The potential role of mindsets in unleashing employee engagement

Examining the mediating role of team growth mindset on the relationship of individual mindsets and shared leadership

Purpose

As a cornerstone of team performance, learning depends on each member’s mindset. Drawing on implicit theories of intelligence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among individual members’ mindsets and shared leadership (SL) behaviors in design teams and the mediation role of team growth mindset (TGM) on that relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyzed survey results based on individuals who participated in an international design competition. To test the hypothesized model, the data was analyzed by using SEM using Mplus 7.

Findings

The results indicated that an individual growth mindset (IGM; but not an individual-fixed mindset) has significant and positive direct effects on a team growth mindset and SL behaviors. In addition, a TGM mediates the relationship between an IGM and SL.

Originality/value

The research discusses several theoretical and practical implications for human resource development professionals and scholars to improve understanding of a TGM and its influence on individual mindsets and SL behaviors.

Making things happen: How employees' paradox mindset influences innovative performance

Individual innovation involves many contradicted behavioral options such as creative vs. habitual actions and explorative vs. exploitative activities. However, the agentic nature of innovative behaviors has been widely ignored, and we know less about what factors lead individuals to approach and balance the contradictions caused by competing demands and intentionally engage in innovative behaviors. Integrating social cognitive theory and innovation paradox, we propose a chain-mediating model to explain how employees with a paradox mindset realize the creative benefits through their innovative endeavors, considering role breadth self-efficacy (RBSE) and individual ambidexterity as two mediators. Using data collected from 480 employees paired with 100 supervisors at 3-time points, the results show that RBSE and individual ambidexterity play a mediating role, respectively, even though they sequentially play a chain-mediating role between employees' paradox mindset and innovative performance. Individuals who hold a paradox mindset are more likely to perceive high capability beliefs in successfully undertaking expanded roles, promoting behavioral tendencies to switch between exploration and exploitation, and in turn encouraging employees to undertake more innovative behaviors. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications for promoting employees' innovative performance from an agentic perspective. Employees with a paradox mindset can make creative things happen by managing the tensions between exploration and exploitation proactively. Thus, organizations may try to enhance employees' proactive motivation states and behavioral capability to encourage individual innovation.

Employee engagement during COVID-19 in Malaysia

This objective of this study was to examine the effects of communication, training and development, and transformational leadership on employee engagement during COVID-19 in Malaysia. Four hundred individuals were recruited, and data were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Communication, training and development, and transformational leadership were found to positively affect employee engagement. In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, this study investigated the aforementioned factors as part of the reciprocal process between the employee and the employer and their effects on employee engagement, thereby making original theoretical contributions. This study also provides vital insights for businesses to consider when designing effective employee engagement plans for future well-being in the workplace.

Definitions and antecedents of engagement: a systematic literature review

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to present a systematic literature review in the research area of engagement focusing on employee and work engagement. In this respect, this study aims to focus on the definitions between employee and work engagement and their differences, as well as to identify the antecedents of the relevant body of knowledge on engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review was conducted drawing on an evidence base of 110 articles published in three- and 4-rated journals retrieved from the Academic Journal Guide (2018) during the years 2000–2021.

Findings

Through a descriptive and thematic analysis of the literature, the study maps the field as a whole, identifies and categorizes relevant engagement definitions as well as individual- and organization-level antecedents. Important insights and gaps in the existing research that may be exploited for further empirical studies are also pinpointed.

Originality/value

The study may stimulate future research and represent a reference point for scholars interested in the topic of engagement and at the same time provide added value to human resource practitioners that prefer evidence-based management over success stories.

The Mechanism of an Individual’s Internal Process of Work Engagement, Active Learning and Adaptive Performance

This paper aims to investigate the mechanism linking an individual’s internal processes, work engagement, active learning, and adaptive performance in three of Indonesia’s digital technology-based companies. The research uses a mixed-method approach. The first study used a quantitative research method in which the data is based on a survey of 185 employees and the collected survey data is then analyzed using the Structural Equation Modeling technique. The second study used a qualitative research method where the data is gathered from 17 managers through semi-structured interviews. We found from the quantitative research that work engagement fully mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and a growth mindset toward active learning. Meanwhile, a partial mediating effect of active learning between work engagement and adaptive performance was also discovered. Based on our literature study, previous research has shown inconsistent findings on the relationship between growth mindset and work engagement. Our findings contribute to the existing literature by clarifying the direct relationship between growth mindset and work engagement. Meanwhile, the qualitative findings emphasized that there are two mechanisms underlies individual adaptive performance (i.e., work engagement and active learning). Additionally, the active learning process promotes continuous new knowledge accumulation to produce new innovation inside an organization.

