Article

The Mediating Role of Work– Global Business Review

18(6) 1384–1399
Family Conflict on Role Stressors © 2017 IMI
SAGE Publications
and Employee Turnover Intention sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0972150917713061
Relationship in Labour-oriented http://gbr.sagepub.com

Organizations

Mohammad Rabiul Basher Rubel1

Daisy Mui Hung Kee2
Nadia Newaz Rimi3

Abstract
This study works on the conception that an employee’s experience of more stress at work produces
work–family conflict (WFC), and consequently, it increases his or her intention to quit the organization.
In examining the effect of WFC on role stressors and turnover intention relationship, this study suggests
that employees respond negatively to WFC, which mediates the three dimensions of role stressors
(role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload) and turnover intention relationship. Data were collected
from a sample of 365 supervisors working in Bangladesh’s ready-made garment (RMG) industry. The
results support the proposed relationship, which suggests that all three dimensions of role stressors
increase employees’ WFC that instigates employee turnover intention. Thus, WFC is found to be a
significant mediator in the relationship between role stressors and turnover intention. The implications
for practice and recommendations for future research are discussed as well.

Keywords
Role stressor, turnover intention, work–family conflict (WFC), RMG industry, Bangladesh

Introduction
The inclusion of more females in the workforce and the presence of extended work and family roles
for both males and females have resulted work–family conflict (WFC) in both male and female lives.

1
Department of Management, Faculty of Business Studies, Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2
School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia, Minden Penang, Malaysia.
3
Department of Management, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Corresponding author:
Mohammad Rabiul Basher Rubel, Department of Management, Faculty of Business Studies, Bangladesh University of Professionals,
Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
E-mail: asstprof_sub@yahoo.com
Rubel et al. 1385

WFC is defined as ‘a form of inter-role conflict, in which the demands of work and family roles are
incompatible in some respect, so that participation in one role is more difficult because of participation
in the other role’ (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985, p. 77). Even though there is a huge consensus surrounding
the conceptualization of WFC and its reasons and effects (Hassan, Dollard, & Winefield, 2010), research-
ers agree that WFC is worth examining further because of its prospective impact on both organizational
and employee outcomes (Choi & Kim, 2012). Most of the published works on WFC were stem from
Western countries such as the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Canada (Greenhaus &
Powell, 2006). As a result, a call has been made for researchers to examine WFC in the non-Western
context.
In examining what instigates WFC, research scholars have found that low support from the supervisor
(Pedersen, Minnotte, Kiger, & Mannon, 2009), on the job demands (Bakker, Demerouti, & Dollard,
2008), work characteristics (Zhang & Liu, 2010), role conflict (Matthews, Bulger, & Barnes-Farrell,
2010; Michel, Mitchelson, Pichler, & Cullen, 2010), inflexible job structure (Fujimoto, Kotani, &
Suzuki, 2008), work overload (Yildirim & Aycan, 2008) and stressful life (Galinsky, Aumann, & Bond,
2009) contribute enormously to WFC. Keeping these research findings in mind, it is here further argued
that role stressors in the workplace have the potential subsequent effect on employees’ WFC.
Similar emphasis is also given on the research, showing that WFC has been linked to numerous
negative outcomes such as job dissatisfaction and burnout (Howard, Donofrio, & Boles, 2004), financial
costs for the organization, operation interruptions (O’Connell & Kung, 2007) and turnover intention
(Karatepe & Azar, 2013). Of all these negative outcomes of WFC, we assert that employee turnover
intention is more dominant for the organization.
Turnover intention is a potential threat to the organization, as it has both direct and indirect cost
implications for the organization (Kovner, Brewer, Greene, & Fairchild, 2009). Mitchell et al. (2001)
showed that departing employees take away the knowledge and wisdom gained from experiences in the
organization, resulting huge costs for the repetition of induction and training of new employees as
replacements. Cascio (2006) reported that total costs of one employee turnover could lead to 1.5–2.5
times higher than the salary paid to the employee. Along with the cost issue, it has negative effect on the
productivity of the organization as well (Sowmay & Panchanathan, 2012). To address employee turn-
over intention, researchers identified specific reasons around organizational practices (Sowmay &
Panchanathan, 2012). Yet organizational work environment that would produce WFC also influences an
employee’s decision to leave the organization.
Stressful job may create conflict in both work and family life. High WFC indicates the organization
is placing undue burden that cannot be reconciled with family duties. To avoid such stressful job,
employees may search for another job and leave the present job. This study assesses how role stressors
in the job causes conflict in work and family life that may, in turn, promote employee intention to
leave the organization. Examining WFC in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry setting is useful for
extending the research in turnover intention, and RMG organizations and managers can create values in
retaining their talented employees in the workplace.
This study takes two important steps in contributing to the understanding of the relationship among
role stressors: WFC and employee turnover intention. The first step is extending the application of the
WFC framework to the labour-oriented organization, like RMG industry of Bangladesh, in response
to the unique need of the knowledge on WFC from developing and non-Western country perspective.
In doing so, each dimension of role stressors (role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload) will be
examined in relation to their effect on WFC of employees in a labour-oriented organizational setting.
Considering the impact of workplace stress on WFC and subsequent negative impact on work life, we
contend that role stressors, which employees have to experience, may dispose towards a specific
1386 Global Business Review 18(6)

