Leader-member exchange, turnover intention and presenteeism– the moderated mediating effect of perceived organizational support

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the relationships between leader–member exchange (LMX), perceived organizational support (POS), presenteeism, and turnover intention as well as to test the mediating effect of presenteeism and the moderated mediating effect of POS. A total of 566 questionnaires were returned in technology industry to examine the quality of the dyadic relationships between the workers perceived LMX, supervisor-subordinate guanxi and presenteeism in the first questionnaire survey. And we examined second questionnaire survey that their turnover intentions by self-assessed after a month in the first time retuned. After excluding matching and invalid questionnaires, 365 valid questionnaires were collected. In this study, LMX indirectly affected turnover intention through presenteeism. Studies have asserted that high-quality LMX and strong POS effectively reduced workers’ turnover intentions. In addition, when POS increased, the negative relationship between LMX and turnover intention and the positive relationship between presenteeism and turnover intention increased and decreased, respectively. However, POS failed to moderate the positive relationship between LMX and presenteeism. Further, presenteeism was determined to mediate the relationship between LMX and turnover intentions. Notably, LMX only indirectly affected turnover intention through presenteeism in workers with low POS. The findings of this study can serve as a reference for formulating human resource management policies. In summary, this study provides evidence of the important role played by turnover intentions in determining an LMX, supervisor-subordinate guanxi and presenteeism. High-quality exchange relationships entail leader–member relationships and organization proxy (e.g., supervisor)–worker relationships. When workers’ perceptions of organizational support are weak, and the organization lacks a robust support policy, workers’ presenteeism to reciprocate to their supervisors or organization cannot be regulated, increasing presenteeism behavior in the organization and workers’ turnover intentions.