Conflict and Employee Engagement

Introduction

In the economic aspect, women have a role as workforce and experts who have skills and even play a role as leaders; it is one of the important factors leading to a successful organization. Papua is one of the provinces in Indonesia that embraces patriarchal culture. The strong patriarchal ideology in Papua restricts the movement of Papuan women, especially in the public sphere. Based on BPS data from 2014 to 2015, the highest level of disparity was found in gender empowerment in Papua. It can be said that women's empowerment in Papua is very uneven compared to other provinces. 

As a subsidiary company of Freeport McMoRan, PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) is one of the largest companies in Papua engaged in the mining business; its activities including mining, processing and exploring ore containing copper, gold, and silver. It operates in the highlands of Mimika Regency, Papua Province, PTFI, which is a small reflection of Indonesia's diversity, with cultural and ethnic diversity as one of corporate strength. PTFI provides a variety of benefits for employees, for example by providing a variety of high-quality facilities, health insurance, and accommodation. PTFI has become one of the dream companies for most Indonesians to work at, especially Papuans. Based on the employment fact sheet of PT Freeport Indonesia in 2016, 4,321 direct employees of PTFI are native Papuans. Those workers are spread at both at pratama and non-pratama level. 

Recently, various labor problems and demands from PTFI's company management have the potential to raise a variety of problems for employees. If this is not resolved immediately, it will lead employees to feel discomfortable with the work environment and increase conflict in the work environment; therefore, it can trigger an employee to leave the job or leave the organization. The desire of employees to move (turnover intention) caused by conflict perceived by individuals. As individuals, employees may have the intention to leave the organization due to work dissatisfaction and an unpleasant work atmosphere, taking into account several alternative job options. In this case, one important predictor of employee turnover intention in an organization is the level of perceived conflict, especially related to work-family conflict. 

Work-family conflict arises when individuals find it difficult to play their roles both in their job and family, and this form of conflict is assumed as an obstacle in the work and performance of female employees. Greenhaus and Beutell stated that female employees will have higher dual role conflict experiences than male employees. Working women who uphold the professional attitude of their profession will be more likely to experience conflict because these women will indirectly have more attachment or concentration on their work and put aside their role as mothers in their family. Work-family conflict can affect employee performance in other roles, so that it can lead to several problems that can be the cause of increased intention to leave from these employees. Workfamily conflict can affect turnover intention depending on the dimensions of work-family conflict. 

In addition to work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion can also lead to turnover intention. Being stress for a long period of time and in high intensity will make employees feel exhausted, both physically and mentally. This condition is called "burnout", which is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion and cynicism that often occurs among individuals. According to Wright and Cropanzano, emotional exhaustion is the leading factor of fatigue in work;this assumption has also been supported empirically by previous researchers. Emotional exhaustion (emotional exhaustion) is an emotional condition in which a person feels tired and exhausted, both mentally or physically as a result of increased work demands. 

Fatigue is often perceived as a form of negative attitude in the workplace. There is a positive attitude which is opposite to fatigue, namely attachment or job engagement. Fatigue and attachment are opposite to one another. Fatigue (both work fatigue or burnout and emotional exhaustion) has been identified as an indicator that can predict job engagement better compared to conflict such as work-family conflict. In addition, emotional exhaustion and job engagement are also associated with turnover intention. In contrast, findings that reveal the interrelationship between work-family conflict and job engagement are still very few. 

Inconsistencies arise in the relationship between work-family conflict and turnover intention. Previous empirical findings indicate contradictory results. Yavas, et al. found that work-family conflict had a positive effect on turnover intention. Hangyue, et al. and Panatik, et al. found that work-family conflict has a negative influence on turnover intention. Moreover, Balmforth and Gardner; Lathifah; and Zhang, et al. found that work-family conflict did not have an important role in influencing turnover intention. Inconsistent results arise in the relationship between job engagement and turnover intention. The research which was conducted by Mxenge, et al. showed no significant effect between job engagement on turnover intention. The inconsistency was found in the relationship between emotional exhaustion and turnover intention. Knudsen, et al. and Churiyah found an important and positive influence between emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. However, Geurts, et al. found anomalies in the insignificant influence between emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions. Meanwhile,emotional exhaustion is considered to be very important and related to job engagement, even though the relationship and or influence between the two are inversely proportional. Empirical evidence indicates that engagement is the opposite form of exhaustion and vice versa. 

