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When work and life boundaries are blurred: the effect of after-hours work communication through communication technology on employee outcomes

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Abstract

Purpose As new work environments have been created and accelerated due to technological advances, after-hours work communication has become one of the prominent features of the technology-enabled work environment. Grounded in the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to uncover the effects of after-hours work communication through communication technologies on employees' burnout and extra-role behaviors. Design/methodology/approach The study conducted an online survey of 315 US full-time employees from a wide range of industrial sectors. Findings The findings of the study show that after-hours work communication through communication technologies increases employees' negative extra-role behaviors, specifically counterproductive work behavior and negative word-of-mouth. Furthermore, emotional exhaustion partially mediated the relationship between after-hours work communication and negative extra-role behaviors. Practical implications The study provides practical implications for an organization's effective optimization of work-related communication to overcome adverse consequences for employees and organizations. Corporate leaders and communication professionals are encouraged to establish clear guidelines related to the use of communication technologies after hours and exercise leadership practices to prevent after-hours communication through communication technologies from contributing to employees' burnout. Originality/value The findings enhance the understanding of the role of after-hours work communication through communication technologies in the workplace by revealing how the effects of after-hours work communication enabled by communication technologies on employees' psychological well-being spills over to organizational effectiveness.
When work and life boundaries
are blurred: the effect of
after-hours work communication
through communication
technology on employee outcomes
Katie Haejung Kim
University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, and
Myoung-Gi Chon
School of Communication and Journalism, Auburn University,
Auburn, Alabama, USA
Abstract
Purpose As new work environments have been created and accelerated due to technological advances, after-
hours work communication has become one of the prominent features of the technology-enabled work
environment. Grounded in the conservation of resources theory, this study aims to uncover the effects of after-
hours work communicationthrough communicationtechnologies on employeesburnout andextra-role behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach The study conducted an online survey of 315 US full-time employees
from a wide range of industrial sectors.
Findings The findings of the study show that after-hours work communication through communication
technologies increases employeesnegative extra-role behaviors, specifically counterproductive work behavior
and negative word-of-mouth. Furthermore, emotional exhaustion partially mediated the relationship between
after-hours work communication and negative extra-role behaviors.
Practical implications The studyprovides practical implications foran organizations effective optimization
of work-related communication to overcome adverse consequences for employees and organizations. Corporate
leaders and communication professionals are encouraged to establish clear guidelines related to the use of
communication technologies after hours and exercise leadership practices to prevent after-hours communication
through communication technologies from contributing to employeesburnout.
Originality/value The findings enhance the understanding of the role of after-hours work communication
through communication technologies in the workplace by revealing how the effects of after-hours work
communication enabled by communication technologies on employeespsychological well-being spills over to
organizational effectiveness.
Keywords After-hours work communication, COR theory, Communication technologies, CWB,
Emotional exhaustion, Negative extra-role behaviors, Negative WOM
Paper type Research paper
Todays employees have difficulty logging off from work as their dependence on communication
technology for work increases. AccordingtoasurveyadministratedbytheAmerican
Psychological Association (2013), 53% of employees responded that they check work-related
messages at least once during the weekend, and 44% do the same while on vacation. The
pandemic has increased the burden of work-related communication during off-hours due to
flexible work situations such as remote work. Robert Half (2020) found that nearly 70% of US
employees are working remotely on the weekends since the beginning of the pandemic. While
organizations have actively adopted a variety of communication technologies to improve work
efficiency, including knowledge sharing and communication effectiveness among employees (e.g.
Bayo-Moriones et al., 2013;Stephens and Mandhana, 2017), these communication practices have
also brought unexpected results. That is, the utilization of communication technology, which has
The impact of
after-hours
work
communication
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1363-254X.htm
Received 19 June 2022
Revised 15 August 2022
Accepted 3 October 2022
Journal of Communication
Management
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1363-254X
DOI 10.1108/JCOM-06-2022-0073
played a key role in breaking down the boundaries for work-related communication among
employees, has further contributed to blurring the boundaries between work and life of individual
employees (Boswell and Olson-Buchanan, 2007).
With this concern in mind, Portugal recently banned companies from text messaging or
emailing staff outside of work hours as part of a right to rest(BBC, 2021). This new policy
reflects the findings of recent studies (e.g. Lee et al., 2021;Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015;Zhang
et al., 2021) that demonstrate the adverse consequences of after-hours work communication
on employeesmental health, such as poor recovery from work. However, compared to well-
documented studies that have focused on individualspsychological well-being, there is an
absence of discussion on whether and how after-hours work communication through
communication technologies affects organizational outcomes.
To bridge the gap between theoretical research and underexplored communication
phenomena facing organizations, our study investigates how employees engage in work-
related extra-role behaviors in situations where the boundaries between work and life are not
respected due to work communication outside work hours. Adopting the conservation of
resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1989) as the core lens, we investigate how after-hours work
communication influences employee burnout by focusing on emotional exhaustion, a primary
form of burnout characterized by psychological weariness and emotional depletion (Wright and
Cropanzano, 1998). Further, we examine how employee burnout spills over to organizational
effectiveness through negative extra-role behaviors, focusing on counterproductive work
behavior (CWB) and negative word-of-mouth (WOM) toward organizations.
In light of the rapid changes in technology-fueled work environments and an increasing
expectation of organizational responsibility to manage employee burnout that follows this
shifted work situation, the findings of this study will help organizations consider their role in
helping employees prevent burnout. In particular, by focusing on work-related
communication that happens outside of regular work hours, this study provides
significant implications for corporate leaders and communication professionals regarding
the effective optimization of technology as a work-related communication tool to sustain a
healthy workforce that benefits individuals while also protecting organizations.
Theoretically, leveraging the COR theory as a main framework from a resource
management perspective, this study contributes to uncovering the underlying mechanism
by which after-hours work communication interferes with employee resource conservation
and acquisition, leading to emotional exhaustion and negative extra-role behaviors.
Literature review
Technology-enabled work environment: after-hours work communication
Organizations have adopted communication technologies such as intranet, email, mobile,
social media, and video messaging in their workplaces in order to strengthen work
effectiveness through increasing the accessibility of communication among employees. As a
result, the integration of communication technologies into the workplace has changed the
environment of organizational communication (Men, 2014). Many previous studies have
addressed the advantages that communication technologies bring to work, such as improved
work efficiency, sharing of information, sense of community, and employee engagement
(e.g. Bayo-Moriones et al., 2013;Uysal, 2016;Men et al., 2020). Especially since the beginning
of the COVID-19 pandemic, these communication technologies have been significantly used
and have come to play a large role as communication tools for the workplace in light of their
vast flexibility and accessibility (Brower, 2020).
