Workplace bullying and employee outcomes: a moderated mediated model

Garavan, Thomas N.; Sheehan, Maura; McCabe, T. J.; Garavan, Thomas

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between workplace bullying and employee outcomes in a healthcare setting. Drawing on HR process theory, we investigate the mediating role of the perceived effectiveness of implementation of anti-bullying practices on employee outcomes and whether targeted line manager training was a moderator of that relationship. Our multi-level analysis (utilising responses from 1,507 employees within forty-seven hospitals with matched HR Director interviews), finds that the relationship between workplace bullying and employee outcomes is partially mediated by employees’ perceived effective implementation of intended anti-bully practices. The mediated relationship is moderated by targeted line manager training in anti-bullying practices. The mediated moderation model illustrates that it is effective implementation of anti-bullying practices enhanced by targeted training that is required to reduce bullying probabilities and their associated negative employee outcomes. The paper contributes to resource based view (RBV) of the firm, HR process and human capital theories. The implications for future research and practice are discussed.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 14, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jan 5, 2018
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Deposit Date: Nov 20, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 6, 2019
• Journal: International Journal of Human Resource Management
• Print ISSN: 0958-5192
• Electronic ISSN: 1466-4399
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 31
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 1379-1416
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2017.1406390
• Keywords: HR process theory, workplace bullying, anti-bullying practices, employee outcomes, line manager training, multi-level analysis.
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/1011476
• Contract Date: Nov 20, 2017