Employee Growth Mindset and Innovative Behavior: The Roles of Employee Strengths Use and Strengths-Based Leadership

This study aimed to investigate the relationship of employee growth mindset with innovative behavior and the mediating role of use of strength as well as the moderating role of strengths-based leadership in this relationship. Data with a sample of 244 employees working in diverse Chinese organizations were collected at two points in time. Results of bootstrapping analyses demonstrated that growth mindset is positively related to innovative behavior, employee strengths use partially mediates the positive relationship of growth mindset with innovative behavior, and strengths-based leadership strengthens the direct relationship between employee growth mindset and innovative behavior and the indirect relationship of employee growth mindset with innovative behavior via strengths use. This study advances growth mindset and innovative behavior theories and research.

Relationship beyond the Workplace: Impact of Guanxi GRX Scale on Employee Engagement and Performance

The primary objective of this research was to find out the impact of GRX scale (ganqing, renqing, and xinren) on a non-Chinese working environment. Thus, to apply and ascertain the effect of the three dimensions of guanxi on employees’ engagement and, eventually, their job performance in an African working environment. This research used social exchange theory to explain the relationship between supervisors and their subordinates. The research data comprises 530 respondents who were randomly chosen from seven organizations. Smart-PLS 3.2.8 was the primary instrument used to analyze the data. The finding indicated that renqing, synonymous with mutual sharing or need for reciprocity, was highly significant with employee engagement and job performance. Hence, a win-win outcome is achieved whenever employers exhibit genuine concern and care for their employees. Additionally, there was a negative relationship between ganqing (emotional attachment) and employee engagement. This revealed that making decisions based on personal relationships will negatively affect employees’ engagement and job performance. This research adds to the literature by revealing that guanxi is applicable in non-Chinese workplaces.

Putting Entrepreneurial Process Competence into the Focus in Entrepreneurship Education: Experience from Estonian Universities

Although entrepreneurship at the university level has constantly been evolving, little research has been done on what competencies should be developed in entrepreneurship education (EE) and how EE relates to the core of entrepreneurship—the entrepreneurial process competence. This article seeks to develop and empirically measure the entrepreneurial process competence in the context of EE. A self-assessment questionnaire based on the ‘generic’ entrepreneurship competence model, improved with the section on entrepreneurial process competence, was used to assess the impact of EE intervention in major Estonian universities. The survey took place in two stages: the same questions were repeated at the beginning and end of the course in the 2019 autumn semester. It gave the responses of 355 students and showed the varied and small positive individual-level impact of entrepreneurship courses on minor aspects of ‘generic’ competences in different universities, depending on training methodology, study volume and contact hours. At the same time, all the competencies of the entrepreneurial process grew significantly. Readiness to start own business did not change. The article recommends focusing on entrepreneurial process competencies and their acquisition for development and metrics of entrepreneurship learning progression.

Individuals' fixed digital mindset, internal HRM alignment and feelings of helplessness in virtual teams

Purpose

The present study investigates whether individuals having a fixed digital mindset (comprises fundamental beliefs about technological ability and organizational resources as work becomes more digitalized) experience greater helplessness working in virtual teamwork environments. The authors examine how perceived internal human resource management (HRM) alignment moderates the positive relationship expected between individuals' fixed digital mindset and feelings of helplessness. Together, the paper aims to contribute to a greater understanding of the personal and contextual factors that influence an individual's experience of helplessness in virtual team settings.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors test the hypotheses using time-lagged survey data collected from 153 information technology (IT) engineers working in virtual teams in Europe.

Findings

The authors find that individuals with higher levels of fixed digital mindset experience greater helplessness in virtual teamwork environments than individuals with lower levels. Furthermore, the authors find that having higher-fixed beliefs about organizational resources is positively related to helplessness when individuals perceive that the broader HRM system is misaligned with the virtual teamwork environment.

Research limitations/implications

The data were obtained from IT engineers in Europe, which is potentially limiting the generalizability of the authors' findings to other work contexts and cultures.