behaviour (for example, turnover intention) with implications for organizational performance through
WFC. Our second aim is to explore the mechanism of how role stressors affect turnover intention. In this
article, we examine the potential mediating role of WFC in the relationship between role stressors and
turnover intention. It will show that role stressors in the workplace instigate turnover intention through
creating WFC in employee’s life.

Review of Literature

Work–Family Conflict (WFC)

A number of notions have been developed to illustrate the association between work and family
domains, including ‘WFC’, ‘work–family interference’, ‘work–family facilitation’ and ‘spillover’
(Michel, Kotrba, Mitchelson, Clark, & Baltes, 2011). However, the term ‘WFC’ is used widely in the
current literature. WFC is viewed as a form of inter-role conflict in which the demands of one role
obstruct the other in meeting the burden of a particular role (Lu, Gilmour, Kao, & Huang, 2006). WFC
may also be explained using the conservation of resources theory (Kossek, Pichler, Bodner, & Hammer,
2011). For example, job demands can impede one’s resources (time, energy and effort) to be employed
in fulfilling the demands of family life (Lapierre & Allen, 2006). So conflict comes into the scene when
resources are used up in one domain, leaving other domain neglected. Netemeyer, Boles and McMurrian
(1996) refined the idea of WFC and proposed two distinct forms of WFC, namely work-to-family and
family-to-work conflict. Work-to-family conflict refers to ‘inter-role conflicts in which the usual demands
of time dedicated to, and strain created by the job, interfere with performing family-related responsibili-
ties’ (Netemeyer et al., 1996, p. 401), while family-to-work conflict denotes the contrary. Ahmad (2008)
has theorized that WFC may be considered a construct with dual direction (work-to-family and family-
to-work), multiple forms (time-based, strain-based and behaviour-based) and specific to multiple life
roles (e.g., spouse, parental, eldercare, homecare and leisure). Therefore, WFC is viewed as the inter-role
conflict that arises when work interacts with family; and the other aspect, family–work conflict (FWC),
happens when family interferes with work. The present study focuses on WFC with the direction from
work to family of an individual employee who plays both work and family roles. The situation can be
best depicted as a single man with dual roles in a conflicting relationship.

Role Stressors
Contemporary researchers have acknowledged a number of antecedents of WFC such as minimal support
received from family members/relatives and supervisors (Namayandeh, Yaacob, & Juhari, 2010), jobs
which demand coordination from others, using technology to do work at home and job insecurity (Batt
& Valcour, 2003), job demand (more time and emotion for the job; Bakker et al., 2008) and workplace
features such as the number of hours an employee functions, the frequency of overtime required, an
inflexible work schedule and unsupportive supervisors for balancing work and family (Fujimoto et al.,
2008; Pedersen et al., 2009). In a meta-analysis, Michel et al. (2011) identified work role stressors, work
social support, work role involvement, work characteristics and personality as the primary antecedents
of WFC. Likewise, work/role stressors such as role conflict, role overload and role ambiguity have a
significant effect on WFC (Matthews et al., 2010; Michel et al., 2010; Yildirim, & Aycan, 2008). Kang
and Sandhu (2012) revealed that role stressors can have a significant effect of both mental and physical
Rubel et al. 1387

health of the bank managers in India. In an earlier study, Boles, Wood and Johnson (2003) discovered a
consistent and positive relationship between role conflict, role ambiguity and WFC. In this article, we
seek to further understand the influences of the three types of role stressors (role conflict, role ambiguity
and role overload) on WFC. Identifying specific role stressors that are related to WFC can help to under-
stand the fragility of role stress spill over. This, in turn, can be important in the prevention of a negative
effect of work on the job and family.

