Title: Examining the contextual and individual factors that influence employees' work engagement and taking charge behaviours

Authors: Angie Lee; Amy Wong

Addresses: School of Business, Singapore University of Social Sciences, 436 Clementi Road, 599494, Singapore ' School of Business, Singapore University of Social Sciences, 436 Clementi Road, 599494, Singapore

Abstract: Increasingly, engaged employees who demonstrate proactive behaviours such as taking charge are highly valued in today's workplace. Due to the discretionary and non-compelling nature of taking charge behaviours, organisations must understand the motivational factors that drive these desired behaviours at the workplace. Drawing on self-reported data from 161 respondents, this study examines the contextual and individual factors that influence work engagement and taking charge behaviours among employees. The findings show that work engagement is associated with grit, growth mindset, and organisational learning culture while taking charge is associated with curiosity and grit. This study contributes to the current literature by clarifying the motivational factors behind being engaged at work and taking charge behaviours. Managers can leverage the key findings to drive positive changes at the workplace, which can further boost organisational work productivity and performance.

Keywords: taking charge; work engagement; organisational learning culture; grit; curiosity; growth mindset.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMDM.2024.141955

International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 2024 Vol.23 No.6, pp.701 - 726

Received: 04 May 2023
Accepted: 19 Jun 2023
Published online: 03 Oct 2024 *

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