Employee-organization Relationship Research Articles

Co-creating an appreciative working climate: discussing reasons for appreciation, forms and roles from a communication perspective

PurposeIn recent years, various socio-political developments have led to changes in the labor market that place high demands on both employees and organizations. Research has shown that strong employee–organization relationships depend partly on employees’ perceptions of appreciation at work for which different communicators are attributed with responsibility. This study draws conclusions for the role of internal communication professionals in co-creating an appreciative working climate by exploring employees’ expectations on what they want to be appreciated for, by identifying forms of appreciation and by stressing the contribution of communication professionals in meeting these expectations.Design/methodology/approachThe results base on three focus groups conducted in January 2023 with employees without leadership responsibility working in large Austrian organizations.FindingsThe analysis yields to two areas – “personal characteristics and qualities” and “work-related behaviors” – where employees expect appreciation. In six categories we capture forms of appreciation that reflect employees’ expectations and perceptions. Most of the forms can and should be addressed by managers within an organization—internal communication professionals should follow a communicative professional logic and act as strategic partners and resource providers, enablers and role models.Research limitations/implications(1) What do employees expect to be appreciated for? (2) What forms of appreciation do employees expect? (3) What role do internal communication professionals seize in co-creating an appreciative working climate?Practical implicationsBased on social exchange theory, resource theory and the job-demands resource (JD-R) model, this study conceptualizes appreciation as a prototypical generic socioemotional resource at work that is communicative in nature, and key to both motivation and health.LimitationsThere is a need to capture the perspective of managers and internal communication professionals on employees’ expectations in order to deepen the debate about communication responsibilities, practice and critical aspects of appreciation. Furthermore, a comparison of different work cultures (e.g. Asia) and other institutionalized work forms (e.g. start-ups, small enterprises, public agencies) would advance the debate.Originality/valueThe study provides in-depth knowledge of reasons for and forms of appreciation from an employee’s perspective, which is considered relevant to discuss communication responsibilities in light of dependencies.

The 5-M Downsizing Communication Model for Survivor-Employee Engagement

The global economic crisis has led to downsizing, creating survivor-employees and affecting employee-engagement. This study aimed to assess the relationship between banks’ internal communication strategies and their survivor-employee engagement. The research involved in-depth interviews and descriptive design, focusing on 15 commercial banks in Nigeria. The findings revealed that downsizing is prevalent in the industry, with no protection from Nigerian labour laws. The downsizing-communication from top management to survivor-employees is minimal, leading to survivor syndrome and declining employee-engagement. The study created and proposed the 5M-model for downsizing communication and employee engagement. The 5M-model framework connotes Mobilisation, Management, Motivate, Monitor and Measure. However, the 5M-model for downsizing-communication and employee-engagement amplifies the media richness theory, integrates employee-engagement theory and caters for downsizing communication phenomena, a new solution-dimension for optimal employee-organisation relationship. The 5M model communication gradient transits from green to yellow indicating efficacy of communication, the capacity to convey meaning between sender and receiver, record reactions and get immediate feedback. This novel model is a template to improve survivor-employee engagement and employee-organization relationships.

Sustaining organizational trust among restaurant employees after the crisis: Insights from a developing country

Sustaining trustful employee-organization relationships and improving job satisfaction are always significant challenges for managers, especially in the restaurant industry. For the purpose of fathoming the value of trust, an analytical framework examining organizational trust as an explanatory mechanism through which various organizational conditions influence job satisfaction has been proposed based on the guidance of the social exchange theory. Analysis of survey data from 302 restaurant employees in a celebrated tourist destination of Vietnam have shown both direct and indirect impacts of transformational leadership, internal communication, and career growth on job satisfaction via enhanced trust. Together these main findings have contributed to academic research on employees’ attitudes within the organization and provided a blueprint for creating a congenial working condition for employees in restaurant businesses, which results in employee trust towards their organizations and job satisfaction.

Elevating Health Significance Post-Pandemic: Is the Employee-Organization Relationship in a Period of Change?

Elevating Health Significance Post-Pandemic: Is the Employee-Organization Relationship in a Period of Change?

Employee benefit availability, use, and subjective evaluation: A meta-analysis of relationships with perceived organizational support, affective organizational commitment, withdrawal, job satisfaction, and well-being.

