The relative roles of engagement and embeddedness in predicting job performance and intention to leave

Both work engagement and job embeddedness have seen dramatic growth in research interest over the past few years. Briefly, work engagement can be defined as a positive, fulfilling state of mind, most commonly characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption. Job embeddedness, in contrast, captures components of an individual's attachment to their job and can be said to consist of links, perceptions of person-environment fit, and the sacrifices involved in quitting. Despite some strong similarity in the constructs in their theoretical bases, there has been no attempt to distinguish them empirically. Thus, the primary research question driving this study was whether work engagement and job embeddedness were empirically distinct constructs. Using a sample of US employees from a wide variety of industries and occupations (n = 587), their supervisors, and their closest co-worker, we found via confirmatory factor analysis that engagement and embeddedness were unique constructs. Moreover, using usefulness analysis, we found that engagement and embeddedness each shared unique variance with in-role performance and intention to leave. We discuss the implications of these findings relative to work on motivation and attachment and develop practical implications from our findings as well as directions for future research.