EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN VUCA ENVIRONMENTS: ROLES OF RESILIENCE, AGILITY, AND AMBIDEXTROUS LEADERSHIP
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55197/qjssh.v7si4.1538Keywords:
employee engagement, resilience, agility, ambidextrous leadership, VUCA environment, Kahn’s engagement theoryAbstract
The increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) characterising contemporary business environments have intensified organisational concerns regarding employee engagement. As organisations face rapid technological advancements, changing workforce expectations, and heightened competitive pressures, employees are required to remain adaptable, resilient, and committed to organisational objectives. Although employee engagement has been extensively examined in organisational research, limited studies have investigated the simultaneous influence of resilience and agility on employee engagement, particularly through the mediating role of ambidextrous leadership within a VUCA context. Addressing this gap, this study examines the relationships among resilience, agility, ambidextrous leadership, and employee engagement among private sector employees in Malaysia. Grounded in the positivist paradigm, the study adopted a quantitative research design. Data were collected from 309 private sector employees using a structured questionnaire and analysed using SmartPLS. The measurement model was assessed to establish reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity, followed by structural model evaluation and hypothesis testing. The findings indicate that resilience, agility, and ambidextrous leadership significantly and positively influence employee engagement. Furthermore, resilience and agility were found to significantly predict ambidextrous leadership. The mediation analysis revealed that ambidextrous leadership partially mediates the relationships between resilience and employee engagement, as well as between agility and employee engagement. These findings suggest that employees who possess greater resilience and agility are more likely to exhibit higher levels of engagement when supported by leaders capable of balancing exploratory and exploitative leadership behaviours. This study contributes to the employee engagement literature by extending the understanding of engagement drivers within VUCA environments and establishing ambidextrous leadership as a critical explanatory mechanism linking employee capabilities to engagement outcomes. Practically, the findings provide guidance for organisations seeking to enhance employee engagement through workforce resilience, organisational agility, and leadership development initiatives.
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