Development of a Measure of Informal Workplace Social Interactions

Health impacts in pathology workforce during mergers and acquisitions (M&A)

AIMS

To compare burn-out in laboratory professionals (LPs) with exposure to consolidation to those without, and to investigate the role of social support as a moderator in the exposure to mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

METHODS

Surveys were sent to the clinical LPs, including 732 with exposure to M&A and 819 without. The dependent variable was burn-out, and the independent variable was exposure to M&A. In investigating the role of social support in exposure group, a logistic regression was used with education, time since M&A, gender, merger types, practice setting, lab hierarchy and race as covariates.

RESULTS

Exposure to M&A was associated with higher levels of burn-out (p<0.05). In logistic regression of the workforce exposed to M&A, the odds for LP developing a high level of burn-out are lowered by 7.1% for every unit of increase in social support (OR 0.93; 95% CI 0.88 to 0.98; p=0.004).

CONCLUSION

LPs exposed to M&A are more likely to experience higher levels of burn-out but having social support can protect against burn-out, which has policy implications for leadership managing laboratories in times of M&A.

Modelling the significance of psychological, social, and situational factors on work efficiency and the preference for working from home in Southeast Asia

The shift in work paradigm owing to the implementation of new policies in the developing countries of Southeast Asia to reduce the spread of COVID-19 has created new challenges for both employers and employees. The study aimed to address the lack of extensive research on the effects of psychological, social, and situational factors on the work-from-home shift in Southeast Asia. This study incorporates the job characteristic theory, emphasizing how specific job characteristics influence motivation and performance. The study emphasizes the importance of creating an innovative and supportive work environment, improving digital capabilities, and promoting sustainable development through high-skill jobs to enhance remote employees' productivity. Valid responses from 288 full-time employees who have the option to work remotely were collected through online survey. The findings indicate that self-discipline, digital capability, and perceived organizational support significantly influence the preference for remote work. Managers should focus on motivating employees, providing support, and establishing a digital infrastructure to maximize productivity. Training and recruitment strategies should adapt to the changing work culture, while social support is crucial for encouraging innovative problem-solving. Trusting employees with autonomy and providing appropriate technologies fosters collaboration, efficiency, and creativity in different work settings.

Workplace isolation, loneliness and wellbeing at work: The mediating role of task interdependence and supportive behaviours

Despite the negative impact of social isolation on wellbeing, research has yet to address how organisations may mitigate the effects of workplace isolation and loneliness. The main objective of the study is to explore the mediating role of task interdependence and supportive behaviours of colleagues on the relationship between workplace isolation on workplace wellbeing. A total of 137 volunteers completed a survey assessing workplace isolation, loneliness, task interdependence, supportive behaviours of colleagues and wellbeing at work. SEM analyses supported the negative effects of company isolation on workplace wellbeing. While supportive behaviours had a mediating role, task interdependence did not mediate the relationships between company isolation and loneliness, and wellbeing. The findings show that increased opportunities for interpersonal interactions at work through greater task interdependence are not enough to reverse the negative effects of workplace isolation on wellbeing. In contrast, an investment in a supportive environment may reverse the negative effects of workplace isolation on wellbeing, highlighting the importance of a supportive culture.

Employee Social Network Strategies: Implications for Firm Strategies and Performance in Future Organizations

Employee social network strategies play a key role in firm strategies and organizational performance. Currently, scholars underestimate the contributions of employee social strategies in firm strategies. Little is known how informal employee social networks, group entitativity and competition could shape and direct firm strategies and organizational performance. The article examines social network theory and strategic management's content, process and open schools of thought to propose a new interpretation for managing firm strategies. More specifically, the author examines alternate causal paths, underlying processes and structures as mechanisms in employee social network strategies within a theoretical framework. The article proposes 4 theoretically driven propositions and makes two contributions. First, the article contributes to organizational behavior literature by focusing on the literature gap in network dynamics and competitive actions through employee social networks. Second, although there is immense literature on positive and negative employee competition in business, the article makes a contribution to the strategic management literature by moving beyond formalized structures and roles within an organization to focus on the multilevel informal workplace social interactions and processes that impact strategizing activities. Overall, the article extends strategy research in relation to how employee social networks operate through competition and group entitativity in firm strategies.

Shelter-in-place orders, loneliness, and collaborative behavior

The outbreak of COVID-19 resulted in numerous jurisdictions instituting "shelter-in-place'' orders (SPOs). While designed to restrict or impede normal levels of social proximity, SPOs altered the way or degree to which workers interact with each other and have likely imposed a toll on employee well-being. The authors exploit the temporal and geographic variation in U.S. SPOs to investigate their effect on loneliness among online workers. Variation in loneliness is then linked to worker behavior in a simple two-person, collaborative task (a framed stag hunt). The analysis reveals a strong positive relationship between SPOs and loneliness on average, peaking during the wave associated with the most prolonged duration of isolation. SPOs disproportionately impacted workers in occupations not substantially involving teamwork or collaboration. As reported loneliness increases, the probability of an individual collaborating in a simple interactive workplace scenario decreases significantly. In the final survey wave, SPOs are scarcer, loneliness subsides, and cooperative behavior increases dramatically.