Employee benefits constitute 38.1% of compensation costs, representing a sizeable investment in the workforce. Unlike other forms of support that depend on the actions of individuals throughout the organization, benefits can be changed through decisions at the highest level and influence employees throughout the company. Yet, the literature on benefits has been largely disjointed, resulting in theoretical ambiguity and practical questions about the role of employee benefit experiences in individual employee outcomes. To inform theory and practice, we organized the benefits literature using social exchange theory as a framework and conducted a meta-analysis on the relationships of employee benefit availability, use, and subjective evaluation with perceived organizational support, employee attitudes, and well-being. Our review (k = 134, N = 260,604) found unique relationships between the availability and subjective evaluation of employee benefits and affective organizational commitment, withdrawal intentions, job satisfaction, and well-being, with these relationships partially mediated by perceived organizational support. Benefit use contributed little to these outcomes beyond benefit availability and subjective evaluation. Benefit subjective evaluation was also more strongly related to most outcomes than were benefits availability and use. These relationships varied across types of benefits, with training benefits more strongly related to job satisfaction and health care and retirement benefits more strongly related to turnover intentions. Altogether, this meta-analysis integrates the empirical literature on employee benefits and highlights the implications of benefit experiences and types for the employee-organization relationship and employee well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The impact of family-like employee-organization relationship on unethical pro-family behavior

ABSTRACT Unethical pro-family behavior is a prevalent, costly, and generally discreet employee activity in firms; however, there is limited research on the topic. Based on the self-classification theory, we collected three waves of data from employees of two firms in China to explore the influences of family-like employee-organizational relationship on unethical pro-family behavior (Study 1) and the boundary conditions between them (Study 2). The results of Study 1 showed that the family-like employee-organizational relationship had a significant negative impact on unethical pro-family behavior, with the relationship between the family-like employee-organizational relationship and unethical pro-family behavior mediated by both relational and transactional psychological contracts. Study 2 reconfirmed the findings of Study 1 and also found that differential leadership strengthened the positive impact of the family-like employee-organizational relationship on the relational psychological contract (from the perspective of ‘insiders’). Overall, the findings of the study explain why, how, and when employees exhibit unethical pro-family behavior.

Ineffective kintsugi: The detrimental contribution of emotional and cognitive factors on psychological contract breach outcomes.

The literature acknowledges that when there is a failure of expectations in the organization-employee relationship, namely the Psychological Contract Breach, it can potentially contribute to deviant behavior such as Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB). A justice perspective helps to disentangle this link by suggesting that unethical behaviors may represent the revenge response to perceived organizational unfairness. To gain a more granular understanding of the pathway from Psychological Contract Breach to CWB, this study explores the mediating role of negative emotions in eliciting CWB. It also proposes that the mechanism of moral disengagement helps to deactivate self-sanctioning processes, allowing individuals to engage in deviant behaviors. A cross-sectional design was employed, and conditional process analysis was conducted on a sample of 635 Italian police officer cadets, who were entering the prison system, a context highly susceptible to a failure of expectations and where, at the same time, counteracting unethical behaviors is a key issue. The results supported the tested model, highlighting the mediator role of Job-Related Negative Emotions in the Psychological Contract Breach-CWB relationship and their interaction with Moral Disengagement in shaping CWB. By examining the interplay between affective and cognitive components, the study provides valuable insights into the underlying processes involved in the relationship between failure in expectancies and deviant behavior. From a managerial perspective, the findings emphasize the importance of prioritizing fairness within organizations through balanced mutual obligations, and raising awareness of moral regulation mechanisms that may shape deviant behaviors.

From fumble to flourish: how workplace attachment drives service recovery performance

PurposeDrawing on the conservation of resources theory and attachment theory, this paper proposes that employee–organization relationship and satisfaction with work–life balance mediate the influence of workplace attachment on service recovery performance.Design/methodology/approachData collection was carried out through the distribution of questionnaires among a sample of healthcare providers from Lebanese private hospitals and analyzed via structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results indicate that workplace attachment has a significant impact on employee–organization relationship, satisfaction with work–life balance and service recovery performance. The findings further reveal that employee–organization relationship and satisfaction with work–life balance significantly influence service recovery performance and fully mediate the relationship between workplace attachment and service recovery performance.Originality/valueThis study is the first to investigate the mediating role of the employee–organization relationship and satisfaction with work–life balance between workplace attachment and service recovery performance. Over and above, this study is the first of its kind that the authors are aware of, being conducted in the healthcare sector, specifically in Lebanon. Based on the findings, the paper discusses the theoretical contributions, managerial implications and suggestions for further studies.

