Exploring the nature of employee engagement

The purpose of this study is to explore the nature of employee engagement through the experiences of employees. Grounded theory approach was the research methodology (Creswell, 2007). The objective of this research was to add value to the existing literature on engagement with a focus on individual. There are very few research studies applying grounded theory on employee engagement. This research study is an attempt to understand the phenomenon of employee engagement grounded in the experiences shared by the participants. Accordingly, interviews were conducted on site to understand the nuances of engagement from the past experiences of the employees. The content analysis was undertaken to interpret how unique experiences shape the engagement for employees. Organizations can use the emergent frameworks to understand what helps and what hinders to enhance engagement among the employees. Three themes were identified namely, ‘Self’, ‘Organization’ and ‘Role’ from the content analysis of the interviews. Two conceptual frameworks have been developed; the interplay between the themes was captured through one conceptual framework and another conceptual framework captured the constitution of the theme ‘Self’.