Psychological conditions that mediate between job demands and resources, and work engagement

The objective of this study was to investigate the mediating effects of three psychological conditions, namely psychological meaningfulness, psychological safety, and psychological availability on employees' work engagement. Stratified random samples (N=171) were taken from employees of a multinational oil company. The Work Engagement Scale and the Work Experiences Scale were administered. The results confirmed that psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability were significant predictors of work engagement. Meaningfulness displayed the strongest positive relation with engagement. The relation of work role fit with engagement was fully mediated by the psychological condition of meaningfulness. Cognitive, emotional and physical resources had the strongest effect on psychological availability. Feelings of self-consciousness impacted positively on psychological availability, implying that someone who is to a lesser amount self-conscious is psychologically more available to engage at work. OPSOMMING Die doel v;u> hierdie studie was om die medierende effek van drie sielkundige kondisies, naamlik psigologiese betekenisvolheid, psigologiese veiligheid en psigologiese beskikbaarheid op werksbegeestering te bepaal. Gestratifiseerde ewekansige steekproewe (N=171) is geneem van werknemers van 'n multinasionale oliemaatskappy. Die Werkbegeesteringskaal en die Werksewaringskaal is afgeneem. Die resultate het bevestig dat psigologiese betekenisvolheid en psigologiese beskikbaarheid betekenisvolle voorspellers van werksbegeestering is. Psigologiese betekenisvolheid het die sterkste positiewe korrelasie met werksbegeestering getoon. Die venvantskap tussen werk-rolpassing en werksbegeestering was ten volle gemedieer deur die kondisie van psigologiese betekenisvolheid. Kognitiewe, emosionele en fisiese hulpbronne het die sterkste effek op psigologiese beskikhaarheid gehad. Selfbewustheid het 'n positiewe effek op psigologiese beskikbaarheid getoon, wat op sy beurt weer tot hoer werksbegeestering gelei het. The face of the workplace has changed dramatically over the past decade and most organisations have to survive in a fiercely competitive global economy. Their survival depend on their ability to satisfy customer needs, while achieving quality, flexibility, innovation and organisational responsibility, through the commitment and co-opemtion of employees (Fay & Luhrmann 2004; Newell 2002). It almost seems ironic that practically every chief executive officer has uttered words to the effect "people are our most valuable asset", while current practices confirm organisations have taken to re-organisational activities impacting significantly on people, such as outsourcing, downsizing, rightsizing and mergers in order to adapt to the new situation (Growing. Kraft & Campbell Quick 1998). It followed logically that more flexible staffing options would become the norm for the future and that the use of contractors for non-core activities would allow permanent staff to focus on value adding work for the organisation (Havran, Visser & Crous 2003). As noted by Martins (2000), organisations attempt to move toward greater flexihility. by expanding and shrinking the workforce, to correspond with shifting production and service demands, resulting in a sense of job insecurity. According to Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter (2001), the impact of the changing world of work is most evident in changes in the psychological contract between employees and organisations. Employees are expected to give more in terms of time, effort, skills and flexibility, whereas they receive less in terms of career opportunities, lifetime employment and job security. A recent study by Davis, Pawlowski & Houston (2006) showed that work is characterised by increased levels of intensity (particularly longer working hours) and significantly higher levels of interference with home life. At the heart of workllife issues is a paradox: the essential competition between the business imperative to be productive and efficient at work, and the need for employees to enjoy satisfying family and personal lives. Work requires time and effort to earn essential income and to keep businesses profitable, while families require time and energy to nurture and enjoy (Davies 2003). Work often generates ambivalent feelings (Rothmann 2003). On the one hand work requires effort and is associated with lack of freedom and negative feelings. On the other hand work gives energy, enables development and generates positive feelings. Accordingly, it seems that work could lead to illness as well as health (Schaufeli & Bakker 2001). Carr (2004) states that employment status is related to happiness, with those being employed and in professional and skilled jobs, being happier than those in unskilled jobs or unemployed. South African companies are also confronted with the challenges and effects of the world economy, technological