Engagement at a higher level: The effects of public value on employee engagement, the organization, and society

We investigate whether an organization’s social contribution is associated with positive consequences for both the organization and its employees by building on the growing body of research that aims to bridge the gap between micro-level and macro-level phenomena. Specifically, we theorize and empirically show that public value can increase the engagement of employees, while employee engagement mediates the effect of public value on job satisfaction, affective commitment, life satisfaction, and intention to quit. To test our hypotheses, we conduct a large-scale representative online survey (N = 1383). We use organizational public value as a comprehensive conceptualization of the social contribution of organizations and measure employee engagement by creating and validating a German-language version of Shuck et al.'s (2017a) employee engagement scale. Our findings indicate that both external and internal benefits for the organization and its employees may need to be considered when an organization decides on how to balance or integrate profit and social contribution. Additionally, we demonstrate that the experiences of employees regarding not only their work role but also their role as members of their organization, i.e., their perception of their organization’s public value, are relevant for a more comprehensive understanding of what affects and engages employees.