Relationships between job embeddedness and employees’ life satisfaction
| Published date | 06 November 2017 |
| Pages | 951-966 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-10-2016-0199 |
| Date | 06 November 2017 |
| Author | Emmanuel Twumasi Ampofo,Alan Coetzer,Paul Poisat |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
Relationships between job
embeddedness and employees’
life satisfaction
Emmanuel Twumasi Ampofo and Alan Coetzer
School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia, and
Paul Poisat
Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore relationships between organisation embeddedness and life
satisfaction, and community embeddedness and life satisfaction. The study also examined relationships
between each sub-dimension of organisation embeddedness and community embeddedness and life
satisfaction. These sub-dimensions are “links”,“fit”and “sacrifice”.
Design/methodology/approach –Data were collected from 549 employees in organisations located
in four major business centres in South Africa. The data were analysed using structural equation
modelling.
Findings –Both organisation embeddedness and community embeddedness were positively related to life
satisfaction. Regarding the sub-dimensions of organisation embeddedness, only organisation fit and sacrifice
were positively related to life satisfaction. As regards the sub-dimensions of community embeddedness, only
community fit was positively related to life satisfaction.
Practical implications –Adopting practices which embed employees in the organisation and communities
where they live is potentially beneficial for both organisations and employee well-being.
Originality/value –The bulk of research on job embeddedness ( JE) and work-related outcomes has
focussed on benefits for the organisation. The effects of embeddedness on employee well-being have been
largely overlooked. The current study is an attempt to redress this imbalance in JE research.
Keywords South Africa, Life satisfaction, Job embeddedness
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Research on employee turnover has focussed on the reasons why employees voluntarily
leave their jobs (Griffeth et al., 2000; Hom and Griffeth, 1995). In contrast, Mitchell et al.
(2001) proposed a construct called job embeddedness ( JE) which focusses on why people
stay. According to the JE theory, the reasons why employees stay or leave their jobs can
be attributed to two broad sets of influences (Mitchell et al., 2001). On-the-job influences
bind employees to their work organisations (Holtom and Inderrieden, 2006; Karatepe,
2016; Mitchell et al., 2001), while off-the-job influences bind employees to their
residential communities and may sway them to decline opportunities for inter-
organisational mobility if the employment opportunity involvesgeographical relocation
(Ng and Feldman, 2014). Several subsequent studies have shown that employees who
are highly embedded in their organisations and communities are more likely to stay
with their employers than employees who are less embedded (e.g. Mallol et al., 2007;
Robinson et al., 2014).
Although the JE theory was developed primarily to better explain the phenomenon
of employee turnover (Mitchell et al., 2001), scholars have since discovered that the
construct is related to other work-related outcomes. These outcomes include job
performance and absenteeism (e.g. Lee et al., 2004), organisational citizenship
behaviours (e.g. Lev and Koslowsky, 2012a) and innovation work behaviour (e.g.
Ng and Feldman, 2010). Thus, the bulk of research on JE and work-related outcomes has
focussed on the benefits of JE for the organisation. The effects of JE on employee well-
Employee Relations
Vol. 39 No. 7, 2017
pp. 951-966
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-10-2016-0199
Received 25 October 2016
Revised 8 February 2017
7 April 2017
Accepted 7 April 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
951
JE and
employees’life
satisfaction
being have been largely overlooked in the literature. The current study is an attempt to
redress this imbalance in JE research by exploring associations between JE and
employees’life satisfaction.
Examining the JE-life satisfaction relationship is important for several reasons. First,
the lack of attention to life satisfaction in the field of management has been identified as a
critical research gap (Erdogan et al., 2012). Second, from the stakeholder and corporate
social responsibility perspectives, managers have an important responsibility to foster the
well-being of employees (Carroll, 1999), and life satisfaction is a key component of
employees’psychological well-being (Pavot and Diener, 2008). Third, although just a few
studies have examined the relationship between life satisfaction and work-related
outcomes, findings of these studies suggest that life satisfaction does affect important
work-related outcomes, such as job performance, organisation commitment and turnover
(Erdogan et al., 2012). Fourth, as Erdogan et al. (2012, p. 1057) have noted, “given that life
satisfaction is a broad concept, its predictors will likely need to be broad”. Consistent with
this reasoning, we contend that the JE construct may be well suited as a predictor of life
satisfaction because it captures employee perceptions of a wide range of work and
non-work factors that are directly relevant to life satisfaction.
Theoretical framework and research hypotheses
JE
JE refers to the array of social, financial and psychological factors that influences
individuals’decisions to stay in their jobs (Kiazad et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2012). JE is
often envisaged as a web of forces that cause individuals to become “stuck”in their jobs
(Lev and Koslowsky, 2012a; Mitchell et al., 2001). According to the JE theory, people get
embedded both on-the-job (i.e. organisation embeddedness) and off-the-job(i.e. community
embeddedness) (Felps et al., 2009). Mitchell et al . (2001) categorised factors that embed
people in their organisations and communities into three sub-dimensions of JE: “links”,
“fit”and “sacrifice”.
Links refers to formal and informal connections that people have with other people and
activities in the organisation and community (Ng and Feldman, 2007; Zhang et al., 2012).
On-the-job links includes social ties with co-workers and supervisors, while off-the-job links
includes relationships with family, friends and social groups (Zhang et al., 2012).
The stronger the links people have with others in their workplaces and communities, the
more unwilling they will be to leave their jobs (Lee et al., 2004; Lev and Koslowsky, 2012a).
Fit represents a person’s perceived compatibility with his or her workplace and
residential community (Kiazad et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2012). Employees become
embedded in their jobs when their abilities, career ambitions and personal values match
the job requirements, development opportunities afforded by the organisation and
widely shared values within the organisation (Lee et al., 2004; Ng and Feldman, 2007).
Similarly, people will perceive a good fit with their community if factors such as the
political and religious climates, weather and entertainment activities match their
preferences (Mitchell et al., 2001). Overall, the stronger the two types of fit, the more likely
it is that individuals will become embedded in their organisations and communities
(Lee et al., 2004; Lev and Koslowsky, 2012b).
The sacrifice dimension represents the perceived psychological or material costs
associated with a person’s departure from his or her organisation and community
(Mitchell et al., 2001). Sacrifices are current or anticipated benefits that an individual
potentially forfeits by leaving the organisation and community. Thesum total of benefits
that a person would relinquish may have a significant influence on his or her decision
to leave the organisation and community. Therefore, people with more benefits to
sacrifice by leaving their organisations and communities may find it difficult to depart
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