A comprehensive empirical validation of employee engagement antecedents and consequences among Generation Y in Indian public sector banks: A gender-moderated analysis
-
DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.21511/bbs.21(2).2026.02
-
Article InfoVolume 21 2026, Issue #2, pp. 13-35
- 544 Views
-
2 Downloads
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Type of the article: Research Article
Abstract
Sustaining employee engagement has become essential for the operational efficiency and service quality of Indian public sector banks, particularly as Generation Y employees increasingly constitute a major share of the workforce. This study aims to empirically validate a gender-moderated structural model of employee engagement among Generation Y employees in Indian public sector banks. Data were collected from 223 Generation Y employees across public-sector banks in India, using a combination of a paper-based questionnaire and an online Google Forms survey. Variance-based structural equation modelling was used to assess the measurement and structural models, while multi-group analysis explored gender-specific differences in the hypothesized paths. Six significant antecedents of employee engagement were identified: Corporate Social Responsibility, Dispositional Characteristics, Psychological Availability, Psychological Safety, Perceived Supervisor Support and Transformational Leadership, and Social and Interpersonal Relationships. Engagement positively affected Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Task Performance, and mediated all antecedent–outcome relationships. Gender-based differences emerged, with Corporate Social Responsibility and Dispositional Characteristics more influential for women, while Fit Perceptions and Distributive Justice showed stronger effects for men. The study contributes to the banking literature by offering a multidimensional, empirically tested engagement model and demonstrating gender’s moderating role.
- Keywords
-
JEL Classification (Paper profile tab)J24, G21, O15, M12
-
References59
-
Tables11
-
Figures3
-
- Figure 1. Conceptual framework
- Figure 2. Full mediation
- Figure 3. Partial mediation
-
- Table 1. Bank-wise break-up of respondents
- Table 2. Constructs and their measures
- Table 3. Measurement model and structural model assessment
- Table 4. Eight full mediation paths
- Table 5. Four partial mediation paths
- Table 6. Measurement invariance of composites (MICOM)
- Table 7. Multi-group analysis: Male vs female bootstrapping results – Path Coefficients
- Table 8. Status of hypotheses H1aee
- Table 9. Status of Hypotheses H2eecn
- Table A1. Respondents (Section A)
- Table A2. Sections B, C and D
-
- Ahmed, S., Haderi, S. M. S. A., Ahmad, F. B., Jaaffar, A. R., Walter, J., & Al-Douis, G. A. A. (2017). Employee job security and performance relationship in developing economy through employee engagement: Critical analysis with PLS-SEM. International Journal of Economic Research, 14(19), 133-147.
- Ali, H. Y., Asrar-ul-Haq, M., Amin, S., Noor, S., Haris-ul-Mahasbi, M., & Aslam, M. K. (2020). Corporate social responsibility and employee performance: The mediating role of employee engagement in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(6), 2908-2919.
- Ali, M., Kulik, C. T., & Metz, I. (2011). The gender diversity–performance relationship in services and manufacturing organizations. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(7), 1464-1485.
- Allen, J. A., & Magill, M. S. (2026). Psychological safety and engagement: the importance of collaboration and experience. Journal of Management Development, 45(2), 151-165.
- Alley, P., & Shah, H. (2011, November). The career aspirations and attributes of Indian Gen Y at the workplace. In Proc. Of Conference on ‘Multi-Generational Workplace’, IIM Bangalore.
- Altaf, Y., Saleem, H., & Amin, Z. (2025). The role of transformational leadership in enhancing employee job performance: The mediating role of work engagement and the Moderating Role of Perceived Organizational Support in Service Organizations. Journal of Management and Social Sciences, 2(6), 50-64.
- Alzoraiki, M., Merza, M., Ateeq, A., & Milhem, M. (2024). The mediating role of employee engagement in the relationship between recruitment and selection and employee retention at the National Bank of Bahrain. Banks and Bank Systems, 19(4), 84-95.
- Bakker, A. B., Tims, M., & Derks, D. (2012). Proactive personality and job performance: The role of job crafting and work engagement. Human Relations, 65(10), 1359-1378.
- BFSISSC. (2020). BFSISSC Sector Skill Council of India report.
