The effect of toxic leadership on turnover intention and counterproductive work behaviour in Indonesia public organisations

Purpose – Leadership has been known for its tremendous impact on employees’ outcomes in any organisation. Constructive leadership positively impacts employees, while destructive leadership causes counterproductive work behaviours (CWB). This study aims to investigate the effect of toxic leadership on employees’ CWB via the role of turnover intention by employing the psychological contract theory. Design/methodology/approach – The participants were recruited using various recruitment methods such as online recruitment and alumni networks. After dropping some participants who failed to complete the three wave data collection procedure, 457 responses were used for the final data analysis. The participants came from various public organisations in Indonesia (e.g. hospitals). Findings – The results found that the effect of toxic leadership on employees’ CWB was mediated by the role of turnover intention. Under a toxic leader, employees might intend to leave the organisations and commit CWB as the employees perceived the psychological contract breach. Practical implications – Firstly, public organisations should implement some strategies to reduce the emergence of toxic behaviours. Secondly, public organisations should evaluate and examine how leadership is exercised within public organisations. Lastly, the organisations must ensure that their leaders do not breach employees’ psychological contracts. Originality/value – This study has highlighted the effect of toxic leadership on CWB in public service organisations by employing a psychological contract theory and a power distance perspective. Keywords Toxic leadership, Turnover intention, Counterproductive work behaviours, Psychological contract, and public organisation Paper type Research pape