Engagement as a moderator on the embeddedness-deviance relationship

Purpose This paper aims to suggest that organizational embeddedness can predict workplace deviance and employee work engagement can moderate the relationship between organizational embeddedness and workplace deviance such that when employee work engagement is higher, the relationship between organizational embeddedness and workplace deviance is weaker. Design/methodology/approach Employee data were collected from 465 frontline employees across the financial services sector in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad. A three-step multiple hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the research relationships. Findings The findings provided support for the propositions that organizational embeddedness predicts workplace deviance and that employee work engagement moderates the organizational embeddedness-workplace deviance relationship. Originality/value This study addresses a clear gap as limited studies have explored the association of embeddedness with negative work behaviours, such as deviance, and no study have examined the moderating role of engagement in this relationship.