Mediator Analysis of Employee Engagement: Role of Perceived Organizational Support, P-O Fit, Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction

Abstract

Given the multi-determinability of individual affect and attitudes, this paper seeks to explicate their display through some construct that captures the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural components of work-related roles. Employee engagement is found to be one such explanatory variable. This paper assesses the mediating role of employee engagement between perceived organizational support (POS) and person-organization fit (P-O fit) as the antecedents and organizational commitment and job satisfaction as the consequences. It tests the path model by using data from six Indian organizations and a sample of 246 Indian managers. The findings help find a direct effect of P-O fit and POS, which affects employee engagement and leads to variance in organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Further, the paper attempts to establish discriminant validity between employee engagement and organizational commitment. Yet, because of the similarity of wordings of the items measuring the employees� ratings of the two constructs, the authors conducted a confirmatory factor analysis leading to discriminant validity establishment to examine whether employee engagement and organizational commitment were distinct. AMOS software (version 17.0) was used to compare the fit of two nested models: (a) a one-factor model incorporating both the constructs and (b) a two-factor model distinguishing employee engagement and organizational commitment. It also provides empirical support to job satisfaction and its linkage with employee engagement. The findings suggest that when individuals perceive positive levels of organizational collaboration, they are intrinsically encouraged towards exerting considerably higher levels of effort. The notion that P-O fit deals with the congruence between employees� personal values and those of the organization makes for greater meaningfulness and psychological safety leading to higher levels of employee engagement. Furthermore, when individual values are perceived to fit organizational norms, the former are entrusted with greater responsibilities and are made to feel more empowered. A high level of employee engagement reflects a greater trust and loyal relationship between the individual and the organization. This suggests the building up of higher degree of commitment by the employee towards their employing organization. The paper contributes to theory building in the employee engagement and organizational commitment domains.

Gender Discrimination and Work Engagement: Moderating Role of Future Time Perspective

“…Saks defines employee engagement as "a distinct and unique construct consisting of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components associated with individual role performance" (p. 602). This perspective has also been extended by other researchers (for example, Biswas & Bhatnagar, 2013;Macey & Schneider, 2008).…”

The Meaning, Antecedents and Outcomes of Employee Engagement: A Narrative Synthesis

“…Several studies ( N = 8) examined the relationship between engagement (as a holistic factor) and job satisfaction as an outcome (e.g. Biswas and Bhatnagar ). All these found that engagement was positively associated with job satisfaction.…”

“…Some studies (e.g. Biswas and Bhatnagar ) position engagement as an antecedent of other work‐related attitudinal constructs, notably job satisfaction, organizational (affective) commitment and job burnout, whereas others position engagement as an outcome of such constructs (e.g. Anaza and Rutherford ).…”

Determinants and Outcomes of Volunteer Satisfaction in Mega Sports Events

“…In this sense, efficient and effective job assignment is a crucial factor in successful SHRM that enhances an organization's performance. Additionally, the existing literature has shown a positive relationship between the person-job fit and overall job satisfaction of employees [65][66][67]. This implies that appropriate job assignment (job assignment satisfaction) can be viewed as a determinant of the overall job satisfaction of employees because it enhances the person-job fit by matching employees' skills and personal characteristics to what the assigned job requires [68][69][70].…”