Work engagement and financial returns: A diary study on the role of job and personal resources

TLDR

The study examines how daily variations in job resources (autonomy, coaching, team climate) relate to employees’ personal resources, work engagement, and financial returns. Forty‑two fast‑food employees completed questionnaires and daily diaries over five consecutive workdays. Multi‑level analyses revealed that day‑level job resources affect work engagement through personal resources, with coaching directly increasing engagement and daily financial returns, and prior‑day coaching producing lagged effects on next‑day engagement (via optimism) and returns.

Abstract

This study investigates how daily fluctuations in job resources (autonomy, coaching, and team climate) are related to employees' levels of personal resources (self‐efficacy, self‐esteem, and optimism), work engagement, and financial returns. Forty‐two employees working in three branches of a fast‐food company completed a questionnaire and a diary booklet over 5 consecutive workdays. Consistent with hypotheses, multi‐level analyses revealed that day‐level job resources had an effect on work engagement through day‐level personal resources, after controlling for general levels of personal resources and engagement. Day‐level coaching had a direct positive relationship with day‐level work engagement, which, in‐turn, predicted daily financial returns. Additionally, previous days' coaching had a positive, lagged effect on next days' work engagement (through next days' optimism), and on next days' financial returns.