Understanding the role of meaningfulness of work: a moderated-mediation model of bullying during work from home

Purpose Drawing on conservation of resource (COR) theory, the authors investigated relationships between bullying during work from home, turnover intention and meaningfulness of work among home-based teleworkers. Design/methodology/approach The authors used three-wave data from 212 home-based teleworkers to investigate the authors' hypotheses. Findings Findings reveal that bullying during home-based teleworking exacerbates teleworkers' emotional exhaustion and intention to quit. Further, the authors also found that the interrelationship between bullying during work from home and the intention to leave was positively moderated by the meaningfulness of work. Originality/value The authors' research helps understand how bullying stimulates teleworkers' turnover intention. Further, the authors find a counterintuitive impact of the meaningfulness of work on the relationship between bullying during work and turnover intention. The findings will help managers better manage home-based teleworkers.