Engagement and Disengagement at Work: What’s New

Abstract

Against the goal of developing the engagement of the human resources, the work experiences of employees and employers are clearly negative on average. In terms of workers, work malaise and disengagement are increasing, while on the organizational front, the requirements for retention and employee involvement remain unresolved. The chapter outlines some of the major challenges that organizations and workers are facing- such as workforce aging, diversity, structural changes, ambiguity, open innovation,  in order to better understand the scenarios in which work relationships today develop and take on meaning. Analysing some of the main trends in progress leads to a better understanding of the challenges that organizations and workers are experiencing and the origins of such widespread, albeit undesired, disengagement. In the actual controversial scenario, not only organizations practices and employees behaviours need to change, but also the managerial function: the human and relational sides of management behaviours are now compulsory to manage growing organizational complexity and help employees enact sense-making. This is a big challenge, but it is also a big chance.