A Multilevel Model of Team-Level Work Engagement Emergence

Abstract

This article develops a multilevel theoretical model explaining how teamwork engagement (TWE), a team state grounded in compatible cognitive representations of vigor and dedication, emerges and shapes team performance and viability. Integrating Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory, team and multilevel emergence literature, we specify how team structural conditions (e.g., autonomy) influence members’ perceptions of job demands-resources optimal balance. These perceptions activate individual work engagement and through intra and inter-personal mechanisms, foster the emergence of TWE. We conceptualize TWE as compilational emergence arising from the functional alignment of members’ differentiated engagement levels, which are unevenly distributed within teams. The model further posits TWE as a dynamic team state that moderates how structural conditions are translated into balance perceptions and contributes to team performance and viability by shaping goal setting and striving. Across eight propositions, we articulate key explanatory mechanisms, research directions, and practical implications for designing and sustaining work-engaged teams.

Plain Language Summary

Understanding How Teamwork Engagement Develops and Influences Team Performance.

Teams play a crucial role in organizations, so it’s important to create conditions that keep team members motivated, performing well, and feeling good about their work. In this regard, we propose a model that explains how teamwork engagement (i.e., a team state grounded in compatible thoughts of vigor and dedication) emerges and develops. Our model is based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) theory and brings together research on team motivation and team effectiveness. We suggest that teamwork engagement develops from a mix of individual factors (attention, processing information, and positive emotions) and social interactions (sharing information and emotions). This model includes eight key ideas that can be tested in future research. Specifically, first, we explain that teamwork engagement mainly emerges because of team structural conditions, such as how much work the team has, because these conditions shape how team members perceive optimal balance between their demands and resources, which affects their own engagement. Then, we show that once teamwork engagement develops, it also affects individual team members by fostering positive social norms and by shaping how sensitive they are to changes in their working conditions, influencing whether job demands and resources are experienced as balanced or unbalanced. Finally, we describe how teamwork engagement improves team goal-setting and perseverance, ultimately affecting team performance and team viability. This model offers insights for researchers and practitioners to better understand how teamwork engagement emerges and can evolve over time, helping teams stay motivated and effective.