Despite a rapid increase in the work force over the last decade, the social work labor force is still suffering through high amounts of stress and burnout that could negatively affect work engagement and job performance in China. A potential solution worth exploring, however, is the practice of mindfulness, a concept based on expanding one's awareness to target focus without judgement. Using 537 social workers from street-level social work service stations in Guangzhou, China, this paper examines the relation between mindfulness practice and job performance, and whether work engagement mediated the relation through the application of the job demand and resources theory. The findings indicate that that mindfulness practice directly increases work engagement (Beta = 0.33) and has an indirect effect on job performance (Beta = 0.21) through its effect on work engagement that fully mediated the relation between mindfulness practice and job performance. In contrast to formal mindful practices (Beta = 0.13), informal mindful practices (Beta = 0.22) encompass a broader impact on employee performance. The findings suggest that mindfulness practice can effectively be used in workspaces to enhance engagement and performance of social workers in China.
Keywords: job demands; job performance; mindfulness practice; social workers; work engagement.