Despite the benefits of using communication technologies in the workplace, however,
there are also challenges. It has become easier for employees to communicate with co-workers
or supervisors regardless of time and location (Boswell and Olson-Buchanan, 2007;Boswell
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et al., 2016;Xie et al., 2018). As the concept of working time and non-working time is blurred
due to the shifted work environment facilitated by communication technologies (Peters and
Ben Allouch, 2005), recent studies have primarily focused on after-hours work
communication in particular, defined as employees engaging in work-related
communication outside of regular business hours by using electronic communication
technologies such as cell phones, email, voice mail, and so forth (Boswell et al., 2016). This
technology-driven work environment has effects on employeespersonal experiences. When
employees engage in work-related communication after work hours, whether it is voluntary
or not, they experience increased work-life conflict (e.g. Boswell and Olson-Buchanan, 2007;
Leung and Zhang, 2017;Ragsdale and Hoover, 2016;Wright et al., 2014), reduced
psychological detachment from work (e.g. Lee et al., 2021;Sonnentag and Fritz, 2015), burnout
(Park et al., 2020;Xie et al., 2018), and a poorer recovery experience (Zhang et al., 2021). The
effects of employeeswork-related communication after work hours are not limited to
individualspersonal domains but spill over to their family system, influencing their spouses
perceived work-life conflict and burnout (Ferguson et al., 2016;Zhang et al., 2021).
Although recent studies have examined the effects of employeesafter-hours work
communication on the personal spheres of both employees and family members, to the best of
our knowledge, there has been no research on how and through what underlying mechanism
it influences employeesbehaviors in work domains. This study fills this gap by leveraging
COR theory to present an integrated perspective on the effect of after-hours work
communication through communication technologies on employeesemotional exhaustion
and negative extra-role behaviors.
After-hours work communication from the COR theory perspective
COR theory (Hobfoll, 1988,2001) has served as a fundamental framework to explain how a
variety of work conditions affect employeesresource loss and resource investment as coping
mechanisms, uncovering the relationship between various work conditions and employees
psychological and behavioral outcomes (e.g. Bolton et al., 2012;Hobfoll and Freedy, 2018;
Penney et al., 2011;Wright and Hobfoll, 2004). According to COR, people are motivated to
protect their current resources (conservation) and acquire new resources (acquisition)
(Halbesleben et al., 2014, p. 2). In the COR theory, the essential idea of resourcesis loosely
conceptualized as something people value (Hobfoll, 1988).
One of the critical psychological resources discussed in previous organizational literature
is respite from work (Westman and Eden, 1997). For employees to take a break from work,
they have to be mentally as well as physically away from the work situation. Leisure time
activity (Mojza et al., 2011), not working during weekends (e.g. Fritz and Sonnentag, 2006;
Sonnentag and Fritz, 2007), vacation experiences (e.g. Fritz and Sonnentag, 2006), or breaks
during workdays (e.g. Krajewski et al., 2011) are recovery experiences that help individuals
detach from work and contribute to successfully reclaiming resources. In this regard, for
example, Sonnentag and Fritz (2007) recommended not answering job-related calls at home as
an important way to separate from work and replenish resources.
Consistent with previous studies, our study argues that not engaging in work-related
communication via communication technologiesoutsideofregularworkhourscanserveasa
valuable resource, helping employees disconnect from work. Conversely, engaging in work-related
communication through communication technologies outside of regular business hours, whether
voluntary or not, poses a threat to resources, depriving employees of the opportunity to replenish
their resources. By considering after-hours work communicationthrough communication
technologies as a threat of resource loss for employees, we expect that COR theory can be extended
to our context and provide insights into how after-hours work communication is associated with
employeesburnout and negative extra-role behaviors.
The impact of
after-hours
work
communication
The impact of after-hours work communication
Emotional exhaustion in response to after-hours work communication. Emotional exhaustion,
defined as a chronic feeling of being emotionally depleted and worn out (Cordes and Dougherty,
1993;Maslach and Jackson, 1981), has been considered a critical concept in the literature on the
workplace. Emotional exhaustion isthe primary component of burnout (Cordes and Dougherty,
1993) and has long been considered a common issue resulting from chronic, prolonged work-
related stress. Burnout is highly associated with employeespsychological well-being (Bakker
et al., 2014;Cordes and Dougherty, 1993). Unfortunately, burnout has been a growing challenge
during the pandemic, and researchers have put more emphasis on the role of organizations in
managing employee burnout in the workplace (Moss, 2021).
COR theory (Hobfoll, 1989) is the most noted theoretical perspective to understand the
phenomenon of burnout and emotional exhaustion in particular. According to the theory,
emotional exhaustion occurs when an individual experiences work-related stress situations
over a long period (Maslach et al., 1986). Various types of work demand, such as heavy
workloads or work pressures, can tax employeespsychological resources (Baumeister et al.,
2007;Wright and Cropanzano, 1998;Wright and Hobfoll, 2004). When employees suffer from
the actual or perceived threat of resource loss, this leads to psychological imbalance,
ultimately resulting in chronic emotional exhaustion (Hobfoll and Freedy, 2018). As discussed
earlier, when employees engage in higher levels of after-hours work communication via
communication technologies, this deprives them of the opportunity to replenish their
resources by detaching from work and may even cause them to lose their remaining
resources, resulting in an emotionally exhausted state. In this regard, after-hours business
communication is expected to be a significant predictor of employee burnout, especially in
terms of emotional exhaustion. Therefore, this study posits the following hypothesis:
H1. The extent to which employees engage in after-hours work communication is
positively associated with their emotional exhaustion.
Negative extra-role behaviors in response to after-hours work communication. As employees
are key internal stakeholders who create strategic value from both internal and external
environments (Men and Stacks, 2014), much of the literature in public relations and
communication management has focused on their positive extra-role behavior, such as
organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) (e.g. Walden and Kingsley Westerman, 2018)or
external positive communicative behavior (e.g. Men and Yue, 2019), and employee engagement
(e.g. Kang and Sung, 2017;Men et al., 2020). As critical antecedents that drive employees
positive extra-role behaviors and engagement, diverse organizational factors, including the
quality of the relationship between the organization and employees, positive emotional culture,
and perceived organizational transparency, have been widely discussed (Kang and Sung, 2017;
Men et al.,2020;Men and Yue, 2019). While previous literature has heavily focused on how
organizations can foster positive employee outcomes and increase organizational effectiveness,
it is also critical to note that employees can undermine organizational effectiveness and well-
being through negative extra-role behaviors both inside and outside the organization. In this
study, therefore, two forms of employeesnegative extra-role behaviors are identified:
counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and negative WOM.
