IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bcp/journl/v10y2026i3p6732-6752.html

The Relationship of Resilience, Agility, Impactful Work, Technological Safety, and Work Life Balance on Employee Engagement, Mediating Effects of Ambidextrous Leadership

Author

Listed:
  • Dr. Shafiq Bin Shahruddin

    (Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia)

  • Ikmal Bin Abd Malik

    (Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia)

Abstract

This research paper focuses on employee engagement in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) environment among private-sector employees across the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The study is based on Kahn's Engagement Theory, which explores the direct influence of personal factors (resilience and agility), impactful work, work-life balance, and technological safety on employee engagement. The article also examines how ambidextrous leadership mediates the contribution of strengthening such relationships. Simple random sampling was used to select 372 employees working in the private-sector organizations in the Klang Valley. Part of the analysis was conducted in SPSS using descriptive statistics and basic analyses; the remaining part was conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the measurement and structural models, as well as the mediation effects. The results show that employee engagement is directly correlated with resilience, impactful work, work -life balance, technological safety, and ambidextrous leadership. Agility, on the other hand, does not have a significant direct impact on employee engagement. The mediation analysis indicates that ambidextrous leadership partially mediates the relationships between resilience, impactful work, work-life balance, and employee engagement, and fully mediates the relationship between agility and employee engagement. Nonetheless, the mediation effect between technological safety and employee engagement does not exist. Comprehensively, the research shows the paramount importance of ambidextrous leadership in promoting employee engagement in private-sector organizations operating in a VUCA environment. The results are a reminder of the importance of supportive leadership practices, valuable work experiences, and balanced work conditions in promoting long-term employee engagement and enhancing organizational performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Dr. Shafiq Bin Shahruddin & Ikmal Bin Abd Malik, 2026. "The Relationship of Resilience, Agility, Impactful Work, Technological Safety, and Work Life Balance on Employee Engagement, Mediating Effects of Ambidextrous Leadership," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 10(3), pages 6732-6752, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:10:y:2026:i:3:p:6732-6752
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/uploads/vol10-iss3-pg6732-6752-202604_pdf.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/view/the-relationship-of-resilience-agility-impactful-work-technological-safety-and-work-life-balance-on-employee-engagement-mediating-effects-of-ambidextrous-leadership/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Glory Okojie & Ida Rosnita Ismail & Halima Begum & A. S. A. Ferdous Alam & Elkhan Richard Sadik-Zada, 2023. "The Mediating Role of Social Support on the Relationship between Employee Resilience and Employee Engagement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-15, May.
    2. Sundari Soekotjo & Sosidah & Hary Kuswanto & Antonius Setyadi & Suharno Pawirosumarto, 2025. "A Conceptual Framework for Sustainable Human Resource Management: Integrating Ecological and Inclusive Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-30, February.
    3. Hacer Handan Demir & Fahri Oluk, 2026. "Examining the Mediating Role of Eco-Anxiety in the Effect of Environmental Sensitivity on Sustainable Consumption Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-18, January.
    4. Bailey, Katherine & Madden, Adrian & Alfes, Kerstin & Shantz, Amanda & Soane, Emma, 2017. "The mismanaged soul: existential labor and the erosion of meaningful work," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 68342, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christopher Belanger & Samia Chreim & Silvia Bonaccio, 2024. "The Experience and Implications of Meaningless Work in the Public Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 195(3), pages 563-578, December.
    2. Hussam Al Halbusi & Pablo Ruiz‐Palomino & Jorge Linuesa‐Langreo & Germán Scalzo, 2025. "Ethical Leadership as a Driver of Supervisor Technical and Social Effectiveness: A Triple Helix for Cultivating Employees' Sense of Purpose," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 2013-2033, October.
    3. Jens Jørund Tyssedal, 2023. "Work is Meaningful if There are Good Reasons to do it: A Revisionary Conceptual Analysis of ‘Meaningful Work’," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(3), pages 533-544, July.
    4. Dwyer, Sean M. & Lerman, Michael & Gras, David, 2023. "When the going gets tough: Stressors and purpose in life among social and commercial entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    5. Sarah Kimakwa & Jorge A. Gonzalez & Hale Kaynak, 2023. "Social Entrepreneur Servant Leadership and Social Venture Performance: How are They Related?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(1), pages 95-118, January.
    6. Michael Pirson, 2019. "A Humanistic Perspective for Management Theory: Protecting Dignity and Promoting Well-Being," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 39-57, September.
    7. Kirsten Robertson & David Hannah & Brenda Lautsch, 2024. "Harm, Then Good? How Work Meaningfulness Emerges from Doing Harm," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(6), pages 2437-2466, September.
    8. Samo, Andrew, 2025. "Modeling meaningful work: A complementary variable- and person-centered approach to the psychometric structure of meaningful work," OSF Preprints txawv_v1, Center for Open Science.
    9. Ja-Kyung Seo & Muzaffar Bin Mahudin & Young Woo Sohn, 2022. "The relationship between religiosity and meaningful work among Malaysian Muslim employees: The mediating role of existential labor," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(12), pages 1-13, December.
    10. Niki Panteli & Andriana Rapti & Dora Scholarios, 2020. "‘If He Just Knew Who We Were’: Microworkers’ Emerging Bonds of Attachment in a Fragmented Employment Relationship," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(3), pages 476-494, June.
    11. Dr.Henry Kibedi Kasawo, 2026. "The Romantic Fit between Organisational Support and Teachers’ Job Commitment in Private Secondary Schools in Uganda," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 10(5), pages 5679-5689, May.
    12. Mai Chi Vu & Roger Gill, 2023. "Are Leaders Responsible for Meaningful Work? Perspectives from Buddhist-Enacted Leaders and Buddhist Ethics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(2), pages 347-370, October.
    13. Dragana Djukic-Min & James Norcross & Elizabeth Searing, 2025. "The Effect of Shared and Inclusive Governance on Environmental Sustainability at U.S. Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-27, July.
    14. Jessica van Wingerden & Laura Berger & Rob Poell, 2018. "The Role of Person-Organization Value Fit in Employees’ Experience of Meaningful Work, Use of Strengths and Work Engagement," Business Management and Strategy, Macrothink Institute, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, December.
    15. Jui-Chen Peng & Chiu-Mei Chen, 2023. "Linking proactive personality to proactive customer-service performance: a moderated parallel mediation model," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    16. Mai Chi Vu & Nicholas Burton, 2022. "The Influence of Spiritual Traditions on the Interplay of Subjective and Normative Interpretations of Meaningful Work," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 543-566, October.
    17. Zhou, Qin & Sacramento, Claudia & Martinaityte, Ieva, 2023. "Work meaningfulness and performance among healthcare professionals: The role of professional respect and participative management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    18. Müller, Monika & Huber, Christian & Messner, Martin, 2019. "Meaningful work at a distance: A case study in a hospital," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 719-729.
    19. Zhe Zhang & Chang Chen & Ming Jia, 2025. "Double-edged sword effect of stretch goal: is stretch goal a burden or boost to employees?," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 715-743, June.
    20. Sajjad A. Afridi & Bilal Afsar & Asad Shahjehan & Zia U. Rehman & Maqsood Haider & Mehboob Ullah, 2020. "Retracted: Perceived corporate social responsibility and innovative work behavior: The role of employee volunteerism and authenticity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1865-1877, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:10:y:2026:i:3:p:6732-6752. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Pawan Verma (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.