Knowledge Workers’ Engagement In Public STEM Organisations In The UK And The Impact On Satisfaction And Performance

Employee engagement, first introduced in 1990, has become a growing research topic since the mid-2000s. Now, organisations spend three quarters of a billion dollars trying to increase employee engagement because high levels of employee engagement are expected to return significant benefits for the organisation. However, the concept of employee engagement has evolved without a clear definition which has resulted in the development of several frameworks. Furthermore, many different drivers and outcomes of engagement have been identified. The literature shows that public sector employees and knowledge workers have a particular set of characteristics that distinguish them from other types of workers. Therefore, this research analyses the factors affecting the engagement of knowledge workers in public, STEM organisations in the UK, the relationship with job satisfaction and performance and how employee engagement may be boosted for this type of organisation. This research uses the Central Laser Facility as a case study to develop a conceptual framework for employee engagement as well as evaluating the factors contribute to engagement, the relationship between engagement, satisfaction and performance and finally identify how employee engagement may be increased. The research findings show that the Job Demands – Resources framework provides a good starting point for understanding long-term engagement. However, it fails to take into account daily fluctuations of engagement resulting from daily resources and demands combined with the personal resources available on that day. Additionally, a set of personal characteristics that make it difficult for employees to engage have been found and added to the Job Demands-Resources framework to obtain a more comprehensive framework for the engagement of knowledge workers in public, STEM organisations. The research finds that many characteristics associated with knowledge workers and public sector workers are related to the drivers of engagement. The main job resources driving engagement are leadership, variety of tasks, learning and development, autonomy, significance and feedback. Employee engagement is directly and positively related to satisfaction and performance. The research finds that employees that are engaged at work feel happy, buzzing and good. They also feel more focused and see increased throughput, quality and creativity These outcomes will also have a positive effect on the overall organisation with improvements in areas such as growth, sales and productivity. Managerial strategies need to be tailored to increase employee engagement in public, STEM organisations. They need to boost the most significant drivers of engagement whilst curbing the demands. For example, the leadership team must be more supportive, approachable and communicative with employees