Determinants and outcomes of job engagement in the post-pandemic in Sri Lanka

The economic and social conditions of Sri Lanka in post-pandemic have created a challenging and uncertain atmosphere around the lives of employees and their engagement level at work. According to some studies, such uncertain, unclear, inconsistent, and unpredictable situations result in a negative impact on job engagement while some other studies suggest that such a situation has a positive impact on job engagement. Job engagement is an important factor in achieving organizational goals, revenue, and profits as it is directly linked with employee retention, absenteeism, and productivity. Furthermore, human resources are the most valuable asset for any organization. Therefore, it is important to examine how employees engaged in their jobs in the post-pandemic for the survival and long-term success of any organization during such a threatening situation. This study investigated the determinants of job engagement, outcomes of job engagement and mediating role of job engagement in the post-pandemic answering research questions; what are the determinants of job engagement in the post-pandemic, what are the outcomes of job engagement in the post-pandemic and whether job engagement mediate the relationship between these determinants and outcomes The independent variables of the study were job engagement determinants while job engagement outcomes were considered as the dependent variables. The mediating variable of the study was job engagement. The study referred to Kahn's model, Saks model, Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, and AON Hewitt's model in developing the conceptual model. A self-administered survey questionnaire was used for the data collection. A convenient sampling technique was used to select the survey participants. The results showed job engagement acts as a mediator for job engagement determinants and outcomes during the period. The study found that foundation and differentiator determinants significantly affect job engagement while job satisfaction, affective commitment and psychological resilience act as the outcomes of job engagement. The results of the study further reflected the application of Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory emphasizing basic levels of needs should fulfilled first to move to the next level in the hierarchy Thus, the study implied that organizations should fulfill employees' basic requirements to enhance their engagement at work to gain stability and business success in an uncertain and unstable situation. The study suggests investigating determinants and outcomes of job engagement in a much larger sample and further examining the organizational identification variable in future studies.