Workplace bullying and employees’ turnover intention in hospitality industry: evidence of Nepal

Abstract

Bullying influence individuals, organizations and society, requiring support for individuals, causing mental stress leading to exhaustion and potential employee turnover. This study examines the effect of workplace bullying on turnover intentions among hotel employees, including emotional exhaustion as mediator. This study includes five star and non-five-star hotel staffs. A sample of 323 hotel employees were considered in convenience for self-administered questionnaires survey. Data analysis and model fit were conducted with SmartPLS 4 and SPSS 24. This study found that workplace bullying sustainably influence turnover intention through emotional exhaustion among hotel employees. This study concludes that workplace bullying is vital in connection with the turnover intention. This shows a bullied employee leave the organisation while emotionally exhausted. Social support, organizational culture or the way the executive leads matters taking it to a positive endeavor.

Keywords:

• Workplace bullying
• employee exhaustion
• employees’ turnover intentions
• hospitality industry
• sustainability

Reviewing Editor:

• Huifen (Helen) Cai, Middlesex University Business School, United Kingdom

Subjects:

• Hotel Management
• The Hospitality Industry
• Hospitality Management

Introduction

Workplace bullying refers to repetitive, systematic and chronic acts of harassment, offense, social exclusion or bad impact on an employee’s performance in the workplace (Einarsen et al., 2020). Workplace bullying is part of a spectrum of inappropriate conduct that ranges from being unpleasant to being violent (Baron & Neuman, 1998). Harassment in the workplace is harmful for both the person being harassed and the company that employs them. Gonzalez-Mulé et al. (2013) noted that as a consequence of bullying in the workplace, both management costs and the rate of employees leaving the company swing up. This makes the organization less productive. Some people call bullying at work ‘emotional abuse at work’ or ‘workplace mobbing’ (Barker et al., 2013). Bullying is something that hurts people, which is why it hurts the performance of an organization when it happens. So, most employees are afraid at work and do not want to talk about their problems with their coworkers or managers (Townend, 2008).

Bullying at work can lead to a bad working environment that makes the victim want to quit (Leymann, 1990). Bullying in the workplace can consequence into mental health related stress (Nielsen & Einarsen, 2012), burnout and emotional exhaustion (Wu & Hu, 2009), emotionally worn-out and drained, accumulated stress (Cafasso, 2019), feeling of tiredess and fatigued excessive job stress or demand (Cropanzano & Wright, 1998), bullied employees will not perform their assigned tasks properly or engage in extra-role behaviors that contribute to the organization’s competitive advantages (Tanova & Nadiri, 2010) and makes things worse for organisations as well (Fay et al., 2014). According to a poll conducted by the United States World Bullying Institute in 2021, 79.3 million American workers are affected by workplace bullying. Targets of workplace bullying experience negative emotions, leading to emotional exhaustion. Employees with long and tired feelings are more likely to want to leave the company (Srivastava & Agarwal, 2020).

According to Ariza-Montes et al. (2016), hospitality organizations have a disproportionately high staff turnover rate and having a tight and hierarchical structure fosters bullying. Iverson and Deery (2007) also noted that hospitality workers tend to stay at the same company for a shorter time. This is called a ‘turnover culture’. In the similar manner, Teo et al. (2019) reported that 16% of hospitality workers experience workplace bullying. Bullying wreaks havoc on the lives of hospitality industry personnel, forcing them to confront the situation with emotional fortitude or leave the firm (Srivastava & Agarwal, 2020).

According to Hotel association of Nepal, there are 138-star hotels in Nepal, Tourist standard hotels 1151 and all together number of beds are 4399 (HAN, 2020). A significant number of individuals are employed by hotels in Nepal, among these only five star hotels employs 3065 people (Jha & Rijal, 2022). Retention of employees is challenge in the hospitality sector in Nepal (Jha & Rijal, 2022). Despite of these issues, there are limited studies, particularly in developing nations like Nepal on workplace bullying, emotional exhaustion and employee turnover intention in hospitality sector. The majority of previous researches globally has focused to workplace bullying and turnover intentions directly. Further, the limited investigation of cultural and contextual factors influencing workplace bullying and turnover intention in developing countries prevails. Socio-cultural dynamics, organizational practices and economic factors prevalent in developing countries are different. Studies from Nepal has focused on the association between workplace bullying and both job performance and stress (Pandey, 2020). Moreover, the mediating role of emotional exhaustion is explored lesser. Therefore, this study focuses to extent by assessing the impact of workplace bullying and turnover intention among hotel employees along with the examining the mediation of emotional exhaustion between workplace bullying and employees’ turnover intention in the hospitality industry.