In the workplace literature, CWB has been considered a representative form of negative
extra-role behavior (Fox et al., 2001). CWB, defined as an act that inflicts harm on the
organization or coworkers, is generally regarded as an intended aggressive act whose target
is not limited to individuals but encompasses the organization (Spector, 2011). CWB, such as
taking longer breaks, ignoring directives, or limiting their exposure to demanding situations
within the workplace, requires exceptional efforts to violate organizational norms or actively
harm the organization without clear self-interest and arises from the desire to release or
express a strong negative attitude toward the organization as a whole (Spector, 2011).
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Counterproductive actions in the workplace have been regarded as a risk to organizational
management by threatening the well-being of the organization and hindering the
accomplishment of long-term organizational goals (Fox et al., 2001;Krischer et al., 2010;
Spector and Fox, 2005). Work stressors such as a stressful work environment (Penney et al.,
2005;Spector and Fox, 2005), negative affectivity (Fox et al., 2001), and employeesBig Five
personality traits (Spector, 2011) have been critically discussed as antecedents that trigger
individualscounterproductive actions.
Employeesnegative extra-role behaviors can extend outside of the organization through
employeescommunication via word-of-mouth (Harris and Ogbonna, 2013;Lee and Kim,
2020). Since external publics (e.g. customers) view employees as having credible, in-depth
knowledge about the company (Dortok, 2006;Helm, 2011), employeescommunicative
behavior has been considered critically from an organizational management perspective. In
particular, the importance of employeesinformal communicative behavior via word-of-
mouth has been examined across various disciplines, including marketing, business
management, and public relations. An important topic is negative WOM, defined as
employeesvoluntary information sharing about negative organization-related information
and criticizing the management to outside people (Harris and Ogbonna, 2013;Kim and Rhee,
2011), which could aggravate organizational problems and damage corporate reputation
(Kim and Rhee, 2011). In previous literature, organizational factors such as organizations
internal communication (e.g. Kang and Sung, 2017), employeesrelationship with their
organization (e.g. Kim and Rhee, 2011;Walden and Kingsley Westerman, 2018), and
leadership (e.g. Lee, 2022b) have been predominantly identified as factors that mitigate
employeesbehaviors of sharing negative organization-related information and criticizing
their organization to outside publics. Recently, an individual-level antecedent, emotional
exhaustion, has been revealed as a critical factor that facilitates employeesnegative words
through their social networks (Kim and Lee, 2021).
COR theory has been primarily applied to predict employeespsychological strain, such as
emotional exhaustion (Hobfoll and Freedy, 2018). Expanding the theory, recent studies have
used the theory to predict behavioral strains, such as CWB (e.g. Bolton et al.,2012;Penney et al.,
2011). As COR theory posits, when employees experience a loss of resources, they are motivated
not only to prevent further resource loss but also to obtain resources. As a means of securing
and acquiring their resources, employees engage in work-related behaviors that appear to be
counter-organizational behaviors from an organizational perspective but help reduce further
resource loss or facilitate the recovery of resources in the short term from the employees
perspective (Penny et al.,2011). Thus, they will be more likely to engage in CWB, such as
purposely not following rules or instructions or blaming coworkers within the workplace
(Bolton et al.,2012). They will also be more likely to engage in negative WOM, disseminating
negative information about their organization outside of the workplace to release their negative
feelings that result from resource loss. The following hypotheses are proposed:
H2. The extent to which employees engage in after-hours work communication is
positively associated with their CWB.
H3. The extent to which employees engage in after-hours work communication is
positively associated with their negative WOM.
Outcomes of emotional exhaustion
COR theory also explains how individuals who experience emotional exhaustion cope with
resource loss. Emotionally exhausted individuals feel that their available resources have
already been depleted and become motivated to identify the causes of their loss of resources
and then seek ways to conserve their resources that may be further depleted (Hobfoll, 1989,
The impact of
after-hours
work
communication
2001;Hobfoll et al., 2018). These resource-deprived emotions and conditions reduce the
inhibition of their impulsive tendencies and further reduce their ability to follow standards
(Welsh et al., 2014), which is a coping mechanism to reduce their efforts and investments of
their own resources (Halbesleben and Bowler, 2007;Siegall and McDonald, 2004). They may
also identify the cause (i.e. a target of blame) of their emotional exhaustion and exhibit
negative behaviors toward the target (Leiter and Maslach, 1988;Van Jaarsveld et al., 2010).
Consistent with the COR theory, previous studies have found that an individuals
emotionally depleted state can lead to negative behaviors toward the organization, such as
incivility, organizational deviance, negative word-of-mouth, or counterproductive actions
(e.g. Baumeister, 2001;Kim and Lee, 2021;Mulki et al., 2006;Zhao et al., 2018). In a similar vein,
this study expects that employeesemotional exhaustion will be positively associated with
CWB and negative WOM, as follows:
H4. The extent to which employees experience emotional exhaustion is positively
associated with CWB.
H5. The extent to which employees experience emotional exhaustion is positively
associated with negative WOM.
The mediating role of emotional exhaustion
This study goes a step further than the previous literature in expecting the indirect effects of
after-hours work communication on employeesnegative extra-role behaviors via emotional
exhaustion. That is, employeesemotional exhaustion resulting from after-hours work
communication may lead to negative extra-role behaviors. When employees engage in
increased work-related communication outside of working hours, they will perceive that they
do not have resources left and consequently suffer from emotional fatigue. Accordingly, as a
coping mechanism to reduce the psychological strain (i.e. emotional exhaustion) associated
with resource loss, such emotionally exhausted employees will be less likely to make efforts to
suppress their negative extra-role behaviors both in (i.e. CWB) and outside the workplace
(i.e. negative WOM) in order to conserve their remaining resources and acquire new
resources. Therefore, the negative consequences of after-hours work communication on
individualswell-being (i.e. emotional exhaustion) will extend to the well-being of the
organization in the form of employeesnegative extra-role behaviors. Thus, the following
hypotheses are proposed:
H6. The extent to which employees engage in after-hours work communication is
positively associated with CWB via emotional exhaustion (indirect effect).
H7. The extent to which employees engage in after-hours work communication is
positively associated with negative WOM via emotional exhaustion (indirect effect).