Mitigating Organizational Conspiracy Beliefs Through Strategic Internal Communication and Employee–Organization Relationships (EOR) in the Workplace

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to explore how strategic internal communication and the quality of employee – organization relationship (EOR) can reduce organizational conspiracy beliefs among employees and thus prevent the negative outcomes thereof in the workplace. Using a national survey (N = 810) of full-time employees in the United States, this study found that high-quality EOR based on two-way symmetrical communication with employees is likely to reduce the potential for conspiracy theories and, in turn, for turnover intentions in the workplace. This finding provides meaningful insight into how internal communication managers can mitigate negative employee outcomes that are closely associated with organizational conspiracy theories in the workplace, namely by practicing strategic internal communication and developing high-quality EOR. This study theoretically advances conspiracy theory research by offering a theoretical explanation for belief systems of conspiracy theories that also considers strategic internal communication and the quality of EOR.

Spotlighting employee-organization relationships: The role of organizational respect and psychological capital in organizational performance through organizational-based self-esteem and perceived organizational membership

Spotlighting employee-organization relationships: The role of organizational respect and psychological capital in organizational performance through organizational-based self-esteem and perceived organizational membership

Does a High-Performance Human Resource Practice Stimulate Employee Creativity: A Moderated Mediation Model

This study explores entrepreneurial leadership as a moderator between employee work engagement and perceptions of high-performance human resource management (HRM) practices. Additionally, it delves into the mediating role of employee work engagement between employee creativity and these perceptions. Utilizing a quantitative research strategy, the study includes a sample of 396 members from the banking sector in Pakistan. The study employs PLS-SEM to test hypotheses. Findings indicate that employee work engagement serves as a mediator between employees’ perceptions of high-performance HRM practices and creativity, while entrepreneurial leadership moderates this association. Entrepreneurial leadership enhances the employee–organization relationship and strengthens the impact of high-performance HRM practices on positive work-related behaviours. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by examining the strong role of employee work engagement in the relationship between employee perceptions of high-performance HRM practices and creativity as mediator, as well as the significance of entrepreneurial leadership as a moderator in that relationship to optimize the working of organization stimulating through the demand resource theory.

The Role of Servant Leadership on Employee Advocacy on Social Media: The Mediating Role of Employee-organization Relationship

The rapid development of social media has led to various new initiatives and strategies in its use, one of which is employee advocacy. This study aims to fill the research gap related to employee advocacy by focusing on the context of government agencies. Based on Social Exchange Theory, the study seeks to examine factors that are strongly suspected to have a significant influence on the willingness of employees in the Directorate General of Customs and Excise, to engage in employee advocacy through their personal social media. This research employs a quantitative approach, with data collected through an online questionnaire. A total of 145 valid responses were successfully gathered and analyzed using the SEM-PLS method with the assistance of the SmartPLS software. The findings indicate that servant leadership has a significant direct impact on employee advocacy on social media. The Employee-Organization Relationship also has a positive and significant effect on employee advocacy on social media. Additionally, servant leadership is proven to have a significant indirect impact through the mediating role of the Employee-Organization Relationship. Theoretical and practical implications will also be discussed in this study.

