The Mediating Role of Emotional Exhaustion in the Relationship of Mindfulness with Turnover Intentions and Job Performance

Abstract

AcknowledgementsThe authors wish to thank Lisa Moynihan posthumously for her contributions in conceptualizing an earlier version of this manuscript. AbstractThe role of mindfulness in the workplace has emerged as a legitimate and growing area of organizational scholarship. The present research examined the role of employee emotional exhaustion in mediating the relationship of mindfulness with turnover intentions and task performance. Drawing on theory and empirical research on both organizational behavior and mindfulness, we predicted that more mindful employees would show lower turnover intentions and higher task performance and that these relationships would be mediated by emotional exhaustion. We tested these hypotheses in two field studies in an Indian context. Study 1 was a field study of call center employees of a multinational organization, an industry in which turnover rates are very high. This study found that mindfulness was associated with lower turnover intentions and less emotional exhaustion, and that emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between mindfulness and turnover intentions. Study 2 replicated these results in a sample of employees based in major Indian cities and drawn from different industries. In addition, it showed that mindfulness was positively related to supervisor-rated task performance, with emotional exhaustion again playing a mediating role. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of our findings, as well as future research directions.

Leader Mindfulness: Well-Being Throughout the Organization

“…With regard to mindfulness training, the question on timing remains: before a crisis, during or after? As discussed, mindfulness is associated with less stress, more job satisfaction, and more engagement (Hyland et al 2015) while also diminishing symptoms of burn-out (Reb et al 2017). Therefore, it can be particularly interesting to use mindfulness as prevention so that attention increases, communication processes improve, and employees can work in a healthy and productive manner.…”

“…The expectation that employees can better cope with stress, focus better, are more creative, and will possibly even help their coworkers more, motivates different organizations to provide mindfulness training (Carter, Tobias, and Spiegelhalter 2016). In this context, mindfulness is often seen as an anti-burnout remedy, especially because of its association with less emotional exhaustion (Reb et al 2017), which is a core element of burnout. Through this association with lower emotional exhaustion, mindfulness has been related to better performance and less intention to quit (Reb et al 2017;Dane and Brummel 2014).…”

“…In this context, mindfulness is often seen as an anti-burnout remedy, especially because of its association with less emotional exhaustion (Reb et al 2017), which is a core element of burnout. Through this association with lower emotional exhaustion, mindfulness has been related to better performance and less intention to quit (Reb et al 2017;Dane and Brummel 2014). Mindfulness also seems to lead to more job satisfaction (Hülsheger et al 2013), better decision making, less stress, and more work engagement (Hyland et al 2015;Karelaia and Reb 2015;Leroy et al 2013).…”

Problem solving and affect as mechanisms linking daily mindfulness to task performance and job satisfaction

“…Previously, mindfulness has been linked to salutary effects via affective mechanisms, including high positive affect or low negative affect (Erisman & Roemer, 2010;Geschwind, Peeters, Drukker & Van Os, 2011), emotion regulation (Coffey & Hartman, 2008;Hill & Updegraff, 2012;Hülsheger et al, 2013;Prakash & Hussain, 2015), reduced emotional reactivity (Hill & Updegraff, 2012), and lower emotional exhaustion (Reb, Narayanan., Chaturvedi, & Ekkirala, 2016). The cognitive factors highlighted as functions of mindfulness include problem solving (Feldman, Hayes, Kumar, Greeson, & Laurenceau, 2007), cognitive performance (Jensen, Vangkilde, Frokjaer & Hasselbalch, 2012;Jha, Stanley, Kiyonaga, Wong, & Gelfand, 2010;Van Vugt & Jha, 2011), and a positive change in cognitive processing (Bieling et al, 2012;Coffey & Hartman, 2008;Erisman & Roemer, 2010).…”

Techno-Stress of Teachers: An Empirical Investigation from China

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that employee exhaustion has an impact on work outcomes and employee turnover, which means employees resigning or changing their employers [10,11].…”