AUTHOR=van Tuin Lars , Schaufeli Wilmar B. , Van den Broeck Anja , van Rhenen Willem 

TITLE=A Corporate Purpose as an Antecedent to Employee Motivation and Work Engagement

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.572343

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.572343

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>It is generally assumed that a corporate purpose aiming to benefit all stakeholders has a positive effect on employee motivation and engagement, but no empirical studies into these specific effects were found. To examine this assumption, a corporate mission and vision matching the definition of a higher purpose were tested in two subsequent studies. The first study (<italic>N</italic> = 270) was a cross-sectional self-report study. The second study included a longitudinal design (<italic>N</italic> = 56) modeling purpose, motivation, and engagement in a cross-lagged panel model over three time-points. The results associated purpose with motivation and engagement. The subsequent longitudinal analysis confirmed the presumed directionality from purpose to engagement, but not to motivation. Hence, while a corporate purpose can be added to the list of antecedents to work engagement, the relationship with motivation, despite the significant association with purpose in the cross-sectional study, remains more complicated. The present study adds to the knowledge of the beneficial effects of a broader purpose and responds to the current surge of interest in purpose as an instrument for sustainable business.</p>