- Bhandare, N. (2015, December 2). India could add 60% to 2025 GDP by bridging gender gap at work: McKinsey. Mint.
- Boston Consulting Group (BCG). (2010). Indian Banking 2020. Making the Decade’s Promise Come True.
- Boston Consulting Group (BCG). (2011). Being Five Star in Productivity. Roadmap for Excellence in Indian Banking.
- Cain, M. K., Zhang, Z., & Yuan, K. H. (2017). Univariate and multivariate skewness and kurtosis for measuring nonnormality. Behavior Research Methods, 49(5), 1716-1735.
- Census and Economic Information Center (CEIC). (2018). Data. Census and Economic Information Center.
- Chakrabarty, M., Chauhan, P., & Ambasta, A. (2025). Exploring the link between psychological ownership and employee engagement: A study of Indian pharmaceutical employees. TPM – Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 32(9), 2030-2036.
- Chakraborty, S., & Chatterjee, L. (2020). Rationales of gender diversity management policies and practices in India. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, 39(6), 667-688.
- Chaudhary, R. (2017). Corporate social responsibility and employee engagement: can CSR help in redressing the engagement gap? Social Responsibility Journal, 13(2), 323-338.
- Department of Financial Services, (n.d.). Definition of Indian public sector bank. Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
- Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A. G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175-191.
- Frink, D. D., Robinson, R. K., Reithel, B., Arthur, M. M., Ammeter, A. P., Ferris, G. R., Kaplan, D. M., & Morrisette, H. S. (2003). Gender demography and organizational performance. Group & Organization Management, 28(1), 127-147.
- Gaikwad, S., & Swaminathan, L. (2021). Impact of work engagement on job performance among millennials. International Journal of Management, 11(12), 2211-2223.
- Ghafoor, A., Qureshi, T. M., Khan, M. A., & Hijazi, S. T. (2011). Transformational leadership, employee engagement and performance: Mediating effect of psychological ownership. African Journal of Business Management, 5(17), 7391-7403.
- Ghosh, P., Rai, A., & Sinha, A. (2014). Organizational justice and employee engagement: Exploring the linkage in public sector banks in India. Personnel Review, 43(4), 628-652.
- Ghosh, P., Rai, A., Singh, A., & Ragini. (2016). Support at work to fuel engagement: A Study of Employees of Indian Banking Sector. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, 5(2), 1-10.
- Gupta, M., & Shaheen, M. (2017). Impact of work engagement on turnover intention. Business: Theory and Practice, 18, 136-143.
- Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2-24.
- Hartman, R. L., & Barber, E. G. (2020). Women in the workforce. Gender in Management, 35(1), 92-118.
- Joubert, J., Jacobs, M., & De Beer, L. T. (2023). Work engagement mediation of job security. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 33(4), 313-320.
- Karataş, E., & Özdemir, M. (2022). Examining the relationship between meaningful work and job engagement. Journal of Theoretical Educational Sciences, 15(3), 676-698.
- Khodakarami, N., & Dirani, K. (2020). Drivers of employee engagement: differences by work area and gender. Industrial and Commercial Training, 52(1), 81-91.
- Kim, M., & Kim, J. (2021). Corporate social responsibility, employee engagement, well-being and the task performance of frontline employees. Management Decision, 59(8), 2040-2056.
- Kumari, R., Dash, S. P., & Chatterjee, R. (2025). A bibliometric analysis on green human capital and work engagement with emphasis on psychological ownership. WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation, 84(1), 7-19.
- Laskar, N., Sahu, J. P., & Choudhury, K. S. (2024). Impact of gender diversity on firm performance: empirical evidence from India. Managerial Finance, 50(3), 614-633.
- Lathabhavan, R., Balasubramanian, S. A., & Natarajan, T. (2018). Towards the shattering of glass ceiling in the Indian banking sector: a comparative analysis among public, private and foreign banks. International Journal of Services, Economics and Management, 9(3-4), 248-271.
- Luo, T., & Li, P. (2025). Relationships among career identity, psychological safety climate, and work engagement in college counselors. Social Behavior and Personality: an International Journal, 53(12), 1-8.
- Matthews, L. (2017). Applying multigroup analysis in PLS-SEM: A step-by-step process. In Latan, H., & Noonan, R. (Eds.), Partial Least Squares Path Modeling: Basic Concepts, Methodological Issues and Applications (pp. 219-243). Springer International Publishing.