Method
Participants
Upon receiving approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB), the study conducted an
online survey with full-time employees working in the United States. Participants were
recruited through Qualtrics panels. Qualtrics, a specialized research firm with more than 2
million panelists who have agreed to participate in surveys, sent out an email invitation to the
survey to the appropriate panelists for the current study (e.g. full-time US employees). Before
participating in the survey, a consent form approved by the universitys IRB was provided to
each participant. In order to ensure the quality of the data, following the suggestions from
Meade and Craig (2012), this study excluded participants who provided the wrong answer to
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an attention check question (e.g. Please indicate strongly disagree (1) for this statement.).
After removing invalid responses (e.g. failed attention check questions), this study retained a
final sample of 315.
The final sample included 315 U.S. full-time employees, consisting of 51.1% females
(n5161) and 48.9% males (n5154). The average age of employees was 43.67 years old
(SD 514.76). A majority of the participants (59.4%, n5187) had a four-year bachelors
degree or higher. Participants came from a wide range of industrial sectors such as
manufacturing (16.8%, n553), healthcare (12.1%, n538), finance and insurance (12.1%,
n538), educational services (10.2%, n532), and administration (9.3%, n529). Regarding
employeeslevel of position, middle-level management comprised 26.3% (n583), followed by
21.9% of low-level management (n569), 21% of top-management (n566), and 30.8% of
non-management (n597).
Measures
Descriptive information of the key variables is presented in Table 1. Items about after-hours
work communication were adopted and revised from Gadeyne et al. (2018) and Wright et al.
(2014). Respondents were asked to indicate how much they communicate with internal
members (e.g. supervisors, co-workers, etc.) outside of regular work hours for work-related
purposes via communication technologies (e.g. mobile phone, emails, social media apps, video
conferencing services, etc.)on a continuous scale from 1 (never) to 5 (almost every day).
For emotional exhaustion, four items (
α
50.901) were adopted from Maslach and Jackson
(1981) and Maslach (2001) (e.g. I feel emotionally drained from my workand I feel I am
working too hard at my job). Items were measured using a 5-point Likert-type scale from 1
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) in the survey. Previous literature (e.g. Ter Hoeven
et al., 2016) adopted these items to examine burnout, since emotional exhaustion is a key
subdimension of burnout.
Employeesnegative extra-role behaviors were measured with a short version of the
Counterproductive Work Behavior Checklist (CWB-C; Spector et al., 2006) and this measure was
tested with a single dimension (e.g. Penney et al., 2011). Sample items among eight items
(
α
50.955) include I purposely work slowly when things needed to get done,I purposely fail to
follow instructions,I blame someone at work for error I made,andI ignore someone at work.
Participants were asked to indicate how often they perform each behavior on a continuous scale
from 1 (never) to 5 (almost every day). Regarding employeesnegativeWOM,fouritems
(
α
50.850) were adopted and revised from Kim and Rhee (2011), including a sample item such as
I would criticize my company and management to people I knowand When I encounter biased
or ignorant criticism of my company/unit, I would rather agree with and second the opinions.
As control variables, demographic variables (i.e. age, gender (1 5male, 2 5female))
(e.g. Wright et al., 2014) and job-related variables (i.e. job status, organization field) that affect
employeesburnout and which have been discussed in previous literature (e.g. Lee and Kim,
2020) were controlled.
MSD 1 2 3 4
1. After-hours work communication 3.090 1.348 0.173
**
0.371
**
0.333
**
2. Emotional exhaustion 2.922 1.234 0.353
**
0.389
**
3. CWB 1.854 1.176 0.619
**
4. Negative WOM 2.629 1.162
Note(s):
*
p< 0.05,
**
p< 0.01,
***
p< 0.001
Table 1.
Descriptive statistics,
reliability, and
correlation of key
latent variables
The impact of
after-hours
work
communication
Results
Analysis
A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was first conducted with Stata IC/14 to test the
measurement model, followed by testing the structural model (Brown, 2015). The model fit
was evaluated based on Hu and Bentlers (1999) guideline: CFI 0.95, RMSEA 0.06, and
SRMR 0.08, which is considered a good model. All key latent factors were allowed to covary
and the first item in each scale served as the marker indicator (Brown, 2015). The CFA model
fit was
χ
2
(164) 5459.423 (p< 0.001), RMSEA 50.076 CI: [0.067, 0.084], CFI 50.942,
SRMR 50.049. To improve the model fit, several error covariances were added based on
suggested modifications iteratively. The revised CFA model fit was
χ
2
(155) 5276.066
(p< 0.001), RMSEA 50.050 CI: [0.040, 0.059], CFI 50.976, SRMR 50.044. All factor loading
values were significant at the p< 0.001 level and higher than the value of 0.5 (Hair et al., 2006).
Next, to test the hypotheses, SEM was conducted with Stata IC/14 using the same
assumptions as for the CFA including all modifications. SEM is a statistical technique that
allows researchers to simultaneously test the relationships between multiple variables
simultaneously through a theoretically based and pre-specified model (Lei and Wu, 2007).
Based on Hu and Bentlers guideline (1999), the model showed a good model fit overall:
χ
2
(155) 5276.066 (p< 0.001), RMSEA 50.050 CI: [0.040, 0.059], CFI 50.976, SRMR 50.044.
Therefore, the paths in the model were interpreted. Standardized path coefficients are
presented in Figure 1. The covariates results are depicted in Table 2.
H2: 0.347***
H4: 0.306***
H1: 0.178**
H3: 0.297***
H5: 0.386***
R2 = 0.252
R2 = 0.278
Structural model fit estimates
χ2 (155) = 276.066, p < 0.001
RMSEA = 0.050 CI: [0.040, 0.059]
CFI = 0.976
SRMR = 0.044
After-Hours
Work Communication
Emotion
Exhaustion
CWB
Negative WOM
Note(s): H6 and H7 predict the indirect effects of after-hours work communication on CWB
and negative WOM via emotional exhaustion
For covariates, the results are displayed in Table 2
Endogenous factor (path to) Covariate (path from)
Age 0.029
Gender 0.021
Organizational field 0.101
Job status 0.119
*
Note(s):
*
p< 0.05,
**
p< 0.01,
***
p< 0.001
Figure 1.
Results of SEM model
with standardized path
coefficients
Table 2.
Standardized path
coefficients from
covariates to
endogenous factor
(emotional exhaustion)
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Hypothesis testing
H1,H2,andH3 proposed the positive associations between of after-hours work
communication and employeesoutcomes. The results showed that when employees
engage in work communication outside of regular work hours, they are more likely to be
emotionally exhausted (0.178, p50.005), engage in counterproductive work behaviors (0.347,
p< 0.001), and disseminate negative information about their organization through their
networks (0.297, p< 0.001). These results supported H1,H2,and H3.
