Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-wtssw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-07T22:41:56.902Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Linking workplace social support to turnover intention through job embeddedness and work meaningfulness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2022

Decha Dechawatanapaisal*
Affiliation:
Department of Commerce, Chulalongkorn Business School, Chulalongkorn University, Phayathai Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok, Thailand
*
Author for correspondence: Decha Dechawatanapaisal, E-mail: decha@cbs.chula.ac.th

Abstract

This research examines the impacts of workplace social support, namely organizational support, supervisory support, and co-worker support on job embeddedness, and whether these effects are moderated by work meaningfulness. Using a conditional process model, the current study also investigates how the relationship between workplace social support and turnover intention, mediated by job embeddedness, is affected by the moderator. Data were collected from 1,137 shared service employees in Thailand. Empirical results indicate that job embeddedness mediates the links between perceived organizational support as well as perceived co-worker support and intention to leave, and that work meaningfulness reduces employees' turnover intention by reinforcing the impacts of perceived supervisory support and perceived co-worker support on job embeddedness. The findings contribute to job embeddedness literature by describing moderated mediation mechanisms, through which social supportive constituents affect turnover intention, and guide practitioners by applying an integrated model of organizational practices in managing human resources.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aiken, L., & West, S. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Akgunduz, Y., & Sanli, S. C. (2017). The effect of employee advocacy and perceived organizational support on job embeddedness and turnover intention in hotels. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 31, 118125. doi: 10.1016/j.jhtm.2016.12.002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allan, B. A., Batz-Barbarich, C., Sterling, H. M., & Tay, L. (2019). Outcomes of meaningful work: A meta-analysis. Journal of Management Studies, 56(3), 500528. doi: 10.1111/joms.12406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allan, B. A., Douglass, R. P., Duffy, R. D., & McCarty, R. J. (2016). Meaningful work as a moderator of the relation between work stress and meaning in life. Journal of Career Assessment, 24(3), 429440. doi: 10.1177/1069072715599357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, J. C., & Gerbing, D. W. (1988). Structural equation modeling in practice: A review and recommended two-step approach. Psychological Bulletin, 103(3), 411423. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bagozzi, R. P., & Yi, Y. (1988). On the evaluation of structural equation models. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 16(1), 7494. doi: 10.1007/BF02723327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, C., Yeoman, R., Madden, A., Thompson, M., & Kerridge, G. (2019). A review of the empirical literature on meaningful work: Progress and research agenda. Human Resource Development Review, 18(1), 83113. doi: 10.1177/1534484318804653.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bambacas, M., & Kulik, C. T. (2013). Job embeddedness in China: How HR practices impact turnover intentions. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(10), 19331952. doi: 10.1080/09585192.2012.725074.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Both-Nwabuwe, J. M. C., Dijkstra, M. T. M., & Beersma, B. (2017). Sweeping the floor or putting a man on the moon: How to define and measure meaningful work. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1658. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01658.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brislin, R.W. (1980). Translation and content analysis of oral and written material. In Triandis, H. C. & Berry, J. W. (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology: Methodology (pp. 389444). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Carton, A. M. (2018). I'm not mopping the floors, I'm putting a man on the moon: How NASA leaders enhanced the meaningfulness of work by changing the meaning of work. Administrative Science Quarterly, 63(2), 323369. doi: 10.1177/0001839217713748.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. London, UK: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Colarelli, S. M. (1984). Methods of communication and mediating processes in realistic job previews. Journal of Applied Psychology, 69(4), 633642. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.69.4.633.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, M. S., Bruch, H., & Vogel, B. (2006). Emotion as mediators of the relations between perceived supervisor support and psychological hardiness on employee cynicism. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27(4), 463484. doi: 10.1002/job.381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crossley, C. D., Bennett, R. J., Jex, S. M., & Burnfield, J. L. (2007). Development of a global measure of job embeddedness and integration into a traditional model of voluntary turnover. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 10311042. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.92.4.1031.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dalal, R. S., Bhave, D. P., & Fiset, J. (2014). Within-person variability in job performance: A theoretical review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 40(5), 13961436. doi: 10.1177/0149206314532691.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dechawatanapaisal, D. (2017). The mediating role of organizational embeddedness on the relationship between quality of work life and turnover: Perspectives from healthcare professionals. International Journal of Manpower, 38(5), 696711. doi: 10.1108/IJM-12-2015-0205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S., & Sowa, D. (1986). Perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 500507. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.71.3.500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberger, R., & Stinglhamber, F. (2011). Perceived organizational support: Fostering enthusiastic and productive employees. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberger, R., Stinglhamber, F., Vandenberghe, C., Sucharski, I. L., & Rhoades, L. (2002). Perceived supervisor support: Contributions to perceived organizational support and employee retention. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), 565573. doi: 10.1037//0021-9010.87.3.565.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Engebritson, L. (2019). Bringing a strategic focus to retention. Retrieved from https://www.ssonetwork.com/human-resources/analytics-workbooks/bringing-a-strategic-focus-to-retention.Google Scholar