Practical implications

The authors' study helps leaders in virtual teamwork environments to better understand and manage the personal and contextual factors that could affect individuals' well-being and effective functioning in such settings.

Originality/value

The authors' research contributes to the scant literature investigating the personal characteristics important in virtual teamwork environments and the contextual factors important for aligning virtual teamwork designs with the organizational system. The authors extend this research by looking at personal and contextual factors together in a single model.

Entrepreneurship Competence Model for Supporting Learners Development at All Educational Levels

The development of entrepreneurship competence considering a broad view of entrepreneurship requires a systematic approach to determine the validated content of learning and methodological basis for supporting learners’ entrepreneurial attitudes and behaviour. There is still relatively little research in this area at all levels of education. Addressing entrepreneurship competence as key competence of lifelong learning allows to broaden the understanding and describe the development of different aspects of entrepreneurship competence through meaningful and supportive interactions in the learning environment. This will allow a better understanding of how to support entrepreneurship competence in various courses and age groups. In this article, a framework of entrepreneurship competence called the Comprehensive Entrepreneurship Competence Model (CECM) is proposed. The development of an entrepreneurship competence model relies on the theory of systems thinking. The CECM model focuses on the developmental perspective (fundamental processes of human development) that is not emphasised in other models. The article also suggests how to support the development of entrepreneurship competence systematically at all levels of education through embedding entrepreneurship competence into the curricula, study programmes of different subjects and overall learning processes.

Positive leadership and employee engagement: The roles of state positive affect and individualism-collectivism

Drawing upon broaden-and-build theory, this study examined the influence of positive leadership on employee engagement through the mediating role of employees' state positive affect and the moderating effect of individualism-collectivism orientation in a Chinese cultural context. A sample of 215 valid questionnaires was obtained through a two-wave survey of 48 teams working in central China. Hypotheses were tested by a method of hierarchical linear modelling. The results indicate that positive leadership promotes employees' state positive affect and engagement. State positive affect partially mediates the association between positive leadership and employee engagement. Moreover, a multilevel moderation analysis reveals that collectivism weakens the effect of positive leadership on employees' state positive affect. Theoretical and managerial implications and future directions are discussed.

Research on the influence of job embeddedness on different initiative individuals

"How to improve individual initiative" has become an important subject facing the current researchers and practitioners. This study attempts to answer this question from the perspective of on-the-job embeddedness based on social cognitive theory, organization attachment theory and cognitive neural experiment，we revealed the differences in the effects of three dimensions of on-the-job embeddednesson individuals with different initiative by Event-related Potentials (ERPs) cognitive neural experiment. The experimental results showed that the effect on high-initiative individuals was in the descending order of organization fit, organization link, organization sacrifice; the effect on general-initiative individuals was in the descending order of organization link, organization fit, organization sacrifice; the effect on low-initiative individuals was in the descending order of organization sacrifice, organization link, organization fit. The ultimate goal is to put forward management strategies for different initiative individuals from the three dimensions embedded, promote their initiative level and actively participate in production activities.

Strategy consensus and social practice: a perspective from public sector managers

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate consensus formation among the top and middle managers during the strategy process. Specifically, the paper seeks to gain insight into the role of strategic consensus during the transition between strategy formulation and implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting a social practice perspective and a single case study approach, we undertook semi-structured interviews of twenty-seven managers working in a Kuwaiti Ministry. Data collected were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Findings

We found that social interaction among individuals with similar characteristics and shared understanding fosters consensus. Factors such as alignment of strategic priorities, managerial flux and centralized control contribute to the extent to which strategic consensus is achievable. Additionally, managerial turnover and lack of empowerment hamper the development of shared understanding. Finally, that consensus on strategy content is insufficient for effective intergroup communications.

Originality/value

The research contributes to the strategic consensus literature from a social practice perspective as it provides new insights into the dynamics between top managers and middle managers. Significantly, it highlights the importance and need for common understanding, as well as communications prioritization among managers for consensus development and successful implementation of organization strategy.

