ORGANISATIONAL COMMITMENT AS THE MISSING MECHANISM: STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN BANGLADESHI COMMERCIAL BANKS

Abstract

Bangladeshi commercial banking has expanded at a compound annual rate exceeding 12 per cent since 2015, yet employee engagement within the sector remains critically low — a paradox that existing strategic human resource management (SHRM) frameworks cannot resolve when examined in isolation. The mechanism through which SHRM practices translate into sustained behavioural engagement at the individual level, particularly within high-power-distance, institutionally constrained emerging-economy banking, has not been theoretically specified. Drawing on Social Exchange Theory (SET) and Human Capital Theory (HCT), this study proposes that organisational commitment mediates the relationship between SHRM practices and employee engagement and that this mediation is moderated by perceived supervisory support (PSS). Primary data were collected from 387 employees across 14 publicly and privately owned commercial banks in Dhaka and Chittagong via structured questionnaire, and analysed using PLS-SEM in SmartPLS 4.0. SHRM practices positively predicted employee engagement (β = 0.41, 95% CI [0.33, 0.49], f² = 0.21), and this effect was fully mediated through organisational commitment (indirect β = 0.27, 95% CI [0.19, 0.35]), with PSS strengthening the mediation pathway (interaction β = 0.19, p < .001). The findings reposition organisational commitment from an attitudinal outcome variable to an active exchange-conversion mechanism, extending SET to bounded institutional contexts where managerial discretion is constrained. Chief People Officers in Bangladeshi banks should recalibrate SHRM investment toward commitment-building practices rather than direct engagement interventions, as the data show commitment converts SHRM inputs into engagement outputs with effect sizes that direct interventions cannot replicate.