The relationships between work-related rumination, employee voice and silence, turnover intention, and job satisfaction in South Africa

Abstract

One can argue that organisations are largely impacted by the unique trademarks and characteristics of the 21st century. Hence it has become increasingly important for organisations to understand and address the issues and influences of the modern, dynamic world of work. Work-related factors, on both a collective and individual level, may consequently have an impact on organisational success and longevity. The complex nature of modern working conditions influences employees in distinct ways and understanding how this happens may contribute to increased levels of employee well-being, improved functioning at work, and more positive organisational outcomes. One of the modern-day challenges may result from the way people choose to engage mentally or emotionally after a typical day's work. Some employees may find it easy to leave work behind, detach themselves from work-related thoughts, and consequently unwind and recover from their day. Others may find themselves still thinking about work, but to a somewhat more functional extent, where thoughts are merely focused on improving their work or finding solutions. Some, however, display more dysfunctional habits and are prone to engage in a process of maladaptive ruminating. This refers to a dysfunctional process of continued negative scrutiny of issues a person has been confronted with at work. Choosing to engage in functional rumination, dysfunctional rumination or complete detachment may further have an impact on whether employees choose to remain silent, or to speak up at work, as a direct product of these ruminative states. The dynamics between these factors can also influence organisations positively or negatively, influencing outcomes such as job satisfaction or turnover intention. A need has been identified to study the dynamics between the different ruminative forms, employee voice behaviour, and organisational outcomes - specifically within the South African context. In this current study, work-related rumination was studied within the three mentioned distinctive forms, namely work-related rumination, problem-solving pondering, and detachment. Furthermore, employee voice and employee silence were also studied as two separate constructs, and the organisational outcomes of job satisfaction and turnover intention were also investigated. Therefore, the general objective of the study was to investigate the relationships between work-related rumination, employee voice, employee silence, turnover intention, and job satisfaction within a sample of South African employees