Dancing between theory and practice: enhancing work engagement through work stress intervention

Abstract

This quasi-experimental and longitudinal study assesses the effectiveness of a work stress intervention (i.e., Team Redesign) to increase job and personal resources and to consequently reduce job strain and increase employee psychosocial well-being in an enamel manufacturing company following the Resources-Experiences-Demands Model (RED Model) and within the Action-Research approach. The sample consisted of 108 employees at Time 1 and 72 employees at Time 2. Repeated-measures multivariable analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed that the Time × Intervention interaction had reliable, positive, and incremental effects on job resources (i.e., innovation climate), personal resources (i.e., professional self-efficacy and perceived competence), and motivational outcomes (i.e., work engagement, vigor, and dedication) on the intervention group (laboratory team, n = 9) when compared with the control group (n = 63 employees from different departments). Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications based on the RED Model, including the feedback from Intervention (Action) to Theory (Research)