Perceptions Of Coworkers Research Articles

The Illusion of Competence: A Qualitative Deep Dive into Workplace False Performance

This qualitative paper develops an understanding of False Performance as a negative form of workplace behaviour which has received scant attention. According to the quantitative literature, which measures False Performance using the Organisational Charlatan Scale (OCS), false performers are incompetent employees who deliberately portray themselves as better able to perform in a job role than they know themselves to be capable. In this study, False Performance was explored in United Kingdom public-sector organisations for the first time, using novel focus-group methodology and grounded theory. Eight focus groups (n = 51) were conducted to explore employees’ perceptions and experiences of False Performance, with a focus on job interviews and performance appraisals. Using NVivo for analysis, five categories emerged: Co-Worker Perceptions of False Performance in the Workplace, False Performance in Interview/Appraisal Settings, The Impact of Trust on the False Performer, The Effect of False Performance on Co-Worker Morale, and Preventing False Performance in the Workplace. The results support the literature review that False Performance is a new and negative addition to the taxonomies of job performance. Human resources (HR) managers are, therefore, urged to prevent and reduce False Performance via well-designed selection processes and performance appraisals, thereby improving co-worker trust amongst employees.

The influence of neurodiversity management on affective commitment and turnover intention: the role of neurodiversity awareness

PurposeIn the wake of labor shortages in the retail industry, there is value in highlighting a business case for employing neurodivergent individuals. Drawing on signaling theory, this study explores whether perceived neurodiversity management (neurodiversity policies and adjustments) helps enhance neurodiversity awareness and affective commitment and whether affective commitment leads to lower turnover intention.Design/methodology/approachA cursory content analysis of publicly available documents of randomly selected four retail organizations was undertaken, which was followed by an online survey of the Australian retail workforce, leading to 502 responses from supervisors and employees.FindingsThe content analysis shows that retail organizations barely acknowledge neurodiversity. The findings of the main study indicate that neurodiversity policies are positively associated with both neurodiversity awareness and affective commitment, while adjustments were positively linked to affective commitment. Moreover, affective commitment was negatively associated with turnover intention. Affective commitment also mediated the negative effects of neurodiversity policies and adjustments on turnover intention.Originality/valueThis study supports, extends and refines signaling theory and social exchange theory. It addresses knowledge gaps about the perceptions of co-workers and supervisors in regard to neurodiversity management. It provides unprecedented evidence for a business case for the positive attitudinal outcomes of neurodiversity policies and adjustments. The findings can help managers manage neurodiversity for positive attitudinal outcomes.

Transgender Employees' Well-Being: the Role of Perceptions of Co-Workers' Attitudes

Transgender Employees' Well-Being: the Role of Perceptions of Co-Workers' Attitudes

Employees’ perceptions of co-workers’ internal promotion penalties: the role of gender, parenthood and part-time

ABSTRACT Much research has focused on penalties by gender, parenthood and part-time work for hiring processes or wages, but their role for promotions is less clear. This study analyzes perceived chances for internal promotion, using a factorial survey design. Employees in 540 larger German (>100 employees) firms were asked to rate the likelihood of internal promotion for vignettes describing fictitious co-workers who varied in terms of gender, parenthood, working hours as well as age, earnings, qualification, tenure and job performance. Results show that promotion chances are perceived as significantly lower for co-workers who are women (gender penalty), mothers (motherhood penalty) and part-time workers (part-time penalty). Fathers and childless men (co-workers) are not evaluated differently (no fatherhood premium or penalty), and neither does part-time employment seem to be perceived as a double penalty for male co-workers. All three perceived promotion penalties are more pronounced among female employees, mothers and part-time employees. These findings show that employees perceive differential promotion chances for co-workers which indicate actual differences due to discrimination, selective applications or structural dead-ends. Either way, perceived promotion penalties are likely consequential in guiding employee’s application behavior and hence can contribute to the persistence of vertical gender segregation in the labor market.