Literature review

Workplace bullying

Workplace bullying takes place when someone says or does something they knew or should have known would offend a coworker. Reasonable in nature to manage and direct employees at work are not bullying (Phillips & Walker, 2018). Bullying is repeated and destructive harassment of one employee by one or more coworkers. Verbal or nonverbal harassment can be threatening, intimidating or humiliating. It can also involve work sabotage (Workplace Bullying Institute, n.d.). The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines workplace bullying as psychological or physical aggression between employees. Coworker bullying can be either type. Bullying occurs in various situations. Einarsen et al. (2020) defined workplace bullying as unreasonable deadlines, intrusive monitoring, useless duties or no tasks. Organizational bullying can be categorized by frequency. Hoel and Rayner (1997) recognized five groups: professional status threat, personal status threat, isolation, overwork and destabilization. Physical bullying is frightening, intimidating and aggressive (Devonish, 2017).

Turnover intentions

Carmeli and Weisberg (2006) define turnover intention as intention to resigning, job searching and leaving. Meyer and Tett (1993) defined turnover intentions as the intention to actively seek new work. Turnover intention precedes turnover. Turnover intentions are an employee’s likelihood to quit or resign (Baharom et al., 2016). Thus, it mediates between attitudes that lead to resignation and actual resignation (Bishop et al., 2007).

Emotional exhaustion

According to Maslach and Jackson (1981), burnout is defined by emotional exhaustion, which causes impatience, exhaustion, feelings of being empty and loss of concern, trust, spirit and interest. Greenglass and Schaufeli (2001) define emotional exhaustion as feeling emotionally drained by others. Emotional exhaustion affects employees’ well-being at work and has long-term effects on physical and mental health, productivity and business performance (Cooper et al., 2019).

Theory underpinning

Conservation of resources theory

The Conservation of resources (COR) theory implies people want to preserve, acquire and conserve resources (Hobfoll et al., 1995). The COR theory is a valid model for chronic and severe stress experience, management and recovery (Hobfoll, 1991). COR theory states that humans seek and retain resources. The theory implies that resource loss will lead to human resource conservation (Hobfoll, 2001). Due to recurrent loss of self-respect, dignity and position, workplace bullying depletes personal resources. If this stressful situation continues, the individual’s resources will start to drain, leading to resource-conserving behavior like abandoning the organization and emotional exhaustion (Srivastava & Agarwal, 2020).

Social exchange theory

The social exchange theory (SET) shows that social entities’ interactions rely on how much they respect hidden and explicit social rules and norms of exchange. Social behavior entails exchanging something of value for something else of value (Thibault & Kelley, 1959). People desire profit and are dissatisfied when there is no equity or when others get more for the same costs (Redmond, 2015). SET theorizes why people start or leave relationships (Redmond, 2015). So, this theory is related to the objective of the study in terms of the exchange of social behaviour and its relationship with continuing the relationship or not.

Job demand resources model

The JD-R model suggests work demands and resources cause burnout (Bakker et al., 2001). Job demands—physical, mental, social or organizational—require constant physical and mental effort or talents and have physical and mental implications. Job demands are necessary, not harmful. They become job pressures when the individual needs work harder to meet targets yet cannot handle high job demands. The JD-R model implies work strain when job needs exceed resources. Job resources boost work engagement. High job demands and insufficient resources can lead to burnout and physical and mental illnesses (Adil & Baig, 2018).

Relationship between workplace bullying, emotional exhaustion and turnover intention

Workplace bullying and employees’ turnover intention

Arif et al. (2018) found that workplace bullying increases employee turnover. Bullying at work leads to leaving. Workplace bullying targets a person’s career or performance. Person-related bullying involves harming someone (Devonish, 2017). Bullying increases turnover intention, which Chen et al. (2020) found is a major predictor of turnover behavior, which has serious financial ramifications for the business due to low employee satisfaction, illness absence and so forth.

Al-Jawazneh and Smadi (2017) percent of respondents’ desire to leave. Many wish to quit due to work stress, while others regard their job as temporary and want to leave to find a new one. Berthelsen et al. (2011) found that harassed workers resigned and switched occupations more than non-bullied workers. Kõiv et al. (2019) discovered that bullied workers were more likely to quit. Bullying worsens the mood and makes people want to quit.

Ghani and Razzaghian (2014) found that mistreated workers are more likely to resign than bullied ones. Workplace bullying increases turnover intention, according to Coetzee and Dyk (2017). Workplace bullying harms health and performance, making employees more likely to quit.

Bullying can cause burnout and job dissatisfaction (Einarsen et al., 2008). Bullying leads to job insecurity and quitting (Einarsen et al., 2014). Bullied workers are more likely to quit and are more fearful of their job and workplace. Awan et al. (2021) found that workplace bullying strongly influences quitting. Chen et al. (2020) found workplace bullying lowers self-esteem. High self-esteem leads to career choices, aspirations and leaving the firm. This means that bullying at work and the desire to leave are linked in a good way. On the basis of the literatures, the hypotheses are developed.

H1:

Workplace Bullying effects positively to Turnover Intention among hotel employees.

H1a:

Work-related Bullying effects positively to Turnover Intention among hotel employees.

