Ridderprint

Expanding the methodological toolbox of HRM researchers 51 Figure 3.1: A bathtub model of the mediating effect of employee engagement in the relationship between leadership training and team performance. To illustrate the above, imagine a study examining the effect of a specific HRM practice, hours of leadership training received by managers, on the performance of teams. The researchers might want to examine whether a part of this effect is indirect, for instance, via the engagement of employees. The bathtub model that corresponds with such a study is presented in Figure 3.1. Both the leadership training and the team performance occur at a macro-level and, therefore, their relationship can be estimated directly using a linear regression model at the group-level. In contrast, the engagement data is located at the level of the individual employee and thus requires elevation to the group-level using a bathtub model before its involvement can be examined. For this elevation, researchers can choose either a continuous latent variable model or a latent class model. A continuous latent variable would imply that group-level engagement scores run from highly disengaged up to highly engaged groups, following a normal distribution. A linear regression model could then be used to predict team performance, based on the leadership training and the continuous latent engagement scores. Alternatively, a latent class model could be applied. This would result in various macro- level classes and, subsequently, for each team, the probability that it belongs to one of the classes is estimated. For instance, one class could consist of teams where most individuals display an average level of engagement, whereas another class could be composed of teams with a few highly engaged and several disengaged teammembers. In contrast to an aggregation approach, the latent class model is able to differentiate between these two groups based on their different team dynamics. Afterwards, an ANCOVA model can be run at the macro-level, where team performance is explained by the leadership training and