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: Algebra and statistics. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(3), 3950. doi: 10.2307/3151312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghosh, D., & Gurunathan, L. (2015). Job embeddedness: A ten-year literature review and proposed guidelines. Global Business Review, 16(5), 856866. doi: 10.1177/0972150915591652.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, S., Adler, H., Day, J., & Sydnord, S. (2019). Perceived supervisor support: A study of select-service hotel employees. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 38, 8290. doi: 10.1016/j.jhtm.2018.12.002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haider, S., Jabeen, S., & Ahmad, J. (2018). Moderated mediation between work life balance and employee job performance: The role of psychological wellbeing and satisfaction with coworkers. Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 34(1), 2937. doi: 10.5093/jwop2018a4.Google Scholar
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Halbesleben, J. R. B., Neveu, J. P., Paustian-Underdahl, S. C., & Westman, M. (2014). Getting to the ‘COR’: Understanding the role of resources in conservation of resources theory. Journal of Management, 40(5), 13341364. doi: 10.1177/0149206314527130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halbesleben, J. R. B., & Wheeler, A. R. (2015). To invest or not? The role of coworker support and trust in daily reciprocal gain spirals of helping behavior. Journal of Management, 41(6), 16281650. doi: 10.1177/0149206312455246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, K. J., Kacmar, K., & Zivnuska, S. (2007). An investigation of abusive supervision as a predictor of performance and the meaning of work as a moderator of the relationship. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(3), 252263. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.03.007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, K. J., Wheeler, A. R., & Kacmar, K. M. (2011). The mediating role of organizational job embeddedness in the LMX–outcomes relationships. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(2), 271281. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.02.003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis. New York: Guildford Press.Google Scholar
Hirschi, A. (2012). Callings and work engagement: Moderated mediation model of work meaningfulness, occupational identity, and occupational self-efficacy. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59(3), 479485. doi: 10.1037/a0028949.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hobfoll, S. E. (2001). The influence of culture, community, and the nested self in the stress process: Advancing conservation of resources theory. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 50(3), 337370. doi: 10.1111/1464-0597.00062.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobfoll, S. E., Halbesleben, J., Neveu, J., & Westman, M. (2018). Conservation of resources in the organizational context: The reality of resources and their consequences. The Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 5, 103128. doi: 10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104640.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 155. doi: 10.1080/10705519909540118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, T., Lawler, J., & Lei, C. (2007). The effects of quality of work life on commitment and turnover intention. Social Behavior and Personality, 35(6), 735750. doi: 10.2224/sbp.2007.35.6.735.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jiang, L., & Johnson, M. J. (2018). Meaningful work and affective commitment: A moderated mediation model of positive work reflection. Journal of Business Psychology, 33(4), 545558. doi: 10.1007/s10869-017-9509-6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karatepe, O. M. (2012). The effects of coworker and perceived organizational support on hotel employee outcomes: The moderating role of job embeddedness. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 36(4), 495516. doi: 10.1177/1096348011413592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiazad, K., Holtom, B. C., Hom, P. W., & Newman, A. (2015). Job embeddedness: A multifoci theoretical extension. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(3), 641659. doi: 10.1037/a0038919.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, H. J., Hur, W. M., Moon, T. W., & Jun, J. K. (2017). Is all support equal? The moderating effects of supervisor, coworker, and organizational support on the link between emotional labor and job performance. Business Research Quarterly, 20(2), 124136. doi: 10.1016/j.brq.2016.11.002.Google Scholar
Kossek, E. E., Pichler, S., Bodner, T., & Hammer, L. B. (2011). Workplace social support and work–family conflict: A meta-analysis clarifying the influence of general and work–family-specific supervisor and organizational support. Personnel Psychology, 64(2), 289313. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6570.2011.01211.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kristof-Brown, A. (2015). Person–environment interaction. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 11, 1. doi: 10.1002/9781118785317.weom110212.Google Scholar
