The Role of Job Happiness in Achieving Workplace Embeddedness An Applied Study on Administrative Staff at King Khalid University

Rania Mohamed Mahmoud zeyada; Dawlah Abdullah Alshehri

doi:10.35516/Hum.2026.7671

Authors

Rania Mohamed Mahmoud zeyada Department of Administrative Sciences, King Khalid University, Applied College, Abha, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7321-928X
Dawlah Abdullah Alshehri Department of Administrative Sciences, King Khalid University, Applied College, Abha, Saudi Arabia https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5739-3332

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35516/Hum.2026.7671

Keywords:

Job embeddedness- Job happiness, administrative staff employees

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the research was to evaluate the actual practices of the dimensions of job happiness and embeddedness in the workplace, as well as to study and analyze the extent to which job happiness contributes to supporting embeddedness at King Khalid University.

Methods: The research adopted a descriptive-analytical approach using a sample of employees at King Khalid University. An electronic questionnaire was designed to collect the data, and the study sample consisted of 297 individuals.

Results: Lack of clarity of the concept of job happiness and the mechanisms of its application The study sample does not agree on the availability of implantation dimensions in the workplace There is a strong statistically significant direct correlation between job happiness as an independent variable and workplace immersion as a dependent variable The correlation was stronger for the dimension of sacrifice from the two dimensions, harmonization and links.

Conclusions: The following recommendations were reached: the importance of enhancing factors that contribute to job happiness, such as job satisfaction and organizational justice, improving the perceived organizational support, creating a supportive work environment for thinking and constructive initiatives, and enhancing the social connections among employees.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Agustien, E., & Soeling, P. D. (2020). How does happiness at work affect employee performance in the head office of BKKBN? Hasanuddin Economics and Business Review, 4(2), 58–64.

Allen, D. G., Peltokorpi, V., & Rubenstein, A. L. (2016). When "embedded" means "stuck": Moderating effects of job embeddedness in adverse work environments. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(12), 1670–1686. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000134

Andresen, M. (2015). What determines expatriates’ performance while abroad? The role of job embeddedness. Journal of Global Mobility, 3(1), 77–79.

Awada, N., Johar, S. S., & Ismail, F. B. (2019). The effect of employee happiness in public organization in United Arab Emirates. Journal of Administrative and Business Studies, 5(5), 260–268.

Bakker, A. B., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2008). Positive organizational behavior: Engaged employees in flourishing organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29(2), 147–154.

Branch, Gazipur. (2016). Internship report. University of Dhaka, Department of Management. https://doi.org/10.1353/cpn.2009.0025

Dickson, K. E., & Lorenz, A. (2009). Psychological empowerment and job satisfaction of temporary and part-time nonstandard workers: A preliminary investigation. Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management, 10(2), 166–191.

Field, L. K., & Buitendach, J. H. (2011). Happiness, work engagement and organizational commitment of support staff at a tertiary education institution in South Africa. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 37(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v37i1.946

Fisher, C. D. (2010). Happiness at work. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(4), 384–412. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00270.x

Ganson, K. T., Tsai, A. C., Weiser, S. D., Benabou, S. E., & Nagata, J. M. (2021). Job insecurity and symptoms of anxiety and depression among US young adults during COVID-19. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(1), 53–56.

Gibson, K. R., O'Leary, K., & Weintraub, J. R. (2020, January). The little things that make employees feel appreciated. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/01/the-little-things-that-make-employees-feel-appreciated

Heaphy, E. D., & Dutton, J. E. (2008). Positive social interactions and the human body at work: Linking organizations and physiology. Academy of Management Review, 33(1), 137–162.

Jones, E., Smith, K., & Brown, L. (2019). Perceptions of job happiness: A qualitative study exploring employee perspectives. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 40(4), 567–582.

Kiazad, K., Holtom, B. C., Hom, P. W., & Newman, A. (2015). Job embeddedness: A multifoci theoretical extension. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(3), 641–659. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038919

Loaiza, C. T., & Pirela, L. (2015). Liderazgo en organizaciones venezolanas. Revista Venezolana de Gerencia, 20(69), 152–171. https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=29036968009

Morgeson, F. P., & Humphrey, S. E. (2006). The work design questionnaire (WDQ): Developing and validating a comprehensive measure for assessing job design and the nature of work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(6), 1321–1339. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.6.1321

Munar, J. L. S., De Juana-Espino, S., Martínez-Buelvas, L., Abarca, Y. V., & Tirado, J. O. (2020). Organizational happiness dimensions as a contribution to sustainable development goals: A prospective study in higher education institutions in Chile, Colombia and Spain. Sustainability, 12(15), Article 5958.

Pangarso, A., Pradana, M., Widodo, A., & Putera, K. D. B. (2019). Bank's employee's happiness factor analysis (A study in bank BTN Harmoni branch, Jakarta, Indonesia). Journal of Advanced Research in Dynamical and Control Systems, 11(6), 1679–1686. https://doi.org/10.4103/jsc.jsc_17_18

Parker, K. N., & Brummel, B. J. (2016). Examining the curvilinear relationship between income and job and pay satisfaction. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 15(3), 164–173. https://doi.org/10.1027/1866-5888/a000138

Paul, T. (2016). Job satisfaction of National Bank Limited: A case study of Kaliakoir. Asian Business Review, 6(2), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.18034/abr.v6i2.643

Rahmi, F. (2015). Happiness at workplace. Paper presented at the International Conference of Mental Health, Neuroscience, and Cyberpsychology.

Rao, G. V., Lakshmi, V., & Goswami, R. (2017). A study on factors of workplace happiness. International Journal of Marketing and Financial Management, 5(8), 27–42.

Rosales, R. M. (2016). Energizing social interactions at work: An exploration of relationships that generate employee and organizational thriving. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 4(1), 29–33.

Sethi, A. (2023, January 4). Happiness at work: Key factors that influence. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/happiness-work-key-factors-influence-aval-sethi/

Smith, A., Johnson, B., & Williams, C. (2020). The impact of job happiness on workplace engagement: A quantitative study. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 35(2), 123–140.

Stankeviciute, Z., Staniskiene, E., & Ramanauskaite, J. (2021). The impact of job insecurity on employee happiness at work: A case of robotized production line operators in furniture industry in Lithuania. Sustainability, 13(1563), 1–15.

Xanthopoulou, D., Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2009). Work engagement and financial returns: A diary study on the role of job and personal resources. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82(1), 183–200. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317908X285633

Zak, P. J. (2017, January–February). The neuroscience of trust. Harvard Business Review, 95(1), 84–90.