THE IMPACT OF WORK UNIT LEVEL PERCEPTIONS OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES, COWORKER SUPPORT, ROLE CLARITY, AND WORKLOAD ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model has been used to explain influencing factors of engagement and burnout, with resources traditionally having a relationship with engagement, and demands having a relationship with burnout. Recent research has suggested that demands may serve as moderators in the resources-engagement relationship based on whether the demands are perceived as challenges or hindrances. Additionally, most engagement research that focuses on antecedents of engagement is at the individual level yet that data is often aggregated at a higher level (e.g. business unit) when consequences of engagement (such as financial metrics) are considered. Furthermore, managers often receive aggregated scores for their work units and almost never receive individual level data to protect confidentiality and encourage honest responses. Therefore, this study seek to investigate how job resources (career development opportunities, role-clarity, and coworker support), aggregated at work unit level impact engagement and if the work unit level perception of workload moderates this relationship. Finally, it is expected that engagement will also have a strong positive relationship with intent to stay at the work unit level.Ph.D. in Psychology, May 201