Employee Engagement within the NHS: A Cross-Sectional Study

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

University Hospitals of Leicester, Leicester, UK

Abstract

Background
Employee engagement is the emotional commitment of the employee towards the organisation. We aimed to analyse baseline work engagement using Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) at a teaching hospital.
 
Methods
We have conducted a cross-sectional study within the National Health Service (NHS) Teaching Hospital in the UK. All participants were working age population from both genders directly employed by the hospital. UWES has three constituting dimensions of work engagement as vigor, dedication, and absorption. We conducted the study using UWES-9 tool. Outcome measures were mean score for each dimension of work engagement (vigor, dedication, absorption) and total score compared with control score from test manual.
 
Results
We found that the score for vigor and dedication is significantly lower than comparison group (P< 0.0001  for both). The score for absorption was significantly higher than comparison group (P< 0.0001). However, total score is not significantly different.
 
Conclusion
The study shows that work engagement level is below average within the NHS employees. Vigor and dedication are significantly lower, these are characterised by energy, mental resilience, the willingness to invest one’s effort, and persistence as well as a sense of significance, enthusiasm, inspiration, pride, and challenge. The NHS employees are immersed in work. Urgent need to explore strategies to improve work engagement as it is vital for improving productivity, safety and patient experience.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 20 September 2014
  • Revise Date: 14 December 2014
  • Accept Date: 03 January 2015
  • First Publish Date: 01 February 2015

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