Engagement has emerged as a strategic imperative in the fast-paced and demanding IT business landscape. Engagement is simply an employee's passion and attention to the job; it is not just a psychological condition, but rather a root driver of organizational performance, creativity, and retention (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004). With increasing workloads, rapid advancements in technology, and the rise of global competition, companies need to look beyond traditional incentives for sustaining long-term commitment and motivation among IT personnel.

One of the most important variables in this equation is perceived organizational support (POS).  POS refers to employees' perceptions of how much their organization values their contributions and is concerned about their well-being (Eisenberger & al., 1986).  Supportive practices such as flexible work arrangements, recognition systems, and career development opportunities can greatly improve engagement levels in the IT sector, where burnout and attrition rates are particularly high (Rhoades & Eisenberger 2002).  Recent research in Indian IT organizations has found that when employees feel supported, they are more likely to commit emotionally and intellectually in their roles, resulting in higher performance and lower turnover (Kumar & Mathimaran, 2017).

However, organizational support does not operate in a vacuum. Individual characteristics, especially personality attributes, serve as strong moderators of perceptions of and reactions to support. The Big Five-Factor Model of Personality (Costa & McCrae, 1992) identifies conscientiousness, openness, and emotional stability as key predictors of behavior in the workplace. For instance, conscientious staff may naturally be more fully engaged with their work, whereas those who exhibit high neuroticism may find it difficult to become engaged even when contexts are supportive. Personality, therefore, is a moderator that alters the strength and direction of the relationship between organizational support and engagement (Bakker et al., 2012).

2.1. Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is the emotional, cognitive, and behavioural investment of employees in their job.  It includes excitement, dedication, and involvement in tasks (Schaufeli et al., 2002).  Engagement is vital in the high-pressure, innovative environment of the IT industry for sustaining productivity and reducing turnover.  In a systematic review by Mohindra and Kothari (2023), only 7% of IT personnel were "highly engaged," which also reveals a wide gulf between goals and experience.  Recognition, autonomy, and meaningful work emerged as key drivers.  Sundaresan et al. (2024) added that job design, leadership style, communication, and organizational culture influence engagement in Indian IT organizations.

2.2. Organizational Support

Perceived Organizational Support (POS) refers to the degree to which employees feel that their employer values their contributions and cares about their well-being (Eisenberger et al., 1986). Organizational support is crucial in the IT business due to extended working hours, project-based stress, and the need for continuous skill development. Ezhilarasu (2025) found that organizational support significantly enhances work-life balance among IT professionals, ultimately leading to job satisfaction and lower levels of burnout. According to Tamimi and Tamam (2023), where support by the organization is shown, this acts as a predictor of employee performance and commitment across industries, though with particular sensitivity to IT due to its dynamic nature.

2.3. Personality Traits

Whereas organizational support is a powerful impetus to participation, individual differences, especially personality factors, may moderate the relationship. Costa and McCrae (1992) proposed the FFM of personality consisting of five major dimensions: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. These characteristics influence how employees perceive and react to organizational cues.

Personality traits, especially those described in the Five-Factor Model, have been found to influence workplace behavior and engagement. Kang et al. (2023) find that conscientiousness and emotional stability are positively related to job performance and engagement, while neuroticism has a negative influence. In IT contexts that require continuous adaptation and resilience, personality factors affect the extent to which employees respond well to stress, criticism, and organizational change. Peter (2023) highlighted how the understanding of personality types assists with team composition, leadership development, and tactics of engagement.

2.4. Organizational Support and Employee Engagement

Organizational support is related to employee engagement, as already documented in various studies of organizational behaviours. Ranjan and Pandya (2020) showed that supporting approaches like mentoring, open communications, and career growth increase the engagement in the IT industry. Perceived organizational support leads to emotional commitment and organizational citizenship behaviours, both of which are closely related to work engagement, as expressed by Kuriakose and Mathew (2019). This suggests that people will be more emotionally and cognitively invested in their jobs when they feel supported.

2.5. Personality Traits and Employee Engagement

Personality attributes determine the orientation and manifestations of engagement of employees. Sumathi and Michale (2018) empirically examined the Indian IT sector and found that conscientiousness and openness were the key predictors of engagement. Similarly, Sumathi and Venkatesan (2019) found that personality determines employee work satisfaction and corporate loyalty in addition to engagement. Ahmed et al. (2024) studied the interaction between job crafting and personality attributes and their effects on engagement and career happiness, and their findings suggest that engagement strategies tailored to personality bring better results in IT organizations. Based on the above literature the following objectives has been formed.

3. Research Objectives
4. To assess the impact of organisational support on employee engagement
5. To examine the mediating effect of personality traits on the relationship between organisational support and employee engagement
6. Conceptual Model and Hypothesis Development:

Personality traits have an impact on how workers view and demonstrate involvement.   In an empirical study of the Indian IT industry, Sumathi and Michale (2018) found that openness and conscientiousness were important factors influencing engagement.   In a similar vein, personality influences not only employee engagement but also job happiness and company loyalty, according to Sumathi and Venkatesan (2019).   Ahmed et al. (2024) looked at the relationship between personality traits and job designing in relation to engagement and career happiness. Their findings suggested that engagement strategies tailored to an individual's personality enhance results in IT companies.

Fig.1: Conceptual Framework

Based on the above conceptual model, the following hypotheses were framed:

• H1: Perceived Organizational Support (POS) has a significant positive impact on Employee Engagement (EE).
• H2: Perceived Organizational Support (POS) has a significant positive impact on Personality Traits (PT).
• H3: Personality Traits (PT) have a significant positive impact on Employee Engagement (EE).
• H4: Personality Traits (PT) significantly mediate the relationship between Perceived Organizational Support (POS) and Employee Engagement (EE).

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

5.1 Data Source and Sampling:

The main information for the respondents was gathered from a structured survey.  The data were collected by using a web-based questionnaire.  This study was conducted in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.  The data for the respondents were collected by using the snowball sampling technique.  A sample of 252 people was gathered from Coimbatore's IT firms.

5.2. Measures and Instrument Development:

In this respect, employee engagement was measured with the 17-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), developed by Schaufeli and Bakker (2004). It assesses three crucial dimensions, vigor, devotion, and absorption, that describe an employee's vigor, enthusiasm, and interest in their job.  Organizational support was measured using the Perceived Organizational Support (POS) Scale developed by Eisenberger et al. (1986).  This is a measure of the extent to which staff members believe that their company values their work and actually cares about their well-being.  The basic constructs of the study were measured reliably using both of these highly validated and well-established instruments in organizational research.

The results of the study are given in the following sections below.

6.1 Simple Percentage:

Table 1: Simple Percentage Analysis

The demographic profile of the 252 respondents provides insight into the characteristics of IT employees in Coimbatore. The data indicates that the majority of respondents (54%) fall between ages 21 and 30, and 19.8% are below the age of 20. This means the IT workforce is young in nature, comprising a majority of early-career professionals. The IT industry is dynamic and ever-changing in character; therefore, this attracts a lot of younger people due to the technology exposure and development opportunities that the industry provides. Advanced academic qualification is given a strong priority in the sector, as highlighted by 44.4% of the respondents in the undergraduate category and 54.8% of respondents with postgraduate qualifications. This suggests that higher education, irrespective of other elements, plays a significant role in job growth and employability within the IT companies. The gender distribution indicates a well-settled, balanced workforce with women actively involved in technical and managerial roles, having a slight majority with women comprising 57.1% and men 42.9%. The majority of them are working for reputable IT companies like KGISL (31%), TCS (28.6%), and Accenture (23.8%), ensuring the sample was diversified across a range of organizational structures in terms of organizational representation. The fact that 55.6% of respondents said their present company was their first job when looking at employment history indicates that many participants are just starting out in their careers and are accumulating core IT-related work experience. The sample appears to encompass both core and support tasks necessary for IT operations, as evidenced by the substantial percentage (34.1%) who work in BPO services, followed by 18.3% in administrative jobs and 16.7% in IT-specific professions. In terms of roles, the majority of responders (88.1%) are team members, 9.5% are team leaders, and only 2.4% are project managers. According to this composition, the majority of respondents hold entry-level or operational positions, which is in line with the fact that youthful workers make up the majority of the workforce. More than half of the respondents (50.8%) have less than two years of work experience, while 27% have two to five years. This indicates that the majority of the IT workforce in Coimbatore is made up of professionals who are still in the early stages of their careers. Lastly, the yearly income distribution reveals that 72.3% of workers make less than ₹5 lakhs annually, which is indicative of the sample's high proportion of junior-level jobs and early-stage professionals. According to the demographic data, Coimbatore's IT workforce is primarily made up of entry-level professionals who are youthful and highly educated. Given that younger workers are more impacted by elements like recognition, learning opportunities, and encouraging work settings that support both engagement and job satisfaction, this profile is extremely pertinent for examining the relationship between employee engagement and job satisfaction.

6.1 Mediation Analysis

Demographic information shows that most of the IT employees in Coimbatore are young and well-educated entry-level workers. This profile is highly relevant for the analysis of the relationship between employee engagement and job satisfaction, because younger workers will be more influenced by factors such as opportunities to learn, recognition, and supportive work environments which again facilitate both engagement and job satisfaction.

