Supervisors' Work Engagement Is Associated With Interactivity and Carefulness in Supporting Subordinates: A Cross-sectional Study Using Text Mining in Japan.

Abstract

This study aimed to structure supervisory support and clarify the relationship between supervisors' work engagement and support for their subordinates. We conducted a cross-sectional study in a manufacturing company using a questionnaire survey. Supervisors provided open-ended responses regarding the provision of support for their subordinates. Using text mining, we structured these descriptions into multiple categories, assigned words to them, and analyzed frequently mentioned categories by the level of work engagement. We obtained responses from 729 participants that included 13,968 words. We structured supervisory support by three categories (contents, direction, and attitude toward support) and 11 subcategories. As supervisors' work engagement increased, the rates of mentioning information retrieval, information transmission, and carefulness increased. Supervisors with work engagement could communicate with each other and be careful in providing support to their subordinates.