Engaged and Intending to Stay: An Examination of the Antecedents and Consequences of Work Engagement in a Sample of Community Mental Health Workers

Background: Turnover continues to be a problem in the community mental health services field. Given the estimated 44.7 million people diagnosed with a mental illness in the U.S. (SAMHSA, 2017), the need for an engaged and stable community mental health workforce is great. Much of the research conducted on predictors of turnover among mental health workers has focused largely on negative workplace experiences such as job stress and burnout. Alternatively, in the present study we examine how work engagement, defined as a positive work-related state of mind (Soane et al., 2012) impacts intentions to stay on the job. Furthermore, guided by the Job Demands-Resources theory, we test workplace demands and resources that serve as antecedents to work engagement.

Methods: This study uses cross-sectional data collected in 2018 from a sample of n= 170 outpatient clinical staff members employed in a large community mental health center in the Southwestern United States. Using path analysis, we tested a conceptual model where we hypothesized that job demands (e.g., pressure to produce, role ambiguity) had a negative relationship to work engagement and job resources (e.g., team commitment, supervisor relationship, connection to agency mission) were positively related to work engagement; and greater work engagement would be related to lower intention to leave the job. We further hypothesized that there was an indirect effect of job demands and resources on turnover intention via work engagement.

Results: Path analysis results suggest that pressure to produce (𝛽= −.20, p<. 01)">𝛽= −.20, 𝑝<. 01) and role ambiguity (𝛽= −.30, p<. 01) ">𝛽= −.30, 𝑝<. 01) were significantly and negatively related to work engagement. A connection to the agency mission (𝛽= .33, p<. 01)">𝛽= .33, 𝑝<. 01) and greater commitment to the team (𝛽=.14, p<. 05) ">𝛽=.14, 𝑝<. 05) were job resources that were significantly related to greater work engagement. Work engagement had a direct and negative effect on intent to leave (𝛽= −. 28,  p<. 01)">𝛽= −. 28, 𝑝<. 01). A direct effect was also found between pressure to produce on intent to leave (𝛽= .40,  p<. 01)">𝛽= .40, 𝑝<. 01) and team commitment and intent to leave (𝛽= −.28, p<. 01). ">𝛽= −.28, 𝑝<. 01). The overall path model was found to have good model fit (ꭓ2 (4) = 3.04, p = .55; CFI = 1.00; RMSEA = 0.00; 90% CI [0.00, 0.10]). Results from a series of Sobel tests for simple mediation suggest a significant mediating effect of work engagement between pressure to produce and intent to stay (p= . 01">𝑝= . 01), role ambiguity and intention to stay (p<. 01)">𝑝<. 01), and connection to mission and intent to stay (p<. 01)">𝑝<. 01).

Conclusion: Managers and administrators in community mental health organizations can help promote a more stable workforce by bolstering the resources that lead to greater work engagement including ensuring that workers feel connected to the agency’s mission and helping create a work environment that fosters team work. The negative impact of job demands can be mitigated by reducing a lack of clarity in job roles and exploring strategies to reduce pressure to produce for workers.