Turnover Intention
Turnover intention is expressed as the inclination of the employees to depart from the organization
permanently, and it implies that there is a probability of an individual changing jobs within a certain time
period (Sousa-Poza & Henneberger, 2004), and for this reason, it is considered the immediate cause of
actual turnover (Kovner et al., 2009). Employees experiencing extensive WFC may perceive that quit-
ting their job may be an effective way to reduce the conflict. Thus, withdrawal intention may be seen as
a coping strategy to face the challenges of incompatible work and family demands. Specifically, an
employee having WFC may be prone to leave and look for a more family-friendly new job to avoid the
experience of WFC. Baskerville-Watkins, Ren, Boswell, Umphress, Triana and Zardkoohi (2012) men-
tioned that once employees face WFC, the consequences will lead to a turnover decision and job search
behaviours. A study carried out by Blomme, Van Rheede and Tromp (2010) claimed that WFC is a domi-
nant cause of employee turnover intention in the hospitality industry. Furthermore, Zhang, Griffeth and
Fried (2012) argued that WFC is significantly correlated with emotional exhaustion and turnover inten-
tion. Karatepe and Azar (2013) supported that WFC predicts employee turnover intention. These prior
literature evidences found WFC as a reasonable cause to employee turnover intention.

Mediating Role of Work–Family Conflict

A mediator can be defined as an intervening variable through which an independent variable is thought
to have an effect on a dependent variable (Iacobucci, Saldanha, & Deng, 2007). For assessing the media-
tion effect, Baron and Kenny’s (1986) basic approach for testing the empirical evidence is more com-
monly used. On the contrary, Hayes (2009) suggested two-step approach for testing the mediation in
SEM. Even though the fundamental approach of Baron and Kenny (1986) for testing empirical evidence
was widely recognized in assessing mediation, two-step approach is superior as it estimates everything
simultaneously (Zhao, Lynch, & Chen, 2010). Hayes (2009) revealed that if the indirect path is found
statistically significant, it can be considered that the mediating effect exists. Therefore, this study employs
the mediation analysis based on the conception of Hayes (2009).
Research has also provided consistent support for WFC as a mediating variable. Specifically, increased
work demands or strains are linked with increased WFC, which in turn correlates with negative out-
comes on a range of family satisfaction or family relationship variables (Ford, Heinen, & Langkamer,
2007). Ahmad (2010) had found a partial yet significant mediating effect of WFC on the relationship
between role overload and emotional exhaustion. Munir et al. (2012) confirmed the significant mediat-
ing influence of WFC between the transformational leader and well-being of the employees. Wayne,
Casper, Matthews and Allen (2013) found that family supportive organizational practices relate to
employee commitment indirectly through the employee’s experience of WFC. Du Prel and Peter (2014)
investigated the mediating role of WFC in the well-known association between work stress and depressive
1388 Global Business Review 18(6)

symptoms. In line with these findings, we propose that each dimension of role stressors (role conflict, role
ambiguity and role overload) will have a positive relationship with WFC that further enhances turnover
intention.

Objective
The main objective of this study is to investigate the mediating role of WFC between role stressors and
turnover intention relationship. In achieving so, the study will examine the influence of: (a) role ambigu-
ity on WFC of employees; (b) role conflict on WFC of employees; (c) role overload on WFC of employees;
(d) WFC as a mediator between role ambiguity and turnover intention; (e) WFC as a mediator between
role conflict and turnover intention; and (f) WFC as a mediator between role overload and turnover
intention.

