Is It Contagious? Exploring the Dimensions of Work Engagement and Burnout in Teams

Work engagement and burnout contribute to the discussion of work wellbeing, which has been a trending topic in academic research as well as in the corporate world. These multidimensional constructs have been previously referred to as “contagious” for they may cross over from one person to another as they interact with each other (Bakker et al., 2007; Schaufeli & Salanova, 2008). The notion of the social nature of work engagement and burnout makes them particularly interesting also from the perspective of team-based structures in organisations. Hence, this study has extended the crossover studies to concern work teams by conducting empirical research on a Finnish case company operating in the IT and Services industry. The main objective of this study was to provide insights on the phenomena of work engagement and burnout as well as their crossover in work teams. Besides the conceptualisation of these constructs, levels of work engagement and burnout at the individual and team-level were assessed at the case company. The link between individual and team-level experiences was also explored. Moreover, empathy and susceptibility to emotional contagion were investigated as possible moderators in the crossover processes. In addition, this study aimed at exploring opportunities for the enhancement of work engagement and prevention or alleviation of burnout. This study was comprised of secondary and primary research. The theoretical framework guiding the primary research and a set of hypotheses were developed based on the literature reviewed. The empirical research was conducted using a quantitative approach and an online survey of job-related attitudes was administered as the instrument for the collection of the primary data. The data obtained from the case company enabled preliminary testing of a model of work engagement and burnout contagion in teams. The findings of this study provide support for the crossover of both work engagement and burnout in teams. Positive relationships were discovered regarding the crossover of team-level work engagement to individual members of the team, and team-level burnout to individual members of the team. However, contrary to findings from previous studies, no empirical support was found for the adverse relationship between work engagement and burnout, or the moderating roles of empathy and susceptibility to emotional contagion in the crossover processes. Building on the insights from this research, strategic and proactive approaches regarding interventions to enhance work engagement and prevent or alleviate burnout in teams and in the workplace were proposed. These were classified into organisational, team-level and individual interventions as recommendations for the case company were presented. Managerial implications can also be derived from this study, and avenues for future research have been identified