H4 and H5 predicted the positive associations between employeesemotional exhaustion
and negative-extra role behaviors. The results demonstrated that emotional exhaustion is
significantly and positively related to both CWB (0.306, p< 0.001) and negative WOM
behaviors (0.386, p< 0.001), supporting H4 and H5.
Lastly, H6 and H7 proposed the mediating role of emotional exhaustion in linking after-
hours work communication and employeesnegative extra-role behaviors. The results
showed that emotional exhaustion partially mediates the relationship between after-hours
work communication and CWB (Indirect effect: 0.055, p50.015) and between after-hours
work communication and negative WOM (Indirect effect: 0.045, p50.015). Therefore, H6 and
H7 were supported.
In terms of covariates, our results showed that age (0.029, p> 0.05), gender (0.021,
p> 0.05), and organizational field (0.101, p> 0.05) are not significantly related to emotional
exhaustion. However, job status (0.119, p50.045) is turned out to be significantly related to
emotional exhaustion, meaning that employees with a higher job status are less likely to
experience emotional exhaustion.
Discussion
Employeesnegative extra-role behaviors as outcomes of after-hours work communication
Building on the theoretical framework of the COR theory, the current study adds another
layer to existing research by testing the direct and indirect effects of after-hours work
communication on employeesvoluntary negative work-related behaviors via emotional
exhaustion. In most previous studies, the examination of the impact of work-related
communication technologies used outside of regular work hours was limited to the
context of individualsphysical and mental health, including stress, work-life conflict, or
satisfaction (e.g. Lee et al.,2021;Wright et al., 2014). Few studies have directly examined
the effects of after-hours work communication in the context of employeesorganizational
behaviors. In relation to the changes in the working environment with the development of
technologies, the current study is the first attempt to elucidate how employees engage in
negative extra-role behaviors, specifically focusing on CWB and negative WOM, in
response to after-hours work communication. The findings reveal that the adverse effects
of after-hours work communication enabled by the development of communication
technologies can be extended to organizations as well as individuals.
Investigating employeesnegative voluntary behavior is critical, considering that
this behavior can have a substantial impact on organizational effectiveness. The cost of
CWB in the workplace to the organization is huge (Penney et al.,2011). Beyond the
workplace, employeesnegative words about their organizations are perceived as more
credible than their positive words (Lee, 2022a) and cause more damage to corporate
reputation during uncertain and challenging crises (Mazzei et al., 2012). By suggesting
after-hours work communication as a critical factor that can lead to employeesCWB and
negative WOM, the findings of this study expand our knowledge of employeesnegative
extra-role behaviors and contribute to communication and business management
research.
The impact of
after-hours
work
communication
The role of emotional exhaustion
The findings indicate that emotional exhaustion mediates the relationship between after-
hours work communication and employeesnegative extra-role behaviors. These findings
contribute to knowledge about mediating mechanisms, explaining the underlying
mechanism between after-hours work communication and negative extra-role behaviors.
In line with the process described by COR theory, employees who experience emotionally
exhausted and depleted feelings due to after-hours work communication, in turn, withdraw
their work and generate a negative external reputation via their negative words as a coping
mechanism to protect their resource loss and gain additional resources. Given that prior
literature has underexplored how the adverse impact of after-hours work communication on
employeesindividual psychological well-being can extend to their work-related outcomes,
our findings in this study contribute to the literature on after-hours work communication by
revealing that employees who are emotionally exhausted due to their use of work-related
communication technologies during off-hours may engage in negative extra-role behaviors
and undermine organizational effectiveness.
Practical implications
Employee burnout can be regarded as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that
organizations have not successfully managed (Moss, 2021). In other words, organizations are
responsible for identifying and managing factors that can cause employees to experience
burnout. Our findings help corporate leaders and communication practitioners understand how
employees can experience emotional exhaustion whenthe work and life boundaries are blurred
and how it can further impact the organization. In particular, given that after-hours work
communication can potentially threaten employeespsychological well-being, corporate leaders
and communication professionals are encouraged to formalize leadership practices
accordingly. For example, organizational leaders can establish clear guidelines or policies
about electronic work communication to train employees to understand the concept of work
boundaries and recognize the benefits of non-working hours as time to recharge. Furthermore,
employees who experience emotional exhaustion from after-hours work communication, in
turn, are motivated to engage in negative extra-role behaviors that can produce internal and
external organizational problems. To prevent the negative impact of employee burnout from
spreading to the organization, leadership practices should focus on supporting emotionally
exhausted employees and more importantly ensure that the organizationswork
environment does not fundamentally contributeto their burnout. By emphasizing to employees
their well-being is valued, supervisors and communication managers can make extra efforts to
help employees set work and life boundaries and be careful to avoid situations that may deplete
the resources of employees who cannot control their resource loss from having to communicate
with their supervisors and co-workers after work hours.
Limitations and future research
Although this study has scholarly and managerial contributions, it also has several
limitations that suggest future research. First, this study administered a cross-sectional
survey to investigate the impact of after-hours work communication. Future research may
perform other methods, such as open-ended questions in surveys or in-depth interviews with
employees, which may not only help address within-person variations over time but also
provide a more profound and richer context for understanding our findings.
Second, the study used self-reported CWB measurements. Given that CWB is an
intentional destructive action against the organization, participants may underreport their
CWB. However, in their meta-analysis, Berry et al. (2007) reported a vector correlation of 0.89
JCOM
between CWB using self-report and non-self-reports, and thus this study does not expect our
self-reported measures to differ significantly from non-self-report measures.
Third, the scope of CWB has been recently expanded to include cyber-deviant behaviors,
such as sending personal e-mails or illegally downloading content while on the property of an
organization (Nixon and Spector, 2014). In this regard, exploring how technology-enabled
after-hours work communication can affect the cyber-deviant behaviors of employees will
provide useful information for organizational communication professionals and broaden the
scope of research on after-hours work communication.
Lastly, as COR theory argues, when employees are provided appropriate psychological
resources, the detrimental effects of after-hours work communication can be mitigated. Given
that organizations can supply these psychological resources (Halbesleben et al., 2014),
supportive organizational practices related to these technologies can encourage employees to
gain necessary resources and reduce the adverse outcomes of after-hours work communication
on both individuals and organizations. Thus, it will be crucial to identify effective leadership
and communication practices from a managerial perspective in future studies.
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Corresponding author
Katie Haejung Kim can be contacted at: kim01229@umn.edu
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The impact of
after-hours
work
communication
... When leaders prioritise providing assistance to employees and focus on making sure that the work environment of the organisation does not fundamentally contribute to a decline in well-being, they also prevent the negative impact of employee burnout from spreading throughout the organisation (Kim and Chon, 2022). However, it is often not the object of activity but the organisational environment and internal contextual factors that undermine well-being (Gregory et al., 2024). ...
