Purpose - The purpose of the study was to determine the drivers of employee engagement in a lean manufacturing environment during a period of change. It also highlighted the importance of employee engagement with regards to the improvement of organisational performance especially in a lean manufacturing environment during the change. Design/methodology/approach – The most frequently mentioned drivers of employee engagement in relation to change and a lean environment were identified through a literature study. The potential drivers that emerged were vision, leadership, communication, immediate supervisory behaviour, team collaboration and training/career development. An empirical study was then carried out to study the impact of these factors on affective commitment, volunteerism and sportsmanship, the latter two are components of organisational citizenship behaviour. A survey with a questionnaire was conducted amongst 86 employees in a lean manufacturing organisation, which was undergoing change. The data analyses included descriptive statistics, correlations and multiple regression analysis. Findings – It was observed that all the six identified drivers of employee engagement namely: Vision, Leadership, Communication, Immediate Supervisor Behaviour, Team Collaboration and Training and Career Development explained 61.2 per cent of the variance in the employee engagement. However, the variables that had the biggest impact on employee engagement were the articulation of the organisational change Vision, Team Collaboration and Immediate Supervisor Behaviour. Practical implications – The results of the study emphasise that special focus and effort must be placed on factors affecting Vision, Team Collaboration and Immediate Supervisor Behaviour as they have shown significantly higher influence on employee engagement in a lean manufacturing environment during a period of change.