Rationale of the Study

Research on WFC has been linked to numerous negative outcomes such as job dissatisfaction and
burnout (Howard et al., 2004), financial costs for the organization, operation interruptions (O’Connell &
Kung, 2007) and turnover intention (Karatepe & Azar, 2013). Of all these negative outcomes of WFC,
we assert that employee turnover intention is more dominant for the RMG organizations in Bangladesh.
RMG industry is one of the important segments of the textile and clothing industry. Textile and
clothing industry today is probably among the most important industries in the world. Both textile and
clothing industry comprise 4.1 per cent share in world’s merchandise exports of which clothing industry
contributes 2.6 per cent (World Trade Organization, 2012). Product from the top 15 economies accounted
for 83 per cent of global clothing exports in 2005 and 90 per cent in 2011 (World Trade Organization,
2012). This industry has been making significant contributions to the economic development of many
countries, especially for the developing and least developing countries like Bangladesh. Bangladesh
adds to 4.80 per cent of global clothing exports in 2011 (World Trade Organization, 2012) and enjoys
second position among other competing nations in world market (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers
and Exporters Association, 2015). Whereas this industry suffers a high turnover rate of 15–26 per cent
annually that has the potential to decrease productivity as well as to create a threat to the country position
in the competitive global RMG market (Chowdhury, 2015). Therefore, research in this context suggests
focusing on employee turnover as anonymous employee turnover disrupts the organizations performance
as well as the position (Mukul, Rahman, & Ansari, 2013).
Though Bangladesh is a highly populated country with a high unemployment rate (Siddiqi, 2004), it
does not mean that an organization can fill a position overnight. Local researchers Nuruzzaman and
Haque (2009) found that the average time for replacing a vacant position in the operational level in RMG
industry is about 25–30 days. For this reason, an RMG organization has to lose 250 units of products
produced by an individual employee in a single month (Nuruzzaman & Haque, 2009). They also clari-
fied that this unexpected turnover not only reduces the productivity but also affects the morale of other
employees and enhances the risk to lose potential buyers in the global market. Other local researchers
such as Habib and Rakib (2009) also commented that turnover is costly and time consuming. Replacing
exited staff incurs the direct cost of repeated recruitment, selection, orientation and training and indirect
cost of decreased production and productivity for manufacturing organizations like RMG (Hossain,
2010). Thus, turnover exposes negative impact on the business performance, the workers themselves and
the productivity of the organization as well as the industry (Rubel & Kee, 2014).
Rubel et al. 1389

Figure 1. Proposed Research Framework

Source: Authors’ own.

The role of people in labour-oriented organization is more explicit because RMG organizations
are manufacturing in nature, the creators and providers of which are people (Rubel & Kee, 2014).
Organization should focus not only on the productivity and performance but also on those resources
which are responsible to achieve that performance. Based on a conceptual study, Rimi and Rubel (2013)
recommended that organizations need to concern themselves about the family-related issues of employ-
ees, which, in turn, results in decreasing morale and raising the productivity with retention decision.
Hence, WFC can be considered as a key driver for improving employee morale and leading them to
become more attached with the organization over the long term. Because local scholars are concerned
about both role stressors and WFC to reduce turnover intention, the present study adds to the existing
knowledge in suggesting how WFC mediates the relationship between role stressors and turnover
intention of the employees.

Methodology

Sample
The current study was a correlational and cross-sectional study, which employed the survey method to
collect data at one point of time. Data were collected from RMG supervisors from Dhaka city, the capital
city of Bangladesh, where more than 60 per cent of the RMG organizations were located. Thus, the sam-
pling frame of this study was comprised of all the supervisors of the registered RMG organizations
located in Dhaka. Supervisors were chosen in the present study based on two criteria: (a) supervisor who
were directly involved in supervising more than 10 operators and working in the fabrication process;
and (b) supervisor who were actively working in the RMG organizations for more than 3 years. Self-
administered questionnaire was employed for data collection of this study. In this research, the question-
naires were distributed through a drop-off and pick-up (DOPU) technique to the respective RMG
organizations factory managers who were willing to distribute to their supervisors. Owing to the absence
of a comprehensive list of supervisors, purposive judgemental sampling was employed.
1390 Global Business Review 18(6)

