The Influence of Dual Missions on Employees’ Meaning of Work and Turnover Intention in Social Enterprises

Jonghun Sun,Young Woo Sohn

doi:10.3390/su13147812

Abstract

This study aims to examine the influence of an organization’s missions on employees’ turnover intention in the rarely studied context of social enterprises. Data collected from 236 full-time employees working for social enterprises in South Korea indicated that the negative relationship between social mission and turnover intention was mediated by the meaning of work; this mediation effect was weaker when the economic mission was stronger. The study contributes to the literature on organizational psychology (i.e., meaning of work, turnover) in the context of a new, but increasingly prevalent, organizational form—social enterprises. It also provides practical advice for managers seeking to retain and empower employees and enhance the sustainability of their social enterprises.

Highlights

Social enterprises aim to create social benefit through profit-seeking businesses [1].The typical social enterprise has a specific social mission to clarify the intended social impact on the targeted beneficiaries [2]
We first tested the measurement model which consisted of four factors: social mission, economic mission, meaning of work, and turnover intention
After parceling 10 items measuring the meaning of work to three constructs and allowing an additional correlated residual among the items within turnover intention based on modification indices [21], the chi-square statistic was found to be significant: X2 (47, N = 236) = 102.32, p < 0.001

Summary

Introduction

Social enterprises aim to create social benefit through profit-seeking businesses [1]. The typical social enterprise has a specific social mission to clarify the intended social impact on the targeted beneficiaries [2]. The identity of a social enterprise is usually hybrid, combining the dual identities of profit seeker and social problem solver [3]. This study investigates how this uniqueness makes a difference in empowering employees. An increasing number of studies have been published on the management, leadership, and ecological trends of social enterprises [4]. Not many studies have focused on the social enterprise as a workplace for individual employees

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Methods

Results

Conclusion