Training Executives to Enhance Employee Engagement in Government: Field Experimental Evidence from Luxembourg
Funder: Economic and Social Resource Council (ESRC) and Luxemburg National Research Fund
Principal Investigator: Professor Christian Schuster (University College London)
Co-investigators: Professor Jan Meyer-Sahling (University of Nottingham); Professor Kim Sass Mikkelsen (Roskilde University)
Duration: January 2023- December 2025
This research project examines how executive engagement training can enhance leadership and improve public sector performance in Luxembourg.
The study addresses a critical challenge in public administration – how to boost employee engagement in government organisations, where rigid structures, limited managerial discretion, and increasing workloads often lead to disengagement.
The project implements and evaluates executive engagement training through a field experiment conducted in Luxembourg’s central government institutions. The intervention consists of three workshops delivered over three months, where middle managers develop and implement Action Plans to address challenges identified in a baseline staff satisfaction and management survey. The endline survey in the summer of 2025 will measure changes in engagement, workplace practices, and employee outcomes including staff engagement and satisfaction, while a second wave of training will be conducted in the autumn of 2025.
By generating causal evidence on the effectiveness of executive training, the project makes a contribution to understanding how leadership development impacts employee engagement in government. Beyond academic insights, the findings will provide practical recommendations for policymakers, public sector leaders, and training institutions in Luxembourg and beyond.