The reciprocity of employee engagement : a study of university academics

Employee engagement is envisaged by Robinson, Perryman and Hayday (2004) as being based on a reciprocal relationship between an employee and their employing organisation. The employee and the organisation provide a service to the other beyond the mere transactional relationship; the organisation provides something extra to the employee in return for increased engagement levels. This research aims to determine the existence and importance of a reciprocal engagement relationship between the employee and their employing organisation. The findings from the qualitative interviews highlighted employee engagement as being reciprocal in nature. Some consideration is given to engagement to the immediate workgroup. Implications from this study are considered as well as limitations and alternatives for future research.