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Article

Work Engagement, Financial Wellness Support and COVID-19 Risk Perceptions in Egypt

by
Michael R. Wagner
1,*,
Ghadeer Mohamed Badr Eldin Aboul-Ela
2 and
Marwa El Maghawry Ibrahim
2
1
Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati, 2906 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
2
Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, Future University in Egypt, End of 90th St., Fifth Settlement, New Cairo 11835, Egypt
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2023, 16(10), 448; https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm16100448
Submission received: 28 August 2023 / Revised: 11 October 2023 / Accepted: 13 October 2023 / Published: 18 October 2023
Browse Figures
Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

:
While the relationship between COVID-19 and employee attitudes has been studied in developed economies, little research has examined this relationship in emerging markets. This is relevant in the age of COVID-19, given the financial disruption it has caused. Also, little research has investigated how employee financial wellness programs are related to employee attitudes. This study examined how generalized perceptions of COVID-19 risk and perceptions of financial wellness support were related to work engagement. It also sought to understand whether financial wellness and COVID-19 risk interact in their relationship with work engagement. 106 employed persons in Egypt were surveyed. Results showed that, consistent with theory on perceived organizational support, perceptions of financial wellness support were positively related to work engagement. A significant interaction was also found, such that at high levels of financial wellness, COVID-19 risk perceptions were not related to engagement; however, at lower levels of financial wellness, COVID-19 risk was positively related to engagement. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

1. Introduction

Work engagement is essential for driving employee performance and commitment (Kim et al. 2013; Saks 2006). Because of this, factors impacting work engagement and related employee attitudes have been examined throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in developed economies (Liu et al. 2021; McCarthy et al. 2021). While this research has largely examined the impact of COVID-19 as a threat internal to the organization (such as fear of contracting COVID-19 while at work), COVID-19 may also present a threat broadly throughout society (Savadori and Lauriola 2021). This is borne out by the increase in unemployment during COVID-19, especially in developing markets (Breisinger et al. 2020). For these reasons, it is worthwhile to better understand COVID-19’s relationship with work engagement, particularly when COVID-19 is construed as a pervasive threat throughout society.
Given the economic threat of COVID-19, it will be helpful to understand what practices employers can provide to address it (Lin et al. 2021). One organizational practice that has grown in use is financial wellness programs (Despard et al. 2020) which are designed to help employees maintain financial stability and security. If employees experience financial worry due to COVID-19’s disruption of the economy, it is possible that financial wellness programs could address this concern. Therefore, it will be helpful to understand how financial wellness programs and COVID-19 risk are related to work engagement and whether the two interact in this relationship.
Considering the above factors, this study will focus on the relationship between perceptions of general COVID-19 risk and work engagement, as well as the relationship between financial wellness programs and engagement, and whether these two factors interact with each other. In addition, this study will examine this relationship in an emerging market (Egypt) because of the significant economic disruption that COVID-19 has caused there (Breisinger et al. 2020).

1.1. COVID and Employee Attitudes

In developed economies, significant research has been conducted on COVID-19’s impact on a variety of business outcomes, including employee attitudes (McCarthy et al. 2021; Lin et al. 2021). In emerging markets, however, research has focused more on COVID-19’s relationship with macroeconomic factors, such as supply chain disruption, unemployment, and income distribution (Alon et al. 2023; Hevia and Neumeyer 2020), rather than employee attitudes. Understanding the impact of COVID-19 in emerging markets is necessary because, while these economies provide a source of global economic growth and future customer demand, their workforces have experienced particularly negative effects from COVID-19. For example, Egypt, whose economy is highly dependent on services and tourism, suffered GDP declines in these sectors during COVID-19, and required significant government assistance to maintain growth (Breisinger et al. 2020).
One set of workplace outcomes that has been examined in the context of COVID-19 is employee attitudes (McCarthy et al. 2021). In these studies, participants were typically asked to focus specifically on COVID-19’s impact within work settings. For example, Lin et al. (2021) found that perceived work disruption by COVID-19 was related to emotional exhaustion, while McCarthy et al. (2021) found that ruminating over COVID-19 during job interviews was related to higher interview anxiety. Liu et al. (2021) found that perceptions of COVID-19 disruption to one’s work were negatively related to work engagement and taking charge at work. In sum, these findings indicated that perceptions of work-related COVID-19 risk and disruption were negatively related to employee attitudes.

