Psychological safety and turnover intentions in public organisations in Hanoi, Vietnam: The indirect role of employee voice

Abstract

This study aims to empirically investigate the relationships between psychological safety, employee voice, and turnover intention based on social exchange and voice-exit theories. Additionally, the study identified the fully mediating mechanism of employee voice in the link between psychological safety and turnover intention. The study employed self-reported survey techniques to collect individual-level data from public organisations in education, healthcare, and public administration in Vietnam. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4.0 was used to test the proposed hypotheses with a sample of 227 observations from public employees. Findings revealed a direct positive effect of psychological safety on employee voice and a negative effect on turnover intention. Moreover, the results confirm that employee voice fully mediates the relationship between psychological safety and turnover intention. This study not only provides empirical evidence but also sheds light on how psychological safety influences the process of turnover intention in the public sector. Additionally, this study highlighted several intriguing data points that should provide managers with worthwhile options to improve psychological safety for public employees and offer them a voice to mitigate turnover intention.