| Summary: | This research explores - in depth - critical drivers and outcomes of engagement as perceived by individual employees in Australia. This research also looks at employee engagement from a reverse perspective by exploring critical drivers and outcomes of disengagement. In addition, the impact of psychological contract violation on employees' disengagement is explored. The theoretical framework subsequently includes employee engagement (from academic and practice perspectives) and psychological contract violation. The objective of this sociological study is to advance our understanding of the (dis) engagement phenomenon as a process including critical drivers and outcomes as generically perceived by individual employees. As part of the empirical inquiry investigating the (dis) engagement phenomenon within its real-life context, this study has involved researching 131 participants across three Australian case studies through face-to-face interviewing (82 participants) and focus groups interviewing (49 participants). Acknowledging this study's sociological inquiry at the micro-level of organisation, it does consider the perceptions of participants to be potentially representative of the larger scale macro- levels of social organisation. The first main finding suggests that critically perceived drivers of engagement are recognition and flexible working. The second main finding suggests that psychological contract violation can be a critical driver of disengagement. The final main finding suggests that potential (toxic) outcomes of disengagement can be counterproductive behaviours at work exemplified through bullying, fraud, lying, breaches of confidentiality, and non-compliance of organisational rules and processes
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