1.2. Work Engagement

Work engagement. Considering the above findings, the employee attitude of focus in this study is work engagement, which is defined as an employee’s motivation to fully employ their physical, cognitive and emotional energy toward task performance (Kahn 1990). Engaged employees “have high levels of energy, and are enthusiastically involved in their work” (Leiter and Bakker 2010). We chose to focus on work engagement because it has been found to be related to intentions to quit (negatively), organizational citizenship behaviors and organizational commitment (positively) (Saks 2006). Meta-analytic reviews of the research indicate that work engagement is positively related to employee performance (Kim et al. 2013). At the organizational level, engagement is related to greater net profit, total shareholder returns, and productivity (Willis Towers Watson 2019).
Regarding theoretical antecedents of work engagement, the literature has largely focused on the job demands-resources (JDR) model (Demerouti and Cropanzano 2010). This approach posits that employees experience various job demands in the workplace (e.g., time pressures, heavy workload), which can exhaust them both physically and psychologically. Job resources (e.g., support from managers, performance feedback) help employees address job demands, which in turn provides motivation and engagement. It is worth noting that the JDR model assumes that work engagement is derived entirely from events occurring within the organization.

1.3. Generalized Perceptions of COVID-19 Risk and Work Engagement

The above described COVID-19 research has provided valuable insight into how perceptions of the COVID-19 threat within the workplace are related to attitudes. However, COVID-19 may also be perceived as a generalized risk, and this can impact attitudes and behaviors. A generalized perception of COVID-19 risk represents one’s perception that COVID-19 is a risk broadly throughout daily life and society (Mahmoud et al. 2021). Generalized COVID-19 risk perceptions have been found to be related to behaviors such as personal hygiene (Savadori and Lauriola 2021) and eating habits (Mahmoud et al. 2021). These studies indicate that when participants are asked about their perceptions of COVID-19 as a generalized threat, these perceptions were related to conservative, protective behaviors.
When a threat is perceived as external, individuals tend to seek safety within the group. This behavior can be explained by the concept of social buffering, which has shown that in the presence of outside threats, association with other group members can reduce stress (Kikusui et al. 2006). These negative responses are reduced to the extent that the group is large and familiar to the individual experiencing the threat. Some research indicates that this buffering effect is related to increased psychosocial health during isolation due to COVID-19 (Szkody et al. 2021).
Within emerging markets, the salience of COVID-19 as a generalized threat is likely, as these areas often have collectivistic cultures (Hofstede 2001). Collectivists are closely attuned to events affecting their in-group, which can include the family, work team or even the nation as a whole. In collectivistic countries, there is great focus on public and community interests (Hofstede 2001). Thus, in a collectivistic society, the threat of COVID-19 and its economic disruption could result in individuals putting greater effort into their current jobs, in order to maintain stability and safety. Egypt, the sample of focus in this study, is a particularly collectivistic culture (Beekun et al. 2008).
Emerging markets tend to have higher unemployment rates than highly developed economies, and this was exacerbated during COVID-19 (Breisinger et al. 2020). Because of this, the perception of COVID-19 as a generalized threat may cause individuals to view the job landscape outside of one’s current employer as an unsafe bet, motivating them to put forth greater effort into their current jobs. Some research supports this assertion. For example, Koopmann et al. (2021) found that feelings of invulnerability to COVID-19 were positively related to hopefulness in job searches. This suggests, conversely, that the perception of COVID-19 threat would be associated with a negative view of outside employment prospects.
There is some research to support the argument that in a collectivistic culture, the threat of unemployment could result in employees becoming more engaged. Jaupi and Llaci (2014) found that unemployment rates were associated with higher engagement in Albania, a collectivistic culture. In contrast, Ployhart et al. (2021) found that unemployment rates during the COVID-19 crisis were negatively associated with new hire engagement in the United States, a highly individualistic culture.

