From surveillance to significance: examining how electronic performance monitoring fosters employee engagement at work

Purpose Based on equity theory, this study aims to examine how electronic performance monitoring (EPM) relates to employee work engagement. More specifically, we examine the underlying mechanism of perceived organizational justice (POJ) and organizational identification (OI) between EPM and work-engagement relationship. Design/methodology/approach Multi-level data were collected from 227 full-time employees working in 11 higher education institutions of Pakistan. Hypotheses were tested using multi-level structural equation modeling in Mplus 8.3 with Bayesian estimation. Findings Findings suggest that EPM positively relates to POJ, which in turn fosters OI among employees. In turn, employees are more engaged in their work. Practical implications Practitioners should consider EPM’s fairness perspective because if EPM passes fairness signals, it improves OI, which triggers employees’ vigor, dedication and absorption. Originality/value Based on equity theory, the mediating mechanisms of EPM that affect employee work engagement are revealed by this study, thus opening the “black box” of the relationship between the two.