Abstract
Background: Increasing work engagement in a sustainable way remains a challenge despite years of research on the topic. Relationships at work are vital to foster engagement or disengagement. While the relational model by Kahn and Heaphy is conceptually appealing to explain work engagement, it lacks empirical support.Aims: The aims of this study were to investigate the associations among relational factors, psychological conditions (psychological meaningfulness, availability and safety) and work engagement and to test a structural model of work engagement.Setting: A total of 443 individuals in an agricultural research organisation participated in a cross-sectional study.Methods: Four scales that measured relational factors, the Psychological Conditions Scale and the Work Engagement Scale were administered. Latent variable modelling was used to test the measurement and structural models.Results: The results confirmed a structural model in which relational facets of job design contributed to psychological meaningfulness. Emotional exhaustion (inverse) and co-worker relationships contributed to psychological availability. Supervisor relationships contributed to psychological safety. Psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability contributed to work engagement, while emotional exhaustion contributed to disengagement.Conclusion: The relational context is an important target for intervention to affect the psychological conditions which precede work engagement. To promote work engagement, it is vital to focus on psychological meaningfulness, psychological availability and emotional exhaustion.
Highlights
Work engagement is an important research theme for both practitioners and researchers because it correlates with many work participation outcomes (Bakker & Leiter 2010)
The aims of this study were to investigate the associations among relational factors, psychological conditions and work engagement and to test a structural model of work engagement
The measurement model consisted of eight latent variables, namely: (1) Job design; (2) Coworker relationships (measured by means of two observed variables; (3) Supervisor–worker relationships (measured by means of three observed variables; (4) Emotional exhaustion; (5) Work engagement; (6) Psychological meaningfulness; (7) Psychological safety; and (8) Psychological availability
Summary
Work engagement is an important research theme for both practitioners and researchers because it correlates with many work participation outcomes (Bakker & Leiter 2010). Increasing work engagement in a sustainable way remains a challenge despite years of research on the topic (Rothmann 2017). Kahn and Heaphy (2014) developed a relational model of work engagement. An advantage of the relational model (compared to the JD-R model) is that it includes psychological conditions as experienced by individuals as possible mediators between work engagement and its antecedents. Isolating the psychological conditions that mediate the relations between work engagement and its antecedents makes it possible to understand and manage the effects of such conditions. Increasing work engagement in a sustainable way remains a challenge despite years of research on the topic. While the relational model by Kahn and Heaphy is conceptually appealing to explain work engagement, it lacks empirical support
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