Effect of the Exposure to Workplace Bullying on Turnover Intention and The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction, Work Engagement, and Burnout

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: One of the great challenges for organizations today is the retention of valuable human resources because this is essential to them for being globally competitive and one of the factors that can exacerbate turnover intention is the exposure to workplace bullying. Purpose: The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the effect of exposure to psychological harassment on the intention to give up employment and how job satisfaction, work engagement and burnout mediate the relationship between exposure to workplace bullying and turnover intention. Method: A cross-sectional/correlational design was used and a total of 1,046 employees were surveyed. We used the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the hypotheses of the study. Results: The results suggest that exposure to workplace bullying has a direct effect on the turnover intention. In addition, it was found that job satisfaction, work engagement and burnout mediated the relationship between exposure to workplace bullying and turnover intention. Discussion: Exposure to workplace bullying can make victims consider giving up their jobs as a form of coping. Employees’ turnover has an extremely high organizational cost in terms of recruiting and training new staff.

Keywords

• Workplace Bullying
• Turnover Intention
• Work Engagement
• Burnout