2. Theoretical Review

2.1. Theoretical Background and Hypothesis Formation

From a theoretical perspective, the concept of extrinsic motivation supports the prediction that generalized COVID-19 risk perceptions would be positively related to engagement. Extrinsic motivation is motivation to avoid negative outcomes or obtain external rewards. Given the prevalence of COVID-19 in emerging markets such as Egypt, the threat of COVID-19 and its disruption of the job market there (Breisinger et al. 2020) would likely act as an extrinsic motivator because employees would be fearful of losing their jobs if they do not put forth sufficient effort (Kreps 1997). While the abovementioned job demands-resources model is appropriate when examining engagement antecedents within the organization, we believe that an extrinsic motivation lens is more useful for this study, given COVID-19’s broader societal reach.
Hypothesis 1.
Generalized perceptions of COVID-19 risk will be positively related to work engagement.
Given COVID-19’s impact on organizations, firms have implemented measures to mitigate its effects, such as flexible work arrangements (Lin et al. 2021) and advanced hygiene practices. While some research has examined the efficacy of institutional measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 at work (Lin et al. 2021), little research has examined organizational programs which are designed to alleviate financial hardship and stress. One set of initiatives designed to reduce employee financial hardship is financial wellness programs. Financial wellness programs typically consist of “financial management digital platforms and apps, workplace financial education, counseling and coaching, small-dollar loans, pay advances, savings programs, and student debt repayment benefits, many of which incorporate digital technologies, to help workers with managing debt and spending, using financial services, improving credit health, and saving” (Despard et al. 2020). Establishing financial wellness is relevant for employees in the context of COVID-19 because of the economic volatility that has occurred during the pandemic. In Egypt, for example, COVID-19 has resulted in a significant drop in tourism, which accounts for 12% of its GDP. In addition, economic indicators showed declines in consumer spending, remittances from abroad, and the Egyptian Stock Exchange (OECD 2020).
The use of financial wellness programs appears to be growing. In a US survey, HR managers indicated that at least 65% of their employers offered retirement planning, and 52% offered medical or health-care cost planning. At least 30% offered employee financial self-assessments, financial education, and tools for tracking progress toward financial goals (Hannon et al. 2017). While there is little research available on the prevalence of financial wellness programs in Egypt, there is some evidence of interest, with the launch of the NowPay app which allows companies to provide cash advances to employees. The app has been adopted by companies such as McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Kraft Heinz, Americana Group, Edita and Wadi Group (Middle East Events 2021). Empirically, there is some evidence that the use of financial wellness programs is related to job satisfaction (Hira and Loibl 2005), which is correlated with engagement.
Research on financial wellness programs is largely found in the financial planning literature but is much less common in management journals. When wellness is studied in management, the focus is often on holistic wellness, which consists of biometric screenings, exercise programs, nutrition and diet programs and health training (Roslender et al. 2006). Thus, it is unsurprising that there has been little theory provided on the psychology behind how financial wellness programs motivate and engage employees.
From a theoretical perspective, it is likely that financial wellness programs would be related to increased engagement. This is supported by theory and research in perceived organizational support (POS) (Eisenberger et al. 1986). POS theory posits that when employees sense that their employer values and contributes to their wellbeing, employees reciprocate by increasing engagement (Saks 2006). Theory on perceived organizational support argues that employees consider the actions taken by managers (“agents”) of the organization and assess whether those actions are favorable or unfavorable to them (Rhoades and Eisenberger 2002). Because the organization has legal and financial responsibility for the actions of its agents, employees interpret the agents’ actions as being the same as the organization’s. Thus, if the agent treats the employee favorably, the employee views this as the organization treating them favorably. In addition, favorable actions are viewed especially well if the employee perceives that they are provided voluntarily (instead of being mandated by union contract or a regulation) (Rhoades and Eisenberger 2002). Due to the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner 1960), employees respond in the same kind. For example, if an employee receives a discretionary benefit (such as a financial wellness program), employees view this as the organization treating them favorably and respond in the same way by putting forth discretionary effort in their daily work. For these reasons, it is expected that perceptions of financial wellness support from the organization will be positively related to work engagement.
Hypothesis 2a.
Perceptions of financial wellness support will be positively related to work engagement.
While, as a main effect, the perception of financial wellness support is likely to lead to increased engagement, this may depend on the perceived risk of COVID-19. Two opposing arguments could be presented. Considering the role that perceived organizational support plays in work engagement, it could be argued that during COVID-19, an employee may be especially appreciative of financial wellness support provided by their employer, resulting in higher engagement.
Another more likely view is that employees who enjoy strong financial wellness support would not be as worried about the economic shocks of COVID-19 because they have established financial stability. In this case, employees may feel less need to put forth discretionary effort into their jobs. This approach is consistent with the above arguments on external threats to the economy and engagement in emerging economies. Conversely, employees who do not have strong financial wellness support may worry about COVID-19 threatening their financial stability, and therefore, they are likely to put forth extra effort into their jobs, resulting in increased engagement. Figure 1 depicts this hypothesis.
Hypothesis 2b.
When perceptions of financial wellness support are high, COVID-19 risk will be related to lower work engagement. Conversely, when financial wellness is low, COVID-19 risk will be related to higher work engagement.

