The mediating role of job stress on the relationship between job satisfaction facets and turnover intention of the construction professionals

Abstract

PurposeThe present study examines the mediating role of job stress on the relationship between job satisfaction facets and turnover intention of the construction project professionals in Sri Lanka.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered from a cross-sectional survey of 274 project-level employees of 10 construction organizations in Sri Lanka. A path analytical model is developed to assess the research hypotheses.FindingsResults support the mediation model of job stress, in which satisfaction with supervision and job security directly contributed to a reduction in stress levels, which in turn lessened the turnover intention. Full mediation is observed from supervision, and partial mediation is observed from job security. Satisfaction with pay and co-workers directly predicted a decline in turnover intention. Contrary to the authors’ expectations, the authors could not find any significant effect from promotion to job stress and promotion to turnover intention. The results further illustrated that demographic variables, i.e. gender, age and organization tenure play a role in determining employees’ stress levels.Originality/valueIn identifying how job satisfaction facets, job stress and turnover intention are linked together, the present study added the mediating role of job stress to the previous empirical research on the relationship between job satisfaction facets and turnover intention.

Role Conflict Related Job Stress among Construction Project Professionals: The Moderating Role of Age and Organization Tenure

“…Some of these detrimental effects are empirically validated in the construction literature itself. Dodanwala and Santoso (2021) evaluated the link between job satisfaction facets, job stress, and turnover intentions of construction project professionals in Sri Lanka and concluded that job stress is the most significant variable predicting construction employees' turnover intentions. Besides, studies of Leung, Chan and Olomolaiye (2008), Leung, Yee andDongyu (2011), andLeung, Liang andChan (2017) assessed how workplace stress influences the performance of construction project managers and other construction professionals.…”

“…Age is a conspicuous variable in stress-related studies as prior research has demonstrated that age links to employees' job attitudes and well-being. The literature mainly suggests that older employees tend to report better well-being and more favorable workplace views than younger ones (Ng and Feldman, 2009;Boyas, Wind and Kang, 2012;Dodanwala and Santoso, 2021). This is because younger employees are at a higher risk for adverse outcomes such as job stress as they do not possess the necessary life skills or experience to cope with it.…”

“…Organization tenure refers to the number of years an individual has spent in their present organization (Dodanwala and Santoso, 2021). The literature on organization tenure suggests that the employees are more likely to learn throughout their tenure about new stress coping mechanisms and which coping mechanisms are most appropriate for them in various job scenarios, resulting in better well-being (Frese and Zapf, 1994;Barnes-Farrell, Rumery and Swody, 2002;Bradley, 2007).…”

“…Adverse health conditions such as job stress and burnout are not only related to psychological and physiological illnesses but also related to several organizational factors such as decreased job satisfaction, low organization commitment, diminished performance, high absenteeism, elevated turnover, and greater accident rate (Leung, Chan and Olomolaiye, 2008;Halkos and Bousinakis, 2010;Leung, Chan and Yuen, 2010;Calisir, Gumussoy and Iskin, 2011;Leung, Yee and Dongyu, 2011;Robbins and Judge, 2019;Yukongdi and Shrestha, 2020;Dodanwala and Santoso, 2021;Dodanwala and Shrestha, 2021). Thus, insight into the antecedents of job stress would help mitigate stress and adverse outcomes resulting from stress.…”

“…In addressing the above knowledge gaps, the present study first evaluates the effect of role conflict on the job stress of the project-level construction professionals. Since job stress is a major issue in Sri Lanka's construction industry (De Silva, Samanmali and De Silva, 2017;Senaratne and Rasagopalasingam, 2017;Panojan, Perera and Dilakshan, 2019;Dodanwala and Santoso, 2021), the present study authors focus on collecting data from the project level employees of Sri Lanka's construction industry. Second, the moderating role of age and organization tenure on the relationship between role conflict and job stress is assessed.…”