Work Engagement, Psychological Ownership and Happiness in a Professional Services Industry Company

Abstract

In order to gain and maintain a competitive advantage, organisations should not only recruit but also retain top talent. Organisations that are able to foster a positive organisational environment conducive to psychological ownership, work engagement and resultant happiness will be more inclined to retain top talent. Retaining their top talent will allow these organisations to contribute meaningfully to their bottom line, which is important considering the volatile professional services industry. The purpose of this chapter was to investigate the relationship between psychological ownership, work engagement and happiness within a multi-cultural professional services industry. Furthermore, the aim was to determine the extent to which work engagement indirectly affected the relationship between psychological ownership and happiness within the sample. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey-based research design was employed and a purposeful sample of 365 respondents was drawn from a large South African professional services company. The Psychological Ownership Questionnaire (POQ), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were administered. The results showed that work engagement was a good predictor of both psychological ownership and happiness within this sample. However, the mediation effect of psychological ownership on the relationship between work engagement and the happiness of the employees in the relevant multi-cultural professional services organisation was not supported.