2.2. Contributions of the Study

One of the contributions of this study is that it will help us understand the relationship between COVID-19, HR practices and engagement in an emerging market, particularly Egypt. While Egypt has a growing economy, one of the largest in the Arab world, it has gaps in human capital. It is seeking to diversify its economy into services industries, where engagement is particularly important. Surveys indicate that employees in Egypt experience low work engagement, and yet, this is a topic that has been rarely studied there (Dajani 2015). In addition, much HR research in emerging markets, including Egypt, has focused on the tourism industry (Fathy 2018); this study includes participants from several sectors.
Second, this study will help us understand COVID-19’s relationship to work engagement, when COVID-19 is perceived as an external threat. As noted earlier, most research on the relationship between COVID-19 and employee attitudes has focused on COVID-19’s impact within the work environment. The relationship between engagement and external perceptions has not been examined as thoroughly.
Third, this study will examine how financial wellness support perceptions are related to work engagement. We will also seek to understand whether this relationship varies, depending on the perception of COVID-19 risk. While financial wellness programs are growing rapidly throughout the world, little research has sought to understand their relationship to employee outcomes. Considering this, we will develop a scale to assess perceptions of financial wellness support.
Finally, while the worst effects of COVID-19 appear to have passed at the time of this writing, ongoing effects continue, such as increased deaths due to high alcohol consumption and medical procedures that were skipped due to prioritization of COVID-19 patients (Knapton 2022). Thus, additional research is needed to understand COVID-19’s impact in organizations and how these impacts are related to organizational practices.

3. Methods

3.1. Procedure

Respondents were employed persons throughout Egypt. Data were collected in fall 2021 from various organizations that had adopted financial wellness programs. An online link with the questionnaire was sent to the employees through the HR departments of the selected organizations. In total, 106 completed surveys were returned. Participants were not provided with any incentive, and the ethics committee of the local university’s College of Commerce and Business Administration approved the study. This study followed the requirements outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki.

3.2. Participants

Respondents included 40 males and 61 females. Five respondents did not provide gender information. Forty-six (43%) respondents were between ages 21–30, twenty-three (22%) were between ages 31–40, twenty-four (23%) were between ages 41–50, and the remaining respondents were ages 51 and up. Fourteen (13%) respondents were of junior level in their organization, forty (38%) were intermediate, twenty-one (20%) were expert level, and the remaining respondents were supervisors, managers or higher. Fifty-seven (54%) respondents were in education, seventeen (16%) in aviation, nine (8%) in government, and the remaining respondents were in the following fields: construction, financial services, information systems, manufacturing, real estate and professional services.

3.3. Measures

All scales except the perceived financial wellness support scale were adapted from previously published and validated measures. All scales were measured on a 5-point Likert scale (“Strongly disagree”—“Strongly agree”). The survey was provided in English.
  • COVID-19 risk perceptions
COVID-19 risk perceptions were measured using Savadori and Lauriola’s (2021) 5-item scale. Sample items included “Coronavirus poses a risk to human health and safety” and “In general, I consider the coronavirus to be risky to society as a whole”. To address the potential issue of common method variance, one reverse-scored item was added: “I’m not too worried about coronavirus”.
  • Work engagement
Work engagement was measured using Liu et al.’s (2021) scale. This scale previously had nine items, but one item (“I get carried away when I am working”) was removed because it was considered too idiomatic. Sample items that were retained for the study include “I am enthusiastic about my job” and “I am immersed in my work”.
  • Financial wellness Support
To the best knowledge of the researchers, there has been no scale in previous literature to measure perceived support for financial wellness. Thus, a new scale was developed, based on features commonly found in these programs. Our review of financial wellness programs indicated that they typically focus on three areas. The first is concerned with programs that offer financial literacy education. This may include assessments of employee financial wellness and training on budgeting and savings tools. Some research indicates that employees intend to modify their financial habits considering what they learn through these programs (Lusardi and Mitchell 2007).
The second dimension is concerned with wellness programs that target employees’ current personal financial conditions. This may include cost-planning programs for medical issues, as well as counseling sessions to help employees set investment goals and choose investments to ensure a secure financial future (Prawitz et al. 2006). Employers may also offer financial aid programs, such as tuition reimbursement and emergency hardship assistance.
The last dimension is concerned with employees’ future financial stability. This includes programs that encourage long-term financial planning and retirement savings. Some research indicates that these programs may have some utility. For example, Bernheim and Garrett (1996) found that when employers offered retirement-focused, employer-based financial education, employees increased their saving rates.
Based on these imperatives, we constructed a scale (Appendix A) to measure perceived financial wellness support, expecting to see three corresponding higher-order factors emerge through a confirmatory factor analysis.
  • Control Variables
We controlled for several variables in our analyses. These included gender, age group, job level and industry. Because a large number of respondents indicated that their industry was education, a t-test comparison was conducted to determine whether the mean for work engagement was significantly different for educators. Results showed that the mean for educators was 3.50 and the mean for others was 3.88. This difference was statistically significant t (104) = −2.69, p < 0.01. Thus, a dummy control variable was created for industry (“EDU”) which consisted of employees in education (1) vs. those who were not (0).
Another control variable was perception of organizational practices against COVID-19, as this has been found to be related to engagement (Lin et al. 2021). Lin et al.’s item was included (“During the COVID-19 pandemic, my organisation implemented an employee security plan, providing me with adequate supplies for epidemic prevention”), along with two new items: “During the COVID-19 pandemic, my organisation implemented an employee security plan, allowing employees to keep a safe social distance” and “During the COVID-19 pandemic, my organization implemented an employee security plan, providing adequate cleanliness and hygiene”.