H1b:

Person-related Bullying effects positively to Turnover Intention among hotel employees.

H1c: Physically intimidating Bullying effects positively to Turnover Intention among hotel employees.

H2:

Workplace Bullying effects positively to Emotional Exhaustion among hotel employees.

Emotional exhaustion and intention to leave

The COR theory states that workers will quit to keep their few resources. Emotionally fatigued workers are more prone to quit (Karatepe & Uludag, 2007). Emotional exhaustion strongly predicts job turnover, according to Andrew and Azharudeen (2018). They also discovered that emotional exhaustion—fatigue, strain, frustration, hard work, stress and feeling like they are at the end of their rope—strongly influenced employee turnover. Chan and James (2020) found that Macau hotel staff who experienced unfairness, such as policy manipulation that affected them and their coworkers, felt pressurized and emotionally fatigued. Emotionally exhausted workers quit more. Shrestha and Yukongdi (2020) found that stress promotes emotional exhaustion, job dissatisfaction and intention to leave the company in a research of bank of Nepal employees. Xie (2017) found that hospital reform increases turnover intention and emotional tiredness. These causes emotional exhaustion and turnover intent. Gouthier and Kraemer (2014) found that emotional tiredness strongly affects turnover intentions in three German contact centers. Managers should be aware that emotional tiredness increases turnover intentions and other negative organizational effects. Emotional exhaustion affected workplace characteristics and turnover intention, according to Arshadi and Shahbazi (2013). Vandenberghe and Marchand (2016) discovered that emotional tiredness increases turnover when negative affectivity is below average but not above average. Less emotional exhaustion would reduce turnover. Arulrajah and Azharudeen (2018) found a strong positive correlation between emotional tiredness and intention to leave. Emotional exhaustion increases work turnover and lowers productivity. In Poland, Grobelna (2021) found that overworked hotel workers are more likely to depart. Literature-based hypotheses are studied. Based on the perspective of the literature the hypotheses are forwarded for study.

H3:

Emotional Exhaustion effects positively to Turnover Intention among hotel employees.

Emotional exhaustion as a mediator

Workplace bullying cause exhausts and distresses (Arenas et al., 2011). The COR theory states that stressed workers first assess their resources (Hobfoll & Wright, 2004). Stress often causes exhausts emotions. Emotionally exhausted workers were more likely to resign, according to Cropanzano and Wright (1998). Srivastava and Agarwal (2020) study on hotel staff found that bullying causes long-term stress and worry, leaving them emotionally exhausted and wanting to leave. Biswakarma (2019) found that Nepalese hotel workers’ emotional exhaustion lowers service performance. Workplace bullying affects attention, tranquility and ruminative thinking, which can lead to terrible memories and loss of focus. Tanova and Said (2021) said that bullying can lead to low performance or resignation. Vartia (2001) found that both targets and observers of workplace bullying experience psychological reactivity, stress and emotional instability. Based on the perspective of the literature the hypotheses are forwarded for study.

H4: Emotional Exhaustion mediates the relationship of Workplace Bullying and Turnover Intention among hotel employees (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Conceptual framework.

Methods

Design, population and sample

This study adopted the quantitative approach of research with questionnaire survey method. The questionnaire was distributed through online and as well physical questionnaire were distributed to hotel employees. A total of 384 employees (waiter to manager level) of star and non-star category hotel with at least 6 months’ experience in the particular hotel were selected on purposively. As to experience any bullying, exhaustion any of the employees may assume at least However, only 323 responses were received that makes the response rate of 84.11% which was considered to be suitable for this research. The respondent’s profile is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Demographic profile of the respondents.

Demographic variables		Number of respondents	Percent
Age	18–24	84	26
	35–31	122	37.8
	32–38	66	20.4
	39–45	31	9.6
	45 & above	20	6.2
Gender	Male	177	54.8
	Female	142	44
	Others	4	1.2
Marital status	Married	160	49.5
	Unmarried	158	48.9
	Divorced	5	1.5
Years of service provided	6 Months-Less than a year	72	22.3
	1–3years	138	42.7
	3-6 years	59	18.3
	Above 6 years	54	19.72
Employment status	Part time	46	14.2
	Full time	244	75.5
	Contract	33	10.2

Instrumentation

The questionnaire was designed according to the three construct of Workplace Bullying, Emotional exhaustion, Employees’ Turnover Intention. Workplace Bullying was assessed with the 22 items of the Negative Acts Questionnaire Revised (Einarsen et al., 2009), using a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Never) to 7 (Every time). Emotional exhaustion is being measured with Maslach Burnout Inventory General Survey (MBI-GS) developed by Maslach and Jackson (1981), consist of 9 items that evaluated the emotional exhaustion of employees (e.g. I feel emotionally drained from my work). All items are rated on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). Intention to leave was assessed with 4 items; two items were adopted from Meyer and Tett (1993) which consists ‘I think a lot about quitting my job’ and ‘I am actively searching for an alternative to my present job’ the next two items were adopted from (Mitchel, 1981). All items are rated on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree). The Cronbach alpha for overall workplace bullying was 0.868. Emotional exhaustion has 9 items with reliability statistics of 0.901. Similarly, intention to leave has 4 items with reliability statistics of 0.854. Therefore, the scale was considered to be reliable and consistent to measure the respective variables.