The description of the research gap above shows that the antecedents of turnover intention examined can give mixed results. Therefore, this research was conducted by integrating a broader research model and developing the model of previous studies namely Boles, et al.; Geurts, et al.; Wright and Cropanzano; Haar; Schaufeli and Bakker; Hang-yue, et al.; Balmforth and Gardner; Knudsen, et al.; Lathifah; Noor and Maad; Yavas, et al.; and Zhang, et al.. The research model built in this study was tested and analyzed on the objects: female employees working at PT. Freeport Indonesia. Most of the studies found that work pressure that arises is about work fatigue, but this research is more focused on emotional fatigue as the most important form of work fatigue that is examined in a stand-alone and specific construct. 

Global competition and the increasing need for female professional staff will have an impact on increasing turnover in the workforce, especially female employees, and in this case are those working at PT. Freeport Indonesia. Thus, it is important to know and deal with the factors that influence turnover intention in order to control turnover. This study reviews the turnover intention in female workers;it is influenced by work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion and job engagement.

Abstract

This study presents a model linking work-family conflict (WFC), job engagement, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intention. The primary objective was to investigate the direct effect of work-family conflict on turnover intention and its indirect effect through job engagement and emotional exhaustion. The data were obtained by a questionnaire from a sample of 111 respondents of Papuan Female who work at PT Freeport Indonesia. Data analyzed by used structural equation modeling with PLS-based and found two insignificant paths in models. The result showed that WFC has a significant effect in improving turnover intention and emotional exhaustion, but have no significant effect in lowering job engagement. Moreover, job engagement does not significantly effect in lowering turnover intention, while emotional exhaustion has a significant effect in increasing job engagement and turnover intention. The mediation test results indicated that job engagement cannot provide an important role, both in the work-family conflict effect on turnover intention, and emotional exhaustion effect on turnover intention. Instead, emotional exhaustion can provide a partial mediating role in the work-family conflict effect on turnover intention, in which this path is one of the important findings with practical implications and the consequences of these findings for future research are further discussed. 

Keywords: Work-family conflict, Job engagement, Emotional exhaustion, Turnover intention.

Source: Noermijati Noermijati, Suratchanee Wongviboonrath, Wiwin Italy, and Achmad Sudiro, https://jurnaljam.ub.ac.id/index.php/jam/article/view/1657
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Literature Review and Hypothesis Development

Work-family conflict is one that affects the turnover intention of employees of the company. The increasing work-family conflict of employees in an organization will have an impact on the intention of employees to leave the company. Daderman and Basinska explained the high demands at work that require employees to be able to balance their work and family life. If one of the parties (work and family) cannot adjust, they will potentially lose their personal resources. 

The relationship between work-family conflict and turnover intention has been studied in many previous studies. Several studies have described positive relationships between work-family conflict and turnover intention. Other researchers revealed that the higher the WFC conflict, the lower the turnover intention, and/ or vice versa. Therefore, the first hypothesis proposed is as follows:

H₁: The higher work-family conflict,the higher the turnover intention of employees. 

Job engagement is defined as "a positive state that satisfies an employee related to his work; it is characterized by strength, dedication, and absorption". Engagement is an investment of resources for the benefit of individuals, but it does not necessarily reward individually. This pattern improves employment relationships between individuals and organizations; in return, it builds new resources for individuals (respect and recognition, professional improvement, and social skills). The findings of previous studies show that the higher the work-family conflict (WFC), the lower job engagement and vice versa. This shows that work-family conflict has a negative effect on job engagement; therefore, the second hypothesis proposed is as follows:

H₂: The higher the work-family conflict,the lower the job engagement.

