Enhancing organizational commitment and employee performance through employee engagement : An empirical check

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between perceived organizational support, employee engagement, employee performance and affective commitment in the context of Indian higher education. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 410 employees from various higher educational institutes of India using a self-administered questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings The results revealed a positive influence of perceived organizational support on employee performance and affective commitment. Moreover, these relationships have also been found to be mediated by employee engagement. Practical implications The study serves as guide for the development of influential strategies to develop and retain a well engaged, competent and committed workforce at higher educational institutes in India. Originality/value The study enriches the organizational behavior literature by identifying and empirically validating some antecedents and consequences of employee engagement in the context of Indian higher education where such studies are scant.