From Kahn's definition it is clear that employee engagement is a multi-faceted paradigm. The multi-dimensional approach to looking at engagement comes from the perspective that Kahn took on the individual's working experience. Kahn (1990) argued that the work of Goffman (1961) only concentrated on momentary face-to-face meetings, whereas an altered concept needed to be developed which would transcend appropriately into organisational life, which is, according to Diamond & Allcorn (1985), "on-going, emotionally charged and psychologically complex ". Truss et al (2006), defines employee engagement as a passion for work, which encompasses the three elements of engagement, previously discussed by Kahn (1990) in one psychological state. .
Due to the varying definitions of employee engagement, the results of different studies become difficult to examine. This is because each study may look at the subject of employee engagement through a different lens, depending on the definition they decide upon. According to Ferguson (2007), with a universal definition of employee engagement lacking, it cannot be accurately defined and thus it cannot be measured and thus managed. According to Robinson et al (2004), while it has been noted that employee engagement has been defined in numerous ways, a number of those definitions within their construct are similar to more established con-structural definitions relating to organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). Robinson et al (2004) define engagement as one step up from commitment, which begs the question, is employee engagement just 'old wine in a new bottle'? .
Saks (2006) argues that employee engagement differs from organisational commitment (OC) on the grounds that OC represents a person's attitude and connection concerning their organisation, while on the other hand, engagement is more than an attitude, it is how psychologically, cognitively and behaviourally employed the individual is in their role, displayed by how attentive they are to their work and how absorbed the individual is in the performance of the role.