The driving force in employee engagement has positive consequences for the organization because it deals with individual attitudes, intentions, and behavior. Engagement also plays a role in reducing company risk. This can happen because employees are more dedicated to creating more value for the organization, are have interactions with customers and other stakeholders more consistently, and have less desire to leave the company.This explains that employees who have high engagement have a lower tendency to leave the organization. The findings of previous studies indicate that the higher the job engagement, the lower the turnover intention and vice versa. The third hypothesis proposed is as follows:

H₃: The higher the job engagement,the lower the turnover intention of employees.

Work-Family conflict is a form of obstacle faced by employees to get resources between two important domains in the lives of individuals. If the demands at work are too high and someone has to reconcile them with domestic work (housework), and no one has to give up something, they will probably lose their resources. Therefore,the work-family conflict has a negative impact on individual attitudes and behavior. Meanwhile, emotional exhaustion is a form of a feeling of individuals towards their work. Essentially, emotional exhaustion is a consequence of work-family conflicts perceived by individuals. Those two have a positive linear relationship;the higher the work-family conflict, the higher the emotional exhaustion. Therefore, the fourth hypothesis proposed in this study is as follows:

H₄: The higher the work-family conflict, the higher the emotional exhaustion. 

As a psychological syndrome, emotional exhaustion arises when employees are in a work environment that is full of pressure and high job demands with low availability of resources. Work fatigue is a state of the syndrome that a person experiences when carrying out his work at the point where they feel exhausted due to work demands, both physically and mentally. Work fatigue is a serious problem for organizations. Research shows that fatigue and absenteeism lead to decreasing productivity, lack of work effectiveness, decreasing commitment to work, and eventually intention to leave the organization. The theoretical framework of fatigue indicates that fatigue is a key mediator of the relationship between work pressures and various attitudes as well as behaviors. 

The intention of the employee to leave the job is voluntary and according to his own choice; this is the result of behavior. Turnover intention includes the thought of leaving the organization, finding work elsewhere, and the desire to leave the organization. Working women will be likely to get exhausted as they constantly face various problems. Certain management practices in organizations have the potential to reduce employee fatigue and intention to leave the organization, but employees who feel that their emotions have eroded have a greater tendency to withdraw themselves until eventually, they will decide to leave the organization. The fifth hypothesis proposed is as follows:

H₅: The higher the emotional exhaustion, the higher the turnover intention of the company. 

Some researchers conceptualize engagement as the antithesis of work fatigue, those two points are interrelated. However, in the case of a model framework, engagement is often positioned as a result of individual work fatigue. Meanwhile, emotional exhaustion can cause anxiety, depression, decrease self-esteem and increase health problems. Emotional exhaustion is a condition in which an individual lacks emotional energy, not physical energy. A person who is experiencing emotional fatigue is not physically tired from doing heavy work like physical work but emotionally drained from the lack of resources to handle demands and stress. This condition will reduce one's job engagement. Based on the description above, the sixth hypothesis is proposed as follows:

H₆: The higher the emotional exhaustion, the lower the job engagement of employees. 

Experiencing high work-family conflict can reduce the job engagement of employees because the do not have resources in doing their roles, both at work and family. Individuals who experience high work-family conflict can hardly decide their priorities and act professionally. Schaufeli and Bakker along with Mangi and Jalbani have emphasized the important role of job engagement in reducing the employees' intention to leave the company. This opinion is reinforced by the results of research conducted by Rachman and Dewanto. Based on the description above, the seventh hypothesis proposed in this study is as follows:

H₇: The higher the work-family conflict, the higher the turnover intention of employees through job engagement. 

