“I want to leave, but there is nowhere to go”

Abstract

Purpose Limited research has explored the behavioural tendencies of reluctant stayers. This study aims to expand research here to explain how employees who are victims of abusive supervision behave when they intend to leave but are unable to because of limited job alternatives. This study postulates that employees who are victims of abusive supervision are more likely to develop intentions to leave their job. Abusive supervision is expected to indirectly spur workplace deviance, with turnover intentions as the mediator. Further, the availability of job alternatives is expected to moderate the relationship between turnover intentions and workplace deviance, thereby forming a moderated-mediation model. Design/methodology/approach Employee data were collected from 228 frontline employees within the banking sector of Trinidad, using a two-wave research design. A path-analytic approach was used to test the research relationships. Findings The findings provided support for the propositions that abusive supervision predicts turnover intentions, that turnover intentions mediate the abusive supervision – workplace deviance relationship, and that the availability of job alternatives moderate the relationship between turnover intentions and workplace deviance. Originality/value This study addresses a clear research gap, as no study has examined how employees who are victims of abusive supervision behave when they intend to leave but are unable to because of limited job alternatives. In fact, few studies have explored the behaviour of reluctant stayers and the moderating role of job alternatives in the behaviours of such stayers.

Abusive supervision, supervisor undermining, and turnover intentions: mediation of quiescent silence and desire to seek revenge among Thai banking frontliners

“…Existing studies mainly represent a traditional perspective based on SET that negative behavior is reciprocated with another equally aggressive negative attitude (Park et al, 2019). It is empirically demonstrated that abusive supervision arouses a desire to leave the organization that we believe can be replicated with a desire to seek revenge from supervisors (Singh, 2019). Thus, we hypothesize:…”

Examining the impact of abusive supervision on employees’ psychological wellbeing and turnover intention: The mediating role of intrinsic motivation

“…All the more critically, Ahmad and Begum (2020) performed research in the banking sector, their exploration found that abusive supervision has both immediate and aberrant effect on the expectation to leave with the end goal that emotional exhaustion reinforces this relationship. In spite of the fact that Singh (2019) hypothesizes those workers who are casualties of abusive supervision are bound to create aims to find employment elsewhere. As indicated by Wu et al (2020) analyzed solitary wolf inclinations mitigate the principle antagonistic effect of oppressive management on moral personality and the aberrant impact of harsh oversight on authoritative and relational abnormality through good character.…”

Can you be a follower even when you do not follow the leader? Yes, you can

“…When followers are not aligned and do not want to comply, they can opt to resist or leave. When leaving the organisation is not possible (Hom et al, 2012; Sheridan et al, 2019), followers are known to display deviant behaviours (Singh, 2019). There are two main forms or workplace deviance: organisational and interpersonal (Bennett and Robinson, 2000).…”

“…Hom et al, 2012). Reluctant stayers were recently found to show more dysfunctional behaviours such as workplace deviance (Singh, 2019). Overall, these findings suggest that followers who simultaneously display resistant behaviours and experience low levels of turnover intentions probably match ‘resistant identity’ and thus are striving to build an alternative (Collinson, 2006).…”