Table 1. Mediation Estimates

Table 2. Path Estimates

The results of the mediation analysis revealed that all hypothesized paths were statistically significant, confirming the proposed relationships.

H1: Perceived Organizational Support (POS) has a significant positive impact on Employee Engagement (EE).

These findings support this theory by showing a strong positive correlation between POS and EE (Effect = 0.4249, p <.001). That is, workers who think that the company values, supports, and attends to their needs are more likely to show enthusiasm, commitment, and emotional investment in their work. Hence, H1 is supported.

H2: Perceived Organizational Support (POS) has a significant positive impact on Personality Traits (PT).

These results reveal a significant positive association between POS and EE (Effect = 0.4249, p <.001), as would be expected from this idea. That is to say, the findings reveal that employees will be passionate, dedicated, and emotionally attached to the job if they feel that their employer values, supports, and cares about their needs. Thus, H1 is Supported.

H3: Personality Traits (PT) have a significant positive impact on Employee Engagement (EE).
The findings also suggest that employees with favourable personality traits tend to be more engaged in their work, thus supporting this hypothesis too: Effect = 0.237, p <.001. Conscientiousness, openness, and emotional stability are some characteristics that help individuals become resilient, motivated, and focused; thus, H3 is supported.

H4: Personality Traits (PT) significantly mediate the relationship between Perceived Organizational Support (POS) and Employee Engagement (EE).

A significant mediation effect was confirmed by the 0.0444 (p = 0.002) indirect effect of POS on EE through PT.  The entire impact of POS on EE was 9.46% explained by this indirect mechanism.  This implies that organizational support shapes good personality traits, which in turn indirectly increases engagement in addition to directly increasing it.  To put it another way, encouraging companies assist staff in developing qualities that maintain greater levels of engagement. Therefore, H4 is also supported.

Overall, the results of the hypothesis test confirm that personality traits serve as a key mediating factor in the relationship between perceived organizational support and employee engagement, and that perceived organizational support has a dual role in improving employee engagement, both directly and indirectly.  The results show how individual attributes and organizational culture interact to shape engagement in the IT sector, highlighting the fact that positive personality traits and supportive work environments work together to sustain employee engagement and performance.

The aim of the present research is to study the effect of POS on employee engagement and the role of personality traits as a mediator among IT employees in Coimbatore. The study used SEM to validate all four links that are hypothesized in the proposed conceptual model and provided strong empirical support.

7.1 Summary of Key Findings

The findings indicated that perceived organizational support significantly influences employee engagement (β = 0.425, p <.001), which thus confirms that the workers are more enthusiastic, dedicated, and involved in their work when they believe that their company values their contributions and cares about and prioritizes their well-being. This confirms results obtained by Kuriakose and Mathew (2019) and Rhoades and Eisenberger (2002) that employees' affective engagement and emotional investment in their respective roles are heightened when they perceive support.

Moreover, it was found that POS had a significant effect on personality traits (β = 0.187, p <.001), suggesting that positive organizational settings foster positive personality traits such as conscientiousness, optimism, and adaptability. This suggests that workers are more likely to show consistent and proactive behavioral attributes which meet organizational standards when they feel valued, trusted, and treated fairly. This is consistent with the findings of Bakker et al. (2012) and Kang et al. (2023), who noted that work environments have the power to mold and strengthen personality-driven behaviours that promote resilience and engagement. The study also found that personality traits significantly predict employee engagement (β = 0.237, p <.001). In agreement with Sumathi and Michale (2018) and Ahmed et al. (2024), employees who showed more conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness also reported higher levels of engagement. These qualities allow people to maintain their emotional equilibrium, motivation, and organization even in the face of demanding work—a prime quality in the fast-moving IT sector.

Furthermore, the mediation analysis revealed that 9.46% of the overall effect of the relationship between Perceived Organizational Support and Employee Engagement is partially mediated by Personality Traits, indirect effect = 0.0444, p = 0.002. Thus, while organizational support enhances engagement directly, it also has an influence through fostering favorable personality orientations. That is, enabling work environments build psychological resources and stable personality dispositions that enable participation even under challenging conditions. Second, partial mediation also implies that organizational and individual attributes interact dynamically to influence engagement; that is, engagement reflects both personality-driven self-regulation and organizational practices.

However, by showing that the effect of POS is different given the personality composition of each employee, this study adds to the literature. For example, people with high conscientiousness are more likely to translate organizational support into routine work engagement, whereas highly neurotic individuals may require additional emotional or supervisory support to be consistently engaged. In keeping with Peter's 2023 suggestions, which emphasized the need to adapt engagement strategies according to personality profiles, this realization supports the need for personality-sensitive HR interventions.

