IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i15p8939-d869562.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Proposing a Robust Model to Reduce Employees’ Turnover Intentions in an Ethical Leadership Framework: Empirical Evidence from the Healthcare Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Qiangzhen Jian

    (Wuhan Institute of Development Strategy, Wuhan 430070, China)

  • Xiuting Wang

    (School of Management, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China)

  • Hisham Mohammad Al-Smadi

    (Department of Financial and Administrative Sciences, Ajloun College, AL-Balqa Applied University, Ajloun 26816, Jordan)

  • Aamer Waheed

    (Department of Management Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Islamabad 44000, Pakistan)

  • Alina Badulescu

    (Department of Economics and Business, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania)

  • Sarminah Samad

    (Department of Business Administration, College of Business and Administration, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Employee turnover is expensive and disruptive for an organization. Studies have already mentioned that the economic cost of turnover is huge, ranging from 90% to 200% of the existing employee’s salary. With an increase in turnover rate, the social fabric of an enterprise may be disrupted. Additionally, organizations with an increasing turnover are expected to lose intangible knowledge and skills, operational effectiveness, customer satisfaction, and product or service quality. In a healthcare context, an increasing turnover rate has more consequences than other sectors because the healthcare sector worldwide is already identified as a sector facing resource scarcity. Exacerbating the situation, current evidence suggests that employee turnover has been increasing globally in the healthcare sector. The literature suggests that an ethical leadership style may reduce employees’ likelihood of quitting an organization. However, such literature is sparse in healthcare, especially from the perspective of a developing economy in the Global South, which is more resource-deficient than the Global North. To fill this knowledge gap, this study investigates the relationship between ethical leadership style and turnover intentions in the healthcare context of the Global South. This study also tests the mediating effect of intrinsic motivation and psychological contract fulfillment in the above-proposed relationship. Furthermore, the conditional indirect effect of resilience is also tested. The data are collected from the hospital employees through a self-administered questionnaire. The hypothesized relationships are tested through structural equation modeling. The empirical evidence indicates that ethical leadership reduces employees’ turnover intentions significantly. The results further confirm the mediating and moderating effects of intrinsic motivation, psychological contract fulfillment, and resilience. These results have different theoretical and practical implications for the healthcare sector. The results especially highlight the role of ethical leaders in a hospital to deal with the challenge of turnover, which has been rising worldwide.

