Abstract
Work engagement is a vital HR variable for all organizations to sail through in this cut-throat era of competition as engaged employees are brand representatives and help the organization deliver superior performance to gain competitive advantage. Different personality dimensions relate to satisfaction in a particular task (Judge, Heller & Mount, 2002), predict job performance in various types of jobs (Barrick & Mount, 1991), commitment (Erdheim, Wang & Zickar, 2006) and hence, work engagement. These dimensions from the Big Five Model increase or decrease the probability of experiencing a state of engagement at work. This study attempts to understand the influence of personality dimensions of the Big Five Model on work engagement. The study compares the overall personality dimensions and attempts to find particular dimensions of both, personality and work engagement, of married vis-à-vis single working women. The findings of the study reveal that married working women are more dedicated and engaged, more extroverted, depict more agreeableness and are open to experience. Single working women are more conscientious and stand at par on emotional stability with married women. There exists a correlation between personality and work engagement.
Keywords: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Openness to experience, The Big Five inventory, Work Engagement, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale
Introduction
Conceptual Framework
Individuals show different levels of engagement at the workplace. Some are highly engaged employees while others demonstrate little or no signs of work engagement while working under similar conditions. The consequences of disengaged employees may cause a huge cost to any business. A survey by Gallup in 2017 reports that 87% of employees worldwide are disengaged.