The mediating role of Emotional Exhaustion between Workplace Bullying and Employee Voice in the Banking Sector

Abstract

Drawing on the Conservation of resources theory, this study tried to establish an empirical relationship between workplace bullying and employee voice with the mediation of Employee emotional exhaustion. This study is quantitative in nature and data was collected from 157 employees from the banking sector of Pakistan. The analysis was done using SPSS-24 and Smart-PLS4 software. The purpose of the study is to stimulate the bullied victims to speak up against this negative act to eradicate it. The study’s findings suggest that a significant relationship exists between workplace bullying and employee voice. The negative act of bullying motivates the victims to speak up against it. The relationship between workplace bullying and emotional exhaustion was also significant. Moreover; the intervening effect of emotional exhaustion motivates victims of bullying to speak up and it shows Partial-mediation. It is recommended that organizations must make a “Zero-tolerance” policy against workplace bullying and relevant measures should be taken. The COR theory holds that people work to get, preserve, and safeguard important resources, which might include not only material possessions but also psychological and social resources. Moreover, limitations and future areas of research have also been discussed.