Does meaningful work encompass support towards supervisory, worker and engagement relationship?
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
ISSN: 1741-0401
Article publication date: 23 June 2021
Issue publication date: 29 November 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed at examining the influence of two important elements of social supports, namely supervisor support and coworker support, on work engagement among employees in the university setting. The study also further examined the mediating potentials of meaningful work on the relationships between the former and the latter.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample study comprised academic and managerial staff members from a public-sector university in Malaysia. Out of the 420 distributed questionnaires, 216 were received back from which 177 were found useable and hence were taken further for final data analysis. Statistical software of SPSS and Smart PLS 2.0 M3 were used to perform data analysis.
Findings
Supervisor support and coworker support were found to be significant predictors of work engagement. Further, meaningful work was found mediating these relationships.
Originality/value
The findings enrich literature of social support, work engagement, and meaningful work. The study is one of the foremost empirical works examining the mediating potential of meaningful work on the relationships between two social resources (supervisor support and coworker support) and work engagement. The issue of work engagement is evident in several mainstream work sectors alongside the education sector. Hence, the research findings are worthy to help understand work engagement issues and how to tackle it in the education setting.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Informed consent: The participants were informed about the purpose of our study and that they would be required to respond to our survey. Participants were also informed that they had a right to decline to participate in survey. They also had a right to withdraw from our survey at any time point. The participants were also informed that their personal data would be kept confidential hence this survey does not pose any potential harm to their reputation professionally or personally.
Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest concerning the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Citation
Ahmed, U., Yong, I.S.-C., Pahi, M.H. and Dakhan, S.A. (2022), "Does meaningful work encompass support towards supervisory, worker and engagement relationship?", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 71 No. 8, pp. 3704-3723. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-06-2020-0321
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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