Another psychological explanation of how support invites involvement comes from the mediating function of personality. Supportive environment, along with its positive impact on workers' external motivation, may also help mold their internal characteristics, such as resiliency, optimism, and openness, that sustain engagement across time. This is in line with the JD-R model, suggesting that job resources, including organizational support, improve engagement by developing good work attitudes and personal resources.

The findings also suggest that, from a managerial perspective, IT companies should adopt a twofold strategy of developing personality-matched mechanisms for building engagement while simultaneously strengthening support structures. Engaging programs incorporating psychological safety, enabling leadership, and personality development (such as by coaching and mentoring) should yield higher and more sustainable levels of outcomes. At the same time, managers can reduce the risk of disengagement of employees by deploying the inherent capabilities of people through appropriate training, workload management, and recognition systems matching their personality traits.

Limitation and Scope for further research:

To put the results in perspective and direct future research, it is important to recognize the limitations of the current study, even if it offers insightful information about the relationship among Perceived Organizational Support (POS), Personality Traits (PT), and Employee Engagement (EE) in the IT sector.  First off, the study was only conducted in Coimbatore, which would have limited how broadly the findings can be applied to other areas or international IT setups.  varied cities or nations may have very varied managerial, structural, and cultural practices in IT companies, which can have an impact on how personality traits and organizational support impact engagement.  Therefore, to validate the current findings across various organizational and cultural contexts, future research could take a comparative or multi-regional approach. Second, a cross-sectional research strategy was used in the study to record employee perceptions at one particular moment in time. Since leadership styles, career advancement, and organizational changes can all affect engagement and personality-related outcomes, a longitudinal approach would be more useful for analysing how these correlations form and persist over time. Thirdly, the study used self-reported data, which could have social desirability effects or response bias. Workers may exaggerate how happy they are with their company or how engaged they are. Multi-source data, such as objective performance indicators or supervisor evaluations, should be added to future studies to increase their robustness. The range of variables taken into consideration is another drawback. While the study was successful in identifying personality qualities as a mediator, it did not investigate other potential moderators or mediators that could possibly influence engagement results, such as work-life balance, corporate culture, leadership style, and emotional intelligence. In order to create a more comprehensive knowledge of engagement dynamics, future research could expand the model by incorporating these characteristics. Finally, the study mostly used structural equation modeling (SEM) for quantitative analysis. A mixed-method approach that includes qualitative interviews or focus group discussions could offer deeper insights into employees lived experiences, motivations, and perceptions of organizational support, even though SEM has strong predictive and confirmatory power. Despite these limitations, the present study lays a good foundation for understanding how organizational and personal factors interlink to sustain participation in the IT sector. Future research will go a long way in establishing a more comprehensive model that fosters long-term employee commitment in technology-driven organizations by broadening the scope across geographical boundaries, adopting longitudinal or mixed-method approaches, and incorporating additional mediating and moderating variables.

The current study investigated the complex interaction among Coimbatore's IT professionals between Perceived Organizational Support (POS), Personality Traits (PT), and Employee Engagement (EE).  Employee engagement is greatly increased by organizational support, both directly and indirectly through personality qualities, according to the results of structural equation modelling.  Workers who believe their company is encouraging, just, and grateful are more likely to be enthusiastic, committed, and fully engaged in their work.  Additionally, it was discovered that encouraging surroundings foster positive personality traits including conscientiousness, optimism, and emotional stability, all of which raise engagement levels. These results highlight how crucial organizational structures and personal traits are to maintaining involvement in the IT industry. Engagement cannot be attained solely by organizational rules in a work environment that is marked by high performance pressure, technological disruption, and tight deadlines; rather, supportive practices must be in sync with employees' psychological and personality-driven resources. The study confirms that employee engagement is a shared psychological contract between the company and its members, based on trust, acknowledgment, and personal development, rather than just a managerial endeavour. From a management standpoint, IT companies need to implement integrated engagement strategies that acknowledge individual personality characteristics and improve organizational support at the same time.  Employees might feel appreciated and empowered when career growth opportunities, open communication, and participative leadership are promoted. Additionally, firms can create engagement activities that appeal to a variety of employee profiles by integrating personality evaluations into leadership development, training, and recruitment programs. Essentially, by emphasizing the ways in which positive personality traits and supportive organizational contexts work together to promote sustained employee engagement, this study adds to the expanding corpus of research on organizational behaviour. IT firms may create resolute, driven, and devoted workforces that can thrive in the face of ongoing change and competition by understanding the interaction between internal disposition and external support.

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