Data analysis technique

Shapiro–Wilk test and histogram were used to examine the data’s normality. Since Shapiro-p-value Wilk’s was less than .05, the study’s data were not normally distributed (Mishra et al., 2019). SmartPLS does not assume data distribution, while SEM does (Ringle et al., 2012). Jannoo et al. (2014) found that CB-SEM couldn’t calculate routes with non-normality, whereas PLS-SEM could. The growing use of Smart PLS has demonstrated its robustness and the applicability of the model in the areas that are being studied (Ringle et al., 2014). This study employed SmartPLS structural equation model. Therefore, PLS-SEM with SmartPLS 3 was utilized for data analyzed. The measurement model assessment was done first, followed with the path analysis, to test the hypotheses. The measurement model was analyzed with factor loading, convergent validity and discriminant validity.

Result

Status of workplace bullying in hospitality sector in Nepal

According to the findings of the study, the vast majority of hotel workers in Nepal’s hospitality industry have either never experienced or very seldom witnessed bullying in the workplace at their respective hotels. However, a portion of the data suggests that they have, on occasion, been a witness to bullying in the workplace while working at their hotels. Throughout a similar vein, around 69% of all hotel employees have either very rarely or never been intimidated in the course of their employment at the hotel. However, 31% of people have experienced bullying in their place of employment. This demonstrates that there is some workplace bullying in hotels in Nepal, although not to the great level. Information regarding this is summarized in Table 2. The majority of bullied employees were victimized by their direct supervisor. Similarly, their coworker bullied them as well. This demonstrates that employees in Nepal’s hospitality business have been bullied primarily by their direct supervisor or reporting individual. In only a few instances where employees bullied by their juniors.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics related to workplace Bullying.

Responses		Frequency	Percent
	No, never	52	16.1
Employees	Yes, but rarely	153	47.4
witnessing workplace	Yes, now and then	68	21.1
bullying	Yes, often	50	15.5
	No	74	22.9
	Yes, but only rarely	147	45.5
Employees bullied in	Yes, now and then	76	23.5
workplace	Yes,severaltimes	19	5.9
	per week
	Yes, almost daily	7	2.2
Who has bullied	Manager	44	16.5
employee the most	Direct supervisor	95	35.7
	Co-worker	93	35
	Junior	17	6.4
	Others	17	6.4

The outcomes of the survey, displayed in Table 3, indicate that the mean response to work-related bullying is 4.18 (SD = 1.30), indicating that the majority of respondents agree that work-related bullying is prevalent in the hotel. Similarly, the mean response for person-related bullying is 3.92, indicating that, on average, there are few occurrences of person-related bullying in hotels. Similarly, the mean response to physical intimidation bullying is 3.39, indicating that there are less or very few instances of physical intimidation bullying in the hotel business. The average score of 4.69 for Emotional Exhaustion indicates that hotel employees are moderately emotionally exhausted by their employment. Similarly, the mean response for Intention to Leave is 4.83, indicating that a moderate number of hotel employees intend to leave the hotel where they are now employed.

Table 3. Descriptive statistics of variables under study.

Variables	Mean	SD	Skewness skewness	SE	Kurtosis kurtosis	SE	Range	Min	Max
Work related	4.18	1.30	−0.315	.136	−0.66	.271	6	1	7
Person related	3.92	1.40	−0.104	.136	−.534	.271	6	1	7
Physical Intimidation	3.39	1.49	0.374	.136	−.444	.271	6	1	7
Emotional Exhaustion	4.69	1.13	−0.487	.136	.046	.271	6	1	7
Employees’ Turnover Intention	4.83	1.22	−0.687	.136	.117	.271	6	1	7

Measurement model

First, the measurement model was assessed. The measurement model determines the research’s construct quality. First, the factor loads are evaluated, then, the structure’s reliability and validity. The degree to which each item in the correlation matrix correlates with the principal component is called its ‘factor loading’. Factor loadings can be anywhere from –1.00 to 1.00 and a higher absolute value means that the item is more related to the underlying factor. All of the factor loadings were closer to or higher than the recommended value of 0.70 (Sarstedt et al., 2021).

Construct reliability, convergent and discriminant validity

Cronbach alpha and composite reliability are used to determine internal consistency reliability. All five constructs, including work-related bullying, person-related bullying and physical intimidating and mediating variable emotional exhaustion, were over 0.7. Cronbach’s alpha reliability is above 0.600 (Hair et al., 2014) is acceptable. Composite reliability statistics varied from 0.901 to 0.956, hence, the new way to measure reliability is well above 0.700. (Henseler et al., 2014). Fornell and Larcker (1981) stated that a construct has convergent validity if it can explain more than half of the variance between of its own indicators. All of the AVE values for the different constructs were higher than 50%, which proves that the measurement model is valid.

