Work-based identity and work engagement as potential antecedents of task performance and turnover intention: Unravelling a complex relationship

By F. Bothma, Gert Roodt. 2012

131 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Orientation: Work-based identity, used as a reference to the self, is the answer to the question ’Who am I at work?’ Work-related identities, derived from different social foci through identity formation processes, have as behavioural guides a significant influence on employee behaviour, which, in turn has an impact on work outcomes. Engagement, presented in different conceptualisations, is viewed by practitioners and academic researchers as an important antecedent of employee behaviour. Research purpose: The main purpose of the study was to investigate whether work-based identity and work engagement differed (in combination with personal alienation, helping behaviour and burnout) as potential antecedents (amongst numerous others) of task performance and turnover intention. Research design: A census-based sampling approach amongst 23 134 employees in the employment of an ICT company yielded a sample of 2429 usable questionnaires. Scales used in the study were the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-HSS-20), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Work-based Identity, Personal Alienation, Helping Behaviour, Turnover Intention and Task Performance Scales. Main findings: The findings indicate that work-based identity and work engagement give similar appearing results as potential predictors of turnover intention and task performance. Practical/managerial implications: Reducing withdrawal behaviours and enhancing work performance are everyday challenges for organisations. Interventions focused on enhancing work-based identity and work engagement in the work environment should have a meaningful impact when these behaviours need to be addressed. Contribution/value-add: Work-based identity as a multidimensional construct has the potential, with further refinement, to become a valuable construct that can play a leading role in future work engagement research.

Subfields: Communication, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c448947ae9b694da5603fe7a748191b3ff7741a4

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Communication

1. Shari L. Peterson
2. B. Joo
3. Suk Bong Choi
4. Thi Bich Hanh Tran

In Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

1. B. Joo
2. H. Hahn
3. Shari L. Peterson
4. Suk Bong Choi
5. Thi Bich Hanh Tran
6. Jalal Rajeh Hanaysha

In Social Psychology

1. Shari L. Peterson
2. H. Hahn
3. B. Joo
4. Andrea D. Ellinger
5. R. Beattie
6. R. Hamlin
7. Susann Gjerde
8. Gro Ladegård

Citations in the corpus

• The validation of the turnover intention scale (2013, unknown): “The retention of staff is considered to be a pressing people issue and consequently much has been published about it (cf. Bothma & Roodt, 2012; Du Plooy & Roodt, 2010; Greyling & Stanz, 2010; Griffeth, Horn, & Gaertner, 2000; Kotzé & Roodt, 2005; Mendes & Stander, 2011).”
• Turnover intention: the effects of core self-evaluations, proactive personality, perceived organizational support, developmental feedback, and job complexity (2015, background): “…(e.g. Tett and Meyer 1993; Egan, Yang, and Bartlett 2004; Valentine et al. 2011), organizational commitment (Cole and Bruch 2006; Joo 2010; DeConinck and Bachmann 2011), employee engagement (Bothma and Roodt 2012), and job performance (Salamin and Hom 2005; Yi, Nataraajan, and Gong 2011).”