Work that matters: knowledge worker employee engagement – insights for leaders and organizations

Purpose This study aims to investigate the lived experience of knowledge workers, motivation and meaning, and examines how these factors shape their engagement in the workplace. Insights into this phenomenon can inform organizational leaders, who play a pivotal role in influencing employee engagement. This study provides an in-depth understanding of factors that influence knowledge worker engagement at work. Design/methodology/approach The research design is a multi-sector qualitative phenomenological study conducted with participants from primarily USA based organizations, including for-profit businesses, higher education, municipal and federal government, non-profit organizations, health care, primary and secondary education and medical research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 participants to explore the research question: what is the knowledge worker’s lived experience of engagement in the workplace? Findings Findings identify multiple factors that influence knowledge workers’ engagement experience. This paper focuses on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the impact of meaningful work and the interrelationship between motivation and meaning. Originality/value Employee engagement is a multifaceted construct that bridges organizational science, leadership and management. When treated solely as an organizational strategy, however, engagement risks being conceptualized in ways that exclude employees’ lived experience. This research is grounded in the importance of understanding the individual experience and the factors that influence engagement, both as an individual psychological phenomenon and as an organizational construct. In addition, deepening insight into this phenomenon can equip leaders and organizations with a more nuanced appreciation of their role in shaping employee engagement.