Employee Disengagement: The Impact of Role Discrepancy, Professional Identity and Organizational Justice

Abstract

Purpose: Employee engagement has become a popular topic of discussion in both the practitioner and the research literature, yet there is a paucity of empirical investigation. This paper explores the relationship between employee engagement, role discrepancy, professional identification and organizational justice.

Methodology: A national survey of Canadian librarians was conducted, exploring the relationships among the variables.

Findings: The study findings suggest that perceptions of organizational justice, professional identity and age interact to correlate with employee engagement.

Research limitations: The research was cross-sectional so any inferences regarding causality are limited. All responses are from self-report, leading to the possibility of bias. The study was conducted with one professional group so the level of generalizability is unclear.

Practical implications: Suggestions for organizations to improve employee engagement include: a greater emphasis on organizational justice, and options that would increase the level of professional identity.

Contribution: This study adds to the literature about both workplace and personal variables that correlate with employee engagement, and to the literature about the working environment of Canadian librarians.