High quantitative and interpersonal work demands decrease resources owned by individuals, especially energy and emotional sources. It is because demands require effort and money, especially in the form of physical, mental, and emotional energy. Furthermore, the imbalance between work and personal life can be a threat to various sources both in the family and work. Work-family conflict means that employees use too many resources in doing their job, which limits the use of these resources at home. If family conditions cannot be managed properly, this will drain their energy and emotional resources. Eventually, turnover intention can be the last effort in protecting resources (energy and emotion) of individuals and preventing further personal losses. If the individuals do not overcome work-family conflicts well (or the higher level of conflict), they will likely get emotionally exhausted. Sooner or later, they will decide to quit their job in order to maintain their personal resources. Therefore, the eighth hypothesis proposed in the study is as follows:

H₈: The higher the work-family conflict, the higher the turnover intention of employees through emotional exhaustion. 

Another engagement model is found in literature about burnout which describes job engagement as a positive antithesis. Employee engagement has a positive impact on the organization. In previous studies, as quoted by Saks and Schaufeli and Bakker, engagement has a negative relationship with 'intention to quit'. Plooy and Roodt described a continuum with extremity poles namely job engagement and work fatigue, and then consider other constructions related to organizational attitudes and behavior and their relationship; the ultimate goal is turnover. The construction is conceptualized together to create a more holistic model related to turnover intention. It can be assumed that emotional exhaustion has an indirect effect on turnover intention through job engagement. This is in line with the result of a study which was conducted by Schaufeli and Baker. Employee engagement is an index to measure the extent to which employees feel connected to the company and the extent to which employees feel connected to the customers. Antecedents are expected to predict engagement, and then engagement increases the outcomes such as performance and turnover intention. Based 

on the description above, the ninth hypothesis proposed in this study is: 

H₉: The higher the emotional exhaustion, the higher the turnover intention of employees through job engagement. 

METHOD

This is quantitative explanatory research by measuring the constructs on the model and analyzing the relationship between one construct and another. This research was conducted at PT. Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) located in Mimika, Papua Province. It took some considerations, including: (1) PTFI is a company that pays more attention to labor and social issues; (2) PTFI has launched an employee empowerment program since 1996; and (3) PTFI has committed to double the number of native Papuan employees holding strategic management positions. 

The target population taken in this study was female Papuan native employees at the pratama level who worked at PT. Freeport Indonesia. Based on the data obtained on the employment fact sheet of PTFI, there were 111 female Papuan native employees at the pratama level participating in this study (sample). The analysis technique used was Partial Least Square (PLS); the data was calculated using Smart PLS application. Hypothesis testing was conducted by determining the significant level or critical value (α) of 5% and comparing the t-statistic value in the bootstrap output of the SmartPLS program with the t-table value.

Results and Discussion

The majority of respondents have a bachelor's degree (73.0 percent or 81 people). 27.0 percent or 30 people have a diploma. In addition, the majority of respondents were at the age of 30-39 years, i.e. 52 people or 46.8 percent of respondents. 20 people or 18.0 percent of respondents were at the age of 40-49 years. The remaining, 39 people or 35.1 respondents, were at the age of 21-29 years. 

More than half of the respondents, female employees at PT Freeport Indonesia, have been working for more than 7 years. The majority have been working at this company for 7–9 years(54 people or 48.6 percent), and 8.1 percent or 9 people have been working for more than 10 years. 38 people or 34.2 percent have been working for 4-6 years, and 10 people or 9.0 percent have been working for 0-3 years. 

Table 1 indicates that the scale, magnitude, and statistical appropriateness are acceptable. The average variance extracted (AVE) value for all latent variables in the work-family conflict model, job engagement, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intention was 0.690; 0.719; 0.544; and 0.860 (above 0.50) respectively, while the hAVE value of all constructs is 0.737 to 0.927, which is greater than the correlation between latent variables (-0.087 to 0.608). Thus, it can be said that all constructs meet the validity requirements based on discriminant validity criteria.