Suggested Citation

  • Qiangzhen Jian & Xiuting Wang & Hisham Mohammad Al-Smadi & Aamer Waheed & Alina Badulescu & Sarminah Samad, 2022. "Proposing a Robust Model to Reduce Employees’ Turnover Intentions in an Ethical Leadership Framework: Empirical Evidence from the Healthcare Sector," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-20, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:8939-:d:869562
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/8939/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/8939/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Boas Shamir & Robert J. House & Michael B. Arthur, 1993. "The Motivational Effects of Charismatic Leadership: A Self-Concept Based Theory," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 4(4), pages 577-594, November.
    2. Naveed Ahmad & Asif Mahmood & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Heesup Han & Felipe Hernández-Perlines & Luis Araya-Castillo & Miklas Scholz, 2021. "Sustainable Businesses Speak to the Heart of Consumers: Looking at Sustainability with a Marketing Lens to Reap Banking Consumers’ Loyalty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-16, March.
    3. Kanwal Hussain & Zuhair Abbas & Saba Gulzar & Abdul Bashiru Jibril & Altaf Hussain, 2020. "Examining the impact of abusive supervision on employees’ psychological wellbeing and turnover intention: The mediating role of intrinsic motivation," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 1818998-181, January.
    4. Tu Yidong & Lu Xinxin, 2013. "How Ethical Leadership Influence Employees’ Innovative Work Behavior: A Perspective of Intrinsic Motivation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(2), pages 441-455, August.
    5. Shubo Liu & Qianlin ZHU & Feng Wei, 2019. "How Abusive Supervision Affects Employees’ Unethical Behaviors: A Moderated Mediation Examination of Turnover Intentions and Caring Climate," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-14, October.
    6. Brown, Michael E. & Trevino, Linda K. & Harrison, David A., 2005. "Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 117-134, July.
    7. Oumou Salama Daouda & Mounia N Hocine & Laura Temime, 2021. "Determinants of healthcare worker turnover in intensive care units: A micro-macro multilevel analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(5), pages 1-13, May.
    8. Maria Saleem & Faisal Qadeer & Faisal Mahmood & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Heesup Han, 2020. "Ethical Leadership and Employee Green Behavior: A Multilevel Moderated Mediation Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-16, April.
    9. Yuwei Deng & Jacob Cherian & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Sarminah Samad, 2022. "Conceptualizing the Role of Target-Specific Environmental Transformational Leadership between Corporate Social Responsibility and Pro-Environmental Behaviors of Hospital Employees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-15, March.
    10. Rizwan Qaisar Danish & Shahid Hafeez & Hafiz Fawad Ali & Ahmad Muneeb Mehta & Muhammad Bilal Ahmad & Muhammad Ali, 2020. "Impact of Ethical Leadership on Organizational Commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behavior with Mediating role of Intrinsic Motivation," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 10(4), pages 25-30.
    11. Brown, Michael E. & Mitchell, Marie S., 2010. "Ethical and Unethical Leadership: Exploring New Avenues for Future Research," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(4), pages 583-616, October.
    12. Jie Feng & Yucheng Zhang & Xinmei Liu & Long Zhang & Xiao Han, 2018. "Just the Right Amount of Ethics Inspires Creativity: A Cross-Level Investigation of Ethical Leadership, Intrinsic Motivation, and Employee Creativity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 645-658, December.
    13. Kenneth De Roeck & Omer Farooq, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Leadership: Investigating Their Interactive Effect on Employees’ Socially Responsible Behaviors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 923-939, September.
    14. Khalil-ur-Rehman & Mohammad Adnan & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Muhammad Khalique & Rana Tahir Naveed & Heesup Han, 2021. "Impact of Substantive Staging and Communicative Staging of Sustainable Servicescape on Behavioral Intentions of Hotel Customers through Overall Perceived Image: A Case of Boutique Hotels," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-17, August.
    15. Michael Palanski & James Avey & Napatsorn Jiraporn, 2014. "The Effects of Ethical Leadership and Abusive Supervision on Job Search Behaviors in the Turnover Process," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(1), pages 135-146, April.
    16. Shuchi Gupta & Nishad Nawaz & Abhishek Tripathi & Saqib Muneer & Naveed Ahmad, 2021. "Using Social Media as a Medium for CSR Communication, to Induce Consumer–Brand Relationship in the Banking Sector of a Developing Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-16, March.
    17. Hua Yu & Muhammad Salman Shabbir & Naveed Ahmad & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Alejandro Vega-Muñoz & Heesup Han & Miklas Scholz & Muhammad Safdar Sial, 2021. "A Contemporary Issue of Micro-Foundation of CSR, Employee Pro-Environmental Behavior, and Environmental Performance toward Energy Saving, Carbon Emission Reduction, and Recycling," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-15, May.
    18. Zia Ullah & Nighat Akbar Shah & Sonia Shamroz Khan & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz, 2021. "Mapping Institutional Interventions to Mitigate Suicides: A Study of Causes and Prevention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-16, October.
    19. Imran Shafique & Masood N. Kalyar & Bashir Ahmad, 2018. "The Nexus of Ethical Leadership, Job Performance, and Turnover Intention: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction," Interdisciplinary Description of Complex Systems - scientific journal, Croatian Interdisciplinary Society Provider Homepage: http://indecs.eu, vol. 16(1), pages 71-87.
    20. Qinghua Fu & Jacob Cherian & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite, 2022. "An Inclusive Leadership Framework to Foster Employee Creativity in the Healthcare Sector: The Role of Psychological Safety and Polychronicity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-13, April.
    21. Dianxi Zhang & Asif Mahmood & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Alejandro Vega-Muñoz & Naveed Ahmad & Heesup Han & Muhammad Safdar Sial, 2021. "Exploring the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Communication through Social Media on Banking Customer E-WOM and Loyalty in Times of Crisis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-14, April.