- May, D. R., Gilson, R. L., & Harter, L. M. (2004). Psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety and availability. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77(1), 11-37.
- Nasrulloh, A. M., Hilmiana, J., & Yunizar. (2025). Impacts of grit, self-efficacy, and transformational leadership on job crafting and work engagement: Evidence from millennial bank employees in Indonesia. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 23(1), 379-391.
- Obisesan, F. O., Dangana, K. A., & Adegboye, B. B. (2024). Psychological ownership and job security as predictors of work engagement among bank employees. International Journal of Management Science and Business Analysis Research, 4(7).
- Online Bureau. (2025, January 21). Bank of Baroda unveils 5 all-women branches in Odisha & Jharkhand. The Economic Times Business Verticals.
- Plezia, G., & Moczydłowska, J. (2025). Psychological Safety and Its Impact on Employee Engagement: Implications for Management. Academy of Management, 9(4), 8-31.
- Press Information Bureau. (2017). Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB).
- Primayanty, M., Sembel, R., Kurniawan, H., Basbeth, F., & Malau, M. (2023). The Effect of Employee Engagement on Turnover Intention: The Moderating and Mediating Roles of Person-Organization Fit at Banks in Jakarta. In Tarar, M. A. and Siankwilimba, E. (Eds.), Social Behaviour, Leadership, Sales, Communication, Organization, Branding, Feasibility Analysis for Business Management: Inquiries with New Approaches in the Post-Pandemic Era (pp. 32-50). NCM Publishing House, Bursa.
- Rai, A., Ghosh, P., Chauhan, R., & Mehta, N. K. (2017). Influence of job characteristics on engagement: does support at work act as moderator? International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 37(1/2), 86-105.
- Raza, A., Farrukh, M., Iqbal, M. K., Farhan, M., & Wu, Y. (2021). CSR and employees’ voluntary pro-environmental behavior. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 28(3), 1104-1116.
- Reissová, A., Šimsová, J., & Hášová, K. (2017). Gender differences in employee engagement. Littera Scripta, 10(2), 84-94.
- Saks, A. M. (2006). Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(7), 600-619.
- Saks, A. M. (2019). Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement revisited. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness, 6(1), 19-38.
- Sharma, P. (2021). The rise of the Indian millennial. The Times of India.
- Shuai, C., He, Y., & Yu, X. (2025). Mindfulness, social skills, perceived organizational support, and work engagement: a serial mediation study among primary and secondary school teachers in China. Psychological Reports.
- Singh, R., & Sihag, P. (2024). Role of empowering leadership as a mediator between HPWPs and Gen Y employee engagement: evidence from Indian hotels. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 7(4), 2287-2309.
- Swanzy, E. K., Czakert, P., & Berger, R. (2025). Understanding how servant leaders can influence employee playful work design: the role of meaningful work, positive affect and work engagement. Current Psychology, 44(18), 14859-14873.
- Tamta, V. & Rao, M. K. (2017). Linking Emotional Intelligence to Knowledge Sharing Behaviour: Organizational Justice and Work Engagement as Mediators. Global Business Review, 18(6), 1580-1596.
- The Hindu Bureau. (2023, March 20). Share of women staffers in public sector banks rose this year: Govt.
- United Nation’s Population Fund (UNFPA). (2023). State of the World Population: 8 Billion Lives, infinite possibilities the case for rights and choices (Report).
- Vihari, N. S., Singh, B., & Rao, M. K. (2016). Relationship between human capital management and organisational performance: an empirical evidence from select Indian banks. International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, 13(1), 1-26.
- Zanabazar, A., Dugersuren, A., & Maligar, B. (2024). The Impact of Meaningful Work on Employee Engagement: The Case of Mongolian Kindergarten Teachers. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 11(2), 520-531.
- Zeeshan, S., Ng, S. I., Ho, J. A., & Jantan, A. H. (2021). Servant leadership and employee engagement. Cogent Business & Management, 8(1).
- Zhao, X., Lynch, J. G., & Chen, Q. (2010). Reconsidering Baron and Kenny. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(2), 197-206.


