The Mediating Effects of Meaningfulness and Work Engagement in the Relationship between Internal Corporate Social Responsibility Perception and Employee Creative Behaviour

Abstract

In recent years, the trend of research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has increased, but the question of how employees perceive internal CSR, its association with meaningfulness, work engagement, and employee creative behaviour is unnoticed. Thus, the main aim of this study is to explore the intervening role of meaningfulness and work engagement in the relationship between employees’ internal CSR perception and employee creative behaviour. The quantitative study was conducted based on primary data which were gathered from 176 employees from five selected commercial banks through structured closed-ended questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed by using univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses. The findings of this study revealed that employees perceive high levels of internal CSR, meaningfulness, work engagement, and creative behaviour. In addition, there are strongly positive and significant relationships existing among internal CSR perception, work engagement, meaningfulness, and employee creative behaviour. Moreover, the mediating analysis revealed that meaningfulness as well as work engagement mediates the relationship between internal CSR perception and employee creative behaviour. Hence, the findings suggest that being a good corporate citizen can pay organizations in terms of enhanced employee work engagement, meaningfulness and creative behaviour, which can provide a competitive advantage to the organizations in this highly competitive business environment. Further, this study contributes to the extant literature by advancing the understanding of how employees’ perceptions of internal CSR relate to various workplace outcomes.
Key Words: Employee Creative Behaviour, Internal CSR Perception, Meaningfulness, Work Engagement