“What about me?”: veteran organizational members’ negative emotional responses to newcomers

ABSTRACT Uncertainty is a pervasive feature of organizational membership, exasperated by the presence of newcomers. Using uncertainty management theory (UMT), this study explored how veteran organizational members emotionally respond to the presence of new coworkers. Results revealed that veteran organizational members’ perceptions of new coworkers’ work, social, and relational performance associated with veteran members’ jealousy, envy, and job insecurity. This study progresses knowledge of how organizational members emotionally respond to uncertainty. Considering the “Great Resignation,” managers should clarify newcomers’ roles while veterans and newcomers should acquaint themselves with one another and find common ground for themselves and their organizations.

Importance of studying the dominant’s perspective on women workers in male-dominated workplaces: Revisiting Kanter’s theory

It is apparent from several economic, social, and corporate indicators that more women will be needed in the workplace in the near future. Women, however, face several challenges, particularly when it comes to working in a culture dominated by men. According to Kanter's theory of tokenism, these challenges include performance pressures, boundary heightening, and role entrapment. Scholars have made considerable attempts to examine these challenges in different work settings and cultures. Most previous studies have focused on the token perspective. Very few look at the perceptions of male co-workers, supervisors, and subordinates who work with women. Thus, Kanter's observations have not been viewed from the dominant perspective. Hence, the objective of this article to make clear why it is essential to study the dominant perspective on women in order to contribute to this field's theoretical framework.

Identity management in the workplace: Coworker perceptions of individuals with contested disabilities

BACKGROUND: Much of the existing research on disability and disability-related workplace accommodations presume that disabilities are visible and commonly accepted. Yet, many disabilities are invisible and contested, or perceived as fake, low-severity/minor, and/or illegitimate. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of identity management strategies that individuals with contested disabilities might use when requesting accommodations in a workplace setting. METHODS: We used two electronic experiments to investigate the effect of identity management strategies on perceived fairness of accommodations and attributions about individuals requesting accommodations. Studies 1 and 2 used online surveys to collect data from 117 and 184 working adults, respectively. RESULTS: Study 1 indicates that four invisible disabilities (chronic fatigue syndrome, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and chronic migraine) are viewed as significantly less legitimate than the visible disability paraplegia. In study 2, any form of disclosure of a contested disability (vs. no disclosure) resulted in higher perceived fairness and more positive attributions about the person requesting accommodations. There were minimal differences between the different identity management strategies tested. CONCLUSIONS: Workplaces should work to create spaces in which employees can disclose contested disabilities to managers and coworkers without fear of enhanced stigmatization.

Employee idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) and organizational justice: the role of individual job performance and coworkers’ i-deals

PurposeIdiosyncratic deals (i-deals) have been shown to influence several employee outcomes positively. To extend the research, the authors examine the effect of i-deals on employees’ perceptions of organizational justice, in particular, how the relationship between employees’ own i-deals and organizational justice is affected by employees' job performance as well as their perceptions of coworkers’ i-deals.Design/methodology/approachThe authors tested the theoretical model using survey data from 182 hotel employees.FindingsResults show that i-deals are positively related to employees’ perceptions of organizational justice and that such effects are stronger among high performing employees. The effect of i-deals on organizational justice was also more pronounced among employees who viewed coworkers as having successfully negotiated i-deals.Practical implicationsThe authors' findings suggest that organizations can benefit from providing i-deals through employees’ enhanced perceptions of organizational justice. The paper thus recommends that organizations understand the impact of providing more flexible human resources (HR) practices and customized work arrangements that are aligned with individual goals and needs. This may be particularly relevant to high performers. Furthermore, the findings suggest that organizations may want to make i-deals available to employees more widely than to just a few selected individuals.Originality/valueThis study is one of a few attempts that empirically investigate the relationship between i-deals and organizational justice. The findings of this study shed light on the possibility that employees develop positive justice perceptions toward employeesʼ organization based on the appreciation of the customized work arrangements granted to both themselves and others.