4. Results

4.1. Missing Data

Using SPSS, an analysis was conducted to understand the pattern of missing values in the data. The largest percentage of missing values for any items was 2.8%. To understand whether data were missing completely at random, we performed Little’s MCAR test, which resulted in a non-significant chi-square (χ2 = 158.93, df = 187, p < 0.93). Thus, we could safely assume that the data were missing at random. We used the Expectation Maximization function in SPSS to impute missing values. Table 1 presents the means, standard deviations and correlations for the study variables.

4.2. Exploratory Factor Analysis

Because this study introduced a new scale (perceived financial wellness scale), we conducted an exploratory factor analysis in SPSS on the scale’s twelve proposed items with oblimin rotation (the other scales in this study had been validated in previous studies). Results of the EFA using principal components analysis are shown in Table 2.
The KMO statistic for the EFA was 0.854, which indicated a sampling adequacy value of “marvelous,” according to Kaiser and Rice (1974). In addition, Bartlett’s test of sphericity was significant at χ2 (66) = 903.07, p < 0.001, which indicated that the correlation structure was appropriate for conducting factor analysis. The EFA resulted in two components with an eigenvalue of at least one, and these two components accounted for 69.16% of the variance. The correlation between the two components was 0.50. The first component, with an eigenvalue of 7.24, was by far the strongest, encompassing all 12 items loading between 0.57 and 0.90. This first component appears to indicate one’s global sense of financial wellness support that they receive from their employer.
The second component, with an eigenvalue of 1.06, was much weaker, with only three items loading between 0.42 and −0.57. In no case was the loading for this second component stronger than that of the first component. This second component was difficult to interpret, consisting of the items “My organization provides a financial wellness needs assessment” and “My organization provides me with financial skills training, including budgeting and saving tools” (positive loading) and “I have access through my organization to non-predatory financial products such as short-term loans or cash flow solutions” (negative loading). There did not appear to be a consistent theme across this second component.

4.3. Measurement Model

A three-factor confirmatory factor analysis was tested using the AMOS package of SPSS, with financial literacy education, personal financial conditions and future financial stability as the higher-order factors. The three factors were allowed to correlate with each other. Initial tests of the model fit resulted in a modest fit (χ2 = 112.7, df = 51, p < 0.001; RMSEA = 0.107, TLI = 0.910, CFI = 0.930). This three-factor model was then compared to a single-factor model, which resulted in a slightly better fit (χ2 = 114.2, df = 54, p < 0.001, RMSEA = 0.103, TLI = 0.916, CFI = 0.932). Because of the improved results for RMSEA, TLI and CFI, the single-factor model was adopted (Table 3).

4.4. Full Study

For the full study, we reviewed modification indices in order to identify how to further improve fit. Based on this review, items removed from the financial wellness scale included “My organization provides a financial wellness needs assessment” and “I have the access through my organization to non-predatory financial products such as short-term loans or cash flow solutions”. In addition, four items were removed from the work engagement scale and two were removed from the COVID-19 risk scale. The error terms of certain items were allowed to covary within their latent factor.
This new model also had a significant chi-square (χ2 = 286.3, df = 196, p < 0.001). However, chi-square is not recommended for sample sizes less than 200, which was the case in this study. So other fit indices were referenced, showing an acceptable fit (RMSEA = 0.07, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.93, SRMR = 0.08). Reliability results showed that all study variables exceeded the recommended minimum Cronbach’s alpha of 0.70.

