Development and application of a new measure of employee engagement: the ISA engagement scale

Effective measure of employee engagement is relevant to human resource development (HRD) theory and practice. We build on Kahn's (1990 OpenURL London School of Economics &, Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work, Academy of Management Journal 33: 692–724) theory and develop a model of engagement that has three requirements: a work-role focus, activation and positive affect. This model was operationalized in a new measure: the Intellectual, Social, Affective Engagement Scale (ISA Engagement Scale) comprising three facets: intellectual, social and affective engagement. Data from Study 1 (278 employees from a manufacturing organization) showed that the scale and its sub-scales have internal reliability. Study 2 examined data from 683 employees in a retail organization. The internal reliability was confirmed and construct validity was demonstrated. The new scale had positive associations with three theoretically and empirically important outcomes: task performance, organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and turnover intentions. Implications are considered for academic enquiry into the engagement process, and for HRD practices that enhance the experience of work.