Bagozzi et al. (1991) defined discriminant validity as how distinct measures are. If two or more concepts are unique, their valid measures should not correlate too much. Fornell–Larcker Criterion is within the threshold and the square root of the AVE is greater than the model’s correlation (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Indicator loadings should be greater than cross-loadings (Chin & Wynne, 1998). Cross-loadings of items demonstrate that cross loaded value is less than 0.7 with regard to all non-corresponding constructs, indicating that there was no cross loading in the model. WR6 has loadings below 0.7. The average variance extracted was above 0.5, hence, the value was accepted. Although loading is below par, it has not compromised AVE’s minimum threshold, thus it was kept. HTMT is a new method for testing discriminant validity in PLS-SEM. HTMT estimates construct-correlation. Kline (2011) recommended 0.85. All paired HTMT0.85 ratios are smaller than 0.85. The studied model has discriminant validity. VIF measures multicollinearity in indicators (Bookstein & Fornell, 1982). Multi-collinearity isn’t a problem if VIF is below 5. (Hair et al., 2017). Since VIF is below 5, there is no multicollinearity (Tables 4–6).

Table 4. Reliability, convergent validity.

Variables	EE	ITL	PI	PR	WR	Cronbach’s alpha	Composite reliability	Average variance extracted (AVE)	VIF
EE1	0.781					0.901	0.919	0.559	2.172
EE2	0.764								2.286
EE3	0.750								2.01
EE4	0.765								2.131
EE5	0.719								1.888
EE6	0.770								2.014
EE7	0.736								1.86
EE8	0.726								1.894
EE9	0.712								1.771
ITL1		0.805				0.854	0.901	0.696	1.673
ITL2		0.864							2.229
ITL3		0.870							2.494
ITL4		0.793							1.886
PI1			0.867			0.845	0.905	0.762	2.073
PI2			0.941						3.229
PI3			0.805						2.07
PR1				0.797		0.950	0.956	0.644	2.76
PR10				0.806					2.547
PR11				0.806					2.648
PR12				0.771					2.744
PR2				0.813					3.007
PR3				0.764					2.488
PR4				0.807					2.753
PR5				0.844					3.425
PR6				0.824					2.859
PR7				0.813					2.869
PR8				0.815					3.134
PR9				0.768					2.348
WR1					0.760	0.883	0.909	0.588	2.092
WR2					0.855				2.69
WR3					0.796				2.089
WR4					0.802				2.092
WR5					0.724				1.822
WR6					0.645				1.614
WR7					0.770				2.018

Table 5. Fornell–Larcker criterion.

Variables	EE	ITL	PI	PR	WR
EE	0.747
ITL	0.585	0.834
PI	0.528	0.372	0.873
PR	0.538	0.352	0.704	0.803
WR	0.583	0.332	0.613	0.744	0.767

Table 6. Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio.

	EE	ITL	PI	PR	WR
EE
ITL	0.659
PI	0.590	0.420
PR	0.575	0.387	0.785
WR	0.639	0.367	0.718	0.815

Second-order model assessment

The measurement model assessment also validates higher-order constructs. Each construct was tested for reliability and validity. Higher-order constructs were compared to lower-order constructs for discriminant validity. Higher-order construct is reliable and valid. Higher-order constructs’ reliability and validity have been established. All other constructs have acceptable reliability (>0.70) and convergent validity (>0.50). F&L higher-order discriminant validity requirement met. The square root of the AVE (in bold) is higher than its connection with other model constructs (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). HTMT for discriminant validity. All paired HTMT0.85 ratios are smaller than 0.85. The model studied has discriminant validity for higher-order constructs (Figure 2 and Tables 7–9).

Figure 2. PLS model of study.

Table 7. Reliability and convergent validity second-order model.

Variables	Cronbach’s alpha	Composite reliability	Average variance extracted (AVE)
EE	0.901	0.919	0.559
ITL	0.854	0.901	0.696
WPB	0.868	0.919	0.792

Table 8. Fornell and Larcker criterion – higher-order discriminant validity.

	EE	ITL	WPB
EE	0.747
ITL	0.585	0.834
WPB	0.619	0.395	0.890

Table 9. HTMT – higher-order discriminant validity.

