Reconceptualizing employee disengagement as both attitudinal and behavioral: Narratives from China

Contextualized in the theories of person-organization fit and dialogic engagement, this study was among the first in public relations to explicate employee disengagement, its drivers and strategies to enhance employee engagement in a global setting. Based on 24 in-depth interviews of employees working in global and local public relations agencies in China, the study proposed a new conceptualization of disengagement consisting of employees’ indifference to work (attitudinal), slacking off on the job, and withdrawing from their work, organizations, and colleagues (behavioral). Results also revealed drivers for disengagement (person-organization and person-job misfit) and five main organizational strategies to enhance engagement. (99 words) •Our qualitative study was among the first to explicate employee disengagement in public relations.•Employee disengagement was explicated as employees’ indifferent work attitude and slacking off behavior.•Our interviews (N = 24) identified person-organization and person-job misfit as main reasons for employee disengagement.•Five engagement strategies emerged from our data.•Cultural nuances were also discussed.