Table 1 AVE Score, Composite Reliability (CR), Mean, Standard Deviation and Correlation Coefficient

Note: *p, 0.05; **p, 0.01; (two-tailed significance); Cronbach's alphas for each scale is italicizedand addressed diagonally.

On average, Cronbach's alpha for reliability criteria is quite high; turnover intention had the highest value. Sequentially, Cronbach's alpha coefficient values for the four scales reported in this study ranged from 0.725 to 0.919; they are still acceptable. The value of composite reliability (CR) is 0.870; 0.884; 0.824; and 0.948 (above 0.80) in sequence. It can be concluded that the entire construct is reliable, both according to the criteria of composite reliability and Cronbach's alpha.

The mean, standard deviation and range of items in the measurements used in this study are as follows: (a) work-family conflict (9 items; M = 3.23, SD= 2.197); (b) job engagement (9 items; M= 3.55, SD = 2,375); (c) emotional exhaustion (8 items; M = 2.95, SD = 2,410); and (d) turnover intention (3 items; M = 2.52, SD = 2,980). 

Table 2 presents the R-squared values and communality among the variables of the research model observed. Goodness of Fit (GoF) in this study was assessed by the following equation: √AR2 * A.Com = √0.2338 x 0.7035 = 0.4056. 0.4056 indicates that the model has a large enough predictive value. 58.22 percent of the Q-Squared Predictive Relevance value for turnover intention is explained by work family conflict, job engagement, and emotional exhaustion.

Table 2 Goodness of Fit Evaluation

Furthermore, based on the results of the hypothesis test presented in Table 2, the analysis model is illustrated in Figure 1

The following is the illustration path analysis model:

Figure 1 Path Analysis Model

Hypothesis 1 is accepted. The effect of work family conflict on turnover intention was found to be significant, with β = 0.3160 and t-statistic = 3.7771 (above the critical value of 1.96). Based on these findings, then hypothesis 1 is accepted, which means that there is a significant and positive effect of work-family conflict on employee turnover intention. Therefore, high work-family conflict can increase the turnover intention of PT Freeport Indonesia's female employees. Work family conflicts create problems for workers by positively influencing female employees to leave the company. Lack of flexibility at work is believed to be one that most people think as pressure that triggers workfamily conflict. The findings of this study are consistent with the results of research which were conducted by Haar, Yavas, et al., Noor and Maad, and Ozbag and Ceyhun. Conversely, the results of this study cannot confirm the findings of research which was conducted by Hangyue, et al. as well as Panatik, et al. that high work-family conflict can reduce a person's tendency to move or leave the company.

Table 3 Path Analysis Results

Hypothesis 2 is rejected. The effect of workfamily conflict on job engagement was found to be insignificant, with the beta coefficient amounted to -0.194 and a t-statistic value of 1.355 (below a critical value of 1.96); therefore, hypothesis 2 was rejected. It means that high work-family conflict cannot reduce or increase job engagement of PT Freeport Indonesia's female employees. The increasing work demands felt by employees that causing employees to get a lot of complaints from the family is considered a potential source of conflict. However, the conflict between work and family role does not necessarily directly reduce or increase the attachment of PT Freeport Indonesia's female employees to their job. One of the factors that caused the lack of direct influence could be because the company already has special programs that can intervene in the impact of dual role conflict experienced by an employee. The findings of this study cannot confirm the results of the studies which was conducted by Baka and Derbis; Kesumaningsari and Simarmata; and Karatepe and Karadas.

Hypothesis 3 is rejected. The effect of job engagement on turnover intention was found to be insignificant, with the beta coefficient amounted to 0.033, and a t-statistic value of 0.448 (smaller than the critical value of 1.96). Based on these findings, hypothesis 3 is rejected, which means that higher job engagement cannot reduce or increase the turnover intention of female employees of PT Freeport Indonesia. The attachment to work is seen as a mechanism for individual attitudes towards his work, not towards the organization. Job satisfaction predicts more work-related behavior, for example, employee performance or extra role performance. The findings of this research are in line with the results of research which was conducted by Mxenge, Dywili, Bazana. On the contrary, the findings of this study cannot confirm the studies which were conducted by Schaufeli and Bakker, Mangi and Jalbani, Agoi, Biswakarma, Rachman and Dewanto who found a significant negative effect of job engagement on turnover intention.