	EE	ITL	WPB
EE
ITL	0.659
WPB	0.695	0.457

Structural model – path analysis

The next step adopted was structure equation modeling is assessment of structural model. Sarstedt et al. (2021), a structural model is assessed based on the significance of paths (hypothesis testing), predictive capability of the model (R²), effect size (f2). The path analysis shows the structural model’s path coefficient estimates. Workplace Bullying (0.055) has an impact on Turnover Intention, wherein sustainably low. However, Workplace Bullying (0.619) has significant impact Emotional Exhaustion as it is R² 0.383, i.e. 38.3%. Similarly, Emotional Exhaustion (0.551) has significant impact on Turnover Intention. From the path analysis, it is showed that Emotional Exhaustion had more effect on Turnover Intention rather than Workplace Bullying directly. The p value of Workplace Bullying was found to be less than .001, indicating that Workplace Bullying had a considerable impact on Turnover Intention among hotel employees. Similarly, Physical Intimidation has a significant effect on Turnover Intention (p < .001). However, Work-Related Bullying did not have a substantial impact on an employee’s decision to leave. Similarly, Workplace Bullying has a substantial impact on the Emotional Exhaustion of employees, since its p value was less than .001. Similarly, Emotional Exhaustion had a substantial effect on Turnover Intention, as its p value was less than .001. Similarly, Emotional Exhaustion mediates the relationship between Workplace Bullying and Turnover Intention among hotel employees (Table 10).

Table 10. SEM path analysis.

Path original sample (O)		t-value	p-value	2.50%	97.50%
WPB -> ITL	0.395	8.32	.000	0.300	0.490
WR -> ITL	0.130	1.690	.090	−0.020	0.260
PR -> ITL	0.110	1.420	.160	−0.040	0.250
PI -> ITL	0.230	3.290	.000	0.080	0.360
WPB -> EE	0.620	17.58	.000	0.540	0.680
EE -> ITL	0.551	15.06	.000	0.510	0.660
WPB -> EE –ITL	0.341	7.547	.000

Mediation analysis

The mediation analysis has been analyzed with the bootstrapping method with 5000 subsamples, with specific indirect significant. The result shows that the total, direct and indirect effect after Emotional Exhaustion is adjusted in the model. Since total effect is significant, direct effect is not significant and indirect specific effect is significant, there is full mediation of emotional exhaustion (Table 11).

Table 11. Summary of total, direct and indirect effect.

Effect	Original value	p-value	Result
Total effect	0.395	.000	Significant
Direct effect	0.055	.403	Not significant
Indirect effect	0.341	.000	Significant

Hypothesis testing results

The result shows the Hypothesis 1, 1c, 2, 3 and 4 are supported, wherein, Hypothesis 1a and 1b are not supported, which means there is significant impact of Workplace Bullying on Employees’ Turnover Intention in the hospitality sector and Workplace Bullying has impact on Emotional Exhaustion, Emotional Exhaustion has impact on Employees’ Turnover Intention and Emotional Exhaustion plays full mediating role between Workplace Bullying and Turnover Intention (Table 12).

Table 12. Hypothesis testing result.

Hypothesis	Path	p-Value	Result
Hypothesis 1	WPB -> ITL	.000	Supported
Hypothesis 1a.	WR -> ITL	.090	Not Supported
Hypothesis 1b.	PR -> ITL	.160	Not Supported
Hypothesis 1c.	PI -> ITL	.000	Supported
Hypothesis 2	WPB -> EE	.000	Supported
Hypothesis 3	EE -> ITL	.000	Supported
Hypothesis 4	WPB -> EE –ITL	.000	Supported

Predictive capability of the model (R²)

Bernal-Conesa et al. (2017) asserted that the strength of each structural path, which is shown by the R² value for the dependent variable, is a good way to judge how good a model is. The value for R² should be equal to over 0.1 (Falk & Miller, 1992). The result shows that Employees’ Turnover Intention is R² (0.339) value over 0.1. It means that 33.9% of change in Employees’ Turnover Intention can be attributed to Workplace Bullying and Emotional Exhaustion factor. Hence the predictive capability of the model is established (Table 13).

Table 13. Predictive capability of the model.

	R Square	R Square Adjusted
EE	0.383	0.381
ITL	0.344	0.339

Effect size (F2)

Sullivan and Feinn (2012) stated that both the size of the effect and the p-value need to be reported. This is because the p-value can tell whether or not there is an effect, but it cannot tell how big the effect is. Cohen (1988), The values of 0.02, 0.15 and 0.35 represent small, medium and the large effects respectively (Cohen, 1988). The result shows Emotional Exhaustion have significant effect (0.285) while Workplace Bullying has no effect (0.003) in producing the R² for the Employees’ Turnover Intention. Similarly, Workplace Bullying has significant effect (0.621) in producing the R² for Emotional Exhaustion (Table 14).

Table 14. Effect size.

