Impact of toxic work environment on employee engagement mediated by employee well-being and supportive work culture

A decline in employee engagement in an organization often originates from the presence of toxic work environments which affects overall performance and productivity, thereby posing a significant threat to the company’s success. Therefore, this research aimed to explore the impact of toxic work environments on employee engagement. Employee well-being and supportive work culture were used as mediating factors to analyze the correlation between employee engagement and toxic work environments. The research was conducted among 600 respondents in the coal mining industry using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling 4.1.0 as the quantitative methodology to determine the correlation. The results showed a clear reduction in employee engagement due to toxic work environments, with employee well-being and supportive work culture having negative effects. To reduce the harmful effects of toxic work environments, a supportive work culture and employee well-being were crucial mediating variables. Furthermore, the results suggested that the mediators could improve the level of engagement among workers. This research further contributed to the theory and subsequent publication offering intervention from corporate and government organizations. Future publications should consider pre- and post-intervention to measure toxic work environments’ effect on employee engagement.