4.5. Hypothesized Model

A first block of control variables was entered into a regression with work engagement as the dependent variable and gender, age group, job level, industry (education or not) and perception of institutional measures to prevent COVID-19 (“COVPRAC”) as control variables. The overall regression for the control variables was statistically significant with R2adj = 0.385, F(5, 100) = 14.12, p < 0.001. In this first block, significant predictors of work engagement included COVPRAC (β = 0.43, p < 0.001) and age (β = 0.22, p < 0.05).
The second block of variables tested the hypotheses. The predictor variables were all mean-centered. The overall regression was statistically significant with R2adj = 0.454, F(8, 97) = 11.90, p < 0.001. As shown in Table 4, Hypothesis 1, which predicted a positive relationship between perceptions of COVID-19 risk and engagement, was not supported (β = 0.01, p < 0.876). Hypothesis 2 predicted that the perception of financial wellness support would be positively related to engagement, and this was supported (β = 0.27, p < 0.01). Hypothesis 3 predicted an interaction effect, such that under conditions of high COVID-19 risk perception, perception of financial wellness support would be related to lower work engagement, and vice versa. This hypothesis also received support (β = −0.24, p < 0.01). With the hypothesized variables in the model, COVPRAC and age remained the only significant control variables.
To further examine the significant interaction between financial wellness support and COVID-19 risk perceptions, a categorical variable was created for financial wellness support. Scores that were below the mean were categorized as “LowFinWell” and scores that were above the mean were categorized as “HighFinWell”. This interaction is plotted in Figure 2. The figure shows that under conditions of high financial wellness support, work engagement is consistently high. Under conditions of low financial support, engagement is higher when the perception of COVID-19 risk is high. This interaction was tested with the above categorical variable interacting with perceptions of COVID-19 risk. All previous control and main effect variables were entered as well, resulting in a significant interaction effect (β = −0.31, p < 0.01) Thus, Hypothesis 3 received support, in that engagement varies according to COVID-19 risk when financial wellness support is low but not when it is high.

5. Discussion

5.1. Summary of Findings

This study sought to understand whether generalized perceptions of COVID-19 risk and perceptions of financial wellness support were related to work engagement. Contrary to expectations, perceptions of COVID-19 risk were not related to engagement as a main effect. In line with expectations, perceptions of financial wellness support were positively related to engagement. As predicted, there was an interaction effect, such that perceptions of COVID-19 risk were more strongly related to engagement when financial wellness perceptions were low, rather than when they were high.

5.2. Generalized COVID-19 Risk

Referencing theory on social buffering and extrinsic motivation, we predicted that perceptions of generalized COVID-19 risk would be related to higher engagement. However, as a main effect, no significant relationship was found between risk perceptions and engagement. This non-significant finding differs from previous research on job-specific COVID-19 risk, which found that when perceived as an internal threat, COVID-19 risk was negatively related to employee attitudes (Lin et al. 2021; McCarthy et al. 2021). These findings suggest that a threat’s relationship with employee attitudes may depend on whether the employee perceives the threat as manifesting internally or externally. Future research should explicitly compare these endogenous and exogenous factors.

5.3. Financial Wellness Support

Given the rapid growth of financial wellness programs, we developed a scale for measuring financial wellness support. We had predicted that financial wellness would manifest as three higher-order factors, but this was not borne out by the confirmatory factor analysis. Instead, it appears that participants viewed financial wellness support as a single factor.
We also examined how perceptions of financial wellness support from one’s organization were related to engagement. Consistent with theory on perceived organizational support, we found a positive relationship between these variables. This is in line with previous research indicating that organizational practices designed to support employees are positively related to employee attitudes (Kahn 1990). POS theory (Rhoades and Eisenberger 2002) posits that when employers provide employees with resources that they value, employees reciprocate by putting forth greater effort in their work. This finding is notable because it indicates that the significant resources devoted to financial wellness may have a positive effect on employee attitudes. Moreover, this positive result for financial wellness was found while controlling for other practices designed to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in the workplace.

