Promoting Employee Engagement Through Enhanced Performance Management: A Field Study of Accountants

Accounting work is characterized by high job demands, tight-deadlines, and job-rotational career paths. At the task level, the work of an accountant may be routine, even mundane, yet the stringency of reporting standards leaves little room for variety, task revision, job crafting, or other expressions of autonomy that are available in other jobs. These attributes of accounting work make accounting work more susceptible to employee disengagement (lack of full presence at work). Yet, performance outcome expectancies require accountants to be engaged (fully present at work). Although there is a great deal of research on employee engagement in general, there is a scarcity of research that investigates the engagement levels of accountants and the impact of engagement levels on performance. The present research proposes and empirically tests enhanced performance management practices as the solution to the disengagement of accountants.