Workplace ostracism and employee creativity: role of defensive silence and psychological empowerment

Don't Isolate Yourself in Workplace: A Serial Mediation Model of How Does Relationship Conflict Reduce Knowledge Employee's Creativity

Past studies have revealed that relationship conflict has negative effects on individual performance. To avoid the losses caused by such conflicts, individuals often choose to avoid interacting with coworkers instead of confronting the issues. However, our present study sheds light on the dark side of this avoidance strategy: it may diminish an individual's creativity. Our study aimed to examine the appropriate response for knowledge employees when faced with relationship conflict. The results indicate that relationship conflict triggers a sequential response, which significantly hampers the creativity of knowledge employees. Specifically, coworker ostracism and knowledge hoarding play serial mediating roles in the impact of relationship conflict on the creativity of knowledge employees. Furthermore, the level of emotional intelligence determines the ability of knowledge employees to effectively manage the negative consequences of relationship conflict. The results provide theoretical and practical insights that help to better explain the impact of relationship conflict on creativity.

Occupational stress among Generation-Y employees in the era of COVID-19: cases from universities in India

Purpose

Several organizations decided to work remotely after the Indian Government proclaimed a state of emergency on March 24, 2020, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Employees across all industries, particularly the Generation-Y, were stressed as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The purpose of this study is to fills that gap by looking at the effects of occupational stress factors (such as coworker support, work–life balance [WLB] and role expectation conflict) on Generation-Y employees in the educational sector during COVID-19.

Design/methodology/approach

The causes and consequences of the three occupational stresses listed above were investigated. In total, 231 surveys from workers at private and public educational institutions in India were analyzed using partial least square-structural equation modeling analysis.

Findings

The results revealed that support from coworkers greatly reduced job stress, the WLB had a positive impact on the work and personal lives, and the lack of role specification in Generation-Y employees had a negative impact on their job performance.

Originality/value

This study has considered the occupational stress variables among Generation-Y in the era of COVID-19, which need attention to improve the performance of the academic sector.

The Mediating Role of Work Alienation in the Effect of Workplace Ostracism on Employee Voice

The aim of this study was to determine the mediating role of work alienation in the effect of workplace ostracism on employee voice. The research was conducted between 11 December 2020 and 27 April 2021 in Istanbul, Turkey. The research data were collected from employees of private hospitals in Istanbul. The research showed that workplace ostracism has a positive effect on work alienation. It was also determined that both workplace ostracism and work alienation negatively affect employee voice. Finally, it was established that work alienation has a mediating role in the effect of workplace ostracism on employee voice.

Workplace ostracism and team members' creativity: The mediating role of self-reflection and moderating role of high-involvement work practices

Drawing on social cognitive theory, this paper examines whether self-reflection mediates the association between workplace ostracism and team members' creativity, and whether this mediating effect is moderated by high-involvement work practices (HIWPs). We construct and test a cross-level model using multilevel path analysis to analyse data collected from 81 teams (a total of 393 members) in China. The results show that workplace ostracism negatively influences team members' reflection but positively influences rumination, which in turn affects individual creativity. Furthermore, HIWPs negatively moderate the effects of workplace ostracism on self-reflection, and moderate the linkages among workplace ostracism, reflection/rumination and team members' creativity. Finally, theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Defensive Silence, Defensive Voice, Knowledge Hiding, and Counterproductive Work Behavior Through the Lens of Stimulus-Organism-Response

Rising negative emotions are like “time bombs” that impede productivity in the workplace. The present investigation provides an insight into the effects of defensive silence and defensive voice on counterproductive work behavior through knowledge hiding in the context of knowledge workers in Chinese academic institutions. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was applied to the current samples. The study obtained conjecture the proposed mediating role of knowledge hiding between the negative working attitude and counterproductive work behavior, which is against the organizational norms and performance. The result indicates that the positive relationships exist from defensive silence and defensive voice to counterproductive work behavior, mediated by knowledge hiding. This study links knowledge hiding literature and stimulus-organism-response (SOR) to better explore the academic behavior in a knowledge setting.

Silence and proactivity in managing supervisor ostracism: implications for creativity

Purpose

Anchored in a social control theory framework, this study aims to investigate the mediating effect of defensive silence in the relationship between employees' perception of supervisor ostracism and their creative performance, as well as the buffering role of proactivity in this process.

Design/methodology/approach

The hypotheses were tested using three-wave survey data collected from employees in North American organizations.

Findings

The authors found that an important reason for supervisor ostracism adversely affecting employee creativity is their observance of defensive silence. This mechanism, in turn, is less prominent among employees who show agency and change-oriented behavior (i.e. proactivity).

Practical implications

For practitioners, this study identifies defensive silence as a key mechanism through which supervisor ostracism hinders employee creativity. Further, this process is less likely to escalate when their proactivity makes them less vulnerable to experience such social exclusion.

Originality/value

This study establishes a more complete understanding of the connection between supervisor ostracism and employee creativity, with particular attention to mediating mechanism of defensive silence and the moderating role of proactivity in this relationship.