Job embeddedness profiles: Associations with supervisor relations, job satisfaction, and work engagement

Abstract

This study aimed to identify job embeddedness profiles of employees in a paper manufacturing organization in South Africa and examine the associations between these profiles and employees’ relations with supervisors and their job satisfaction and work engagement. A sample of 213 participants from a paper manufacturing organization in South Africa took part in a cross-sectional survey. The Job Embeddedness Scale, the Employment Relations Scale, the Job Satisfaction Scale, and the Work Engagement Scale were administered. The results indicated four job embeddedness profiles: links-based, balanced-high, moderate links- and fit-based, and moderate sacrifice-based job embeddedness. The balanced-high job embeddedness profile (characterized by moderate embeddedness in terms of links, but high embeddedness in fit and sacrifice) was associated with the most favorable outcomes. Compared to the other three profiles, the balanced-high and moderate links- and fit-based embeddedness profiles were associated with more positive supervisor relations. The balanced-high embeddedness profile was associated with higher job satisfaction and work engagement scores. The results showed that positive supervisor relations (as an antecedent) was associated with job embeddedness profiles, which mattered for employees’ levels of job satisfaction and work engagement.