Work Engagement and Work Performance Among Japanese Workers: A 1-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

Objective: We carried out a prospective study to investigate the association between work engagement and work performance in a group of Japanese workers.

Methods: Our cohort included 1632 men and 192 women aged 65 years or younger who worked at a manufacturing company in Japan. Multiple regression analysis was conducted.

Results: Higher work engagement at baseline was significantly associated with better work performance at follow-up (β = 0.159, P < 0.001). A sex-stratified analysis showed that the impact of work engagement at baseline on work performance at follow-up was stronger among women than among men (β = 0.242, P < 0.001 and β = 0.153, P < 0.001, respectively).

Conclusions: Higher work engagement may have beneficial effects on work performance. The impact of work engagement on work performance may be greater among women than among men.