The Relationship between Perceived Organizational Support and  Employee Performance: The Mediating Role of Work Engagement in  the Aviation Industry during the Disruption of the COVID-19 Crisis

Voralux Vorapuksirikool

Authors

Voralux Vorapuksirikool School of Liberal Arts, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang

Keywords:

Perceived organizational support, Employee performance, Work engagement, Human resource development, COVID19

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the importance of work engagement as a mediator in the relationship between perceived organizational support and employee performance in the aviation industry during the disruption of the COVID-19 crisis. Data were collected from 440 airline employees in six aviation organizations in Thailand. Hierarchical regression was used to analyze and test the hypotheses. The results reveal that although the relationship between perceived organizational support and employee performance was strongly linked, it was partially mediated by work engagement which plays a critical and essential role in increasing employee performance. Work engagement is, therefore, an important matter for organizations to consider when creating HR strategies that should not only create a supportive working environment but should also engage their employees with their work, thereby leading to high employee performance in return. This was especially important in times of crisis.

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