Workplace loneliness and job performance: moderating role of person-environment fit

Purpose

The purpose of this paper was to study the effect of workplace loneliness on job performance. This paper also examined the mediating role of employee well-being and psychological safety and the moderating role of person–environment fit (PE fit).

Design/methodology/approach

A multi-rated research design was used to collect data. Data were collected from 382 employees and their 97 supervisors of various Indian organizations. The data of job performance was collected from the supervisor of every team. The questionnaire for data collection was distributed at two different time intervals to reduce common method bias.

Findings

The findings of this paper supported the role of PE fit in minimizing the negative effect of workplace loneliness–well-being relationship and workplace loneliness and psychological safety relationship. The model also tested the association between workplace loneliness and job performance when the relationship is moderated by PE fit and mediated by well-being and psychological safety.

Originality/value

This paper examines the workplace loneliness from the lens of PE fit theory.

Loneliness in Leadership: A Study Applied to the Portuguese Banking Sector

In this study, we analyzed the feeling of loneliness in leadership in the Portuguese banking sector, seeking to identify variables that may instigate this feeling, such as gender, age, academic qualifications, function/position, number of working hours per week, and years of work/seniority, and the consequences that it may have, namely in terms of the decision-making process and the motivation of leaders. For this study, a quantitative research tool was used in the form of a questionnaire, which was applied to a group of collaborators, with leadership responsibilities, of the financial institutions authorized to operate in Portugal. We concluded that while some variables influence the feeling of loneliness in leadership (years of work, position, and academic qualifications), others do not (gender, age, and hours of work per week). We also found a relationship between loneliness and demotivation and proved that the feeling of loneliness affects leadership but does not affect decision making. The results are relevant, especially for the banking sector, which has undergone major restructuring in the Portuguese economy and needs guidance to face the country’s financial challenges.

Whiteness in leadership theorizing: A critical analysis of race in Bass’ transformational leadership theory

Leadership theorizing is largely constructed from a positional vacuum, as if leadership looks and works identically across contexts, and as if those who theorize about leadership are not themselves subject to biases based on their own gendered, racial, class, sexual, and national identities. This article challenges the assumed neutrality of leadership theorizing by analyzing one of the most utilized and researched leadership theories, Bernard Bass’ “Transformational Leadership Theory” (TLT) through the lens of Critical Race Theory. Understanding that the language through which transformational leadership is conveyed is indicative of its underpinning assumptions, the tools of critical discourse analysis are employed to identify the normativity of whiteness operating within this theory. The analysis reveals how normalization, solipsism, ontological expansiveness, and the creation of “abject others”—followers—infuse the theory. Through its deconstruction of TLT, the article calls for deeper interrogation of leadership theories whose unquestioned assumptions harm not only leaders and followers identified as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color, but White leaders and followers as well.

Distinctly lonely: how loneliness at work varies by status in organizations

Purpose

This paper aims to study the differing pathways to loneliness in managers and their employees. Literature on emotions in organizational life, organizational management and leadership and loneliness are explored to develop and test hypotheses regarding the differential prototypical scripts that can be generative of loneliness in managers and employees.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 28 managers and 235 employees from a horticultural company based in Mexico were surveyed, using measures of perceived connection quality, loneliness and meaningful work to test three hypotheses.

Findings

Data from 28 managers and 235 staff indicate that while loneliness scores do not significantly differ between managers and their subordinates, the predictors of loneliness differ between managers and employees, with emotional connection and mutuality predicting loneliness in employees but not in managers.

Originality/value

This paper adds specification to the literatures on workplace loneliness, the loneliness associated with management roles, emotions in organizational life and emotions and leadership. The findings are discussed in relation to the literature on manager-subordinate relationships.

"Change Doesn't Happen by Itself": A Thematic Analysis of First-Level Leaders' Experiences Participating in the Leadership and Organizational Change for Implementation (LOCI) Strategy

The Leadership and Organizational Change for Implementation (LOCI) strategy is a multifaceted implementation strategy that aims to support successful evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation by fostering effective general leadership, implementation leadership, and implementation climate. How implementation strategies are experienced by participants is important for their utilization and effectiveness in supporting EBP implementation. The current study is the first in-depth qualitative study exploring first-level leaders' experiences of participating in the LOCI strategy. Data were collected as part of a trial where Norwegian child and adult mental health outpatient clinics implemented EBPs for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Eleven first-level leaders from adult and child clinics participated in semi-structured interviews after completing the LOCI strategy. Data were analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis generated four themes related to leaders' experiences of participating in the LOCI strategy: (1) structuring the EBP implementation, (2) taking responsibility for the EBP implementation, (3) interacting with others about the EBP implementation, and (4) becoming aware of EBP implementation and their own leadership. Most participants experienced the LOCI strategy as beneficial for implementing EBPs for PTSD in their clinic. The strategy succeeded in raising awareness of leadership for EBP implementation, and simultaneously provided participants with tools and support for leading the implementation in their clinic. Two participants experienced LOCI as less beneficial than the others. Our results support the strategy's potential to engage and empower first-level leaders to get involved in implementation processes and point to important challenges for future research on implementation strategies.