You are what you eat: How and when workplace healthy eating cultivates coworker perceptions and behaviors.

Food consumption has been conceptualized as an integral aspect of employee well-being. Whereas most research in the organizational literature to date is motivated by individual health outcomes, we assert that eating at work also entails interpersonal implications. In this manuscript, we draw from consumption stereotype theory and suggest that workplace healthy eating affects how employees are perceived and treated at work. Specifically, we posit that workplace healthy eating influences the extent to which a focal employee is attributed the trait of self-control, which subsequently impacts coworker citizenship behavior and social undermining enacted toward the focal employee. Moreover, we postulate healthy eating climate as a boundary condition to the effects of workplace healthy eating-when there is a salient healthy eating climate, workplace healthy eating is a weaker signal in the trait attribution process. Overall, we extend the concept of employee eating to the interpersonal level by explaining how employee eating directly affects coworker interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

When Do Coworkers' Idiosyncratic Deals Trigger Social Undermining?-The Moderating Roles of Core Self-Evaluations and Conscientiousness.

Idiosyncratic deals are personalized work arrangements negotiated between enterprises and employees based on employees’ abilities and needs, previous studies have focused more on their positive effects on i-dealers and neglected the negative effects on peers in the process of interpersonal interaction. In view of this, this study explores the effects of coworkers’ idiosyncratic deals on employees’ social undermining and the internal mechanism based on social comparison theory. This study tested the theoretical model with a sample of 331 employees from six enterprises in China. The results showed that the interaction between perceptions of coworkers’ receiving idiosyncratic deals and low core self-evaluations stimulated employees’ feelings of relative deprivation, which triggered social undermining toward i-dealers. At the same time, employees’ conscientiousness could weaken the positive effect of relative deprivation on social undermining. Therefore, it reveals the negative peer effect of idiosyncratic deals and provides theoretical and practical implications for preventing the interpersonal harm doing caused by idiosyncratic deals.

Secure Units as Emotional Sites: Staff Perceptions of Fear and Violence at Secure Units for Young People in Sweden

ABSTRACT Secure units for adolescents are emotion-filled places for various reasons, yet previous studies have shown that fear seems to be an emotion which is difficult to deal with in these workplaces. This paper examines how secure unit staff describe their workday, focusing on fear. The analysis applies theories about emotional work as well as the concept of fear. The article builds on 53 semi-structured interviews with staff at three secure units for detained boys and girls run by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care. The findings illustrate different ways in which staff handle emotions, such as fear, at these institutions. Results are discussed with respect to five themes: (a) the importance of control; (b) safety: not a regular workplace; (c) not my anxiety, but the young person’s; (d) security: standing safe with coworkers; and (e) the ambiguous fear. The results show the importance of taking emotions seriously in daily work, as this renders visible how staff emotionally socialize into their organization. Due to a lack of education and professional identity among staff, the socialization process is highly relevant, as it is primarily perceptions of youth and coworkers that control and develop professionalization for staff.

Supplemental Material for You Are What You Eat: How and When Workplace Healthy Eating Cultivates Coworker Perceptions and Behaviors

Supplemental Material for You Are What You Eat: How and When Workplace Healthy Eating Cultivates Coworker Perceptions and Behaviors

A Multi‐Level Model of I‐deals in Workgroups: Employee and Coworker Perceptions of Leader Fairness, I‐Deals and Group Performance