5.4. Interaction between Generalized COVID-19 Risk Perceptions and Financial Wellness Support

We also examined how COVID-19 risk perceptions and financial wellness interact in their relationship with engagement. We found that when financial wellness perceptions were high, perceptions of COVID-19 risk were unrelated to work engagement. However, when financial wellness was low, high perceptions of COVID-19 risk were related to higher engagement, and vice versa. A possible explanation for this could be that when financial wellness is high, employees feel secure, and COVID-19 is not a salient factor in engagement. However, when financial wellness is low, COVID-19 may represent a more salient threat, as it has been associated with disruptions in the unemployment rate. In this condition, employees do not have the security of the financial wellness program to fall back on, so when COVID-19 risk is high, they are more compelled to “lean in” to their jobs with greater discretionary effort.
This interaction effect suggests that the relationship between a human resources program (financial wellness) and engagement was partly dependent on employees’ perceptions of an outside factor (COVID-19). While there is often reference made to “best practice” in HR, the efficacy of practices could depend on employee perceptions of the outside environment. Therefore, future research could seek to understand whether this type of interaction occurs with other HR practices.
The use of financial wellness programs has grown throughout the world, often at great cost to the organizations providing them. Our study showed that these programs may have some utility, as financial wellness support was positively related to engagement. This was the case, even after including organizational practices to prevent COVID-19 in the model. Our interaction finding suggests that in the absence of financial wellness programs, engagement may be more heavily impacted by external threats. Financial wellness programs may act as a “safety net” which makes employees’ engagement less dependent on the external environment.
A potential area for exploration would be to investigate whether this paper’s findings can be replicated in similar countries. It was noted that Egypt has a highly collectivistic culture (Hofstede 2001), with an economy dependent upon tourism. Future studies could explore these factors in collectivistic nations such as Turkey, Brazil or Portugal, for example. Additional research could directly compare samples from individualistic and collectivistic countries.

6. Limitations and Future Considerations

One of the limitations of this study was that the design was cross-sectional. Future research should examine how these factors are related to behavioral outcomes, such as productivity and turnover. Given the cost of financial wellness programs, additional research could manipulate levels of financial wellness support to understand whether there is a threshold beyond which additional gains in financial wellness are no longer related to gains in engagement. Another limitation of the study was the relatively small sample size. Future research should address this by distributing the survey more broadly and gaining a larger sample. Another potential limitation is the control variables used. While this study did control for several factors, such as age, organizational level, industry, gender and organizational practices to prevent COVID-19, other factors could be related to engagement and should be included in future research. These factors include family financial status, salary structure, human resource practices and organizational culture.

7. Conclusions

This study found that against expectations, perceptions of COVID-19 risk were not directly related to work engagement. Rather, we found that perceptions of COVID-19 risk interacted with financial wellness perceptions in their relationship to engagement, such that when financial wellness perceptions were low, increased COVID-19 risk was associated with increased engagement but not when financial wellness perceptions were high. In addition, financial wellness perceptions were positively related to work engagement. These findings indicate, firstly, that financial wellness programs may have some utility in driving work engagement. In addition, the findings suggest that COVID-19’s relationship with engagement may depend upon employees’ perceptions of the support their organization provides them. Additional research is needed to understand these relationships more fully.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization: M.R.W., G.M.B.E.A.-E. and M.E.M.I.; methodology: M.R.W., G.M.B.E.A.-E. and M.E.M.I.; software: M.R.W.; validation: M.R.W.; formal analysis: M.R.W.; investigation: M.R.W., G.M.B.E.A.-E. and M.E.M.I.; resources: M.R.W. and G.M.B.E.A.-E.; data curation: M.R.W.; writing—original draft preparation: M.R.W. and M.E.M.I.; writing—review and editing: M.R.W., G.M.B.E.A.-E. and M.E.M.I.; visualization: M.R.W.; supervision: M.R.W.; project administration: M.R.W. and G.M.B.E.A.-E. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was approved by the Internal Ethics Committee of Future University in Egypt where data were collected: #FHR202203.

Informed Consent Statement

All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study. The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to the need for confidentiality.

Acknowledgments

Mike Wagner would like to thank Elaine Hollensbe, Joanna Campbell, Eli Awtrey and Rhett Brymer for their advice on this article.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Appendix A. Scale for Financial Wellness Support

  • My organization provides a financial wellness needs assessment.*
  • My organization provides me with financial skills training, including budgeting and saving tools.
  • My organization provides credit and debit counseling.
  • My organization offers cost-planning programs for medical issues.
  • I have mortgage and home buying support from my organization.
  • My organization provides emergency savings programs.
  • My organization provides me with advanced financial education.
  • My organization provides me with information on financial government assistance programs.
  • I have the access through my organization to non-predatory financial products such as short-term loans or cash flow solutions.*
  • My organization has comprehensive approaches to promoting our financial wellness.
  • My organization provides me with training focusing on long-term financial planning and maximizing retirement savings.
  • My organization helps in alleviating our monetary worries by investing in workplace financial wellbeing programs.
* Indicates item was removed from final scale

