The mediating effect of exhaustion in the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and turnover intentions: A 4-year longitudinal study from Sweden

Abstract

Objectives Earlier studies suggest that imbalance between effort and reward at work associates with exhaustion. Others have found that exhaustion increases turnover intentions; an important precursor of actual turnover that also associates with counterproductive work behaviors. Few, however, have studied the associations between effort‐reward imbalance (ERI) and employees’ intentions to leave their current employment, and whether exhaustion is underpinning that relationship. Here, we investigate the mediating role of exhaustion in the effort‐reward imbalance – turnover intentions relationship. Methods Data from three waves covering a time span of four years from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH) were analysed using structural equation modeling. Cross‐lagged mediation analyses were conducted to estimate if associations from ERI to subsequent turnover intentions were mediated by exhaustion. Other causal directions (direct and reversed direct effects, reversed mediation) were also examined. Results A direct path from ERI T1 to turnover intentions T2 was found, but not from ERI T2 to turnover intentions T3. Additionally, results showed that ERI at time points T1/T2 associated significantly with exhaustion two years later (T2/T3). Also, exhaustion at T1 showed a small but statistically significant direct association with turnover intentions at T2 (no association was found between exhaustion T2 and turnover intentions T3). A small, but statistically significant indirect effect from ERI to turnover intentions was found (estimate 0.005; 95% CI 0.002‐0.010). Conclusions Providing a good balance between effort and reward for workers is essential to protect employee health and help retain employees in the organization.

Analysis on the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and job satisfaction among family doctors in China: a cross-sectional study

“…The prevalence of ERR value of > 1.0 among worker is widely prevailing, with a prevalence rate from 22.3% to 78.39% [12,16,17]. The ERI model is built on an imbalance between effort and reward caused a state of emotional distress from emotional and psycho-physiological stress reactions, which leads to a decrease in job satisfaction [18,19] and an increase in burnout [20][21][22] and turnover [23], and subsequently results an enormous variety of adverse health outcomes [24][25][26][27][28][29][30].…”

Evaluating effort-reward imbalance among nurses in emergency departments: a cross-sectional study in China

“…Some studies have revealed that ERI is associated with depression, poor health, and cardiovascular diseases [11][12][13]. In addition, it could lead to a decrease in employees' job satisfaction and an increase in turnover intention [4,[14][15][16][17]. Thus, it is necessary to explore the situation of ERI and its related factors among ED nurses.…”

Overbenefitting, underbenefitting, and balanced: Different effort–reward profiles and their relationship with employee well-being, mental health, and job attitudes among young employees

“…Among job attitudes, turnover intention is one of the most prevalent subjects to study in the ERI research. Underbenfitting imbalance has been associated with higher turnover intentions in several studies (e.g., Kinnunen et al, 2008;Derycke et al, 2010;Leineweber et al, 2021). Yet, less is known about the implications of overbenefitting for employees' turnover intentions.…”