Paper Details

Name: Veda Smiha Baruah & Samir Sarkar
Country: India

Year: 2026
Volume: Volume No: 13, Issue No: 1, Year: 2026
Page Number: 176-189
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20353685

ABSTRACT
Background: The study is set in the context of hospital environments in Guwahati, where
increased patient inflow due to urbanization and regional medical dependency has intensified job demands on healthcare workers. It examines workload strain as a mediator between employee engagement and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among healthcare professionals. The theoretical framework is grounded in the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model.

Materials and Methods:
Secondary data from 600 participants across private and government hospitals in Guwahati were analyzed. The participants included doctors, nurses, technicians, and
pharmacists. The data analysis was conducted using Python, employing: Correlation analysis, Mediation analysis, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)

Results: A strong negative relationship was found between employee engagement and workload strain (r = -0.806, p < 0.001). A negative link exists between workload strain and OCB (r = - 0.455, p < 0.001) and positive direct effect of engagement on OCB was observed (r = 0.369, p < 0.001). The SEM confirmed full mediation by workload strain (indirect effect ab = 0.293, 95% CI [0.197, 0.402], p < 0.001), with the direct path becoming insignificant after controlling for strain. Workload strain levels were low to moderate overall (M = 1.39), and were highest among doctors. The Cronbach's alpha for the workload strain scale was 0.793, indicating reliable internal consistency.

Conclusion: The workload strain fully mediates the relationship between employee engagement and OCB in hospital settings. Higher engagement reduces workload strain, which in turn facilitates greater citizenship behaviour among healthcare workers. Managing workload strain is critical for translating employee engagement into positive organizational behaviours in healthcare organizations.

Key Word: Employee Engagement, Workload Strain, Organizational Citizenship Behaviour
(OCB), Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model, Healthcare Workers, Mediation Analysis.