Linking home–work interface, work engagement and psychological capital to customer advocacy

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine the influence of the work–family interface on both work engagement and the psychological capital (PsyCap) of the liquid workforce. Also, drawing from the literature on consumer behaviour, the second objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of work engagement and PsyCap on customer advocacy. Design/methodology A dyadic study was conducted, comprising 200 nurses and 200 patients from different healthcare service providers of India. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the responses collected from nurses and the patients whom they served. Findings The results confirm that the home–work interface has a positive impact on work engagement and PsyCap. The findings also confirm a positive impact of PsyCap on customer advocacy, but the effect of work engagement on customer advocacy was not significant. Research implications This study confirms that to keep liquid workers engaged in their work and to enhance their personal PsyCap, an organisation should provide the opportunity to maintain a balance between work and home needs. The findings also confirm that personal psychological resources (PsyCap) facilitate prosocial helping behaviour, which keeps customers closer and maintains them as true representatives of the organisation. Originality/value The present study is one of only a few preliminary studies examining the predictors of work engagement of liquid workers. Also, an inter-disciplinary approach was taken to understand the link between employee-level variables (home–work interface, work engagement and PsyCap) and a customer-level variable (customer advocacy).