Mediator Analysis of Employee Engagement: Role of Perceived Organizational Support, P-O Fit, Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction
Mediator Analysis of Employee Engagement: Role of Perceived Organizational Support, P-O Fit, Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction
Mediator Analysis of Employee Engagement: Role of Perceived Organizational Support, P-O Fit, Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction
Given the multi-determinability of individual affect and attitudes, this paper seeks to
Executive explicate their display through some construct that captures the cognitive, emotional,
Summary 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 en-
gagement and organizational commitment. Yet, because of the similarity of wordings
of the items measuring the employees’ ratings of the two constructs, the authors con-
ducted a confirmatory factor analysis leading to discriminant validity establishment
to examine whether employee engagement and organizational commitment were dis-
tinct. 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 pro-
vides 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
KEY WORDS 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
Perceived Organizational
psychological safety leading to higher levels of employee engagement. Furthermore,
Support
when individual values are perceived to fit organizational norms, the former are en-
Person-Organization Fit trusted with greater responsibilities and are made to feel more empowered. A high
Employee Engagement 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
Attitudinal Outcomes commitment by the employee towards their employing organization.
Mediator Analysis
The paper contributes to theory building in the employee engagement and organiza-
SEM tional commitment domains.
Evidently, our discussion above juxtaposes our study Based on the survey participants’ responses, we found
variables namely, POS, P-O fit, employee engagement, that their average age was 33.33 years. Of the 221 respon-
organizational commitment, and job satisfaction through dents, 87.10 percent were males and 12.90 percent were
the four hypotheses which we intend to test empirically. females. On an average, the employees had 12.28 years of
However, merely hypothesizing as the outcome of POS work experience.
and P-O fit or as the predictor of organizational commit-
ment and job satisfaction does not preclude employee Measures
engagement as a mediator between these variables. For
POS. Previous studies involving diverse occupations and
the purpose of assessing the mediating role of employee
organizations indicated a high reliability and unidimen-
engagement between POS and P-O fit as the antecedents
sionality of the POS Survey (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002;
and organizational commitment and job satisfaction as
Shanock & Eisenberger, 2006; Shore & Tetrick, 1991). Re-
the consequences, we propose to test the path model pre-
spondents rated their POS using the eight items compris-
sented in Figure 1. Further, we put forward Hypothesis 5
ing the short form of the POS Survey (Items A, B, C, D, E, F,
which we conjecture as the representative of the entire
G and H; Eisenberger et al., 1986). In keeping with the
path model.
suggestions of Rhoades and Eisenberger (2002), we in-
Hypothesis 5: Employee engagement will mediate cluded those items which we felt covered the aspects of
positive relationships of POS and P-O fit with or- the definition of POS (i.e., estimation of employees’ role
ganizational commitment and job satisfaction. and concern about employees’ welfare). Sample items
included “My organization really cares about my well-
Table 1: Means, Standard Deviations, Alpha Reliabilities, and Intercorrelations Among Variables
Variable M SD 1 2 3 4 5
1. POS 3.16 0.43 (0.73)
2. P-O Fit 3.32 0.61 0.50 (0.80)
3. Employee engagement 3.37 0.36 0.23 0.33 (0.74)
4. Organizational commitment 3.47 0.51 0.52 0.54 0.47 (0.84)
5. Job satisfaction 3.53 0.51 0.48 0.47 0.32 0.55 (0.55)
Note: N = 246. Alpha reliabilities are reported on the diagonal.