... For PR and communication professionals, the negative stress they perceive in their daily activity can also be generated by the uncertain and unsupported role of PR in the organisation, the specificity of the PR activity as well as by internal (individual) factors (R aceanu and Deliu-Pasol, 2023). In line with the always-on character of the profession and enabled by technology, after-hours communication can generate burnout (Kim and Chon, 2022): using communication technology for work-related contact outside of regular working hours may lead to an increase in employees' negative extra-role behaviours, such as counterproductive work behaviour and negative word-of-mouth. This can be prevented through clear guidelines and leadership practices addressing both burnout and workaholism (Caesens et al., 2014), underlining the positive relationship between employee well-being and perceived organisational support, a negative relationship between POS and burnout and a negative and opposite relation between employee well-being and burnout (Myrvang, 2020). ...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyse subjective well-being among public relations (PR) and communication professionals by looking at several factors: employer and employee engagement, work culture and relationships, work–life balance and conflict, job satisfaction, well-being and networking and perceived gender discrimination and sexual harassment. Additionally, we examine and discuss them in the context of perceived organisational support (POS) and management-mediated well-being. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines several dimensions of well-being in the PR/comms industry in Romania: employer and employee engagement, work culture and relationships, work–life balance and conflict, job satisfaction, well-being and networking and perceived gender discrimination and sexual harassment. 117 adult respondents (male and female, full-time employed and freelancers, professionals from PR, advertising and corporate communications) filled-in a questionnaire developed within the EUPRERA Women in PR Network, which brings together communication and human resource (HR) perspectives. Findings The study revealed a gap between perceived and practical organisational support related to well-being. While emotional support is acknowledged, actionable support is less present. Gender-specific challenges, such as networking stress and sexual harassment, were more prevalent among women. Age and experience influenced job satisfaction, with mature professionals reporting higher satisfaction but more work encroachment into personal time. The characteristics of the industry, including its feminisation at both executive and managerial levels and the predominance of small businesses as market actors, underscore the need for tailored well-being strategies based on gender and age conditioned by organisational capabilities and resources. Practical implications The results can be used by PR and communication managers in Romania to better understand the perception of their employees regarding well-being and to develop organisational support systems. Originality/value This is the first study addressing well-being and POS in the PR and communication industries in Romania.
... Some studies have revealed negative effects consequences such as work intensity, individual emotions, mental health, work control, and job satisfaction [7][8][9][10]. For example, Kim and Chon [57] propose that W_ICTs increases employees' emotional exhaustion, which further results in negative word-of-mouth. Lee et al.'s [58] study show that W_ICTs may decrease employees' affective commitment. The impact of emotional reactions and job stressors may force employees to engage in counterproductive work behaviors due to the activation of the psychological contract breach mechanism [59,60]. ...
... Constant notifications, emails, and messages through W_ICTs can disrupt employees' focus and concentration, leading to task-switching behavior and procrastination. Moreover, the boundary between work and family has become blurred with the pervasive use of W_ICTs, which makes it challenging for employees to disengage from work-related responsibilities during non-working hours [16,57]. As a result, the excessive use of W_ICTs can contribute to heightened stress levels, cognitive overload, and procrastination tendencies as employees struggle to manage the influx of work-related demands. ...
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Work-related use of information and communication technologies after-hours (W_ICTs) blurs the boundaries between work and non-work domains, representing a typical boundary-crossing behavior that affects employees' lives and organizational development. Drawing on the Job Demands-Resources theory, this study develops a dynamic curvilinear model of the impact of W_ICTs on work procrastination, considering intrinsic motivation (self-efficacy and enjoyment) and regulatory focus (prevention focus). Empirical testing of the research hypotheses is conducted through a survey involving 817 employees with standard working hours (e.g. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.). The results indicate that W_ICTs can be regarded as both inhibitors and promoters, with a U-shaped impact on work procrastination and an inverted U-shaped effect on self-efficacy and enjoyment. The mediating roles of self-efficacy and enjoyment are significant. Moreover, prevention focus moderates the relationship between W_ICTs and enjoyment, whereas the moderating effect between W_ICTs and self-efficacy is insignificant. This dynamic curvilinear relationship may explain the inconsistent results of prior studies regarding the relationship between W_ICTs and employees' negative behaviors. It contributes to expanding research on the outcomes of W_ICTs and the antecedents of work procrastination. Moreover, the proposed influence mechanism between W_ICTs and work procrastination has not been established from the perspective of intrinsic motivation and prevention focus. Hence, this study responds to scholars’ calls and adds to the existing research on how W_ICTs affect work procrastination. These research findings enhance the current understanding of the effects of W_ICTs and offer valuable insights for organizations to effectively manage W_ICTs and address work procrastination behavior in practice.
... Interactions at work are no longer confined to the workplace but have found their way into the place most people use for recovery-their home [2,3]. We already know that this shift has negative consequences regarding work-life balance, boundary management, and overall employee well-being [4][5][6][7]. Past research has also connected the construct of workplace telepressure-the urge to quickly respond to messages-with the need to use information and communication technologies (ICTs) for work interactions [8]. Other studies have perpetuated this research and found that the experience of workplace telepressure is a crucial factor in predicting ICT use during leisure time and has negative consequences for employee psychological detachment [9]. ...
... The use of ICTs during leisure time is often seen as a typical job demand, as it is associated with costs like feelings of technostress, information overload, and blurred work-life boundaries [40][41][42][43]. Past research has also shown that the usage of ICTs outside regular working hours can hinder employees from adequately recovering from their work [5,44]. ...
Article
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As more and more employees have access to work-related information and communication technologies (ICTs) anywhere and anytime, new challenges arise in terms of well-being and recovery experiences. Feelings of workplace fear of missing Out (wFoMO) and workplace telepressure may be personal demands that add to the literature of the job demands-resources (JD-R) theory. In this study, we proposed a model in which wFoMO and workplace telepressure were associated with employee well-being variables via the use of ICTs during leisure time. Therefore, we analyzed the data of N = 130 employees who answered two questionnaires in the interval of one work week. The results revealed negative indirect effects between wFoMO/workplace telepressure and psychological detachment/perceived stress via ICT use. The results were more ambivalent regarding the dependent variables burnout, relaxation, and control. This strengthens the literature that categorized ICT use as a job demand. However, we also found positive indirect effects on perceived informational benefits, which supports the idea of ICTs being both a job demand and a job resource in light of the JD-R theory. This study contributes to past research on work-related ICT use during leisure time and demonstrates the relevance of personal demands such as wFoMO for employees' well-being.
... Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is made more complicated (Hammoudi Halat, 2023) by the fading of boundaries between work and home life, which is created poorer by the popularity of technology-enabled remote work and communication channels. (Chon, 2022) (Thamar M. Heijstra, 2010)Probationary and temporary lectures may experience physical and emotional stress as well as strained interpersonal connections due to lengthy work hours, weekend duties, and tight deadlines, furthermore, the uncertain state of their employment situation which is marked by poor job security and short-term contracts, contributes to stress and anxiety by increasing perceptions of job instability and financial uncertainty (Gushulak, 2023) Lecturers may find it difficult to balance the demands of academics with selfcare, leisure time, and meaningful social connections, (Elsa Diego-Medrano, 2021) even in the face of their unwavering dedication and love for teaching and research. Further probationary and temporary lecturers who prioritize their personal interests and well-being might feel guilty or inadequate due to the pervasive culture of academic excessive workload and the need to continually produce research outputs and meet career milestones. ...
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This Research explored the managing occupational stress among probationary and temporary lectures of university of Sri Jayewardenepura. This study focused to the relevant literature on the occupational stress faced by the work force of particular organization, and the study found twelve factors of stressors through semi structure interview method with nine university lecturers of, the interview was conducted by face�to-face method, the analysis method has been used thematic method relative to qualitative study, and further the study was cross sectional and the interview had been taken from university premise, and the study found that the academics further impact stress due to the work load and work imbalances between the personal life, the temporary position lecturers were in job insecurity so they affected by stress further, and relatively the study talked about other factors such as work environment, culture and structure,personality,financial stress, role conflict, and research and career development that were identified as stressors and further study provide the day to day managing techniques of lecturers and how about their job satisfaction blended with the stress analyzed with the literature and study finally concluded with recommendations and implications with practical suggestions of lecturers
... Institutional policies regarding work-life balance and expectations for after-hours communication could also explain differences between academics and students and the impact on technostress levels. Academics in institutions with strict or unclear policies about after-hours work might experience higher technoinvasion and overload (Kim and Chon, 2022). In addition, the availability of resources and training for effectively using technology also plays a crucial role. ...
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Introduction Research shows that ICT is beneficial for academics and students, aiding in overcoming distance barriers, streamlining administration, and improving teaching and learning processes. However, the negative impact of technology, particularly technostress, are garnering attention. In the context of the concerns about technostress among higher education institutions (HEI), the aim of the study is to analyze the technostress creators and inhibitors for university teachers and students in different European countries. The topical concept of digital well-being is seen as “a subjective individual experience of optimal balance between the benefits and drawbacks obtained from mobile connectivity, focusing on the personal perception of what amount of time spent using technology is optimal so that well-being is preserved”. Method To explore specific aspects related to use of technology, two – parallel online surveys for academics (N = 446) and students (N = 660) from four European countries (Romania, Germany, Norway, and Finland) were conducted between November 2022 – January 2023. The surveys included the Technostress scale and the Technostress Inhibitors Scale, the Technology self-efficacy Scale, and a questionnaire focusing on socio-demographic aspects, work experience, academic field, dimensions related to the actual use of technology and participants perception on the optimal use of technology for work, learning or personal tasks, in terms of the period of day/week and amount of time spent. We also inquired about the social support given and received when using technology and the formal and informal rules, expectations, policies, punishments, and rewards regarding the use of technology. Results The findings suggest that the perceived optimal use of technology is significantly lower than the actual use for all the contexts. Overuse of technology was associated with technostress. Our results also showed that technology self-efficacy and social support from colleagues and teachers are negatively associated with technostress. Country differences regarding technostress and time spent online were also observed. Discussions Despite the needed caution in interpreting the results because of the unbalanced sample size across countries, the results could be used to develop research and support interventions within European countries to promote digital well-being, a better work-life balance with further positive effects on academic satisfaction and work/learning productivity.
... As a result, using social media and having access to various gadgets in the office has been highlighted as one of the essential criteria one-third of Millennials consider when accepting a job offer (Gabriel et al., 2020). Technology has blurred the boundaries between work and personal life, yet Millennials like it, demonstrating a solid commitment to their employment (Kim & Chon, 2022). In the technology era, when speed is crucial, Millennials "value speed, service, competencies, and are a competitive edge" (Jackson, 2015). ...
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This study focuses on the communication dynamics happening in the two institutions chosen by the researchers. The study aims to identify if the age differences of the workers of the respective institutions have an impact on how the employees and employers communicate with each other. The researchers selected two participants using a convenience sampling technique, one participant per institution. The use of semi-structured interviews as an instrument enabled to gathering of data and information needed for this research as a basis for assessing the research topic. The gathered data was then interpreted using thematic analysis. This approach ensured the credibility and relevance of the participants’ claims and enabled the researchers to explain further the results of the study. The study found out that the Baby Boomers working in Company 1, and the Millennials working in Company 2, have their own way of communicating inside the workplace. The study revealed that the two generations have their own communication preferences, communication processes and how they consider other elements in communicating, and conflicts in communication and its solutions. In line with this, the study suggests improvement and insights on how the institutions, and other organizations as well, to improve and maintain the communication dynamics between the workers inside their company. This study recommends further exploring the diversity of the different generations to better understand each and every one. Harmony of the people leads to the success of a company or organization.
... Organizations only encourage employees to send emails or communicate after office hours in an emergency [75]. Kim and Chon [76] and Rendon [77] examined the effects of after-hours work communication through communication technologies on workers' burnout and added-role behaviors. The findings revealed that technological reach and flexibility have led to the spillover of official tasks over family space. ...
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The study explored the factors causing work-family imbalance among women administrators in higher education institutions in the UAE and how it affects their personal and organizational well-being. The research found that the existing literature doesn't give enough attention to the mismatch between women administrators' work and family goals. Furthermore, it provides little insight into the integration of work-family support systems. The study applied the Spillover theory to explain that women administrators face significant work-family imbalances that adversely impact their personal well-being and organizational effectiveness. The research also used Facilitation theory to examine how work-family support systems could reduce the adverse effects of work-family imbalances. The study surveyed 271 female administrators working in higher education institutions in the UAE. The findings, presented through structural equation modeling, showed that the demanding nature of research, teaching, and administrative work in higher education and women administrators' professional aspirations in socially demanding societies create work-life imbalance and work stress. The study proposed work-family support systems that could moderate the effect of work-family imbalances on work stress.