    22. Tahira Alam & Zia Ullah & Fatima Saleh AlDhaen & Esra AlDhaen & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz, 2021. "Towards Explaining Knowledge Hiding through Relationship Conflict, Frustration, and Irritability: The Case of Public Sector Teaching Hospitals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-15, November.
    23. Tymon Jr., Walter G. & Stumpf, Stephen A. & Doh, Jonathan P., 2010. "Exploring talent management in India: The neglected role of intrinsic rewards," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 109-121, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huan Zhang & Khaoula Omhand & Huaizheng Li & Aqeel Ahmad & Sarminah Samad & Darie Gavrilut & Daniel Badulescu, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Energy-Related Pro-Environmental Behaviour of Employees in Hospitality Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Jinyong Chen & Wafa Ghardallou & Ubaldo Comite & Naveed Ahmad & Hyungseo Bobby Ryu & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Heesup Han, 2022. "Managing Hospital Employees’ Burnout through Transformational Leadership: The Role of Resilience, Role Clarity, and Intrinsic Motivation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-23, September.
    3. Yushan Wu & Qinghua Fu & Sher Akbar & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite & Mirela Bucurean & Alina Badulescu, 2022. "Reducing Healthcare Employees’ Burnout through Ethical Leadership: The Role of Altruism and Motivation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-17, October.
    4. Ying Xu & Diao Jie & Hongyu Wu & Xiaolu Shi & Daniel Badulescu & Sher Akbar & Alina Badulescu, 2022. "Reducing Employee Turnover Intentions in Tourism and Hospitality Sector: The Mediating Effect of Quality of Work Life and Intrinsic Motivation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-18, September.
    5. Junjie Peng & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite & Naveed Ahmad & Heesup Han & Antonio Ariza-Montes & Alejandro Vega-Muñoz, 2022. "Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership and Employees’ Energy-Specific Pro-Environmental Behavior: Evidence from Healthcare Sector of a Developing Economy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-16, June.
    6. Yushan Wu & Rita Yi Man Li & Sher Akbar & Qinghua Fu & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite, 2022. "The Effectiveness of Humble Leadership to Mitigate Employee Burnout in the Healthcare Sector: A Structural Equation Model Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-20, October.
    7. Qinghua Fu & Jacob Cherian & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite, 2022. "An Inclusive Leadership Framework to Foster Employee Creativity in the Healthcare Sector: The Role of Psychological Safety and Polychronicity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-13, April.
    8. Zhen Wang & Lu Xing & Haoying Xu & Sean T. Hannah, 2021. "Not All Followers Socially Learn from Ethical Leaders: The Roles of Followers’ Moral Identity and Leader Identification in the Ethical Leadership Process," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 449-469, May.
    9. Yuwei Deng & Jacob Cherian & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Sarminah Samad, 2022. "Conceptualizing the Role of Target-Specific Environmental Transformational Leadership between Corporate Social Responsibility and Pro-Environmental Behaviors of Hospital Employees," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-15, March.
    10. Cao, Peng & Sial, Muhammad Safdar & Ã lvarez-Otero, Susana & Brugni, Talles Vianna & Comite, Ubaldo, 2024. "Eco-engagement: Tracing CSR communication's ripple effect on consumer hospitality loyalty," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Congying Liu & Lupin Chen & Muhammad Hassan Arshad, 2024. "Navigating the Digital Divide for Sustainability: Emotional and Cognitive Pathways to Food Waste Reduction Through Social Media Advertising," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-23, November.
    12. Emmanuel Osafo & Amy Paros & Robert M. Yawson, 2021. "Valence–Instrumentality–Expectancy Model of Motivation as an Alternative Model for Examining Ethical Leadership Behaviors," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.
    13. Constandt, Bram & Parent, Milena M. & Willem, Annick, 2020. "Does it really matter? A study on soccer fans’ perceptions of ethical leadership and their role as “stakeowners”," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 374-386.
    14. Kalra, Ashish & Briggs, Elten & Schrock, Wyatt, 2023. "Exploring the synergistic role of ethical leadership and sales control systems on salesperson social media use and sales performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    15. Jie Feng & Yucheng Zhang & Xinmei Liu & Long Zhang & Xiao Han, 2018. "Just the Right Amount of Ethics Inspires Creativity: A Cross-Level Investigation of Ethical Leadership, Intrinsic Motivation, and Employee Creativity," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 645-658, December.
    16. Shilong Wei & Muhammad Safdar Sial & Wenxia Zhou & Alina Badulescu & Daniel Badulescu, 2021. "Improving the Environmental Footprint through Employees: A Case of Female Leaders from the Perspective of CSR," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-23, December.
    17. Marzia Di Marcantonio & Ilaria Valentini, 2023. "Etica e leadership nel sistema sanitario italiano: risultati di una ricerca empirica," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2023(126), pages 29-46.
    18. Wei Ma & Rita Yi Man Li & Otilia Manta & Abad Alzuman, 2024. "Balancing Wellbeing and Responsibility: CSR’s Role in Mitigating Burnout in Hospitality under UN-SDGs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-18, April.
    19. Qiang Wu & Jacob Cherian & Sarminah Samad & Ubaldo Comite & Huajie Hu & Stefan B. Gunnlaugsson & Judit Oláh & Muhammad Safdar Sial, 2021. "The Role of CSR and Ethical Leadership to Shape Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior in the Era of Industry 4.0. A Case of the Banking Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-20, August.
    20. Hao Zhou & Xinyi Sheng & Yulin He & Xiaoye Qian, 2020. "Ethical Leadership as the Reliever of Frontline Service Employees’ Emotional Exhaustion: A Moderated Mediation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-13, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:8939-:d:869562. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.