The Role of Needs-Supplies Fit and Job Satisfaction in Predicting Employee Engagement

Abstract

Employee engagement has become a key concern for organizations as it provides value for sustainable competitive advantage. Fully engaged workforce is not only important in helping organizations flourish in good times but also relevant in helping organizations persevere during tough times. However, the main challenge for employers is to motivate and keep their employee engaged. Recent organizational behaviour studies emphasize the importance of environmental influences in understanding employee attitudes and behaviours. Consistent with this development, the present study seeks to examine the role of needs-supplies fit and job satisfaction in predicting employee engagement. Drawing from the self-in-role view and social exchange theory, it was hypothesized that needs-supplies fit predicts employee engagement, and the relationship between the two constructs is mediated by job satisfaction. Using a self-administered survey, data were obtained from 161 employees of a large public university in Malaysia. The results fully supported the hypothesized relationships. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. Keywords: Employee engagement; person-job fit; needs-supplies fit; job satisfaction; self-in-role view; Malaysia ABSTRAK Keterlibatan pekerja dianggap sebagai sesuatu yang penting dalam membantu organisasi mengekalkan daya saing. Pekerja yang mempunyai keterlibatan tinggi bukan hanya dapat membantu organisasi mencapai kecemerlangan tetapi juga dapat membantu organisasi bertahan dalam menghadapi kesukaran. Walau bagaimanapun, cabaran utama kepada organisasi adalah untuk memotivasikan dan mengekalkan keterlibatan pekerja. Kajian terkini dalam bidang kelakuan organisasi telah menyarankan kepentingan persekitaran dalam mempengaruhi sikap dan kelakuan pekerja. Konsisten dengan perkembangan tersebut, kajian ini dijalankan untuk menyiasat kesan kesepadanan penawaran-keperluan dan kepuasan kerja terhadap keterlibatan pekerja. Kesepadanan penawaran-keperluan dicadangkan meramal keterlibatan pekerja, dan kepuasan kerja dicadangkan bertindak sebagai perantara dalam hubungan tersebut. Data dikumpulkan daripada 161 pekerja sebuah universiti awam di Malaysia dengan menggunakan kaedah soal selidik. Hasil kajian menyokong hubungan yang dicadangkan, iaitu apabila pekerja merasa bahawa kerja mereka dapat memenuhi keperluan, mereka akan mengalami kepuasan kerja yang tinggi, dan sebagai hasilnya mereka dengan sukarela akan mencurahkan tenaga secara kognitif, emosi dan fizikal terhadap kerja. Hasil kajian menyokong hubungan yang dicadangkan. Implikasi kajian kepada teori dan amalan dibincangkan di akhir artikel. Kata kunci: Keterlibatan pekerja; kesepadanan penawaran-keperluan; kepuasan kerja; self-in-role view; Malaysia

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