We've all worked with people who describe self as workaholics. They’re the ones who put in extra long hours at the office and who might put their work ahead of other things in their lives. Maybe you're one yourself.

But is being a "workaholic" necessarily a bad thing? Can you be connected and engaged with your work in a healthy way?

"Work engagement" and "workaholism" are two independent concepts, according to a recent 2011 study by I. van Beek, T.W. Taris & W.B. Schaufeli in Utrecht University, Netherlands, in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

Workaholism has been associated with spending excessive time at work, working hard, work-home interference, constant thinking about work, more interpersonal conflict at work, feelings of low self worth, job strain and low life satisfaction.

Work engagement, on the other hand, means a willingness to invest and be involved in work, feeling enthusiastic about work, feeling happier and a strong emotional bond to the organization, and experiencing high job and life satisfaction.

The study included a Dutch sample of over 1,200 employees. The analysis found that workaholism and work engagement could differentiate workers into four categories:

1. Workaholic employees: employees who are workaholic and nonengaged
2. Engaged employees: employees who are engaged but nonworkaholic
3. Engaged workaholics: employees who are both workaholic and engaged
4. Employees who are nonworkaholic and nonengaged.

Each group’s motivation level, working hours and levels of burnout were examined. The findings showed that:

• “Controlled” motivation drove workaholic employees whereas “autonomous” motivation drove engaged employees.

That is workaholics tend to focus more on the instrumental value of a job, that is, valuing once job in order to achieve something else, and thus show stronger motivation towards, for example, factors involving approval and appreciation by others, meeting standards to gain self worth and to avoid self criticism. Engaged employees, on the other hand, find their work inherently satisfying, have a positive self evaluation and less likely to be influenced by others.

• Engaged workaholics were driven by both controlled and autonomous motivation.

That is, engaged workaholics focus on the instrumental value of a job and meeting standards to gain self worth and approval as well as personally value their work. They were also found to spend most time on working.

• Nonworkaholic/nonengaged employees showed satisfaction with accomplishing their tasks and were not driven by an autonomous or controlled motivation.

• The highest level of burnout was experienced by workaholic employees and the lowest level of burnout was experienced by engaged employees. Engaged workaholics experienced less burnout than workaholic employees, however, more burnout than engaged employees.

The study concluded that:

• High engagement may present some protection against the negative consequences of workaholism and burnout. 
• The authors pointed to the importance of recognizing at least the three categories of employees who work hard, namely workaholic employees, engaged employees and now, engaged workaholics. 
• The authors also indicated that adopting simple measures of workaholism such as working hours do not allow to distinguish among hard workers and that workaholism should be measured by both “working excessively and working compulsively”. 
• Offering supporting and challenging work environments by clarifying work activities, providing options and challenging activities, and positive feedback were some of the suggestions offered to promote autonomous motivation.