Abstract

Employee engagement is the most complex challenge of human resource management practices in achieving organizational goals through employee work ethics. Previous research suggests the need to differentiate employee engagement into two dimensions: affective engagement and cognitive engagement. These two engagement dimensions come from different forming factors, and they will result in different outcomes. This study aimed to test employee engagement from affective and cognitive aspects as a strategy to improve employees’ work ethic. We collected data from 135 respondents as government organization (public service) employees in Indonesia and analyzed them using the Smart PLS 3.0 program. Results showed that workplace spirituality is the antecedent of affective engagement. Meanwhile, cognitive engagement is a result of participative leadership. Both engagement patterns are indicated to improve employee work ethics significantly.