	EE	ITL	WPB
EE		0.285
ITL
WPB	0.621	0.003

Discussion

This study focused into the reasons why employees leave the hospitality industry, such as bullying in the workplace and how it looks in different places. As part of this study, researchers are also analyzed into the role that emotional exhaustion plays as a connection between bullying at work and employees’ plans to leave the company. The primary result of this research is a contribution to the existing body of literature on bullying in the workplace and the employees’ intention to quit, as well as the moderating effect of emotional exhaustion. In a similar vein, the findings of this research have contributed to the expansion of earlier results, which has resulted in the generation of further concepts regarding the interplay between emotional exhaustion at work caused by bullying and the intention to leave one’s job. The purpose of the research was to investigate whether or whether there is a connection, either significant or positive, between bullying in the workplace and employees’ expressed willingness to leave the hospitality sector. According to the findings of this study, bullying in the workplace has a considerable impact, either positively or negatively, on individuals’ intentions to leave their jobs. There is a positive relationship between workplace bullying and intention to leave, according to research carried out by Srivastava and Agarwal (2020) among employees of hotels. This supports previous studies that demonstrated workplace bullying to significantly affect employees’ intention to leave. The result is consistent with these findings. Similarly, other studies that were carried out by (Berthelsen et al., 2011; Chen et al., 2020; Einarsen et al., 2014; Eldeen et al., 2017; Kõiv et al., 2019; Salin & Notelaers, 2017).

There was not a significant influence of workplace bullying on the intention to leave on the part of employees. This finding was consistent with the findings of Al-Jawazneh and Smadi (2017), and it indicates that whenever workers experience bullying at work, they make an effort to cope with the situation rather than forming the intention to look for a new employment. In a similar vein, there was also no significant influence of person-related bullying on employees’ intention to leave the company, which was quite a departure from the studies that came before it. This could be related to the fact that there are not many job opportunities available in the hospitality business at the moment as a result of COVID. To reduce their operating costs, hotels are laying off a significant proportion of its employees. Conversely, there was a substantial correlation between the use of physical force and the intention to quit. The findings were comparable to those found in the research conducted by Awan et al. (2021). This indicates that anytime there is physical harassment in the workplace, people quickly think of the intention to leave their job. This is the case regardless of whether or not the harassment is intentional.

The second objective of the study was to determine if there is a direct relationship between being bullied at work and being emotionally worn out. The findings showed a positive relationship between bullying in the workplace and emotional exhaustion, which was consistent with the findings of the previous study (Desrumaux et al., 2018; Jalali et al., 2020; Liang, 2021; Rodríguez-Muñoz et al., 2022; Tanova & Said, 2021). This suggests that isolating someone, treating them poorly or verbally abusing them all produce negative impacts relating to feelings of anguish and guilt. Extreme exhaustion is a direct result of hostile attacks and humiliation. Bullying victims can feel emotionally harsh if they are forced to show emotions, they do not really feel. This can make the victim feel like they have been lied to and can make them feel emotionally worn out. This study also looked at the connection between emotional exhaustion and the intention to leave an organization, and the findings indicated that there is a strong connection or a positive link, between the two. This discovery is in line with the findings of other research that has been done in the past (Ahmed, 2015; Havaei et al., 2015; Srivastava & Agarwal, 2020). This indicates that when employees’ emotional resources are depleted, it results in emotional exhaustion and emotional exhaustion, in turn, leads to employees’ intention to leave their jobs because they are emotionally exhausted.

In a similar manner, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role that emotional exhaustion plays as a mediator between the relationship of workplace bullying and the intention to leave one’s job. According to the previous findings of this study, the association between workplace bullying and the intention to quit was supported by the available literature on the topic. When there is no mechanism that can mediate this relationship, it is abundantly evident that bullying in the workplace has a considerable influence on the decision to quit one’s job. When the indirect effect of emotional tiredness was taken into consideration, however, the researchers showed that bullying in the workplace had no direct bearing on a person’s intention to quit their job. This finding is very important.

However, the indirect effect of bullying in the workplace on the intention to leave due to emotional exhaustion has a considerable impact. As a result, emotional exhaustion was found to totally effect the relationship between bullying in the workplace and the intention to leave that workplace. According to the findings, bullying in the workplace can have an effect on an employee’s intention to leave the organisation when the individual feels emotionally drained from the abuse in the job. Emotional exhaustion was shown to totally mediate the relationship between workplace bullying and workplace deviance in a study that was carried out by Peng et al. (2016) and yielded results that were relatively comparable to those found in this study. This study, which was supported by the COR theory, illustrates how emotional exhaustion among employees is associated to bullying in the workplace as well as the intention to leave that workplace.

The COR theory explains how bullying stress can deplete work resources. This shows how workplace aggression and emotional exhaustion effect job resignation. Bullied workers feel exhausted and want to quit. Abuse causes anxiety. Since staff may quit soon, this influence business efficiency. According to the knowledge of the researchers, this study may be one of the first ones to investigate bullying in the workplace and the impact it has on an employee’s decision to quit in the setting of Nepal. In addition, the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion was investigated to gain a more in-depth understanding of the mechanisms through which bullying in the workplace influences employees’ intentions to quit their jobs in hotels. The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not bullying in the workplace influences employees’ intentions to quit their jobs. The majority of the earlier research found that the findings regarding the direct effect of workplace bullying on employees’ propensity to leave were consistent with those findings. The simultaneous presence of a full mediation mechanism manifested itself in the form of emotional tiredness in the few research conducted in the past.

