Research On The Relationship Between The Employee 's Vocation Orientation, Employee Engagement And Job Performance

With the advent of knowledge economy, we have seen great changes in the substance of work among knowledge workers, the way they work and how they view work. Knowledge workers are more eager to meet their higher-level demands and work is definitely not a simple means to support their families but gradually become a purpose in their life. Meanwhile, when China is turning to a market economy, people gradually realize that pursuing wealth, as growth momentum, is very likely to lead to diminishing marginal utility as material wealth increases. With this in mind, both companies and employees desire new source of driving force, the one which can sustain for a long time, to foster a high level of employee engagement and improve job performance.Work orientation, as this kind of driving force, has received people’s attention in the field of psychology and organizational behavior in recent years. Work orientation is the subjective location of one’s work values and expectations and the concept of studying and interpreting the meaning of work from the perspective of work purposes. Work orientation can be divided into three types:work orientation, career orientation and calling orientation. People who are job-oriented mainly work for "money". The meaning of work for those career-oriented is not only for material gains, but more importantly for promotion in their careers. calling-oriented people have a strong sense of duty and they work primarily for a deep sense of meaning. Recent several years has witnessed growing emphasis on the study of people with calling orientation, especially of such groups as knowledge workers who value the meaning of work and who have a strong sense of duty. As calling orientation, as a kind of driving force, can meet the need of employees to pursue the meaning of work on the one hand and increase their dedication and improve their job performance on the other hand, making the relationship between organization and employees a win-win one, the study of employee’s calling orientation is of significance in the modern time and in practical cases.This article conducts a study on the calling orientation of knowledge workers by using empirical approach in order to explore the influence of calling orientation on job performance (task performance and contextual performance). First, this article develops a theoretical model of the relations between calling orientation and job performance and proposes ten related hypotheses by carrying out in-depth study and analysis on theories. Then, it will develop a calling orientation measurement scale with good reliability and validity by combining maturity inventory abroad and expert interviews, and develop a web survey system according to it. Thereafter, this model can be tested and revised through approaches such as questionnaire and statistical analysis and then the relations between calling orientation and job performance can be verified. At the same time, the variable "employee engagement" will be introduced to clarify the working mechanism of calling orientation on job performance and illustrate the interactions between the two. Ultimately, feasible and effective policy recommendations will be given to improve knowledge worker’s calling orientation after practical conditions of companies are considered. This article has laid foundations for further studies on work orientation and provided new ideas and means to generate enduring and effective motivations for employees by expanding studies on the outcome variables of calling orientation and exploring the working mechanism of calling orientation on job performance.The innovations of this study are as follows:(1) By giving a demonstration, this study has proved the positive correlation between calling orientation and employee engagement. Meanwhile, it has, to some degree, opened the "black boxv of the relations between calling orientation and job performance by exploring the working mechanism of calling orientation on job performance with employee engagement as a intermediary variable. Through this study, we have found that there is a positive correlation between calling orientation and job performance lbi knowledge workers and this correlation features prominently with regard to task performance and devotion.(2) Studies on calling orientation in the past mainly focused on qualitative analysis or descriptive statistical analysis in China and there was few empirical researches based on investigations and statistical data. By using structural equation model, the article has verified the relations between calling orientation and job performance and discussed the intermediary role of employment engagement between the two. It has applied the method of Bootstrap, which is better in statistical power and application, to test the meditating effects. With no distribution hypotheses, Bootstrap has avoided the issue that traditional approach of products of coefficients is against distribution hypotheses. Besides, Bootstrap has avoided different outcomes caused by different standard error formulas in traditional intermediary test because it does not need standard error in its calculations, which makes the test of meditating effects of "employee engagement’" more rigorous and reliable. We have been rigorous throughout this study and have carried out logical analysis and demonstration for the test of every hypothesis and therefore our results are more reliable and more significant in theory and practices.(3) We have developed a web survey system in data collecting in this article, which has effectively circumvented the questions of "single source bias" and "social desirability response bias" in the problem of common method variance with an innovative design in questionnaire. This study has increased the coverage of surveys and the number of samples through network questionnaires. Furthermore, employers and employees are required to fill out questionnaires through their own accounts and the system will match finished questionnaires automatically, which has ensured the accuracy of data matching while separating data source, and therefore it has effectively reduced the possibility of single source bias and guaranteed data quality. Meanwhile, employers and employees have to enter the system through their accounts, the filling process is independent and confidential and the results are sealed immediately after questionnaire is finished. It means the results are nowhere to see except for those who fill out the questionnaire and the researchers and therefore social desirability response bias is avoided. This design has effected circumvented the problem of common method variance and provided new thinking for researchers who conduct similar studies.(4) Researches on calling orientation in the past almost all focused on teachers, and therefore their outcomes are not universal. Our study makes knowledge workers, with greater coverage, our samples to perform such a research, which has increased the variety of its source and has provided a reference for the practices in human resources management of knowledge workers.Inspirations on management for the study:(1) The development and change of calling orientation are deeply influenced by companies though it is one s own work values and orientation Companies should pay attention to the high-level demands of knowledge workers and foster win-win cooperation with employees in their work and integrate their life meaning into the development of the organizations. Besides, they should closely look at the development and considerations of employees’work values and orientation, their calling orientation in particular, when choosing, training, using and retaining workers in human resource management. At the meantime, firms can help knowledge worker develop the right work values and orientation to make them have more happiness and life meaning.(2) The development of calling orientation depends on a harmonious organizational environment. An internal environment of harmony and openness and close cooperation and mutual trust should be created within the companies. It should be emphasized to foster a trustful climate beginning from leaders in order to avoid such concepts as "insiders" and "outsiders" and establish a platform for employees to communicate with each other and enhance their cooperation. In addition, mutual assistance and sharing among employees should be promoted.(3) The mutual assistance and sharing among knowledge workers can not come out naturally and the features of the workers have also hindered that process. A set of better incentive mechanism is the institutional guarantee for the promotion of mutual assistance and sharing, which should be included into the category of performance assessment.