Kurtessis, J., Eisenberger, R., Ford, M. T., Buffardi, L. C., Stewart, K. A., & Adis, C. S. (2015). Perceived organizational support: A meta-analytic evaluation of organizational support theory. Journal of Management, 43(6), 18541884. doi: 10.1177/0149206315575554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leavy, R. L. (1983). Social support and psychological disorder: A review. Journal of Community Psychology, 11(1), 321. doi: 10.1002/1520-6629.3.0.CO;2-E>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lips-Wiersma, M., & Wright, S. (2012). Measuring the meaning of meaningful work: Development and validation of the Comprehensive Meaningful Work Scale (CMWS). Group and Organization Management, 37(5), 655685. doi: 10.1177/1059601112461578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lysova, E. I., Allan, B. A., Dik, B. J., Duffy, R. D., & Steger, M. F. (2019). Fostering meaningful work in organizations: A multi-level review and integration. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110(Part B), 374389. doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2018.07.004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacKinnon, D. P., Lockwood, C. M., & Williams, J. (2004). Confidence limits for the indirect effect: Distribution of the product and resampling methods. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39, 99128. doi: 10.1207/s15327906mbr3901_4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mai, K. M., Ellis, A. P. J., Christian, J. S., & Porter, C. O. L. H. (2016). Examining the effects of turnover intention on organizational citizenship behaviors and deviance behaviors: A psychological contract approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(8), 10671081. doi: 10.1037/apl0000115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marchand, C., & Vandenberghe, C. (2016). Perceived organizational support, emotional exhaustion, and turnover: The moderating role of negative affectivity. International Journal of Stress Management, 23(4), 350375. doi: 10.1037/str0000020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martela, F., & Pessi, A. B. (2018). Significant work is about self-realization and broader purpose: Defining the key dimensions of meaningful work. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 363. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
May, D. R., Gilson, R. L., & Harter, L. M. (2004). The psychological conditions of meaningfulness, safety, and availability and the engagement of the human spirit at work. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 77(1), 1137. doi: 10.1348/096317904322915892.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellor, S. (1992). The influence of layoff severity on post layoff union commitment among survivors: The moderating effect of the perceived legitimacy of a layoff account. Personnel Psychology, 45(3), 579600. doi: 10.1111/j.1744-6570.1992.tb00861.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, T. R., Holtom, B. C., Lee, T. W., Sablynski, C. J., & Erez, M. (2001). Why people stay: Using organizational embeddedness to predict voluntary turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 44(6), 11021121. doi: 10.2307/3069391.Google Scholar
Nguyen, V., Taylor, G., & Bergiel, E. (2017). Organizational antecedents of job embeddedness. Management Research Review, 40(11), 12161235. doi: 10.1108/MRR-11-2016-0255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2012). Sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. Annual Review of Psychology, 65(1), 539569. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-120710-100452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36(4), 717731. doi: 10.3758/BF03206553.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. (2007). Addressing moderated mediation hypothesis: Theory, methods, and prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 42(1), 185227. doi: 10.1080/00273170701341316.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rhoades, L., & Eisenberger, R. (2002). Perceived organizational support: A review of the literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(4), 698714. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.87.4.698.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosso, B. D., Dekas, K. H., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2010). On the meaning of work: A theoretical integration and review. Research in Organizational Behavior, 30, 91127. doi: 10.1016/j.riob.2010.09.001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singh, B., Shaffer, M. A., & Selvarajan, T. T. (2018). Antecedents of organizational and community embeddedness: The roles of support, psychological safety, and need to belong. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 39(3), 339354. doi: 10.1002/job.2223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steger, M. F., Dik, B. J., & Duffy, R. D. (2012). Measuring meaningful work: The work and meaning inventory (WAMI). Journal of Career Assessment, 20(3), 322337. doi: 10.1177/1069072711436160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stinglhamber, F., & Vandenberghe, C. (2003). Organizations and supervisors as sources of support and targets of commitment: A longitudinal study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 24(3), 251270. doi: 10.1002/job.192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thakur, S. J., & Bhatnagar, J. (2017). Mediator analysis of job embeddedness: Relationship between work–life balance practices and turnover intentions. Employee Relations, 39(5), 718731. doi: 10.1108/ER-11-2016-0223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wirtz, J., & Jerger, C. (2016). Managing service employees: Literature review, expert opinions, and research directions. The Service Industries Journal, 36(15–16), 757788. doi: 10.1080/02642069.2016.1278432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, T., Lei, R., Jin, X., Li, Y., Sun, Y., & Deng, J. (2019). Supervisor support, coworker support and presenteeism among healthcare workers in China: The mediating role of distributive justice. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(5), 817. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16050817.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhang, M., Fried, D. D., & Griffeth, R. W. (2012). A review of job embeddedness: Conceptual, measurement issues, and directions for future research. Human Resource Management Review, 22(3), 220231. doi: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2012.02.004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar