The present study adopts a bottom-up approach to work engagement by examining how self-management is related to employees' work engagement on a daily basis. Specifically, we hypothesized that on days that employees use more self-management strategies, they report higher resources at work and in turn, are more vigorous, dedicated, and absorbed in their work (i.e., engaged) on these days. We tested this hypothesis in a sample of 72 maternity nurses who filled out an online diary for 5 days (N = 360 data points). In line with our hypotheses, results of multilevel structural equation modeling analyses showed that daily self-management was positively related to the resourcefulness of the daily work environment (i.e., more skill variety, feedback, and developmental opportunities) and consequently, to employees' daily work engagement. However, contrary to our expectations, the measurement model showed that two of the five included self-management strategies (i.e., self-reward and self-punishment) loaded onto a separate factor and were unrelated to all job resources. The findings contribute to our understanding of employees' role in regulating their own daily work engagement.
Daily diary studies show that work engagement varies greatly within persons (Xanthopoulou & Bakker, 2012). Employees who are generally engaged in their work may be more or less engaged on a specific day depending on the amount of job resources available (e.g., Simbula, 2010, Tims et al., 2011 and Xanthopoulou et al., 2009). Hence, it is important for employees to be surrounded by a resourceful work environment (e.g., being supported, receiving feedback, and having decision latitude) on a day-to-day basis. Several studies have shown that certain leadership behaviors contribute to work-related resources like decision latitude how and when to perform the work, feedback about work, social support, and opportunities to use skills (e.g., Nielsen & Daniels, 2012;Piccolo & Colquitt, 2006;Purvanova, Bono, & Dzieweczynski, 2006;Tuckey, Bakker, & Dollard, 2012). These resources, in turn, have a positive influence on followers' work engagement. However, the timing of work and work spaces (e.g., office, home, train) become increasingly flexible. Therefore, employees are no longer always under direct supervision, and working independently becomes increasingly important. The present study focuses on how employees can take the lead themselves, and influence their own daily work engagement.
The current study contributes to the literature on work engagement and self-management by being the first to examine the relationship between daily self-management and daily work engagement. Self-management refers to employees' control over their own behavior instead of being externally controlled by the supervisor. Manz and Sims (1980) argue that self-management may even substitute leadership effects, because individuals who use self-management are responsible for many managerial functions such as monitoring performance, taking corrective actions, and seeking resources. Furthermore, we examine how self-management and work engagement are related by arguing that self-management contributes to the resourcefulness of the work environment and consequently, to employees' work engagement. Although several beneficial effects of self-management for employees and organizations have been shown (e.g., Murphy and Ensher, 2001, Raabe et al., 2007 and Uhl-Bien and Graen, 1998), very little is known about the underlying mechanisms explaining these effects. Our sample of maternity nurses enabled us to examine the suggested relationships in the appropriate context, because these nurses work independently and do not frequently interact with their leader.
Table 1 shows the day-level inter-correlations and the means, standard deviations, ICCs, and internal consistencies of the study variables averaged over five days. The internal consistencies for daily self-management (i.e., self-observation, self-cueing, & self-goal setting) ranged from .77 to .87 across days. For the job resources, internal consistencies varied across days from .76 to .82 for skill variety, .85 to .90 for feedback and .61 to .88 for developmental opportunities. Finally, internal consistencies ranged from .80 to .96 across days for work engagement.