AbstractWe test theory regarding the within‐group dynamics linking employees’ leader fairness judgments to the receipt of idiosyncratic deals (‘i‐deals’), and how differences between workgroups in the extent and variability of i‐deals influence workgroup performance. We assert that employees, their co‐workers, and the workgroup leader are three key stakeholders to i‐deals. Drawing on fairness heuristic theory, we hypothesize that employees are more likely to obtain i‐deals when they view their workgroup leaders as procedurally fair. Further, individual perceptions of leader fairness exist within the context of their co‐workers’ perceptions of leader fairness, that is, (in)congruence between the two affects individual i‐deals. At the workgroup level, we hypothesize a positive association between the access and extent of i‐deals and workgroup performance. Employing polynomial regression on data from 258 employees nested in 69 workgroups, we find that congruence between individual and co‐workers’ perceptions of leader fairness is positively related to the individual’s receipt of i‐deals; incongruence has an asymmetric effect, such that individual perceptions matter more. Finally, within‐group access and extent of i‐deals are positively related to group performance.

Helping in the eyes of the beholder: The impact of OCB type and fluctuation in OCB on coworker perceptions and evaluations of helpful employees

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is often hailed for its positive linkages to individual outcomes and organizational effectiveness. Despite these findings, research on OCB often fails to consider how an individual's past OCB may influence the outcomes stemming from current OCB performance. Such a contextually bland image truncates our understanding of the impact of these behaviors. Furthermore, the theories that drive literature on OCB (e.g., social exchange, expectancy, and conservation of resources) are socially focused. However, there is limited research examining how coworkers' responses to others' OCBs, in light of past OCB performance, may alter the nature of their perceptions and behavioral reactions to changes in OCB. Recent literature on OCB also calls for consolidation of OCB-related typologies, but few efforts test the efficacy of composite frameworks. Accordingly, this effort investigates the impact that fluctuations (increase vs. decreases) in different types of OCB (orientation vs. direction) have on coworker perceptions and responses to OCB performers. This effort also explored the impact that coworker's assumptions regarding another employee's motivations for OCB has on the outcomes that stem from OCB. Limitations, implications, and future directions are discussed.

Is Electronic Multitasking Always Viewed as a Counterproductive Meeting Behavior? Understanding the Nature of the Secondary Task.

This project explored social evaluations of electronic multitasking during work meetings, including factors that may affect whether it is seen as a counterproductive meeting behavior. We used an experimental vignette design to test whether social evaluations (norm violating, agency, and communalism) of a hypothetical coworker's electronic multitasking differed by whether the secondary task was relevant to the meeting (Study 1; N = 274) or ambiguous (Study 2; N = 188). Observers evaluated task-irrelevant multitasking as more of a norm violation and less communal compared to task-relevant multitasking, and work-related tasks were evaluated as more agentic than nonwork-related tasks. Ambiguous tasks were also rated as more agentic than task-irrelevant multitasking. Taken together, our results show that the nature of the secondary task reduces negative perceptions of coworkers' electronic multitasking behavior during meetings. However, electronic multitasking for any purpose, even if relevant, was generally judged negatively consistent with expectations for a counterproductive meeting behavior.

Emotional adjustments to violent situations at secure units for adolescents: A staff perspective

Secure units for adolescents are emotion-filled places. This paper examines how secure unit staff are socialized to match emotions to violent situations in a dynamic social context according to different feeling rules. The analysis applies theories about emotional culture as well as feeling rules. The article builds on 53 semi-structural interviews with staff at three secure units for detained boys and girls run by the Swedish National Board of Institutional Care. The findings illustrate different ways in which staff adjust their feelings in violent situations by both breaking and following rules. Results are discussed with respect to three themes: (1) emotional adjustments tuned to co-workers; (2) emotional adjustments tuned to self; and (3) emotional adjustments tuned to youth behaviour. The results show the importance of taking emotions seriously in daily work, as this makes it possible to visualize how staff emotionally socialize into their organization. Due to a lack of education and professional identity among staff, the socialization process is highly relevant, as it is primarily perceptions of youth and co-workers that control and develop feeling rules for staff.

