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Positive Organisational, Dispositional and Perception Factors to Engagement and Performance Outcomes: A Multi-sample Study

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Thesis(2.79 MB)

Date

2019

Authors

Supervisor

Haar, Jarrod

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Master of Philosophy

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

This thesis researched several positive psychological factors towards job outcomes, to provide a more complete and complex understanding of relationships or clusters of factors interacting within the workplace. This includes organisational factors (high-performance work systems, leadership communication, and perceived organisational support) dispositional factors (psychological capital and mindfulness) and perception factors (work-life balance and meaningful work). In turn, these factors were tested towards work engagement (vigor, dedication, and absorption) and work outcomes of job satisfaction, turnover intentions, job stress, and job performance. The motivation was to look at clusters of positive factors (organisation, disposition, and perceptions) that can be brought into the workplace in order to contribute to a positive working environment and culture that will make a difference in employees’ lives while at work. Within this thesis, I conducted two separate studies. Study one included pink- and white-collar workers (n=210) and a sample of blue-collar workers (n=133) from the same organisation. Study two consisted of n= 245, three distinct samples, with a total sample of 584 employees. Each sample has been separated into a distinct work type. In study one, my two samples were (1) white-collar employees and (2) blue-collar employees. Study two included n=245 workers, in 50 stores, and included store manager and Head Quarters data on performance. This sample was a more feminine or ‘pink-collar’ workforce from a retail setting. I found that the clusters of positive factors (organisation, disposition, and perceptions) did link significantly to the outcomes examined, although not universally. The findings showed that different factors had different influences on the key study outcomes of work engagement and work outcomes, which did appear to link to the various samples and thus the type of work (e.g., blue-, pink-, or white-collar). Study two built on study one and included external store performance and sales data, which provided additional validity to the findings. Overall, the findings provide evidence to encourage businesses to focus on (and examine) their workplace cultures and environments, to better understand the opportunities that positive workplace factors can bring towards enhancing work engagement and work outcomes, including performance. It also highlights that even within a single organization, different effects might exist across different job types, encouraging research within an organisation.

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Keywords

Positive psychology, Engagement, Performance, Organisational, dispositional and work factors, Multi-study

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Permanent link

https://hdl.handle.net/10292/12597

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Masters Theses