The Association of Employee Engagement at Work With Health Risks and Presenteeism

Introduction: Employee engagement is a key factor in work performance and employee retention. The current study seeks to examine the relationship between employee engagement and health risks and productivity. Methods: In 2012, employees of a global financial services corporation participated in a health risk appraisal (HRA) which measured employee engagement, health risks, and on-the-job productivity loss (presenteeism). Three engagement categories were created. Results: The highest engaged employees had significantly fewer health risk factors (69.7% overall low-risk status; 1.91 average health risks) and significantly less presenteeism (7.7%) than the mid engagement (67.9% low-risk, 1.98 risks, 9.2% presenteeism) and worst engagement (55.0% low-risk, 2.53 risks, 14.0% presenteeism) groups. Conclusions: Work engagement appears to be good for both the organization and the individual. Organizations may wish to make use of strategies which increase employee engagement.