A total of 900 questionnaires were distributed among the supervisors. A total of 473 (52.6 per cent)
questionnaires were returned out of which 365 (40.6 per cent) were found complete and usable for analy-
sis, whereas 72 (8.0 per cent) were incomplete, thus disqualifying them from use; 36 (4.0 per cent) were
blank questionnaires, indicating no participation of respondents and the remaining were unreturned
questionnaires. As such, the effective response rate was 40.6 per cent. In the context of RMG industry of
Bangladesh, Rubel and Kee (2014) only had a 29 per cent response rate. Hence, the present response rate
(40.6 per cent) was considered acceptable.
In the present study, five demographic characteristics, namely gender, marital status, academic quali-
fication, monthly income and job tenure were used to group the respondents. Majority of the respondents
(79 per cent) were male. The average age of the supervisors was 28.32 years (standard deviation = 2.07).
Over half of the respondents (53.5 per cent) were married and a majority of them (61.9 per cent) held
high school education. Nearly half of the respondents’ (47 per cent) monthly income were between Tk
10000 and Tk15000 (approximately US $130.00–$187.00). The average job tenure of the respondents
with the RMG industry was 7 years.

Measures
We employed nine items measure of role stressors developed by Ho, Chang, Shih and Liang (2009).
Alpha values of role stressors such as role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload were 0.79, 0.82 and
0.81, respectively. WFC was measured by six-item scale adapted from Grandey, Cordeiro and Crouter
(2005). Finally, five-items scale adapted from Wayne, Shore and Liden (1997) was used to measure
turnover intention. A five-point Likert scale ranging from (1) strongly agree to (5) strongly disagree was
used to measure responses for role stressors and WFC. Turnover intention was measured by seven-point
Likert scale ranging from (1) strongly disagree to (7) strongly agree.

Analysis
We tested our hypotheses using Smart partial least square or PLS version 2.0 (variance-based SEM).
PLS is known for its ability to handle multivariate analysis (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham,
2010) and causal modelling (Reisinger & Mavondo, 2007), and PLS requires a minimal restriction on the
sample size (Chin, 2010). The two-step analytical procedure including measurement model and struc-
tural model in PLS–SEM, suggested by Anderson and Gerbing (1988), was employed to analyse data.
Following the suggestion of Chin (2010), the bootstrapping method (500 resample) was conducted to
determine the significant level of loadings, weights and path coefficients.
Due to the self-reported nature of the data, there was a chance of common method variance (CMV).
The Harman single-factor test was employed, and it was found that the first factor accounted for only
23.06 per cent of the variance, and thus CMV was not a threat in this study.

Measurement Model
We used measurement model to determine the reliability and validity of the measurement items.
There were four criteria that should be considered to assess the reliability and validity of measurement
model in two broader aspects, including convergent validity and discriminant validity. Hair et al. (2010)
Rubel et al. 1391

revealed that convergent validity is the extent to which the items that are indicators of a specific con-
struct should converge or allocate a higher proportion of variance in common. According to Hair et al.
(2010), the factor loadings, composite reliability (CR) and average variance extracted (AVE) should be
identified to assess convergent validity. AVE reflects the overall amount of variance in the indicators
accounted for by the latent construct. Again, CR values (see Table 4) depict the degree to which the
construct indicators indicate the latent construct. As shown in Table 1, loadings for all items were above
0.5 recommended by Hair et al. (2010). All AVEs and CRs were above the cut-off values of 0.5 and 0.7,
respectively (Hair et al., 2010).
Next, we examined the discriminant validity, which is the extent to which a construct is truly distinct
from other constructs (Hair et al., 2010). To assess the discriminant validity, we computed the square
roots of AVEs and found that the values were much greater than the correlational values among the
constructs. In this regard, Fornell and Larcker (1981) recommended that if the square root of the
AVE surpassed the inter-correlations of the construct with the other constructs, discriminant validity was
indicated. The present measurement model revealed satisfactory discriminant validity (see Table 2).

