The effect of toxic leadership on turnover intention and counterproductive work behaviour in Indonesia public organisations

Abstract

PurposeLeadership has been known for its tremendous impact on employees' outcomes in any organisation. Constructive leadership positively impacts employees, while destructive leadership causes counterproductive work behaviours (CWB). This study aims to investigate the effect of toxic leadership on employees' CWB via the role of turnover intention by employing the psychological contract theory.Design/methodology/approachThe participants were recruited using various recruitment methods such as online recruitment and alumni networks. After dropping some participants who failed to complete the three-wave data collection procedure, 457 responses were used for the final data analysis. The participants came from various public organisations in Indonesia (e.g. hospitals).FindingsThe results found that the effect of toxic leadership on employees' CWB was mediated by the role of turnover intention. Under a toxic leader, employees might intend to leave the organisations and commit CWB as the employees perceived the psychological contract breach.Practical implicationsFirstly, public organisations should implement some strategies to reduce the emergence of toxic behaviours. Secondly, public organisations should evaluate and examine how leadership is exercised within public organisations. Lastly, the organisations must ensure that their leaders do not breach employees' psychological contracts.Originality/valueThis study has highlighted the effect of toxic leadership on CWB in public service organisations by employing a psychological contract theory and a power distance perspective.

The impact of role conflict on turnover intention among faculty members: A moderated mediation model of emotional exhaustion and workplace relational conflict

“…One of the most crucial organizational concerns is the possibility of losing talent and potential turnover intention among talented individuals due to their high levels of emotional exhaustion ( Wen et al, 2020 ). The negative consequences of turnover intention for organizations include workforce instability ( Strouse and Reed, 2021 ), productivity reduction ( Newsham et al, 2022 ), counterproductive behavior ( Hattab et al, 2022 ), and cost increases ( Söylemez, 2021 ). However, little attention has been given to the task of understanding the ways in which the impacts of role conflict among faculty members could affect their turnover intention in general or among Saudi faculty members in particular.…”

The Mediating Role of Organizational Anomie in the Relationship between Toxic Leadership and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: An Empirical Study

“…− Research results revealed that the first main hypothesis (H1) which investigates the direct impact of toxic leadership dimensions on counterproductive work behaviors was supported .This result is in line totally with (Gabriel , 2016) , (Younus , et al, 2020) , (Kayani & Alasan, 2021) and (Hattab , et al, 2022) that reflected that toxic leadership dimensions have significant positive direct impact on counterproductive work behaviors where toxic leaders harm both the employees and the organization. These traits of toxic leaders lead to greater negativity among subordinates with increased stressed as they must work extra working hours to reach such goals and bear too much politics to sustain in excessive competition.…”

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Examining Toxic Leadership Nexus With Employee Cyberloafing Behavior via Mediating Role of Emotional Exhaustion

“…A recent meta-analysis on toxic leadership highlighted the need for research to understand the mechanisms behind how and why toxic leadership styles are detrimental to subordinates (Hattab et al, 2022). The study revealed that there have been very few studies on the impact of toxic leadership on employee performance.…”