The dark side of leadership communication: the impact of supervisor verbal aggressiveness on workplace culture, employee–organization relationships and counterproductive work behaviors

PurposeThis study is designed to bridge a gap in the existing leadership communication literature by delving into lesser-explored facets of the field. It particularly concentrates on investigating how the verbal aggressiveness of supervisors influences various aspects of the workplace, including workplace emotional culture, the quality of employee–organization relationships (EORs) and the prevalence of counterproductive work behaviors (CWB).Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a quantitative research design to investigate the impact of supervisors' verbal aggressiveness on employee and organizational outcomes. The data were collected from 392 full-time employees across various organizations and industries in the USA using a self-report questionnaire. The researchers used structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the data and test hypotheses.FindingsThe findings of this study showed that supervisors' verbal aggressiveness had a significant positive association with negative emotional culture and employee CWB. However, it had no direct impact on employee–organization relationships. The effect of supervisor verbal aggressiveness on employee CWB was found to be mediated by a negative team-level emotional culture.Originality/valueThis study advances the literature on leadership communication by highlighting the detrimental influence of the dark side of leadership communication. More specifically, by identifying negative emotional culture and employee CWB as the direct outcomes of supervisor verbal aggressiveness, the authors add to the existing theoretical knowledge on verbal aggressiveness in the workplace. Additionally, this study provides empirical evidence of the impact of a negative emotional culture on eliciting employees' CWBs and diminishing relationship quality, adding to the body of knowledge on why managing emotional culture is crucial for organizations and workgroups.

Employees in change: an exploration of academics’ perceived employee-organisation relationship in the reform of the tenure-track system in China

ABSTRACT The employee-organisation relationship between academics and universities is a critical issue in higher education (HE) human resource management. Previous studies have mainly investigated the segmentation between full-time and part-time academics, or academics working in different countries. However, few studies have explored academics’ perceptions of their relationship with universities under the recent tenure-track reform in the Chinese HE system. Drawing on psychological contract theory, this qualitative study explores how academics perceive their relationships with their university. Through interviews with 21 tenure-track academics at a Chinese university, this study found four types of psychological relationships: (1) high-risk with high-yield, (2) optimistic trust, (3) mutual benefit, and (4) content and satisfied. Among the four types, tenure-track academics’ expectations of universities are diversified. These findings suggest that universities should pay more attention to understanding academics’ perceived employee-organisation relationship and their corresponding expectations to improve managerial efficiency.

Impact of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour on Employee-Organization Relationships in the Hospitality Industry.

The term Organizational Citizenship Behaviour is used to show positive workplace employee behaviour and their actions in every work inside and outside the organization which is not a formal role component in their job description. The term Organizational Citizenship Behaviour means that employees can do anything beyond the work that is expected. It’s a volunteer task. To Engage themself in their job with high loyalty, to involve themself in other’s target, help co-workers, and being convenience staff to their customers, and take responsibility for the organization’s problem to solve it. Employee – Organization relationship management is a most significant topic in organizational behaviour. In this 21st century every organization and startup company has to focus on survival and sustainable nurturing in the fierce market competition, every level of the organization must take decisive action to make harmonious circumstances amid employees and continuous successful working conditions for employees. This study focuses on the impact of Organizational Citizenship Behaviour on Employee-Organization Relationships.

Online Employees Communication Behaviours During Crisis in Jordanian Public Hospitals: The Value of Internal Communication Practices

The present study examined symmetrical communication (SC) and transparent communication (TC) by studying crisis employee-organization relationships (EOR) and their causes and effects. The study utilised relationship management theory (RMT) to evaluate crisis-related online employee communication. It examined RMT antecedents and consequences, including EOR, SC and TC. The study conducted an online survey through a questionnaire collecting data from 392 full-time employees at three public hospitals in Jordan. It tested the hypotheses using PLS-SEM. It supported the link between TC and online ECB. The results did not support the hypothesis that SC directly affected online employee communication. The relationships between SC, TC and EOR were also supported. SC, TC, and online employees’ communication behaviour (ECB) were fully mediated by the role of the employee-organization relationships. This study could contribute new knowledge to the literature on internal communication, EORs, and ECB in online settings. Hence, the study examined the theoretical framework of RMT in the context of the healthcare sector and its practical effects on online employee communication during a crisis.

