The curvilinear effect of work engagement on employees' turnover intentions

Abstract

Numerous studies have shown the positive consequences of work engagement for both organisations and employees experiencing it. For instance, research has demonstrated that work-engaged employees have lower levels of turnover intentions than non-engaged employees. However, in this research, we examined whether there is a dark side of work engagement. More precisely, we investigated whether the relationship between work engagement and employees' turnover intentions might be non-linear. Based on two different samples, our results indicated that the relationship between work engagement and employees' turnover intentions is curvilinear. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

A Framework of Research and Practice: Relationship between Work Engagement, Affective Commitment, and Turnover Intentions

“…3) Absorption is "the state in which one is fully concentrated in his/her work; employees feel that time flies when working and have difficulties with detaching from working." In reference to Caesens, Stinglhamber & Marmier (2016) [14], it states that if an organization provides valued resources to employees, it would foster the motivational process and the result would be that employees would be less inclined to leave their organization (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004 [15]). …”

Fulfillment of the employee psychological contract in a healthcare system: Does it drive employee engagement and reduce turnover intention?

“…The existing literature defining the causes of PCF in the workplace (Rodwell, Ellershaw, & Flower, 2015) and the reasons for the high rate of voluntary employee turnover (Memon, Salleh, & Baharom, 2016) has been insufficient. Study results were consistent with the findings of Caesens et al (2016) and of Kasekende (2017), although their studies were not based exclusively on healthcare employee perceptions. No other studies were identified which evaluated the influence of PCF on employee engagement and turnover intention outcomes in a healthcare setting.…”

“…High-performance organizations provide professional development for their employees to drive motivation and enhance skills (Ma & Chang, 2013). Adopting HRM practices that foster employee engagement has been beneficial to organizations (Caesens, Stinglhamber, & Marmier, 2016). Best-in-class employers must be proactive in benchmarking and communicating their practices so that employees perceive them as differentiators as opposed to what competitors offer (Gardner et al, 2015).…”

“…Excessively high employee engagement, although no specific measure exists for it, was not beneficial to turnover intention. Caesens et al (2016) challenged the assumption that employees who were strongly engaged would not consider leaving their organizations; these researchers have determined that excessive employee engagement does not heighten a reduction in turnover intention.…”

“…Organizations whose employees are engaged "have greater profitability, shareholder returns, productivity, and customer satisfaction" (Memon et al, 2018, p. 408). Employees are motivated by receiving rewards, which in turn increases engagement and reduces turnover intention (Caesens et al, 2016;Kasekende, 2017). In one study, "sixty-six percent of highly engaged employees reported .…”