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Figure 1. Theoretical framework of work engagement.
Figure 1. Theoretical framework of work engagement.
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Figure 2. Interaction between financial wellness support, perception of COVID-19 risk, and work engagement.
Figure 2. Interaction between financial wellness support, perception of COVID-19 risk, and work engagement.
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Table 1. Means, standard deviations and correlations.
Table 1. Means, standard deviations and correlations.
MeanSD12345678
1Gender0.600.48
2Job level3.021.69−0.04
3Age2.091.22−0.22 *0.65 **
4Education Industry0.540.500.46 **0.03−0.11
5COVID-19 Practices3.660.97−0.140.010.21 *−0.14
6Work Engagement3.680.75−0.26 **0.30 **0.44 **−0.25 **0.51 **
7COVID-19 Risk Perceptions4.010.74−0.10−0.030.09−0.120.140.16
8Financial Wellness Support2.700.95−0.27 **0.030.07−0.24 *0.54 **0.45 **0.15
* p < 0.05 level; ** p < 0.01 level. Note: N = 106; Education Industry indicates that the participant’s industry was education (1 = yes; 0 = no).
Table 2. Exploratory Factor Analysis for the Perceived Financial Wellness Scale.
Table 2. Exploratory Factor Analysis for the Perceived Financial Wellness Scale.
ItemsComponent
12
My organization provides a financial wellness needs assessment.0.570.55
My organization provides me with financial skills training, including budgeting and saving tools.0.790.42
My organization provides credit and debit counseling.0.790.28
My organization offers cost-planning programs for medical issues.0.700.10
I have mortgage and home-buying support from my organization.0.77−0.11
My organization provides emergency savings programs.0.80−0.12
My organization provides me with advanced financial education.0.900.08
My organization provides me with information on financial government assistance programs.0.86−0.14
I have access through my organization to non-predatory financial products such as short-term loans or cash flow solutions.0.64−0.57
My organization has comprehensive approaches to promoting our financial wellness.0.74−0.34
My organization provides me with training focusing on long-term financial planning and maximizing retirement savings.0.88−0.01
My organization helps in alleviating our monetary worries by investing in workplace financial wellbeing programs.0.84−0.10
Note. N = 106. Factor Loading above 0.40 are in bold.
Table 3. Comparison of confirmatory factor analysis models for Perceived Financial Wellness Scale.
Table 3. Comparison of confirmatory factor analysis models for Perceived Financial Wellness Scale.
Modelsχ2dfpRMSEA TLICFI
Three-factor model112.751<0.0010.1070.9100.930
One-factor model114.254<0.0010.1030.9160.932
Table 4. Results of Regression Analysis Models.
Table 4. Results of Regression Analysis Models.
Standardized Coefficients for Predictors of Work Engagement
1—Control Variables 2—Hypothesized Model
Control variables
Gender−0.08−0.09
Job level0.150.05
Age0.22 *0.34 **
Education Industry−0.13−0.09
COVID-19 Practices0.43 ***0.26 ***
Independent variables
COVID-19 Risk Perceptions0.01
Financial Wellness Support0.27 **
COVID-19 Risk Perceptions x Financial Wellness Support −0.24 **
R2 0.390.45
ΔR2 0.07
F 14.12 ***11.90 ***
* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001. Note: N = 106; Education Industry indicates that the participant’s industry was education (1 = yes; 0 = no).
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MDPI and ACS Style

Wagner, M.R.; Badr Eldin Aboul-Ela, G.M.; El Maghawry Ibrahim, M. Work Engagement, Financial Wellness Support and COVID-19 Risk Perceptions in Egypt. J. Risk Financial Manag. 2023, 16, 448. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm16100448

AMA Style

Wagner MR, Badr Eldin Aboul-Ela GM, El Maghawry Ibrahim M. Work Engagement, Financial Wellness Support and COVID-19 Risk Perceptions in Egypt. Journal of Risk and Financial Management. 2023; 16(10):448. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm16100448

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wagner, Michael R., Ghadeer Mohamed Badr Eldin Aboul-Ela, and Marwa El Maghawry Ibrahim. 2023. "Work Engagement, Financial Wellness Support and COVID-19 Risk Perceptions in Egypt" Journal of Risk and Financial Management 16, no. 10: 448. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm16100448

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