The differences between workaholism and work engagement

Workaholism: Definition According to Oates (1971, p. 11), workaholism is “the compulsion or the uncontrollable need to work incessantly” because it is an addiction akin to alcoholism. For workaholics, the need to work is so exaggerated that it endangers their health, reduces their happiness, and deteriorates their interpersonal relations and social functioning

Workaholism: Definition Scott et al. (1997) Workaholics work excessively hard. Workaholics are reluctant to disengage from work and they persistently and frequently think about work when they are not at work. Workaholics work beyond what is reasonably expected from them to meet organizational or economic requirements.

Workaholism versus Work engagement Contrary to workaholics – engaged workers lack compulsive drive that is characteristics of any addiction – including addiction to work. For engaged workers «work is fun» Engaged workers are pulled to work because they enjoy it for its own sake Workaholics are pushed to work because they obey their obsession.

Workaholism versus Work engagement: Empirical Evidence Engagement and workaholism are empirically different concepts Engaged employees have a tendency to work hard Engagement is unrelated to working compulsively

The relationship between engagement, workaholism and other variables To assess the differential validity of workaholism versus engagement, Schaufeli and colleagues ( 2006, 2008) investigated their relationships with other variables. Working time-related variables Work characteristics Health and well-being Organizational behaviors

The relationship between engagement, workaholism and other variables Working time The obvious characteristics of workaholics – they work beyond what is required American workaholics work on average 50- 60 hours per week. A larger representative Dutch sample revealed that work engagement is also related to working overtime ( Beckers et al., 2004). Both engaged workers and workaholics devote time to their work.

The relationship between engagement, workaholism and other variables Work characteristics Both engaged workers and workaholics report high job demands Engaged workers experience higher levels of control and high co-worker support Workaholics report low levels of job control and low levels of supervisor support

The relationship between engagement, workaholism and other variables Health and well-being Workaholics report high levels of job strain and mental health complaints. Life satisfaction is low. Work engagement is negatively related to psychosomatic complaints and positively to mental health A study among Dutch and Japanese samples showed that workaholics report higher levels of burn out than non- workaholics. Schaufeli ( in press) showed that engagement was negatively related to burn out.

The relationship between engagement, workaholism and other variables Organizational Behavior Workaholics work hard rather than smart – creating difficulties for themselves and their co-workers – they suffer from perfectionism, are rigid and inflexible and can not delegate tasks to others. Engaged workers perform better than others Salanova (2005) showed that levels of work engagement of contract employees in hotels and restaurants were positively related to service quality – as perceived by customers. Engaged students passed more exams and obtained a higher GPA (Schaufeli et al., 2002).

Work engagement and Workaholism Engagement and workaholism are distinct constructs There are some similarities Both engaged workers and workaholics spend much time at work and report high job demands, are committed to their jobs and report relatively high levels of extra-role performance. However, work engagement Associated with good health Desirable job characteristics