Hypothesis 4 is accepted. The effect of workfamily conflict on emotional exhaustion was found to be significant, with β = 0.449 and t-statistic amounted to 7.181 (greater than the critical value of 1.96). It can be said that hypothesis 4 is accepted, which means that higher work-family conflict can increase emotional exhaustion in female employees of PT Freeport Indonesia. The results of this study confirm the results of studies conducted by Hangyue, et al., Zhang, et al., Wang, et al.; Mete, et al., and Akgunduz, et al. Some of these studies confirm a positive linear relationship between work-family conflict with emotional exhaustion; higher the level of conflict between work and family that is experienced by an individual will increase his emotional fatigue at work. 

Hypothesis 5 is accepted. With a beta coefficient of 0.462 and a t-statistic value of 5.953 (greater than the critical value of 1.96), it can be said that the higher emotional exhaustion can increase the turnover intention of female employees of PT Freeport Indonesia. Emotional fatigue of female employees plays a key role in the turnover process; the lack of satisfaction or low commitment plays a role in cognitive processes, which eventually pushes employees to quit their jobs. Although it is dealt with neutrally, the emotional fatigue of female employees tends to be caused more by things in emotionally draining work. One's emotion drained by work is the potential for thought to withdraw from work and even from the organization (turnover intention). The findings of this study confirm the results of studies which was conducted by Wright and Cropanzano, Schaufeli and Bakker, and Hangyue, et al. However, the findings of this study cannot confirm the results of the study which was conducted by Geurts, et al. that there is no influence of emotional exhaustion on turnover intention. 

Hypothesis 6 is rejected. The analysis results showed a beta coefficient of 0.236 and a t-statistic of 1.986 (greater than the critical value of 1.96). Although the effect was found to be significant, the influence is positive, so this indicates that the higher emotional exhaustion can actually increase the job engagement of female employees of PT Freeport Indonesia. The higher the fatigue level, the greater the intensity and quality of interaction in the company. In short, the employees get tired because they try hard to perform their job well so that it will lead to a sense of attachment to the job. An engaged female employee is willing to make extra effort to achieve organizational goals. The findings of this study confirm the results of studies conducted by Bezuidenhout and Cilliers and Mangi and Jalbani. However, these findings cannot confirm the results of studies conducted by Bakker, et al., Sonn, and Praditia that emotional exhaustion hasa significant effect on job engagement of individuals. 

Hypothesis 7 is rejected. Based on the results of the mediation test (using Sobel test), the value of the direct influence of work-family conflict on turnover intention was found to be greater than the indirect effect of work-family conflict on turnover intention through job engagement. In addition, this mediation was not significant, so hypothesis 7 was rejected. Female employee engagement cannot encourage or reduce the influence of work-family conflict faced by the female employees of PT Freeport Indonesia on the turnover intention. The findings of this study cannot confirm the results of studies conducted by Schaufeli and Bakker and Mangi and Jalbani that job engagement can have a mediating effect on the antecedent effect of engagement on turnover intention. 

Hypothesis 8 is accepted. Based on the results of the mediation test (using the Sobel test), emotional exhaustion can play an important role in mediating the effect of work-family conflict on turnover intention; therefore, hypothesis 8 is accepted. Based on the results of mediation tests that have been conducted, emotional exhaustion is categorized as partial mediation, given the value of the indirect effect of work-family conflict on turnover intention through emotional exhaustion found to be greater than the direct effect of work-family conflict on turnover intention. It can be concluded that the emotional exhaustion felt by the female employees of PT Freeport Indonesia will further encourage the influence of work-family conflicts on the turnover intention. The findings of this study confirm the results of studies which was conducted by Hangyue, et al. and Yavas, et al., and Knight and Leimer who revealed the important role of emotional exhaustion in strengthening the impact of work-family conflict on turnover intention. 

