Refocusing on the Individual : A Phenomenological Exploration of the Experience of Engagement

Batluk, Iuliia and Thomas, Pete and Greasley, Kay (2025) Refocusing on the Individual : A Phenomenological Exploration of the Experience of Engagement. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

The concept of engagement was introduced in 1990 by organisational psychologist William Kahn with a focus on how people bring varying degrees of their selves into their work roles. In the last two decades, however, with increasing attention to the concept from academics and practitioners, the focus in engagement research has notably shifted from individual to organisation. Driven by the idea that engagement could be linked to positive organisational outcomes, much research has sought to operationalise and measure engagement and its effects. Yet, despite an ever-growing body of research, the concept remains vague and contested, and few empirical studies provide insight into the nature and experience of engagement. This study returns to the concept as it was originally conceived by Kahn and aims to deepen our understanding of engagement by exploring its lived experiences. Dominant in engagement literature quantitative approach with its reliance on surveys and scales does not allow for in-depth exploration of highly personal, subjective experiences of individuals and their intricate relationships with their work. This qualitative study adopts an existential-phenomenological approach, focusing on the individuals’ personal experiences of engagement within the context of their lifeworlds. Through qualitative interviews with individuals representing diverse occupational groups, six participant profiles were developed, detailing lifeworld elements crucial for understanding of their experiences of engagement. The analysis identified four main themes related to lifeworld fractions: meaning and self, changing nature of engagement, intersubjectivity, and embodied manifestations. Findings reveal engagement as a multi-dimensional, dynamic phenomenon intertwined with relational aspects of individuals’ lifeworlds and influenced by personal projects guiding individuals’ work orientations. These insights align with Kahn’s model of personal engagement, challenging the conceptualisations that assume quite unequivocal and persistent nature of engagement. The phenomenological approach provided rich, contextually grounded insights into engagement, suggesting the need for future research to consider the lifeworld as a methodological concept in management studies to better understand complex phenomena like engagement.