Conclusion

Hospitality personnel are crucial to running a business smoothly. A happy worker helps the company grow. Top management must determine if their hotel has a bullying problem. This study concludes that workplace bullying is vital in connection with the turnover intentions. Bullied employees do not leave the organisation unless exhausted. Unmanageable workload, intrusive monitoring and so forth somewhat led the inclination to leave. Similarly, if they are threatened with violence or shouted at in the workplace, they plan to leave the organisation. Emotional exhaustion from workplace bullying can lead to employee turnover, that employee often become emotionally exhausted and consider quitting. These findings can be realized by organisations and must address and prevent workplace bullying as it directly affects employees’ emotional well-being and retention.

Practical implications

This study has crucial long-term implications for managers. The study findings of workplace bullying are a strong indication of Turnover Intention among hotel employees, which encumbers organizational performance. First, the study found that workplace bullying may cause many employees to quit, which will negatively impact the company in the long run. To cope with rising job demands, the hotel business must focus on creating a pleasant environment. Hospitality is a major service sector industry. In addition, as emotional tiredness was a mediator between workplace bullying and intention to resign, managers must design a fair, low-stress and unbiased resource distribution method to reduce employee emotional exhaustion. To combat workplace bullying-induced emotional exhaustion, this is required.

As a result, it is imperative that managers working in the hospitality industry take action to lessen the amount of bullying that occurs in the workplace. It is the responsibility of the management within the organization to create a welcoming atmosphere at work and to institute policies and procedures that are counterproductive to bullying actions. This is necessary to neutralize the effect of emotional exhaustion brought on by workplace bullying. Because of the unfair nature of bullying, this will give victims of bullying with an outlet through which they can release the high levels of stress experienced by employees in the hospitality business. The authors recommend the establishment of efficient procedures with training, reviewing the sustenance that supervisors provide for their employees.

Implication for further study

Workplace bullying is a vast area of research. Given that this study is limited to the hotels of Nepal, there is still a sizable region to cover cross country comparisons. In a similar manner, there are various scales by which one can measure one’s turnover intention, emotional exhaustion and future researchers can work on other scales for their study. Likewise, social support, corporate culture and leadership style can be utilized to study the relationship between Workplace Bullying and Turnover Intention. Bullying in the workplace affects the objective and the firm, therefore, future research might examine how it affects team cohesion and company performance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gangaram Biswakarma

Dr. Gangaram Biswakarma is currently working as an Assistant Professor in Central Department of Management and Deputy Director in the School of Management, Faculty of Management, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He earned his PhD in Management (OB/HR) from JJT University, India. He has completed his M. Phil., MBA, MTM and PGDHSM from various Universities in India. He has also completed FDP from IIM Shillong, India. He is currently a Postdoc fellow at Srinivas University, India. His research interests include Organisational Behavior, HRM, Sustainability, Tourism Management, IT management.

Perdoor Sreeramana Aithal

Prof. Dr. Perdoor Sreeramana Aithal is the Vice Chancellor of Srinivas University, India. He has 29 years of experience in Teaching and research and 18 years of experience in Administration. Dr. Perdoor Sreeramana Aithal got his first Ph.D. degree in Physics from Mangalore University in the area of nonlinear optical materials and his second Ph.D. degree in Business Management from Manipal University. Dr. Perdoor Sreeramana Aithal has got FIRST Rank among Top 12,000 Business Management Authors worldwide in Elsevier’s SSRN Research network consecutively for the second year. He has published 101 papers in scholarly refereed journals during last 12 months as on February 2018. His research areas are E-Business, Information Technology, Nanotechnology, Photonics. Strategic Management, Operations Research, Technology Management, Organizational Development, Innovations in Higher Education & Research.

Sanju Kumar Singh

Dr. Sanju Kumar Singh is an international lecturer at Department of Management, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia. His expertise lies in management and accounting concentration. He has published several articles in reputed journals. As a corresponding author I, Sanju Kumar Singh would like to inform you that we have decided to put Dr. Gangaram Biswakarma’s photo when it is published.

Achyut Gnawali

Prof. Dr. Achyut Gnawali, an esteemed professor at the Central Department of Management in Tribhuvan University, holds a distinguished PhD in Accounting from the same institution. His expansive expertise lies within the realms of accounting, organizational management and HRM. Renowned for his scholarly contributions, he has authored an extensive array of articles featured in esteemed national and international journals, solidifying his position as a respected authority in his field.

Jayanta Ghimire

Mr. Jayanta Ghimire is a HR professional and a freelancer researcher and consultant. He has an MBA from the School of Management, Tribhuvan University. His research interests include HRM, Organizational Theory and Organizational Behavior.