Star Employees’ Network Evolution and Dynamic Impact on Peer Performance

Abstract

In this study we address two important questions regarding the temporal dynamics of star employees. 1) How do star employees’ and peers’ networks evolve over time? 2) Does star employees’ impact on peers’ performance change over time? Integrating research on network dynamics and relational work, we argue that there are temporal variations in stars’ network evolution and their impacts on peers. Based on personnel and email network data from a health care organization in the United States, we found that internal formal status was positively related to tie creation in stars network and that the proportion of status stars in a group was positively related to tie creation in group members’ network. However, both network-expanding effects diminished over time. Further, we found that the proportion of stars in a group had a changing impact — it dampens group members’ performance in the short-term yet increases it in the long-term. Overall, this study extends research on talent management and network dynamics, offering important theoretical and practical insights.