Should relationships be at the heart of public relations? A meta-analysis of the antecedents and consequences of organization-public relationships

Organization-public relationships (OPRs) have been central to public relations theorizing for decades. Guided by Broom et al.'s (1997) foundational three-stage model of OPRs, this study contributes to the public relations literature by conducting the first meta-analysis of the associations between each of the four dimensions of OPRs (trust, satisfaction, commitment, and control mutuality) and their most frequently studied antecedents and consequences. A total of 454 correlations from 67 empirical studies (N = 30, 223) were included in the analysis. The results confirmed the strong correlations among OPRs and the nine most frequently studied antecedents: engagement, involvement, authenticity, transparency, interactivity, two-way communication, interpersonal communication, mediated communication, and symmetrical communication. The research also confirmed the strong connections among OPRs and six commonly researched consequences: reputation, attitudes, positive word-of-mouth communication, purchase intentions, advocacy, and information seeking. We identified the sampling method, employee-organization relationships (EORs), organization type, and country as significant moderators for certain relationships. Overall, the findings support OPRs as a mature and well-supported theory that continues integrating with other public relations theories. Findings also enrich the three-stage model of OPRs with integrated empirical evidence. Areas for future scholarship are discussed relevant to the insignificant potential moderators, such as channel and crisis topic, along with important limitations in the extant scholarship.

Enhancing Emotional Culture Through Internal Communication: Impact on Employee-Organization Relationships and Employee Advocacy

ABSTRACT This study aims to propose and test an integrative model that incorporates internal communication, positive emotional culture, and employee-organization relationships. Drawing from the relationship management theory in public relations and social exchange theory, the model specifically examines the role of employee-organization relationship quality (by considering the effect of internal communication) on employee advocacy with an emphasis on the role of positive emotional culture. To test the hypothesized model, the authors conducted a quantitative survey on a random sample of 287 front-line employees working in two five-star tourist hotels in the Tehran area of Iran. To test the hypothesized model, structural equation modeling analysis was employed. The findings of the present research indicated that symmetrical communication and responsive leadership communication cultivated a positive emotional culture in organizations. Such a culture then enhanced employee-organization relationships. In addition, symmetrical communication, responsive leadership communication, and positive emotional culture influenced employee-organization relationships. Finally, it was found that positive emotional culture and the quality of employee-organization relationships positively affected employee advocacy. This study is one of the first attempts to theorize and operationalize emotional culture to enhance the quality of employee-organization relationships and employees’ supportive behaviors (e.g., employee advocacy) in the hotel industry, which fills the research gap in decades of organizational culture research that focused predominantly on the cognitive aspect. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Satisfaction with Internal Communication and Hospitality Employees’ Turnover Intention: Exploring the Mediating Role of Organizational Support and Job Satisfaction

Managing employee turnover is a key function in human resource management (HRM) that has become especially relevant given current staff shortages. The travel and tourism industry has been strongly affected, with many organizations having difficulty attracting and retaining workers. Portugal, as a prominent player in tourism, is no exception, and the workforce shortage crisis has been discussed in various forums and has attracted media attention. The present study examined hotel employees’ turnover intention and its relationship with their job satisfaction and positive perceptions of internal communication and organizational support. The proposed theoretical model included that internal communication contributes to the quality of employee–organization relationships by increasing perceived organizational support and job satisfaction, which in turn serve as sequential mediators of hotel workers’ diminished intent to leave their employer. Multiple regression analyses were performed using data collected from 12 hotels (number = 370 workers). The results support the model as they confirm that a statistically significant negative relationship exists between employees’ satisfaction with internal communication and their turnover intention. These variables are both directly and indirectly connected through perceived organizational support and job satisfaction. Implications for HRM are discussed including the importance of refining internal organizational communication to strengthen employee–organization ties.

How Avoidant Leadership Style Turns Employees Into Adversaries: The Impact of Laissez-Faire Leadership on Employee-Organization Relationships and Employee Communicative Behavior

The study aimed to establish linkages among laissez-faire leadership, perceived organizational justice, employee-organization relationships, and employees’ negative megaphoning behavior. Through an online survey of 397 employees working in large and medium corporations in the United States and the structural equation modeling analysis of the data, this study revealed the following findings. Results showed that laissez-faire leadership and employees’ engagement in negative megaphoning behavior were positively related. There was also a strong and positive association between perceived organizational justice and employee-organization relationships. Employees’ relationships with the organization were negatively related to employees’ engagement in negative megaphoning behavior. Perceived organizational justice was revealed as a mediator in the relationship among laissez-faire leadership, employee-organization relationships, and employees’ engagement in negative megaphoning behavior. These results show how laissez-faire leadership relates to negative outcomes of organizational relationships and reputation, and provide insight into the potential mechanisms at play.