** p < 0.01.
Fit Indices
Normed χ2 GFI CFI NFI RFI TLI RMSEA IC Browne-Cudeck Criteria
Model 1 1.20 0.94 0.99 0.93 0.88 0.98 0.03 386.38 407.73
Model 2 3.67 0.79 0.78 0.73 0.68 0.75 0.10 695.52 703.96
Note: GFI = Goodness-of-Fit Index; CFI = Comparative Fit Index; NFI = Normed Fit Index; RFI = Relative Fit Index; TLI = Tucker-Lewis Index;
RMSEA = Root Mean Square Error of Approximation; AIC = Akaike Information Criteria
DISCUSSION Schmitt, 1991) has reported that P-O fit leads to positive
The results of the present study provide ample support attitudinal outcomes, reduces anxiety, and increases in-
for the proposed theoretical model (Figure 1). In this sec- dividual commitment and involvement. The notion that
tion, we discuss the implications of each of the hypoth- P-O fit deals with the congruence between employees’
eses as well as those of the overall model vis-à-vis the personal values and those of the organization makes for
empirical outcomes as detailed above. greater meaningfulness and psychological safety lead-
ing to higher levels of employee engagement. Furthermore,
Our first hypothesis postulated a positive relationship when individual values are perceived to fit organizational
between POS and employee engagement. The results of norms, the former are entrusted with greater responsibili-
the data analysis support such a postulation. Organiza- ties and are made to feel more empowered. Laschinger
tions need to go beyond the specified contractual rela- and Finegan (2005) have described these conditions as
tionships and provide individuals with economic and apt to make employees more engaged. As such, the accep-
psychological backings in order to extract optimum ef- tance of our second hypothesis corroborates previous re-
forts. A positive evaluation of affective experiences ex- search in that, high levels of P-O fit serve as strong
pounded by a favourable organizational stance is an antecedent to foster high levels of employee engagement.
essential prerequisite to enhance cognitive and
behavioural evaluation by an employee vis-à-vis his or Additionally, such an affirmative appraisal of organiza-
her situation at work. Thus the acceptance of our first tional approaches confirms the individual’s belief that
hypothesis suggests that when individuals perceive posi- their employing organization appreciates their contribu-
tive levels of organizational collaboration, they are in- tion and thinks about their well-being. Consequently, in-
trinsically encouraged towards exerting considerably dividuals reciprocate to these organizational efforts
higher levels of effort. through superior discretionary and non-discretionary
performances. Furthermore, perceptions of organizational
The second hypothesis of our study stated that P-O fit support by the individuals improve their job-related atti-
would be a significant correlate of employee engagement. tudes such as intrinsic motivation and perceived job se-
This is borne out by the study results. Conceptually, P-O curity. As a result, a larger share of their job efforts are
fit is the alignment between organizational and indi- now devoted towards performance enhancing endeavours
vidual norms and values. Prior research (O’Reilly III, manifested through higher levels of job involvement and
Chatman & Caldwell, 1991; Posner, 1992; Vancouver & employee engagement. Moreover, within the boundaries
Acknowledgment. The authors would like to acknowledge Seed Research Grant to carry out this research.
and thank Management Development Institute, India for the
Soumendu Biswas received his Ph.D degree in Organiza- Jyotsna Bhatnagar, received her Ph.D from IIT Delhi and is
tional/Industrial Psychology from the Indian Institute of an Associate Professor and Chairperson PGP-HRM at MDI.
Technology¸ Kharagpur. His experience includes teaching She has co-edited three books namely: Future of Work(2006),
Organizational Behaviour¸ Research Methodology¸ and Hu- Changing Face of People Management in India (published in UK,
man Resource Management at the Xavier Institute of Social 2009) and Innovations in People Management: Cases in OB/HR/
Services¸ Ranchi. Prior to joining IIT Kharagpur as a research Communication (2012). Recently, she was awarded the Best Prac-
scholar¸ he was associated with XLRI Jamshedpur as a Re- tical Research Award 2009 Emerald Literati , U.K., presented at
search Assistant in the OB/HR Area. He has published ar- Academy of Management Conference, 2010, Montreal Canada.
ticles in quite a few national and international journals and She is associated with the Harvard Business School as an af-
has also presented papers in several international conferences filiate and has published in international and national Jour-
such as the annual conference of the Academy of Manage- nals of repute on areas such as psychological empowerment,
ment¸ the European Academy of Management¸ the Asian psychological contract, organizational learning and employee
Academy of Management¸ the Australia-New Zealand Acad- engagement, and strategic HR roles.
emy of Management¸ the American Society of Training and
Development¸ the National Academy of Psychology¸ and the e-mail: [email protected].
Indian Congress of Social Science Research. He received the
Award for Excellence in Research¸at MDI Gurgaon in 2009-
10.
e-mail: [email protected]