Brain-based learning research for adult education and human resource development

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to reveal how research on brain-based learning (BBL) addressing adult learners’ education and training issues has contributed to the overall knowledge base linking neuroscience, adult education and human resource development (HRD) research and practices. Through this comprehensive review of the BBL studies, this paper aims to expand the landscape of understanding educational phenomenon in adult education and organizational settings using the lens of neuroscience.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the content analysis method, this study extracts key research themes and methodological choices from the body of BBL studies. In addition, this paper explores the relationships and proximity among key concepts of BBL research using keyword network analysis. For data analysis, this study reviews the current literature on BBL addressing both adult education and HRD topics from 1985 to 2019.

Findings

The findings of this study provide a clearer picture of the potential mechanisms of BBL approaches observed in the literature of adult education and HRD. What has been found from the thematic analysis is that addressing misconceptions about the neuroscience of learning is regarded as an important topic. In terms of the methodological approaches, the literature review was a dominantly used method, whereas experimental or quantitative research has yet to be fully performed. Influential keywords and topics obtained from the keyword network analysis reveal the primary foci and structural patterns of current BBL research.

Originality/value

This study makes a significant contribution to theories and research in adult education and HRD scholarship as it provides an integrative view of key research themes and major issues about BBL. Additionally, our findings offer practical insights for adult educators and HR professionals to successfully apply neuroscientific approaches.

Set your mind on it: The mediating role of mindset in the relationship between a learning-from-error climate and work-related flow

This study aims to investigate whether and how a learning-from-error climate is associated with work-related flow experiences by employees. Drawing on the tenets of Job Demands-Resources theory, we propose that this relationship is mediated by a work-related growth mindset. The study tests a mediation model by conducting structural equations modelling. Data were gathered in two waves from 159 employees within a Dutch financial organization. Results demonstrate that work-related mindset significantly mediates the relationship between a learning-from-error climate and work-related flow. In this study, we address the call for studies that empirically assess the influence of organizational climate on work-related flow in a multiwave study design. Specifically, we highlight the relevance of understanding how individual dispositions can shape the effects of a learning-from-error climate on work-related flow.

Manager-as-coach: stimulating engagement via learning orientation

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use recent empirical research and theory to help explain how a manager may assume a coaching role to assist employee learning and growth. In the coaching role, performance appraisal and other information may be carefully used as feedback to reinforce growth mindset learning in the service of employee development and engagement in work tasks and in the organization.

Design/methodology/approach

Aided by search devices (Psych Articles, Google Scholar, etc.), this study explored several distinct areas of information to include: manager-as-coach, performance management/appraisal, engagement with work, mindsets – fixed and growth, feedback and self-regulation of learning. Across these domains, this study searched for linkages useful in guiding managers to assist employees to learn and change.

Findings

Coaching employees to embrace a growth mindset and one’s self-regulation of learning has been expressed as a means to improve performance, resiliency, persistence, ability to cope with change and motivation.

Practical implications

Explicit, grounded recommendations are offered to assist managers to guide employees to embrace a growth mindset and take charge of their own learning and development.

Originality/value

Through examination and coordination of streams of research and theory, the study are able to make reasonably clear some avenues for a manager to attempt to positively influence employee confidence, learning, success and growth.

The Relationship between Psychological Contract Breach and Job Insecurity or Stress in Employees Engaged in the Restaurant Business

This study explored the relationship between psychological contract breach and job insecurity or stress in employees engaged in the restaurant business. To do this, four hypotheses were proposed. First, job insecurity has a significant positive effect on psychological contract breach. Second, job insecurity has a significant positive effect on job stress. Third, psychological contract breach has a significant positive effect on job stress. Fourth, job insecurity has a significant positive effect on job stress via psychological contract breach. Then, eligible respondents (n = 384; 183 men and 201 women) were recruited from a total of five restaurant business companies and then evaluated for a self-administered questionnaire survey. Results showed not only that job insecurity had a significant positive effect on psychological contract breach and job stress but also that psychological contract breach had a significant positive effect on job stress and mediated the interaction between job insecurity and stress. It can therefore be concluded that restaurant business owners should establish rational criteria for compensating job insecurity and stress arising from psychological contract breach in employees engaged in the restaurant business because of an inconsistency between psychological contract breach arising from job insecurity and compensation for work performance of employees engaged in the restaurant business.

