CHAPTER ONE

 INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Burnout is a psychological state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion as a result of excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place. Burnout brings about reduction in productivity and consumes one’s energy, leaving a person feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless and resentful. Eventually, one may feel like he/her has nothing more to give. Burnout is a malaise of the spirit in which motivation, that mysterious force that gets us moving is damaged or even destroyed. Job burnout could be called job depression. Burnout is not an all-or-nothing proposition. Even the hottest fires will burn out, so we tend them fanning, stoking, and occasionally adding another log. When motivation wanes, we burn out.

Along with increased competition and extension methods of human resource development, organizations empower their talented employees to achieve high organizational performance and employee retention. Nowadays, occupational turnover is deemed as one of the main challenges raised in all organizations, regardless of their geographic location and type. Organizational progress largely depends on employee retention and providing a condition in which they can perform their duties efficiently. The organizations heedless of retaining their employees encounter shortage of human resources and the associated complications of staffing. Different factors such as management strategies, reduced workforce, salary and benefit, occupational stress, feeling of unfairness, and attrition in an organization can contribute to turnover intention. Among these, organizational injustice is of critical significance since it can foster negative attitudes or increase turnover intention. Organizational justice is an important motivational tool for organizational behaviors. Justice is a broad and multifaceted concept associated with non-discrimination and fair observance of differences within various disciplines. Organizational justice is characterized by different individuals and parties’ perception of fairness of behaviors in an organization and their behavioral responses to those perceptions.

Organizational politics affects the employee’s performance at work. Gbadamosi and Chinaka (2011) examined the effect of organizational politics, turnover intention and organizational commitment on employees’ effectiveness and efficiency in academia. Sample of the research was comprised of 200 randomly selected employees of Babcock University. The age range of the respondents was between 25 and 53 years. In their study, ex post facto research design was used. Three instruments, Perceptions of Organizational Politics Scale, Organizational Commitment Scale, and Turnover Intention Scale, were used. Job performance was measured through respondents’ annual performance evaluation report. The results of the study revealed high correlations between organizational politics and turnover intention, work efficiency and organizational commitment. All of these factors are very important for the organizational success.

The importance of employees’ job satisfaction is akin to the role of the employees in the organization. If employees are not satisfied, it affects their attitude towards their job negatively. Chang, (2008) found that personal attitudes of the employee and organizational environments have great influences on employee job satisfaction. Role fairness is an example of factors that can affect employee job satisfaction, as many researchers reported from western perspectives. Few studies have delved on the antecedent factors that lead to employee satisfaction or dissatisfaction in an Asian perspective, particularly in Thailand. Studies have documented that employee perceptions on procedural justice and organizational justice significantly influence both cultural and societal behaviors. It is fair to presume a similar significant influence of fairness in organizational behavioral sphere. For instance Lind & Tyler, (1988) and Tyler, et. al. (1997) opined that cultural background affect employee perception of organizational justice and also admitted that organizational justice is a universal phenomenon. Lam et al. (2002) concluded in their study that most of the studies on distributive and procedural justice do not reveal inter-culturally generalizable conclusions. Consistently, Lam, Schaubroeck, & Aryee (2002) argued that studies of the effects of distributive and procedural justice do not provide consistent and mutually supportive conclusions as to generalizability across cultures. On that account, researchers are challenged to examine the influences of procedural justice and distributive justices on employee attitude and behaviors from different cultural context and backgrounds (e.g., Brockner, et al., 2000; Lind & Earley, 1992; Lind, Tyler & Huo, 1997). Hence, this study provides an empirical analysis on the influence of burnout organizational politics and organisational justice on turnover intention among employees.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Organizational justice is an important motivational tool for organizational behaviors. Justice is a broad and multifaceted concept associated with non-discrimination and fair observance of differences within various disciplines. Organizational justice is characterized by different individuals and parties’ perception of fairness of behaviors in an organization and their behavioral responses to those perceptions. Intention to leave might stem from perception of organizational injustice. Among all, nurses, who constitute the largest occupational group in healthcare organizations, are of particular importance. This study was aimed to determine the influence of burnout organizational politics and organisational justice on turnover intention among employees. It also purported to examine the relationship between organizational politics and justice and turnover intention among employees.

1.3      RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following are some of the questions which this study intends to answer:

i)                   what are the causes of organizational politics and organizational justice among employees?

ii)                 what are the effects of organizational politics and justice on turnover intention among employees?

iii)               what is the prevalence of burnout organizational politics and organisational justice on turnover intention among employees?

1.4    OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study was to investigate the influence of burnout organizational politics and organisational justice on turnover intention among employees. The specific objectives were:

i)                   to assess the causes of organizational politics and organizational justice among employees

ii)                 to establish the effects of organizational politics and justice on turnover intention among employees

iii)               to inquire the prevalence of burnout organizational politics and organisational justice on turnover intention among employees.

1.5    RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The research hypotheses to be tested include:

i)                   there is no significant relationship between organizational politics and turnover intention among employees

ii)                 there is no significant correlation between organizational justice and turnover intention among employees

iii)               there is a significant relationship between burnout and turnover intention among employees.

1.6    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study was designed to investigate the influence of burnout organizational politics and organisational justice on turnover intention among employees. It will therefore show relationship between organizational politics and justice and turnover intention among employees.

1.7   SCOPE OF THE STUDY

            This study was limited to the influence of burnout organizational politics and organisational justice on turnover intention among employees. It was therefore carried out among the workers (both staff and casual) of Fine Coat Paints in Lagos State.

1.8    LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The researcher was faced with the problem of reading the questions to some casual workers of the Fine Coat Paints as not all of them were able to read and write very well. The staff workers of the organisation were not ready to give out as much as possible information needed but they eventually did when the researcher assured them about the confidentiality of the information.

1.9     DEFINITION OF TERMS

The following terms were used in the course of this study:

Burnout: This refers to the feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment

Employee: This is a person who works for another person or for a company for wages or a salary 

Employees Turnover: This refers to the number or percentage of workers who leave an organization and are replaced by new employees.

Organisational justice: It refers to employee perceptions of fairness in the workplace.

Organizational politics: This refers to a variety of activities associated with the use of influence tactics to improve personal or organizational interests.

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