The Institutionalisation of Supervisors’ Bottom-Line Mentality and Its Influence on Emotional Exhaustion Among Retail Workers

Abstract

The retail industry, characterised by high demands and competitive pressures, is considered a work setting where a bottom-line mentality (BLM) may be pervasive. This study investigates the impact of supervisors’ BLM on employee emotional exhaustion within the aforementioned industry. The main assumption of the study is that the institutionalisation of this mentality by frontline managers intensifies worker exhaustion. The data for this study, which has a quantitative design and uses a convenience sampling method, were obtained from 246 retail employees through structured questionnaires. The findings reveal a significant correlation between supervisors’ BLM and increased levels of worker emotional exhaustion (β =.342, p < .01). In addition, the relationship is further intensified when bottom-line priorities are deeply ingrained in the managerial practices of lower-level managers (β =.224, p < .01). Considering these findings, organisational interventions that enhance employee well-being and promote a balanced approach to performance metrics are needed to mitigate the adverse effects of BLM.

Keywords

• Bottom-line mentality
• emotional exhaustion
• retail industry
• employee well-being

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