... In contrast to the findings of this study, previous studies have shown that work-related communication devices affect workers negatively. For example, in a study of full-time employees in the United States, there was a study that the recent rapid development of communication technology could cause emotional exhaustion in workers and hinder organizational efficiency by using work-related communication during non-working hours [40]. It was in line with this study that the use of communication devices after regular working hours could potentially threaten the psychological wellbeing of workers. ...
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Background This study aimed to investigate the relationship between work-related communication devices use during work outside of regular working hours and depressive symptoms in wage workers. Methods Data from 50,538 workers aged 15 years or older who had participated in the 6th Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS) were used. The final sample was 32,994 wage workers. The questionnaire asked the respondents how often they used communication devices for work during work outside of regular working hours. Depressive symptoms were assessed using WHO-5 Well-Being Index. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the association between work-related communication devices use during work outside of regular working hours and depressive symptoms. Results The rate of depressive symptoms was highest among workers who did not use work-related communication devices during work outside of regular working hours. After adjusting for socio-demographic and work-related factors, the odds ratio of depressive symptoms among workers who used communication devices when working outside of regular working hours was 1.20 (95% CI: 1.09–1.32); the odds ratio of depressive symptoms in the group not using communication devices for free-time work was 1.66 (95% CI: 1.37–2.00), which was higher than that of the reference group, that is, workers who did not work outside of regular working hours, and was statistically significant. Conclusion Regardless of whether work-related communication devices are used, working outside of regular working hours increases depressive symptoms. The use of work-related communication devices during work outside of regular working hours can reduce the rate of depressive symptoms.
... Existing research have demonstrated that AEC has a significant relationship with employees' attitudes and behaviors in the work field. For example, it reduces employees' work engagement [28,29], leads to job burnout [30], and leads employees to engage in counterproductive work behaviors [31]. Overuse of technical tools that are critical to multitasking may also provide opportunities for employees to frequently use social media sites [32]. ...
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Background Considerable research has investigated the influencing factors of cyberloafing in the workplace. However, few studies have focused on the antecedents in non-work fields, especially for nurses. According to the effort-reward imbalance theory, this study aims to explore the spillover effect of after-hours electronic communication on nurses’ cyberloafing, and the mediating role of psychological contract breach. Methods A total of 282 nurses completed the online survey. PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to test how after-hour electronic communication affect nurses’ cyberloafing. Results After-hours electronic communication has a significant positive impact on nurses’ cyberloafing, and psychological contract breach plays a mediating role in the relationship. Conclusion Psychological contract breach was the linchpin linking after-hours electronic communication to nurses’ cyberloafing in workplace. This study provides a guide for healthcare organizations to reduce or manage inappropriate telework arrangements and strengthen nurses’ psychological contracts.
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Purpose The cultural norm of compelling employees to work beyond the standard measure as a result of internal pressure from organisations is gaining popularity in the business environment today. This research is a pointer to a nuanced and dynamic understanding of workaholism, and this study aims to investigate factors that constitute an individual as a workaholic in the banking industry in Nigeria. This study aims to examine the influence of workaholism on the quality of work-life (QWL) of the workforce and how it led pockets of the workforce to migrate to an international workspace. Design/methodology/approach To capture a good understanding of what describes an individual as a workaholic, and what influences the QWL among the workforce in the banking environment, this study utilised a longitudinal research design to survey bankers in corporate organisations in Nigeria. The study administered a battery of adapted scales to measure latent constructs of dimensions of workaholism and QWL on a random simple probability technique. The study surveyed 425 professional bankers in Nigeria's banking workspace. A structural equation model was used to analyse the data obtained from the banking workforce to establish the relationship that exists between the dimensions of workaholism and QWL. Findings The outcome of this study indicated an insightful one. The results of the study illustrated that long hours of work, workload, work pressure, financial challenges as well and the pursuit of career growth are determinants of workaholism in banking corporate business. The study illustrated that all the predictors of workaholism equally affect the QWL of the employees in Nigeria's banking industry. Originality/value The originality of this study is captured in the dynamics of the concept of workaholism which portends negative outcomes in the Nigerian business environment given the nature of banking business in Nigeria. The study elucidates that workaholism is not work engagement in Nigeria but the attitude of compulsion from the management of the organisations.
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On the basis of the literature across various strategic communication disciplines, including organizational communication, business, and public relations, this study examined the role of employees’ emotional exhaustion in the workplace in influencing their communicative behaviors. Moreover, this study identified the effective communication strategy to such exhausted employees. Results of an online survey among full-time employees in the U.S. showed that employees who experience emotional exhaustion at work are less likely to have a favorable employee–organization relationship (EOR), resulting in less advocative behavior and more adversarial behavior toward the organization. As a moderator, transparent internal communication played a significant role in mitigating the negative effect of emotional exhaustion on EOR and advocative behavior. However, transparent communication did not have a significant moderating effect between EOR and employees’ adversarial behavior. Theoretical and practical implications for strategic internal communication are discussed.
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Purpose With a focus on millennial employees, this study investigates how employees engage in two types of employees' communicative behaviors (ECBs), that is, their voluntary communicative efforts to acquire and circulate tasks and managerial information (i.e. scouting) and to share and discuss positive and negative aspects of their organization with internal members (i.e. internal megaphoning). Through the lens of social exchange theory (SET) and symmetrical communication model, this study examines the effects of inclusive leadership and internal communication on active information behaviors of employees within their companies. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted with fulltime millennial employees working across various industry sectors in the US. Findings Symmetrical internal communication influenced by inclusive leadership enhances employees' scouting behavior as well as positive internal megaphoning behavior. Positive and negative internal megaphoning with supervisors increases the scouting behavior of employees, whereas negative internal megaphoning with peers does not have a significant effect. Originality/value This study is among the first attempts to examine the effectiveness of leadership and strategic internal communication on millennial employees' diverse types of communicative behaviors.
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This study examines not only the relationship between work-related smartphone use after work and job burnout but also the 3-way interaction effect of social support and perceived organizational politics (POPs) on this relationship. The findings of an analysis of 387 Korean workers provide various significant implications. The 3-way interaction effect of POPs was identified, while the interaction effect of social support between work-related smartphone use after work and job burnout was not confirmed. Specifically, the negative impact of work-related smartphone use after work, which induces job burnout, was found to be mitigated when supervisor support was high in a negative political work environment. However, in a positive political work environment, greater supervisor support was actually found to increase the negative impact of work-related smartphone use after work, while strong peer support reduced the negative impact of work-related smartphone use after work. This study contributes to research by providing an extended research model of how work-related smartphone use after work affects job burnout and how social support and political work environment moderate this relationship. Additional longitudinal studies including other factors of job demands and resources will facilitate more academic and practical discussions.