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Why employee engagement matters? Evidences from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in India

Vijay Kumar Shrotryia (Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi, India)
Kirti Saroha (Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi, India)
Upasana Dhanda (Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi, India)

Personnel Review

ISSN: 0048-3486

Article publication date: 2 November 2021

Issue publication date: 29 March 2022

896

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the relationship between organizational commitment (OC) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) as mediated by employee engagement (EE). The impact of different facets of OC (affective, continuance and normative) and EE (alignment, affectiveness and action-orientation) is examined with respect to OCB.

Design/methodology/approach

Insights from the literature underpin the hypotheses on how EE mediates the relationship between OC and OCB. Primary data using survey questionnaire were collected from 881 permanent employees of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in India. Hayes' model 4 has been used for the mediation analysis.

Findings

The analyses show that only one facet of OC- affective commitment and the alignment and action-orientation dimensions of EE positively affect OCB. The relationship between OC and OCB is fully mediated by EE.

Practical implications

The results imply that engaging employees is pivotal for effectively fostering citizenship behavior among employees. Organizations should be willing to implement strategies and interventions which enhance the emotional experience of employees to foster a sense of belongingness with the organization and engage them.

Originality/value

The paper draws on a unique data set of a prestigious organization in India to provide insights with substantial degree of generalizability into the relationship between OC, OCB and EE, whilst applying a comprehensive definition of these constructs. It is the first study to examine the inter-relationship among different facets of these constructs.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This paper forms part of a special section “Understanding work experience and experiential workers: the interplay between experience-(ing) of work and people management”, guest edited by Nelarine Cornelius, Mustafa Bilgehan Ozturk and Eric Pezet.

The authors thank the respondents who spared their valuable time and helped to conduct this research successfully.

Funding information: No funding was received for this study.

Conflicts of interest: There are no conflicts of interests to be declared.

Citation

Shrotryia, V.K., Saroha, K. and Dhanda, U. (2022), "Why employee engagement matters? Evidences from Delhi Metro Rail Corporation in India", Personnel Review, Vol. 51 No. 2, pp. 501-527. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-07-2020-0513

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited

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