Structural Model
The structural model clarifies the associations of the constructs developed for the research model
(Santhanamery & Ramayah, 2015). The goodness of the theoretical model is established by the variance

Table 1. Results of the Measurement Model

Constructs Measurement Items Loading a

AVE b
CR
Role ambiguity RA1 0.790 0.621 0.830
RA2 0.710
RA3 0.856
Role conflict RC1 0.708 0.609 0.823
RC2 0.771
RC3 0.856
Role overload ROL1 0.793 0.710 0.876
ROL2 0.876
ROL3 0.842
Work–family WFC1 0.801 0.521 0.884
conflict WFC2 0.734
WFC3 0.703
WFC4 0.755
WFC5 0.575
WFC6 0.741
Turnover TI1 0.647 0.605 0.866
intention TI2 0.862
TI3 0.767
TI4 0.776
TI5 0.820
Source: Output of the analysis.
Notes: a
Average variance extracted (AVE) = (summation of the square of the factor loadings)/{(summa-
tion of the square of the factor loadings) + (summation of the error variances)}.
 b
Composite reliability (CR) = (square of the summation of the factor loadings)/{(square of the
summation of the factor loadings) + (square of the summation of the error variances)}.
1392 Global Business Review 18(6)

Table 2. Discriminant Validity of the Constructs

Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5
1. Role ambiguity 3.50 0.823 0.788
2. Role conflict 3.48 0.700 0.116 0.780
3. Role overload 3.51 0.815 0.213 0.472 0.838
4. Turnover intention 4.65 1.02 0.062 0.339 0.305 0.778
5. Work–family conflict 3.67 0.820 0.274 0.382 0.462 0.453 0.722
Source: Output of the analysis.
Note: Diagonals represent the squared root of the AVE, while the other entries represent the correlations.

explicated (R2) of the endogenous constructs and the significance of all path estimates (Chin, 2010).
Both the R2 and the path coefficients imply how well the data support the proposed model (Chin, 2010).
In this study, the path coefficients of the structural model had been assessed and bootstrapping analy-
sis was used to evaluate the statistical significance of the path coefficients. Bootstrap is a resampling
technique, which entails repeated random sampling with replacement of the original sample to generate
a bootstrap sample to get a standard error for hypotheses testing (Cordeiro, Machas, & Neves, 2010).
The bootstrap approach is a non-parametric approach for assessing the precision of the PLS estimates
(Chin, 2010). Each path coefficient’s significance can be retrieved through the bootstrapping techniques
in which a significant path, displaying the hypothesized direction, empirically supports the proposed
causal relationship and vice versa (Hair, Ringle, & Sarstedt, 2011).
This study explained 28.0 per cent variance of WFC by three-dimensional role stressors, whereas
21.0 per cent variance of turnover intention was explained by WFC. Table 3 shows the outcome of the
structural model. All three dimensions of role stressors such as role ambiguity (β = 0.180, p < 0.01),
role conflict, (β = 0.207, p < 0.01) and role overload (β = 0.326, p < 0.01) were significantly related
with WFC. Furthermore, WFC was found having significant influence on employee turnover intention

Table 3. Results of the Partial Least Squares Path Analysis

Direct Path Std. Beta Std. Error t. Value Decision

Role ambiguity > work–family 0.180 0.048 3.76** Supported
conflict
Role conflict > work–family 0.207 0.048 4.23** Supported
conflict
Role overload > work–family 0.326 0.051 6.43** Supported
conflict
Work–family 0.453 0.041 11.17** Supported
conflict > turnover intention
Indirect Path Std. Beta Std. Error t. Value Decision 95% LL 95% UL
Role ambiguity > work–family 0.082 0.023 3.487** Supported 0.036 0.128
conflict > turnover intention
Role conflict > work–family 0.094 0.026 3.655** Supported 0.044 0.144
conflict > turnover intention
Role overload > work–family 0.148 0.027 5.495** Supported 0.095 0.200
conflict > turnover intention
Source: Output of the analysis.
Note: * p < 0.05 level; ** p < 0.01 level (based on two tailed).
Rubel et al. 1393

Table 4. Goodness of Fit (GoF)

Construct AVE R2
Role ambiguity 0.621
Role conflict 0.609
Role overload 0.702
Work–family conflict 0.605 0.279
Turnover intention 0.521 0.210
GoF 0.385
Source: Output from the results of the analysis.