advancement and strong international competition (Bosman, Rothman & Buitendach 2005). Organisational change has become a corporate buzzword and has increased with the progression of globalisation and competition (Fay & Luhrmann 2004). Change in South Africa, over the last 10 years was not only economic, but also political. The once stable, predictable and controlled work environment has become complex and unpredictable (Van Schalkwyk 2004). For many employees these changes cause feelings of insecurity regarding the nature and future existence of their jobs (Snape & Redman 2003; Snoer 2005). These changes are ongoing and together with a shrinking labour market, contributes to heightened feelings of job insecurity (Viljoen, Bosman & Buitendach 2005). Rothmann (2003) confirms that employees have to cope with increasing demands, often with limited resources, and a lack of control. Organisational instability might cause some employees to shift their commitment from increasingly transient work organisation to the relative stability of their occupations (Johnson 1996). It is in view of the above work complexities that employee engagement has become a focus area, in particular, to understand the mediating effects of certain psychological conditions in relation to work engagement. The primary question explored by the researcher entails: "Why do some employees stay engaged at work, even whilst being challenged with consistent change and greater job insecurity and why do others' disengage given the same circumstances at work? " A movement in the direction of positive psychology is evident in South Africa (Rothmann & Storm 2003; S t ~ m p f e r 1990, 2003). The focus of Occupational Health Psychology has traditionally been in relation to the negative effects of work that contribute to burnout. The question supported by Rothmann and Storm (2003) relates to why certain workers can accomplish large amounts of work, with enthusiasm and pleasure, without becoming sick or being burned out. Research on work engagement could contribute towards better understanding of the above question. As has already been mentioned, the psychological contract between employers and employees is changing. There is no long-term job security anymore, and employees do not necessarily want boring day-in and day-out jobs simply to earn a big enough pension to retire. According to Harter (2001), employees want to engage with work that has meaning and is an extension of their personalities and dreams. According to Schaufeli and Bakker (2001), research showed that some individuals, regardless of high job demands and long working hours, do not show symptoms of burnout. Instead, it seemed that they found pleasure in working hard and dealing with job demands. This study attempts to explore work engagement and psychological conditions from the perspective of positive psychology, with the focus on understanding the mediating effects of conditions such as psychological meaningfulness, availability and safety on work engagement in a multinational oil company. The company has been implementing change initiatives consistently over a three year period, including streamlining of business processes across its Pan African operations, downsizing, relocation of employees, and outsourcing of non-core business activities and standardisation of processes to meet global standards. The question might be asked: "Why bother to support research on work engagement? " Bleeker and Roodt (2002) stated that engagement is important for managers to cultivate, given that disengagement or alienation is central to the problem of worker's lack of commitment, motivation and performance. May, Gilson & Harter (2004) state that there are practical reasons (e.g. turnover and customer satisfaction) a s well as humanistic reasons (motivation and attachment to work) for managers and researchers of organisations to be concerned with employee engagement in work. Peters and Waterman (2006) found that one of the major qualifying characteristics of the best run American companies is their ability to create a culture where individuals find the opportunity for self determination and expression. They claim that attention to employees, not work conditions per se, has the dominant impact on productivity. Harter (2001) used meta-analysis to combine the results of many diverse studies. The correlation between engagement results and business outcomes were substantially meaningful. Highly engaged individuals were most ofien found in the high-performance units. Employee engagement is far from the only driver of desirable business outcomes, however, this study proved robust links between engagement and the ''bottom line". Carr (2004) added that work can potentially provide an optimal level of stimulation that people find pleasurable, an opportunity to fulfil their drive for curiosity and skills development, a social support network and a sense of identity and purpose. From a positive psychology perspective such individuals can be described as engaged in their work (Seligman