Do workplace digitalisation and group diversity matter in linking innovative culture to employee engagement?

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on the Job Demands-Resource (JD-R) model, this paper examines innovative culture as the antecedent to employee engagement (EE), taking workplace digitalisation as the mediator and group diversity as the moderator on the workplace digitalisation–EE relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The research model is tested using structural equation modelling, based on 256 online survey data representing the management-level executives of Selangor/Kuala Lumpur-based Malaysian companies.

Findings

Our findings support that innovative culture directly affects EE and indirectly through workplace digitalisation. Besides, group diversity moderates the workplace digitalisation–EE relationship.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that organisations can enhance EE in a diversity-oriented digital setting by cultivating an innovative culture to facilitate employees’ perception and acceptance of workplace digitalisation.

Originality/value

Our findings enrich the interdisciplinary literature on how innovative culture, employees’ perception and acceptance of workplace digitalisation and group diversity intersect in reshaping EE.

Citation

Hooi, L.W. and Chan, A.J. (2024), "Do workplace digitalisation and group diversity matter in linking innovative culture to employee engagement?", Evidence-based HRM, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBHRM-07-2023-0184