(β = 0.453, p < 0.01). Thus, the findings revealed that the three dimensions of role stressor had signifi-
cant influence on WFC and WFC had significant influence on turnover intention as well (see Table 3).
Furthermore, for mediation analysis, both upper limit and lower limit value of the bootstrap confiden-
tial interval were calculated. Hayes (2009) recommends that if the upper limit (UL) and lower limit (LL)
does not straddle zero, this specifies that a mediation effect exists. Thus, the researcher can conclude that
the mediation effect is statistically significant. In this study, WFC satisfies the condition and demon-
strates the statistically significant mediating influence between role ambiguity and retention intention
(LL = 0.036, UL = 0.128), role conflict and turnover intention (LL = 0.044, UL = 0.144) and role over-
load and turnover intention (LL = 0.095, UL = 0.200; see Table 3).
Moreover, the blindfolding method was also used to measure the predictive relevance (Q2) of the
model fit. The Q2 measures how appropriately the model restructures the observed values and its param-
eter estimates (Chin, 2010). A model with a Q2 larger than zero shows that the model has the criteria
necessary for Q2. Employing an omission distance of seven, the study found a cross-validated redun-
dancy Q2 of 0.127 for WFC, Q2 of 0.122 for turnover intention, which was considered to have Q2 based
on the suggestion of Fornell and Larcker (1981) (see Table 4).
The goodness of fit (GoF) of the model was also calculated to measure the performance of the model.
Using the guidelines of Wetzels, Odekerken Schroder and Van Oppen (2009), this study evaluated GoF
values to ascertain whether the criteria values for global confirmation of PLS model were present. In this
study, the GoF value of 0.385 surpassed the cut-off value of 0.36 for a large effect size of R2. As such,
the model had a superior power of estimation with respect to baseline values (GoF small = 0.1, GoF
medium = 0.25, GoF large = 0.36).

Discussion
In this article, we developed an understanding of how RMG supervisors’ WFC mediates the relationship
between each dimension of role stressors and their thought of leaving the organizations. We found that
increased role stressors drawing from three different sources, role ambiguity, role conflict and role over-
load, had a stronger positive connection with supervisors’ WFC, which in turn affect their turnover inten-
tion. The results corroborated prior findings which observed the link between role stressors and WFC
and revealed that stress in the workplace demoralizes the employee and provokes conflict in family life
(Michel et al., 2011; Yildirim & Aycan, 2008). The nature of supervisory job responsibility dictates dif-
fering levels of stress and when the RMG supervisors experience stress as they go through conflicting
job roles, work overload and unclear role expectations, this makes them rethink about their job continu-
ity in the organization. The conflict between work and family may harass employees into making massive
1394 Global Business Review 18(6)

Figure 2. Structural Model

Source: Output of the analysis.

compromises with family, which in turn may lead to their sacrificing job continuity in the organization.
Our results supported such findings as well.
The present study supported that there is an indirect effect of different dimensions of role stressors on
turnover intention through WFC. Previous studies had found that there is a significant mediating effect
of WFC and explained that WFC has a greater impact on the individuals who may embrace them to
behave negatively towards the organization (Ahmad, 2010; Du Prel & Peter, 2014). The present results
added to our understanding of the WFC of RMG supervisors, acting as mediator between role stressors
and turnover intention relationships in Bangladesh, thus extending the evidence based on the context of
labour intensive manufacturing organizations in non-Western developing countries.
Our results have important practical implications for organizations. The results support that if a job
itself is stressful, it can result in WFC and the concatenated effects may lead to employee turnover inten-
tion that would have negative financial implications for the organization. Such outcome reinforces the
notion that management of the organization should monitor and manage work role of employees in such
a way that employees feel less conflict in maintaining the relationship between work and family, which
will in turn boost their psychological comfort and attachment with the organization. We have found that
both role conflict and role overload, compared with role ambiguity, have more devastating effect on
RMG supervisors’ WFC.
These findings suggest that identification of main sources of stress of supervisors might be potentially
important to the labour-intensive organizations such as RMG settings, even in a developing country
context. Equally important is that such organizations should manage the factors creating stress in their
particular workforce because employees’ feelings of stress appear to start the crucial processes enshrined
within WFC with implications for employee turnover intention. Rimi and Rubel (2013) suggested that
management should utilize employee-friendly practices or strategies to enable them make a balance
between work and family life for their increased commitment and retention in the organization.
Rubel et al. 1395

