The Association of Meaningfulness, Well‐Being, and Engagement with Absenteeism: A Moderated Mediation Model

• Author: Kerstin Alfes,Mark Gatenby,Amanda Shantz,Chris Rees,Emma Soane,Catherine Truss
• Published date: 01 May 2013
• Date: 01 May 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21534

THE ASSOCIATION OF

MEANINGFULNESS, WELL-BEING,

AND ENGAGEMENT WITH

ABSENTEEISM: A MODERATED

MEDIATION MODEL

EMMA SOANE, AMANDA SHANTZ, KERSTIN ALFES,

CATHERINE TRUSS, CHRIS REES, AND MARK GATENBY

We theorized that absence from work is a resource-based process that is related

to perceived meaningfulness of work, well-being, and engagement. Broaden-

and-build theory (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001) and engagement theory (Bakker,

Schaufeli, Leiter, & Taris, 2008; Kahn, 1990) were used to develop a framework

for explaining absence. Results of a study of 625 employees and human re-

source records of subsequent absenteeism data for a three-month period sup-

ported our hypotheses that meaningful work increases engagement with work,

and that engagement is associated with low levels of absenteeism. Further-

more, data showed that engagement fully mediated the relationship between

meaningfulness and absence, and that well-being strengthened the relation-

ship between meaningfulness and engagement. The results have implications

for understanding the role of individual-level resources in the workplace, and

how meaningfulness, well-being, and engagement infl uence absence.

Keywords: meaningfulness; well-being; engagement; absence; broaden-

and-build theory

Correspondence to: Emma Soane, Department of Management, London School of Economics and Political Sci-

ence, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, Phone: +44 (0)20 7405 7686, Fax: +44 (0)20 7955 7424,

E-mail: e.c.soane@lse.ac.uk.

Human Resource Management, May–June 2013, Vol. 52, No. 3. Pp. 441−456

© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI:10.1002/hrm.21534

Introduction

Absenteeism is a perennial issue that

has significant implications for

human resource (HR) managers. In

the United States, the overall cost

of absence to employers has been

estimated at more than $253 billion (Work

Loss Data Institute, 2003) or the equivalent

of 35 percent of base payroll (Mercer, 2010).

The cost to emerging economies is even

greater (Ramsey, 2006). Across the United

Kingdom, it has been estimated that absence

442 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, MAY–JUNE 2013

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm

Perceptions of

meaningful work

could broaden

affective and

cognitive processes

by generating

interest in the wider

context of work

tasks.

costs organizations between £10 to £20 billion

per year (Confederation of British Industry,

2011), with additional costs to the National

Health Service and the government through

increased benefits payments and loss of tax.

Theoretical and empirical studies have

examined absence from several perspec-

tives. For instance, research has found that

employees’ gender and age (Martocchio,

1989), personality characteristics (e.g.,

Bernardin, 1977), job attitudes (e.g., Hackett,

1989), and experience of strain (e.g., Darr

& Johns, 2008) are associated with absence.

Although these studies have gone a long

way in unveiling factors that may lead to

absence, researchers have called for a shift

in focus of absence research from a nar-

row view of ill health to a more

comprehensive understanding

of the relationships among peo-

ple, their work, and well-being

(Black, 2008). The present study

contributes to such an approach

by examining factors that medi-

ate and moderate the associations

between employees’ perceptions

of work and absence. Specifically,

the present study develops and tests

a model that integrates broaden-

and-build theory (Fredrickson, 1998,

2001) with engagement theory

(Bakker et al., 2008; Kahn, 1990) to

explain absence from work.

The centerpiece of the pro-

posed model is engagement with

one’s work (Schaufeli, Salanova, Gonzalez-

Roma, & Bakker, 2002). Engagement is concep-

tualized as a resource that directly influences

presence at and absence from work (Kahn,

1990, 1992). This is because employees

who are engaged with their work are ener-

gized by it, find it significant, and become

happily engrossed in it (Schaufeli et al.,

2002). Engagement is influenced by the

perceived meaningfulness of work, concep-

tualized here as a broadening component

of Fredrickson’s (1998, 2001) broaden-and-

build theory. Perceptions of meaningful

work could broaden affective and cognitive

processes by generating interest in the wider

context of work tasks (Compton, 1990).

Thus, meaningfulness of work could func-

tion to influence presence and absence via

its impact on engagement. The final com-

ponent of the proposed model is well-being,

an individual resource, which may enhance

the positive affect generated from meaning-

fulness of work, and thereby provide addi-

tional energy and motivation (Fredrickson,

2001; Wright, Cropanzano, & Bonett, 2007).

Hence, well-being could function as a build-

ing construct within the broaden-and-

build model (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001) and

strengthen the relationship between mean-

ingfulness and engagement. These three fac-

tors represent cognitive-affective individual

resources that could influence absence, and

are pertinent to HR managers seeking to cre-

ate a positive working environment.

The present study makes three contri-

butions. The first is the development of an

integrated model of absence that draws asso-

ciations between two theoretical areas: the

broaden-and-build theory of resource build-

ing (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001) and engage-

ment theory (Bakker et al., 2008; Kahn,

1990). Both theories have conceptual rel-

evance to absence through their consider-

ation of how cognitive-affective states build

resources and motivate behavior, includ-

ing presence at, or absence from, work.

Although previous scholars have pointed

out the synergies between the two theo-

ries (De Lange, De Witte, & Notelaers, 2008;

Schaufeli, Bakker, & Van Rhenen, 2009),

there is no research to our knowledge that

theoretically develops these associations

with absence and provides an empirical test.

The current study aims to contribute to this

literature by doing so.

The second contribution to the literature

is setting engagement within a nomological

net of antecedents and consequences, thus

responding to Parker and Griffin’s (2011)

call for such development. Doing so has

consequences for clarifying the positioning

of engagement within the lexicon of active

psychological states. There are also conse-

quences for theorizing about the mecha-

nisms of engagement based on identifying

its psychological foundations. Therefore, the

current study contributes to the engagement