Addressing work engagement in the presence of organizational politics: The roles of public service motivation and psychological safety climate in public-sector hospitals

Abstract

Despite the significance of work engagement in public administration, there is a scarcity of research investigating how perceived organizational politics (POP) undermines engagement in public health sector organizations, particularly in non-Western and politically unstable countries. Addressing this research gap, our study is the first to explore the mediating role of public service motivation (PSM) and the moderating role of psychological safety climate (PSC) between organizational politics and work engagement. Further, our research made a theoretical contribution by integrating the Job Demands-Resources model to examine how these dynamics unfold in the context of public hospitals. We used SmartPLS to examine cross-sectional data from 487 employees working in public hospitals in Pakistan. The participants were selected using a convenience sampling method. Our results support the theoretical proposition that POP is widespread in public organisations and has a detrimental effect on employee outcomes. Specifically, PSM mediates the negative relationship between POP and work engagement, such that a decrease in PSM resulting from POP leads to reduced work engagement. However, a PSC buffers the negative effect of POP on PSM, indicating that it weakens its impact when the PSC is strong. Similarly, the moderated mediation analysis reveals that the indirect effect of POP on work engagement through PSM is diminished under the conditions of strong PSC. Given the unique political dynamics within public hospitals, our research gives practical implications for administrators to adopt politically aware, adaptive management strategies. This includes reducing bureaucratic barriers and enhancing job security to foster higher levels of work engagement among hospital personnel.

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