The Influence of Social Perceptions on Restaurant Employee Work Engagement and Extra-Role Customer Service Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of restaurant employees’ social perceptions of their supervisors on employees’ work engagement and extra-role customer service behavior. We also assessed restaurant employees’ social perceptions of their coworkers as a moderator. Utilizing an online survey design, data were collected from frontline restaurant employees via an online commercial subject pool ( N = 477). Results showed that the more employees perceive their supervisors as warm, competent, and moral, the more employees were willing to engage in extra-role customer service behavior via the indirect effect of increased work engagement. The effect of work engagement on extra-role customer service was also found to be more pronounced when employees developed positive social perceptions of their coworkers. These results offer implications for work engagement, as they suggest a new antecedent in the form of social perceptions, as well as a boundary condition to the positive outcomes of engagement through the interactive effect of social perceptions of coworkers and extra-role customer service behavior. In doing so, these results also shed light on the relevance of social perceptions in hospitality operations.

Coworkers’ Perceptions of, and Communication With, Workplace Romance Participants: Proposing and Testing a Model

This study’s purpose was to propose and test a model of workplace romance’s influence on coworkers’ perceptions of, and communication with, workplace romance participants. In testing hypotheses derived from our model, we examined workplace romance’s relational implications from the perspectives of workplace romance participants and third-party coworkers. Results reveal that coworker perceptions of, and behaviors toward, workplace romance participants were more deleterious than the workplace romance participants believed them to be, especially in the case of hierarchical workplace romances. In addition, attributions of workplace romance job motives led to reports of diminished coworker trust in workplace romance participants, which predicted less honest and accurate coworker communication with workplace romance participants. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for communication in coworker relationships and antisocial organizational behavior and communication are discussed.

Socio-ecological Factors of Zoonotic Diseases Exposure in Colorado Dairy Workers

ABSTRACT Objectives: Zoonotic pathogens on dairy farms are a known risk for people who work and live there. Exposure and/or transmission of Salmonella serovars, E. coli (O157; H7), Campylobacter jejuni, and Cryptosporidium parvum have been documented to occur in the dairy farm environment. Social ecological factors have been identified as determinants of preventive behaviors of people at risk of infectious diseases. Methods: This study described the effect of socio-ecological factors on selected zoonotic bacterial and protozoal diseases in 42 workers of two dairy farms. Results: Occupational exposure to Salmonella ser. Dublin, E. coli, and Campylobacter spp. was confirmed. Self-efficacy and negative workplace perceptions were risk factors for Salmonella Dublin exposure (OR = 1.43[95% CI 1.11–2.22] & 1.22 [95% CI 1.02–1.53] respectively,). Additionally, safety knowledge and risk perceptions were protective factors of exposure (OR = 0.90 [95% CI 0.79–1.00]). Positive perceptions of supervisors and coworkers was a protective factor of Campylobacter exposure (OR = 0.89 [95% CI 0.79–0.98]). Conclusion: Results indicated that the presence of a supporting organizational environment, good communication with supervisors and coworkers, and training on prevention of zoonotic diseases would potentially reduce occupational exposures to zoonotic diseases on these farms.

Evaluating Changes in Caring Behaviors of Caritas Coaches Pre and Post the Caritas Coach Education Program.

OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study was to examine program effectiveness in changing Caritas leadership, self-caring behaviors, and perceptions of coworkers of participants who completed the Caritas Coach Education Program (CCEP).BACKGROUNDThe CCEP has been a highly successful education program for individuals who wish to intellectually and experientially learn to teach, live, and practice human caring theory.METHODSA pretest-posttest descriptive design was used to evaluate changes in perceptions of self-caring, caritas leadership, and coworker behaviors after completion of CCEP.RESULTSThe mean scores of all measures improved significantly.CONCLUSIONSAfter completion of CCEP, participants demonstrated statistically significant changes in 3 caritas measures: leadership, coworker, and self-rating. Caritas Coach participants exhibited the greatest change in their self-caring scores.