Fulfilment at work refers to a general feeling of self-realisation and well-being in and through work. It cannot be separated from personal perception. Indeed, the sense of reality is relative to each individual. Moreover, its consequences are wide-ranging: physical, emotional, psychological, etc. In the workplace, it is common to believe that a happy and satisfied person performs better at work (Fisher, 2009)¹. Baron (2011)² raises an interesting point when he mentions the purpose of the company. This is oriented towards the profit of the shareholders and not towards the well-being of the employees. Despite the provisions put in place by the law, it is difficult for the company to integrate the concept of employee fulfilment into the management of the company. The problem is therefore how does an employee’s self-fulfilment impact on his or her performance at work?

In the current context, characterised by strong competition and an increased financial crisis, the competitiveness of companies depends more and more on the performance of their human capital. Work performance is not only the execution of tasks, it is also the set of behaviours that contribute to the company’s situation and objectives (Motowidlo, 2003)³.

In line with these concepts, this study sets out to analyse the effects of an individual’s self-actualisation on his or her performance at work.

From this overall objective stems a hypothesis that self-realization has a strong effect on employee performance.

To verify this hypothesis, this analysis is based on the exploitation of data from an opinion survey of a sample of 250 employees⁴ of large Malagasy companies. The statistical analysis of the results measuring the degree of self-realisation of employees and their performance at work will serve to demonstrate the dependence between these two variables.

In order to provide further evidence on the importance of employees’ well-being in their individual performance, this paper will first present the theories and concepts outlined above. The results concerning the employees’ perception of the degree of self-realisation and their level of performance at work will be presented afterwards. These analyses will be used to verify the dependency between the two variables.

According to Requilé (2008)⁵, the slogans of the 90s are: “Be yourself”, “Don’t let stress get to you”. He explains that self-fulfilment aims to develop the individual’s potential, well-being and personal development.

Professional fulfilment refers to framing the feeling of competence, autonomy and commitment in relation to the work collectives⁶. Self-fulfilment at work, on the other hand, refers to Maslow’s theory of needs. Undoubtedly, it is about reaching the final stage of needs through self-fulfilment. Later, this theory was supplemented by the theories of Herzberg (1950), according to which it is not the resolution of the factors of dissatisfaction that motivates, but the achievement of the factors of satisfaction.

Work is the subject of debate in the scientific community. Some announce the end of the work-value ideology (Méda, 1995). For others, it remains the main element in favour of integration and social cohesion. Indeed, the authors who support this thinking maintain that identity and self-fulfilment depend on recognition in connection with work. The investigations carried out by Fray & Picouleau (2010)⁷ on the construction of identity in a framework of high organisational pressure are discussed in the article entitled: “Diagnosis of professional identity: an essential dimension for quality at work”. It highlights the relationship between the individual and hyper-competitiveness. Indeed, professional identity is essential to quality of life at work. Gohier (2000)⁸ believes that this professional identity is a component of the overall identity. It is only revealed through social contact. In the study carried out by Garnier, Meda, & Senik (2006), 54% of working people define themselves by their work. Indeed, people choose their job according to their personality, experience and aspirations. The job then becomes important in defining social identity and destiny according to the perception⁹.

According to many surveys, work is still a very important value¹⁰. Druhle (2004)¹¹ believes that those who have not yet been able to find their talent can build a valuable image through work. However, even if work is widely appreciated, many people experience suffering in it. The question is how to persevere and preserve one’s identity when the only benchmark in the workplace is: Performance¹² (Sennet, 2000).

Performance is the ability of an individual to achieve the objectives that he or she has set or been set. In a managerial and qualitative approach, performance has three ideas¹³ (Jacquet, 2011).

The first considers it as a result, which represents the “level of achievement of objectives”. The second as an action, which implies an actual production, thus a process. And finally the third considers success, as an attribute of performance. Performance is a polysemous, complex and difficult to define concept which has evolved strongly with management theories. Its definition may differ from one author to another but generally it revolves around the notion of effectiveness and efficiency.

The individual context of performance indicates the results that an employee has brought to the company in comparison to other employees. Individual performance can result from trust at work, organisational justice as well as organisational supports or hierarchical relationships. Well-being at work has a positive effect on an individual’s performance because on the one hand it improves the individual’s image of his or her work and on the other hand it gives him or her an obligation to do the job.

Work performance refers to what people do at work, to the action itself. Hackman and Oldham’s (1976) model adequately represents the positive influence between workplace factors and performance. This model assumes that work characteristics have an impact on psychological health, which in turn has consequences for personal and professional outcomes. The human relations school by Mayo, Maslow, McGregor and Likert (1920-1970) believes that the achievement of economic and financial objectives must involve the satisfaction of staff needs.

