The influences of psychosocial work environment on the turnovers of civil service cadre officers in rural Bangladesh: an empirical study

• Date: 19 October 2023
• Pages: 37-58
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-03-2023-0067
• Published date: 19 October 2023
• Subject Matter: Public policy & environmental management,Politics,Public adminstration & management
• Author: Thanh Huynh,Md Mahabur Rahman Sheikh

The influences of psychosocial

work environment on the turnovers

of civil service cadre officers

in rural Bangladesh:

an empirical study

Thanh Huynh

Coventry University, Coventry, UK, and

Md Mahabur Rahman Sheikh

Bournemouth University, Poole, UK

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of the psychosocial work environment on the

turnover of civil service cadre officers in rural areas in Bangladesh.

Design/methodology/approach –Physical intimidation, mental health and well-being, organisational

impediments, decision latitude, psychological job demands and social interaction were developed as variables

to examine in relation to job satisfaction and turnover. This study gathers 406 responses from Bangladesh Civil

Service (BCS) cadre officers in rural areas to test the hypotheses.

Findings –The findings indicate that physical intimidation increases employee turnover, whereas

psychosocial job demand decreases it. Physical intimidation reduces job satisfaction, whereas decision

flexibility and social interaction enhance job satisfaction, hence reducing the turnover of civil service cadre

officers in rural Bangladesh.

Originality/value –This research contributes to the creation of context-specific and targeted public sector

support, particularly the interventions and policies addressing the work environment in rural areas.

Keywords Turnover, Rural, Psychosocial work environment, Cadre officers, Public sector, Bangladesh

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

While globalisation has changed the workplace, public sector organisations, particularly in

developing countries like Bangladesh, lack standard practices (Mahmood and Nurul Absar,

2015). Public employers in Bangladesh lack skilled, competent and senior employees. They

also lack an effective human resource management policy, and new generations have

different workplace expectations. Despite regular public recruitment, public employers still

struggle to attract and recruit talent and the shortage of skilled and talented professionals

persists (Mahmood and Nurul Absar, 2015).

Public organisations also struggle to retain competent staffs, particularly in poor and

developing countries (Samuel and Chipunza, 2009). Employers need to retain efficient and

effective employees, as employee turnover impacts the organisation’s goals in numerous

ways (Mahmud and Idrish, 2011). Employee turnover results in direct and indirect costs

(Abbasi and Hollman, 2000) and loss of organisational memory (Moynihan and Pandey,

2008). Particularly, rural areas are more at risks and residents there have always tended to

migrate to larger cities, as in Bangladesh and other parts of the world. Educated people from

wealthy families are reluctant to work in rural Bangladesh (Ahmad, 2007). Due to the high

rate of turnovers in Bangladesh’s public offices, employers must compromise on talents

(Latif et al., 2014). Minimal research has been undertaken on staff retention, despite

stakeholders’significant interest in this difficult area (Ferdous, 2014).

Turnovers of

civil service

cadre officers

37

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/0951-3558.htm

Received 9 March 2023

Revised 30 August 2023

Accepted 22 September 2023

International Journal of Public

Sector Management

Vol. 37 No. 1, 2024

pp. 37-58

© Emerald Publishing Limited

0951-3558

DOI 10.1108/IJPSM-03-2023-0067

However, human resource management in developing countries has not been well

explored (Athamneh and Guerra, 2023;Budhwar and Debrah, 2013). Most retention studies

focus on for-profit organisations including corporations and small and medium-sized

enterprises in the private sector (Bahar et al., 2022;Ikram et al., 2021;Islam et al., 2022b;

Presbitero et al., 2016). Another study examines the retention of healthcare professionals in

rural locations (Leach et al., 2010). Most employee retention research focusses on pay-related

benefits and the physical work environment (Hofstede, 2011). Others associate employee

retention with job dissatisfaction and a hostile work environment (Raziq and Maulabakhsh,

2015;Tsagkanou et al., 2022), referring to physical infrastructure and psychosocial traits

(Hvid and Hasle, 2017). Thus, it is necessary to address the impact of the psychosocial work

environment on the retention of public sector employees, particularly in rural areas of

developing nations. This study will address the research question of to what extent the

psychosocial work environment affects the retention of civil service cadre officers in rural

Bangladesh.

Social exchange theory and organisational culture theory were used to build a study

model in which job satisfaction plays a mediating function in the links between

psychosocial work environment and employee turnover in the rural public sector of

Bangladesh. Using 406 responses from an online survey, a quantitative data analysis was

undertaken. The potential contribution of this study is to contribute to a comprehensive

understanding of the BCS Cadre’s turnover. The results of this study can be used to boost

the retention rate of Administration Cadre officers in rural areas, and the government can

make adjustments to provide officers with a more favourable psychological work

environment. This research will increase our knowledge of the psychosocial work

environment, job satisfaction and employee turnover in rural public organisations.

Academics and practitioners interested in undertaking further research in this area will

benefit from this study.

Literature review

The whole administration structure of Bangladesh permeates colonial inheritance (Haque,

1995). British rituals contributed to the bureaucracy’s rise to prominence inside the

government. Since independence, the government’s role has strengthened (Jahan, 2006)

through learning experience from the Indian Civil Service (ICS) and Pakistan’s Civil Service

(CSP) (Ferdous, 2014). The public sector is Bangladesh’s largest employer, and filling

vacancies consistently costs a fortune (Ferdous, 2014). Significant pay differences exist

between the public and private sectors in Bangladesh, making it difficult for the public sector

to attract and retain skilled employees (Siddiquee, 2003, p. 52). According to Wright (2001),

public offices frequently fall behind non-government entities in terms of productivity and

efficiency, employees are found to be sluggish and lethargic and a multifaceted work

environment, amongst other moderating factors, is being identified. In rural public offices,

intimidation, harassment and bullying are regularly reported in Bangladesh’s media (BTI,

2016). Turnover defined as the departure of an employee from an organisation (Sun and

Wang, 2017;Zhang et al., 2023) becomes a major problem in human resource management

within public sector. Bangladeshi lawmakers are thus working on legislation requiring public

sector employees to work in rural areas for a set period (UNDP, 2012). However, uncertain

management, unclear practices and political influences still shape the work environment in

Bangladesh’s local government according to Panday and Jamil (2011). Changes in the work

environment are required to adapt to the indigenous context, but they are not always

desirable in Bangladesh.

Turnover intention is related to an employee’s degree of connection to the organisation, its

environment and community (Hussain and Deery, 2018;Zhang et al., 2023). Jung (2010)

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