Employee engagement through job resources and performance management: the mediating role of trust in leader among lecturers in Malaysian polytechnics / Irene Tiurma Siagian

This study focuses on Employee engagement among lecturers in Polytechnic Malaysia, one of the biggest Public Higher Institutions across all states in Malaysia providing technical and vocational education. Although past researchers have focused on work engagement studies in terms of antecedents and less study were found on organization engagement, particularly by combining these two types on employee engagement in one study. The present study undertakes this novel opportunity to complement the existing literature by examining Employee engagement through Job Resources and Performance management with Trust in leader's mediating roles. Further, this study takes important steps to demonstrate the contrasting results between two engagement forms, including Job engagement and Organization engagement. Data were collected using an electronic web-based questionnaire: Survey Monkey©, with 230 completed questionnaires from lecturers throughout all polytechnics in Malaysia. Smart PLS 3.0 was used to test the research hypotheses. The results suggest that trust in leader were positively and significantly related to both job engagement and organization engagement. This study confronted distinctions between Job Resources and Performance management towards Job engagement and Organization engagement, which are explained using JD-R theory, LMX and SET as underpinning theorization. It was highlighted the importance for organization to be aware and acknowledge their subordinates through fulfilling two main constructs of Job Resources and Performance management and considering the right management practices to obtain Trust in leader value among subordinates. Limitation of this research in terms of scope of research covers only focusing on the public sector in higher education scenarios.