The organization’s policies must give due recognition of the negative outcomes of the conflicting inter-
actions between work and family domains; and hence, the policies must reflect supporting employees in
performing their extended work and family responsibilities. Our findings present some guidance for the
managers to consider and design a proper work role that is not conflicting with family responsibilities.
Such attempts will have the potential to retain the valuable employees in the organization.
Moreover, our research provides evidences that an organization can reduce employee turnover inten-
tion by focusing on balancing work and family life through using proper job design and thus, organiza-
tions can still have more retained employees. The turnover of employees is a threat to the organizations,
and predicting the causes of turnover intention may significantly reduce the levels of employee turnover.
An outgoing employee not only takes away the experience, wisdom and understanding of the organization
but also leaves the job unfinished. Under such circumstances, organization incurs huge expenses in terms
of recruiting and training new employees who will take a great deal of time to be accustomed with the
organization. In these courses of time, an organization faces financial and productivity losses. Higher
turnover intention stemming from perceived WFC may also result in unexpected employee volatility,
which can hinder efficiency and have a negative impact on the organization’s performance. The findings
of our research suggest that organizations can reduce all these expenses by routinely examining employ-
ee’s job role in terms of work load and clarity of role expectations, as work stress factors mainly role
conflict, role overload and role ambiguity were posited to predict WFC.
The findings of our study provide a new approach for human resource management. Usually manag-
ers rely on job-related factors such as financial rewards and other costly incentives and programmes to
both manage and motivate their workforce. Such efforts are creditable, but our findings also stress the
need for the organizations or managers to realize that the nature of the job role itself is a potential moti-
vating factor for the workforce as well. As role overload, ambiguous and conflicting roles are the likely
sources of stressful work life; hence, designing a job role that is stress free is another effective strategy
for managing and retaining people in the workplace.
Therefore, from the global research perspective, it is evident that role stressors have negative conse-
quences on employee outcomes such as turnover intention. Likewise, from the local research on the
linkage between role stressors and RMG supervisors’ turnover intention in Bangladesh, the effect of
stressed workforce is identified in terms of high turnover intention. In this relationship, WFC is playing
the mediating role. Hence, this study contributes to the examination of the mechanisms through which
global management, practitioners or organization leaders can boost employee retention in an organiza-
tion through designing supportive work role that will reduce employee turnover intention with the help
of balancing their work and family lives. In this attempt, the impact of both role stressors and WFC are
well acknowledged. In doing so, this study explores a new avenue for reducing employee turnover inten-
tion by identifying the role stress factors, addressing of which may facilitate the harmonious relationship
between work and family life of employees across the globe.
The generalizability of our findings may be limited due to focusing on a single industry with a small
number of samples taken from only one specific geographic area; hence, the results of those samples
cannot be extrapolated and generalized for the entire cadre of RMG supervisors. Future research may
include more samples from wider geographic areas where RMG supervisors are operating to get a defini-
tive result. In addition, we look only at the effect of WFC, and future researchers are encouraged
to analyse the effects of both FWC and WFC. A further longitudinal study may identify the process of
how role stressors influence WFC and employee turnover intention over time. Finally, we recommend
more research in different organizational settings within and beyond Bangladesh to validate our study
findings.
1396 Global Business Review 18(6)

Conclusion
To conclude, this study provides a better understanding of how different sources of stress can affect
employees’ WFC and in turn influence their withdrawal intention. We also demonstrated that not all
sources of stress are equal and that while all may collectively lead to the development of WFC, certain
sources of stress are strongly related to the WFC. Considering the study’s context, this study contributes
to the existing WFC knowledge through adding WFC study from manufacturing employees’ perspective
of a developing country. Our findings show that role stressors through WFC can lead to devastat-
ing consequences such as employee turnover intention, even in a developing economy. Our frame-
work allows practitioners to better understand that stress and WFC should be managed tactfully for their
implications, for the employees and organization as a whole.

Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to the anonymous referees of the journal for their extremely useful suggestions to improve
the quality of the article. The usual disclaimers apply.

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