Parental Motivational Perseverance Predicts Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms: An Intergenerational Analysis with Actor-Partner Interdependence Model

Adolescents' depressive symptoms are affected by a number of factors including life stress, gender, socio-economic status, and parental depression symptoms. However, little is known about whether adolescent depressive symptoms are also affected by parental motivational characteristics. The current study explores the relationship between parental motivational perseverance (i.e., parents' persistency in the face of setbacks and difficulties) and children's depressive symptoms during the adolescence, given the critical role of perseverance in psychological well-being. The predictive utility of two motivational characteristics relevant to perseverance: parents' growth mindset (i.e., one's belief about the malleability of human competence) and grit (i.e., perseverance for long term goals) were examined. Four hundred pairs of Japanese parents (82% mothers) and their adolescent children (50% females; average age at the time of the first assessment = 14.05 years; SD = 0.84) independently completed surveys measuring their growth mindset, grit, and depressive symptoms at two time points (approximately one year apart; attrition rate = 25%). The Actor-Partner Independence Model, a statistical model that accounts for inter-dependence between dyads (e.g., parents and children), was used to examine how parental motivational perseverance predicts the long-term change in their offspring's depressive symptoms. The results showed that parental grit led to the decrease in adolescents' depressive symptoms through the changes in adolescents' grit. On the other hand, parental growth mindset directly predicted the adolescents' depressive symptoms, and this was not mediated by the adolescents' growth mindset. These findings underscore the importance of parental motivational characteristics in regards to adolescents' depressive symptoms.

What Is a Resource: Toward a Taxonomy of Resources for Employee Engagement

Research detailing employee engagement has reliably stated that resources are significant to fostering engagement. Notwithstanding, no previous work has attempted to make meaning of those resources through a review of the existing literature. To better understand how the engagement literature positions and defines resources, we reviewed the resources term across 137 articles. The results of our structured literature review revealed that 216 distinct resources were mentioned across literature streams, and five distinct categories from macro to micro levels could be identified. The categories include (a) organizational resources, (b) social resources, (c) job resources, (d) home resources, and (e) personal resources. In addition to detailing our method and each category of resources, we explore implications for human resource development theory and practice.

Teachers' Growth Mindset and Work Engagement in the Chinese Educational Context: Well-Being and Perseverance of Effort as Mediators

The current study investigated the relationships among growth mindset, work engagement, perseverance of effort and well-being for secondary school teachers in the Chinese educational context. We adopted Growth Mindset Inventory, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), Grit Scale (Perseverance subscale), and PERMA profiles that measure five dimensions of well-being. Participants included 472 secondary school teachers from 10 secondary schools in central China. Correlation analysis showed that growth mindset, well-being, and perseverance of effort could all predict work engagement. Moreover, the structural equation model and mediation analysis further suggested that well-being and perseverance of effort could partially mediate the relationship between growth mindset and work engagement. This study permitted to advance our knowledge about the relationship between growth mindset and work engagement, which should be considered for future teaching practices and teacher development.

Causes, Contingencies, and Consequences of Disengagement at Work: An Integrative Literature Review

Disengagement at work is proving to be a source of continued trouble for business organizations. Various estimates suggest that in excess of 70% of the workforce is either passively or actively disengaged, which in turn subjects the organizations to enormous financial burden. Regretfully, this problem has not found sufficient intellectual resonance in the academia. Therefore, employing conservation of resources (COR; Hobfoll, 1989) as the guiding theory, in this research, we conduct an integrative literature review to consolidate the extant approaches to disengagement at work. Apart from explaining the construct, we also identified its antecedents, moderating influences, and outcomes. Implications for human resource development (HRD) research and practice have been discussed. We believe that such an attempt is likely to encourage an informed debate on the subject in the academic domain, while helping practitioners identify actionable interventions.

Mind the mindset! The interaction of proactive personality, transformational leadership and growth mindset for engagement at work

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether and how employees’ proactive personality is related to work engagement. Drawing on job demands-resources theory, the study proposes that this relationship is moderated by a three-way interaction between proactive personality × transformational leadership × growth mindset.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on survey data from 259 employees of an internationally operating high-tech organization in the Netherlands.

Findings

In line with prior studies, support is found for positive significant relationships of proactive personality and transformational leadership with engagement. Additionally, transformational leadership is found to moderate the relationship between proactive personality and work engagement, but only when employees have a growth mindset.

Originality/value

The study advances the literature that investigates the proactive personality-engagement relationship. Specifically, this study is the first to examine a possible three-way interaction that may deepen the insights for how proactive personality, transformational leadership and growth mindset interact in their contribution to work engagement.