Effort-reward imbalance at work: the role of job satisfaction

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of job satisfaction in the relationship between effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and burnout, turnover intentions, and mental health.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a sample of 323 full-time employees in the small developing country in the Caribbean, this survey study tested a mediation model with job satisfaction depicting the relationship between ERI and various outcome variables. The model was compared to a partial mediation model.

Findings

The structural equation modelling (SEM) results revealed that the partial mediating model was superior to the full mediation model, suggesting that job satisfaction plays only a partial role in mediating the relationships between ERI and burnout, turnover intentions, and mental health.

Research limitations/implications

The study presents a cross-sectional approach to model testing but the study controlled for CMV statistically using the common latent factor approach within latent SEM procedures.

Practical implications

Organisations should ensure that employees’ efforts are appropriately and fairly rewarded as a means of reducing negative ERIs which can have adverse consequences on the physical and mental health of employees.

Originality/value

Using latent SEM procedures and statistical controls for CMV, the study examined job satisfaction as a potential mediator in a popular stressor-strain model.

Citation

Devonish, D. (2018), "Effort-reward imbalance at work: the role of job satisfaction", Personnel Review, Vol. 47 No. 2, pp. 319-333. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-08-2016-0218