The Relationship of Resilience, Agility, Impactful Work, Technological Safety, and Work Life Balance on Employee Engagement, Mediating Effects of Ambidextrous Leadership.

Abstract

This research paper focuses on employee engagement in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) environment among private-sector employees across the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The study is based on Kahn's Engagement Theory, which explores the direct influence of personal factors (resilience and agility), impactful work, work-life balance, and technological safety on employee engagement. The article also examines how ambidextrous leadership mediates the contribution of strengthening such relationships. Simple random sampling was used to select 372 employees working in the private-sector organizations in the Klang Valley. Part of the analysis was conducted in SPSS using descriptive statistics and basic analyses; the remaining part was conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the measurement and structural models, as well as the mediation effects. The results show that employee engagement is directly correlated with resilience, impactful work, work -life balance, technological safety, and ambidextrous leadership. Agility, on the other hand, does not have a significant direct impact on employee engagement. The mediation analysis indicates that ambidextrous leadership partially mediates the relationships between resilience, impactful work, work-life balance, and employee engagement, and fully mediates the relationship between agility and employee engagement. Nonetheless, the mediation effect between technological safety and employee engagement does not exist. Comprehensively, the research shows the paramount importance of ambidextrous leadership in promoting employee engagement in private-sector organizations operating in a VUCA environment. The results are a reminder of the importance of supportive leadership practices, valuable work experiences, and balanced work conditions in promoting long-term employee engagement and enhancing organizational performance.