Document Type

Article

Keywords

healthcare; intentions to leave; organizational justice; workplace bullying

Identifier Data

https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-04-2019-0195

Publisher

Emerald Insight

Publication Source

Employee Relations

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships between workplace bullying, organizational justice dimensions and intentions to leave. The authors posit that workplace bullying is positively related to intentions to leave, and that this effect is transmitted through lower justice perceptions.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors surveyed 146 healthcare workers, using factor analysis and the Preacher and Hayes (2008) PROCESS macro to test their hypotheses.

Findings

The study results indicate that workplace bullying is positively associated with intentions to leave. This effect is transmitted through lower entity-based distributive justice perceptions.

Research limitations/implications

The study sample was cross-sectional and collected at a single point in time. Future research should examine these relationships in a longitudinal method.

Practical implications

The study results suggest that when a healthcare worker experiences bullying in the workplace, they begin to perceive their organization as more unfair. These negative feelings toward their organization lead to a desire to permanently separate from the organization. These results suggest that workplace bullying has serious ramifications for turnover, and that healthcare organizations can mitigate these negative effects by increasing perceptions of organizational justice through being transparent about their decisions and the process going into this decision-making.

Originality/value

These findings extend existing research by empirically testing the effects of workplace bullying on intentions to leave within the healthcare industry.

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