Religiosity as a predictor of job performance: The mediating role of employee engagement

Religiosity is a combination of piety (veneration of a Supreme Being), practice (following the commandments of the religion), and participation (engaging in religious ceremonies). Religiosity embodies traits such as trust, leadership, courage, empathy, and commitment. We theorize that that these traits that constitute religiosity lead to employee engagement, and improved job performance in the workplace, by creating a model that envisions the direct and mediated effect of religiosity on job performance. Empirically, we test the relationships between religiosity and job performance, either as a direct relationship, or mediated by employee engagement. We found that religiosity had an insignificant direct effect on job performance, and a significant effect on job performance, mediated by employee engagement. Specifically, the mediated relationship consists of religiosity increasing employee engagement, which in turn, improves job performance. We employed a unique sample of Sri Lankan military personnel, as research into the religious views of military personnel is unknown. Sri Lanka is a religious country with diverse religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism, with active religious participation in festivals, visits to shrines, and pilgrimages. In addition to the study’s theoretical contribution, human resource managers can use religiosity in selection and training to improve job performance.