The mediating role of psychological capital on job characteristics and work engagement in retail,

INTRODUCTION Human resources are the crux of any organization and it plays a pivotal role in the success of almost all businesses, necessitating a careful and effective analysis of utilizing the resources by the organizations. The significance of human resources in organizations is increasing even though the world is looking at artificial intelligence as a threat to their existence. It would be a long way to go, to witness a sea change in the role of human resources in organizations. Organizations are endorsing the importance of human resources in adding value proposition to their businesses for sustaining competitive advantage and increasing efficiency. Human capital is considered to be an asset composed of knowledge, skills creativity, and experience held by employees that organizations are investing in, for achieving their goals. Thus human resources are considered as productive assets rather than costly assets. (Hendricks, 2002). The contemporary world of work thrives on creativity. The employees in the modern organization are expected to be initiative, proactive, and responsible, and committed towards their objective. They need employees who are dedicated and energetic as well as engaged in their work, which is a tool to make a true difference for employees and may provide a competitive advantage. Employees engaged have a high level of energy and are enthusiastically involved in their job; hence most of the researchers agree that engagement includes an energy dimension, characterized by a high level of vigor and strong identification with one's work. Work engagement goes beyond responding to the immediate situation and the employee's personal attaining these goals. It reflects the personal energy that the employee brings to their work. According to Garg et al. (2006), the quality of performance and employee satisfaction has a positive impact on the designed job. The perceived job control, work demand, and social support through job design lead to high productivity. Similarly, Campion et al. (2005) explored the attitude and performance of employees impacted by the nature of work. The Job characteristic model explains the significance of job design in motivating employees towards higher performance. Hence, jobs have to be designed with the motive of improving the performance levels of employees. This indicates that job characteristics could be industryspecific.