Abstract
Destructive leadership behaviours are considered a significant factor for employee turnover in many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Australian manufacturing SMEs that manufacture steels have been facing difficulty in retaining their employees because of the leadership styles of leaders and managers. This situation has led steel manufacturing SMEs in Australia to understand that leaders' destructive behaviours influence employee turnover, which affects productivity. Retaining employees in any organisation is not a simple task because there are different factors that cause employees to leave an organisation, and one of the crucial factors is leaders' destructive behaviours. Thus, employee turnover is significant for SMEs in Australia from a financial perspective and a productivity perspective. Hence, it is crucial for SMEs to understand the impact of leaders' destructive behaviours and their negative impact on employee turnover intention. Australian SMEs are expected to grow in the coming days and understanding the negative influence of destructive leadership behaviours is essential to solve the issue of employee turnover. The main aim of this research is to examine the relationship between different forms of destructive leadership behaviours and employee turnover. In previous studies (Aasland et al., 2010; Avolio & Bass, 2004), more importance was placed on destructive leadership and job satisfaction. However, this study examines the relationship between destructive leadership behaviours and employee turnover. The relationships between independent variables such as derailed leadership, tyrannical leadership, supportive-disloyal leadership and laissez-faire leadership and the dependent variable employee turnover have been hypothesised in this research.xiii The researcher utilised a post-positivist and quantitative approach. To gather data, the researcher contacted several Australia SMEs that manufacture steels located in NSW and sent a proposal for gathering data. Two of these SMEs agreed to participate in the survey. In total, 205 responses were received, 199 of which were usable. A convenience sampling method was used to sample the population. SPSS version 25 was used to analyse the collected data by utilising regression analysis to respond to the research hypotheses and research questions. The research findings partially support the theoretical framework of this study with two variables significantly influencing employee turnover. Specially, this study found that laissez-faire and supportive-disloyal leadership behaviours influence employee turnover in steel manufacturing SMEs. The findings of this study provide crucial theory, managerial and business implications for steel manufacturing SMEs in NSW, Australia. In addition, this research should provide guidelines for managers of SMEs to solve the problems associated with employee turnover. The sample population consisted of 351 employees working in steel manufacturing small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in NSW, Australia. The sample (205) consisted of a small proportion of Australian workers; hence, the findings from this research might not be generalisable to all small and medium-sized steel manufacturing enterprises.