Work-Life Interference, Psychological Conditions, Work Engagement And Turnover Intention At A Uranium Mine In Namibia

ABSTRACT

Psychologists have long been concerned with the well-being of people and how it can be achieved. There are various routes to well-being, for example, via pleasure, engagement, accomplishment and meaning. This study focuses on the second route to well-being, namely engagement in the work context, and specifically the relation thereof to work-life interference. Interference of employees’ work with their home and home with work is an important factor impacting their work engagement. This is specifically evident when the work and home are far apart. The general objective of the study was to investigate the relationship between work-life interference, psychological conditions, employee engagement and turnover intention in a uranium mine in Namibia.

A quantitative study was conducted. More specifically a survey design was used. The participants were 292 employees of a uranium mine in the Namib Desert (in Namibia) residing in towns between 70 and 90 kilometres from their workplace. The following measuring instruments were used: Survey Work–Home Interference-Nijmegen, Psychological Conditions Scale, Work Engagement Questionnaire, and the Turnover Intention Scale. The statistical analysis was carried out with the SPSS 19.0 program. Exploratory factor analyses were used to assess the construct validity of the measuring instruments. The reliability of the measuring instruments was assessed by means of Cronbach alpha coefficients. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the effects of work-life interference on employee engagement and turnover intention. Mediation analyses were used to determine indirect effects.

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The results showed that there is a significant relationship between work-life interference and work engagement within the employees at the mine. Negative work-life interference (work-home/home-work spillover) was negatively related to psychological meaningfulness, psychological availability, and work engagement. The opposite was found regarding positive work-life interference (work-home/home-work spillover) as it was positively related to psychological meaningfulness, psychological availability, work engagement, and is negatively related to turnover intention. What was also apparent in the study is that psychological meaningfulness and psychological availability mediated the relationship between negative and positive interferences and work engagement, and turnover intention.