Service employees’ workplace fun and turnover intention: the influence of psychological capital and work engagement

Purpose As a way of addressing how best turnover intention among service employees can be reduced through workplace fun, this study aims to examine how psychological capital (PsyCap) and work engagement, respectively, moderates and mediates the relationship between workplace fun and turnover intention in a moderated mediation. Design/methodology/approach Using cross-sectional quantitative design, data were collected by means of questionnaires and convenience sampling. The hypotheses were tested with 482 service employees from the hospitality industry in Ghana using PROCESS macro. Findings The findings depict that work engagement mediates the relationship between workplace fun and turnover intention among service employees. Also, PsyCap moderates the workplace fun–engagement relationship, in addition to the workplace fun–work engagement–turnover intention relationship. Specifically, both relationships are stronger for employees with high PsyCap. Practical implications The authors would like to conclude that as frontline employees are usually subjected to stressful conditions, monotonous working environments and emotional labor, which affect the quitting intention, incorporating fun into the workplace will strategically help frontline employees to be engaged in their work and reduce their intentions to quit. Originality/value With a focus on a developing economy, this work is novel in exploring possible factors that may help increase work engagement and reduce turnover intention among service employees.