The impact of psychological capital on employees’ job performance in a public entity in Malta with the mediating role of job satisfaction

Abstract

Today, an efficient administration of human resources is vital to supervise individuals and the workplace. The increased challenges experienced by employees is affecting their performance and satisfaction in the work environment. The following research investigates how Psychological Capital (PsyCap) is associated with positive workplace outcomes including attitudes such as job satisfaction (JS), commitment and job performance (JP) (Luthans et al., 2007; Avey et al., 2011a). PsyCap is a recent terminology originating from positive organisational behaviour derived from positive psychology. PsyCap is built upon four essential elements: hope, optimism, resilience, and self‑efficacy. Furthermore, this concept focuses on the individuals’ potentialities rather than looking at the individual`s flaws and limitations. Thus, analysing how positive criticism, response and manners lead towards the development and higher performance of the individual or a team in an organisation (Luthans & Youssef‑Morgan, 2017). Moreover, studies shown that PsyCap is a state‑like construct; it is open to enrichment and development (Luthans et al., 2007a; Luthans & Youssef‑Morgan, 2017). This developmental perspective offers organisations the opportunity to enhance employees’ JP, JS and improve their commitment towards work. Existent studies worldwide on PsyCap, JP and JS have found substantial correlations between these variables (Rego et al., 2010; Luthans et al., 2010; Avey et al., 2011b; Peterson et al., 2011; Levene, 2015; Luthans & Youssef‑Morgan, 2017). However, there is a limited empirical evidence which explores them together; consequently, this study aims to investigate the impact of PsyCap on employees’ JP working within a public entity with the mediating role of JS. The chosen public entity is the Foundation for Educational Services (FES), an entity within the Ministry for Education and Employment (MEDE).