Loyal employees in difficult settings. The compounding effects of inter-professional dysfunction and employee loyalty on job tension

Date06 November 2017
Pages1755-1769
Published date06 November 2017
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/PR-05-2016-0124
AuthorBridget Rice,Kathy Knox,John Rice,Nigel Martin,Peter Fieger,Anneke Fitzgerald
Subject MatterHR & organizational behaviour,Global HRM
Loyal employees in
difficult settings
The compounding effects of inter-professional
dysfunction and employee loyalty
on job tension
Bridget Rice
UNE Business School, University of New England, Armidale, Australia
Kathy Knox
Department of Marketing, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia
John Rice
UNE Business School, University of New England, Armidale, Australia
Nigel Martin
Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Peter Fieger
UNE Business School, University of New England,
Armidale, Australia, and
Anneke Fitzgerald
Department of International Business and Asian Studies,
Griffith Business School, Griffith University,
Southport, Australia
Abstract
Purpose Employee loyalty is generally a very positive trait. However, when loyal employees are
confronted with dysfunctionality in the workplace the impact on their well-being can be significant.
The purpose of this paper is to assess the interaction of employee loyalty and employee experience of
inter-professional dysfunction in a hospital setting to predict employee job tension.
Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on the analysis of a cross-sectional attitudinal
survey of employees within a hospital setting in Australia. The authors use OLS regression and an SPSS
macro (by Hayes, 2013) to assess the regions of significance of the interaction effects.
Findings The authors find, as anticipated, significant direct effects for employee loyalty and inter-
professional dysfunction on employee job stress. The authors further find significant interaction effects that
suggest that highly loyal employees who experience inter-professional dysfunction also experience
disproportionately high levels of job tension.
Research limitations/implications The main research implication of this research relates to the
confirmation of the presence of an interaction effect between loyalty and inter-professional dysfunction in
predicting employee job stress. Further, the zone of significance analysis (following Johnson and Neyman)
suggests that this effect is evident at even low levels of inter-professional dysfunction.
Practical implications Organisations should appreciate employee loyalty but should also be aware that
loyal employees are more vulnerable to the negative consequences of organisational dysfunction than are
employees with limited organisational loyalty.
Social implications The paper confirms the importance of managing organisational cooperation between
groups in organisations as a precursor to positive employee outcomes.
Originality/value This is the first paper to investigate this interaction and to apply Johnson-Neyman
analysis to confirm the regions of significance for the interaction effects noted.
Keywords Quantitative, Job tension, Employee loyalty, Inter-professional collaboration,
Inter-professional dysfunction
Paper type Research paper
Personnel Review
Vol. 46 No. 8, 2017
pp. 1755-1769
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/PR-05-2016-0124
Received 31 May 2016
Revised 12 October 2016
13 January 2017
Accepted 6 March 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0048-3486.htm
1755
Loyal
employees
in difficult
settings

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