These different theories will support the field verification of the hypothesis assuming that professional fulfilment has a strong impact on the performance of employees, as the research methodology here follows a hypothetico-deductive approach. The dissertation methodology is defined as the set of methods adopted to ensure the completion of the research work. Indeed, quality work requires the use of various techniques and methods. As a reminder, the literature review provides theoretical knowledge on the different concepts of the topic. This knowledge is then deepened through an exploratory qualitative study. This stage facilitates the formulation of the hypotheses to lead to the design of the theoretical model. The subsequent quantitative study is based on structural equation models. It aims to test the theoretical model in relation to the hypotheses by testing the psychometric qualities and dimensionalities of the measurement scale. The statistical analysis of the results of an opinion survey of a sample of 250 employees chosen according to the simple random probabilistic method, allows for a better understanding and identification of their experiences in the workplace concerning their fulfilment and their level of performance.

The results presented will firstly concern employees’ perception of the degree of self-realisation and then their level of performance at work. These analyses will then be used to verify the dependence between the two variables.

The following analyses attempt to demonstrate a direct relationship between the two variables.

The hypothesis suggests a strong relationship between Self-actualisation in the work environment and the Performance achieved. The results obtained validate this idea in view of the significant and positive concordance attested at the level of variances (Table 14). In addition, the relationship with the respective Individual Performance dimensions tells us more (Table 13). This result is supported

Source: Authors, 2021.

**La corrélation est significative au niveau 0.01 (bilatéral). Source: Authors, 2021.

by Cropanzano and Wright (1999); Judge et al. (2002) who believe that the employee’s work psychology influences his performance. Self-actualisation is based on how the employee feels.

The Pearson correlation highlights the most related dimensions (see Table 13). A strong relationship exists between the feeling of competence and productivity amounting to 49.1%. Employees find satisfaction in mastering their tasks and areas. They gain a sense of self-esteem that reduces the burden and obligation of work. According to the theory of self-determination, the feeling of competence is one of the basic psychological needs of human beings. However, this theory considers intrinsic motivation as an intermediate variable before arriving at behavioural consequences. Furthermore, there is considerable evidence (Barrick et al., 2001) that people with emotional stability and uprightness are predisposed to perform well in any occupational group.

Furthermore, 47.2% of the willingness to commit is linked to the desire to improve one’s work (see Table 13). It is clear that there are initiatives, voluntary actions towards the projects awarded when these correspond to the field of personal interest. Thus, the positive and significant result between Recognition and improvement is evident (32.5%).

The significance of Recognition with Productivity at 45.4% supports this (see

Source: Authors, 2021. ***means that the dependency is very significant.

Table 13). The more recognition actions are demonstrated towards the employee, the more likely he/she is to make efforts to be productive. Brun and Dugas (2005) confirm this by stressing the importance of quality time and availability that the immediate superior must show, even to employees who are already performing well on a daily basis¹⁴.

The Pearson correlation table in Table 13 shows that, in general, all dimensions of self-actualisation and all dimensions of the Performance variable are positively correlated.

The significance values are all equal to 0.000 < 0.005. The strength of the relationships ranges from 0.325 to 0.491. It is found that the strongest relationship is 49.1% between the feeling of competence and Productivity. The weakest but not least important relationship is between Recognition and Development.

Table 14 shows the statistical tests to verify the hypothesis, with the Coefficients Ratio (CR) being greater than 1.96. The null hypothesis (H0) assumes that there is no relationship between the two variables at the 5% significance level (P).

The result shows a Coefficient Ratio of 2.99 ≥ 1.96 and a Probability of 0.000 ≥ 0.05 which is associated with a p-value of 0.0001. Therefore, there is a positive and significant effect of Self-realization on Work Performance.

With the objective of analysing the effect of employee self-realisation on work performance, this research was based on the results of surveys of a sample of 250 employees. At the end of the analyses, the hypothesis that employee self-actualisation impacts on job performance was verified. It was found that recognition and a sense of competence had a significant and positive effect on productivity, and that commitment to work had a positive effect on job persistence. However, it should be noted that this statement is limited in time due to the possibility of changes in the components of well-being and their subsequent influence on performance.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Randrianasolo, J. de D., Andrianarizaka, M. T., Randriamiharisoa, M. A., & Rasoamparany, J. M. H. (2022). Effect of an Individual’s Self-Realisation on Work Performance. Modern Economy, 13, 116-129. https://doi.org/10.4236/me.2022.132008

Source: Authors, 2021.