Hypothesis 9 is rejected because the coefficient value of the indirect effect of emotional exhaustion on turnover intention through job engagement was found to be smaller than the direct effect of emotional exhaustion on turnover intention. In addition, the results of the mediation test (using Sobet test) also show that job engagement did not mediate the effect of emotional exhaustion on turnover intention. Thus, employee attachment to their job cannot predict the increase in emotional exhaustion on turnover intention. According to Maslach, et al., job characteristics, especially feedback and autonomy, are consistently related to burnout which is a positive antithesis of employee engagement. These results partially support the statement that emotional exhaustion has a negative effect on job engagement. The findings of this study do not confirm the results of studies conducted by by Schaufeli and Bakker and Mangi and Jalbani which explain the important role of job engagement mediation on the effect of emotional exhaustion on turnover intention.

Research Limitations

This study used a cross-sectional design. The data was not longitudinal and taken at a time, so this will limit the causal interpretation of the research results. In addition, self-reported questionnaires have the potential to cause a statement because the respondents would give subjective responses. Besides, the fact that the same person perceives predictor and criterion variables can be potential sources of common method variance. Therefore, further research is expected to use a longitudinal design in order to capture the diversity of phenomena that could potentially occur from time to time.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions

This study examines the effect of work-family conflict on turnover intention, both directly and indirectly, through job engagement and emotional exhaustion felt by female employees of PT Free port Indonesia. Work-family conflict is the biggest and positive predictor of emotional exhaustion felt by female employees, in addition to being a relatively small predictor of turnover intention. Research findings show that work-family conflict has an important effect on increasing turnover intention and emotional exhaustion, but it does not reduce job engagement. Moreover, job engagement cannot reduce turnover intention, while emotional exhaustion actually has a role to increase job engagement and also turnover intention. One important finding from this study is that emotional exhaustion actually increases job engagement. The results of mediation test show that job engagement cannot provide an important mediating role, both on the effect of work-family conflict on turnover intention, and on the effects of emotional exhaustion on turnover intention. On the contrary, emotional exhaustion can partially provide an important mediating role on the effect of work-family conflict on turnover intention. 

The research findings show a very important relationship between work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and turnover intention for female employees. Practically, this suggests the company takes care of educated and skilled employees better; therefore, the employees can support the sustainability of the company. After finding the causes of the turnover intention of highly educated-employees (diplomas and graduates), companies can take steps, effective action, and develop specific HRM policies. Considering the dynamic yet strict work environment, which requires effective and efficient coordination between divisions, the company needs to accommodate the needs of female employees who strive to balance their work and family life. 

This study contributes to a deeper understanding of work-family conflict, job engagement, emotional exhaustion and behavioral tendencies (in the form turnover intentions) of female employees in a company. This study generates a final model framework based on the analysis results by revealing the development of a conceptual model that has been tested, with the emphasis that there are inconsistencies in the results of the direct influence of emotional exhaustion on job engagement, as well as job engagement on turnover intention.

Recommendations

For a company, the key to looking after employees is not changing the characteristics of the organization or company, but rather the efforts to develop a good organizational climate where each employee can support each other and form a harmonious environment. Flexible working hours can reduce the potential impact of work-family conflicts, thereby supporting the company's efforts to maintain employee retention. This is considered effective for companies to help women employees meet their responsibility at work as well as family more effectively. 

Future research is expected to test the model on the characteristics of different or more diverse samples so that it can compare the pressure, fatigue, and attachment between male and female employees who are already married as predictors of turnover tendency. The diversity of turnover intention determinants that is still moderate indicates that there are other factors or variables that are not used in the research model. Therefore, further research is expected to examine and test other factors not found in this research model, such as commitment, satisfaction, and forms of attitude mechanism at other companies.