Red Tape and Employee Outcomes: Boredom at Work as a Mediator

Abstract

Red tape in the workplace is generally accepted to be harmful to both employees and organizations, but the underlying mechanism is still understudied. This study proposed work-related boredom as a potential mediator of the relationships between red tape and its outcomes, i.e., turnover intention, burnout, and in-role and extra-role work performance. To better understand the operations of the relationships, we divided red tape into two dimensions, functionality and burden. As predicted, the results showed that both dimensions of red tape and boredom were closely related and had detrimental effects on employee outcomes. Work-related boredom acted as a partial mediator within these relationships, except when the in-role performance was the outcome, boredom fully mediated the effect of red tape – functionality on in-role work performance, whereas there is no mediation of boredom existing within the relationships between red tape – burden and in-role performance. Our study suggested that all types of red tape can negatively impact employees. Furthermore, future research could focus on boredom as a general mediator of red tape and its effects.