY Times, nov 2013) | A short article on burnout and the different perceptions that surround this concept. |
| Managers: Your Strongest (or Weakest) Link in Driving Employee Engagement? (Aon Hewitt, 2011) | An interesting surbey on the role of leadership in strengthening engagement in organizations |
| Engage for success: the Evidence (UK government initiative, 2012) | A convincing overview of case studies that discuss the organizational and business consequences of engagement. |
| Engaging for Success: enhancing performance through employee engagement (UK government initiative, 2009) | A very comprehensive overview of known engagement cases in the UK and beyond. |
| Connecting People Investments and Business Outcomes at Lowe’s (People & Strategy, 2011) | An inspiring case study that links engagement and business outcomes. A convincing plea for making measurable both HR-data and key performance indicators. |
Video’s
On the internet numerous short videos are posted on positive psychology – often illustrated with cartoons.
| What is positive psychology? | A video clip that illustrates the paradigm switch in psychology from risk-based (negative) to value-based (positive) approaches. |
| The surprising truth about what motivates us | A video clip about what motivates employees (which is not money). |