The associations between organizational social capital, perceived health, and employees' performance in two Dutch companies.

OBJECTIVE To examine the associations between organizational (bonding, bridging, and linking) social capital, employees' health, and employees' performance. METHODS Linear regression on cross-sectional data among 718 employees in two Dutch companies. RESULTS Organizational social capital was significantly associated with perceived health (β = 0.20; P < 0.001) and with emotional exhaustion (β = -0.34; P < 0.001). Both the health indicators, in turn, were associated with absenteeism, presenteeism, and effective personal functioning in the presumed direction, that is, better health was associated with better functioning. Especially, bonding social capital was significantly associated with health (β = 0.14; P < 0.01) and with emotional exhaustion (β = -0.26; P < 0.001). Linking social capital was associated with emotional exhaustion as well (β = -0.09; P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Organizational social capital was found to be a resource for employees' health, with meaningful business implications.