Could Workplace Bullying and Emotional Exhaustion be Reasons of Employee Silence?

Abstract

The present research examines the effects of workplace bullying (work-related bullying and physical intimidating bullying) on employees’ silence. It also investigates the mediating rol of emotional exhaustion among work-related bullying, physical intimidating bullying, and employee silence. Data were collected from employees working in the banking sector by adopting the purposive sampling technique. The study hypotheses were tested on the SMART PLS 3.2.2 version by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings present that work-related bullying and physically intimidating bullying have a direct positive relation with employee silence. Further indirect relation among work-related bullying, physical intimidating bullying, and employee silence has significantly positively mediated by emotional exhaustion. Drawing upon the Conservation of resources theory (COR), the current research adds in the literature of employee silence and its antecedents. The current study provides solutions for organizations to overcome the antecedents of employee silence. Limitations and future recommendations are discussed.