Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T22:38:20.037Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Beyond leadership: The impact of coworker relationships on employee motivation and intent to stay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Tessa E Basford  and
Lynn R Offermann
Tessa E Basford
Affiliation:
Department of Organizational Sciences and Communication, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
Lynn R Offermann
Affiliation:
Department of Organizational Sciences and Communication, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Relationships between coworkers are an important, yet understudied, source of influence in people's lives. While psychological research widely supports the significance of peer relationships, too few studies have specifically examined the impact of relationships between coworkers. The present study was designed to add to the small but growing body of research on coworker relations. Drawing from a large sample of service-sector employees, we tested and found support for the hypotheses that positive coworker relationships independently increase employee motivation and intent to stay above and beyond two sources of supervisor support – immediate supervisors and senior managers. We also examined how employee job status moderates these relationships, finding that the impact of coworker relations on intent to stay was stronger for employees in high-status positions. Job status was not shown to moderate the relationship between coworker relations and motivation, with employees at both low- and high-status levels reporting higher motivation when coworker relationships were good.

Keywords

coworkersmotivationintent to stayjob statusleadership
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 18 , Issue 6 , November 2012 , pp. 807 - 817
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AbuAlRub, R. F. (2006). Replication and examination of research data on job stress and coworker social support with internet and traditional samples. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 38(2), 200–204.10.1111/j.1547-5069.2006.00101.xGoogle Scholar
Basford, T. E., Offermann, L. R., & Wirtz, P. W. (2012). Considering the source: The impact of leadership level on follower motivation and intent to stay. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 19(2), 200–212.10.1177/1548051811436279Google Scholar
Beehr, T. A., Jex, S. M., Stacy, B. A., & Murray, M. A. (2000). Work stressors and coworker support as predictors of individual strain and job performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21(4), 391–405.10.1002/(SICI)1099-1379(200006)21:4<391::AID-JOB15>3.0.CO;2-93.0.CO;2-9>Google Scholar
Bruk-Lee, V., & Spector, P. E. (2006). The social stress-ors–counterproductive work behaviors link: Are conflicts with supervisors and coworkers the same? Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 11(2), 145–156.10.1037/1076-8998.11.2.145Google Scholar
Chiaburu, D. S. (2010). The social context of training: Coworker, supervisor, or organizational support? Industrial and Commercial Training, 42(1), 53–56.10.1108/00197851011013724Google Scholar
Chiaburu, D. S., & Harrison, D. A. (2008). Do peers make the place? Conceptual synthesis and meta-analysis of coworker effects on perceptions, attitudes, OCBs, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(5), 1082–1103.10.1037/0021-9010.93.5.1082Google Scholar
Cohen, A. (1992). Antecedents of organizational commitment across occupational groups: A meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(6), 539–559.Google Scholar
Conway, J. M., & Lance, C. E. (2010). What reviewers should expect from authors regarding common method bias in organizational research. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25, 325–334.10.1007/s10869-010-9181-6Google Scholar
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Platinum Press.10.1007/978-1-4899-2271-7Google Scholar
Eder, P., & Eisenberger, R. (2008). Perceived organizational support: Reducing the negative influence of coworker withdrawal behavior. Journal of Management, 34(1), 55–68.10.1177/0149206307309259Google Scholar
Felps, W., Mitchell, T. R., Hekman, D. R., Lee, T. W., Holtom, B. C., & Harman, W. S. (2009). Turnover contagion: How coworkers' job embeddedness and job search behaviors influence quitting. Academy of Management Journal, 52(3), 545–561.10.5465/amj.2009.41331075Google Scholar
Fernet, C., Gagné, M., & Austin, S. (2010). When does quality of relationships with coworkers predict burnout over time? The moderating role of work motivation. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 21, 1163–1180.10.1002/job.673Google Scholar
Forret, M., & Love, M. S. (2007). Employee justice perceptions and coworker relationships. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 29(3), 248–260.10.1108/01437730810861308Google Scholar
Gatewood, R. D., Field, H. S., & Barrick, M. (2008). Human resource selection. West Eagan, MN: Thomson South-Western.Google Scholar
Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective. Leadership Quarterly, 6, 219–247.Google Scholar
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16(2), 250–279.10.1016/0030-5073(76)90016-7Google Scholar
Humphrey, R. (2006). Promising research opportunities in motions and coping with conflict. Journal of Management & Organization, 12(2), 179–186.Google Scholar
Hung, T., Chi, N., & Lu, W. (2009). Exploring the relationships between perceived coworker loafing and counterproductive work behaviors: The mediating role of a revenge motive. Journal of Business Psychology, 24, 257–270.10.1007/s10869-009-9104-6Google Scholar
Kaufmann, G. M., & Beehr, T. A. (1989). Occupational stressors, individual strains, and social supports among police officers. Human Relations, 42, 185–197.10.1177/001872678904200205Google Scholar
Ladebo, O. J., Awotunde, J. M., & AbdulSalaam-Saghir, P. (2008). Coworkers' and supervisor interactional justice: Correlates of extension personnel's job satisfaction, distress, and aggressive behavior. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 9(2), 206–225.Google Scholar
Lam, L. W., & Lau, D. C. (2008). Work climate and customer satisfaction: The role of trust in the retail context. Journal of Management & Organization, 14(2), 141–154.10.1017/S1833367200003357Google Scholar
Morris, M. W., Podolny, J., & Sullivan, B. N. (2008). Culture and coworker relations: Interpersonal patterns in American, Chinese, German, and Spanish divisions of a global retail bank. Organization Science, 19(4), 517–532.Google Scholar
Morrison, R. L. (2008). Negative relationships in the workplace: Associations with organizational commitment, cohesion, job satisfaction and intention to turnover. Journal of Management & Organization, 14(4), 330–344.Google Scholar
Paolini, S., Hewstone, M., & Cairns, E. (2007). Direct and indirect intergroup friendship effects: Testing the moderating role of the affective-cognitive bases of prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(10), 1406–1420.Google Scholar
Podsakoff, P., MacKenzie, S., Lee, J., & Podsakoff, N. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879–903.Google Scholar
Randel, A. E., & Ranft, A. L. (2007). Motivations to maintain social ties with coworkers: The moderating role of turnover intentions on information exchange. Group & Organization Management, 32(2), 208–232.Google Scholar
Reich, T. C., & Hershcovis, M. S. (2011). Interpersonal relationships at work. In Zedeck, S. (Ed.), APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 223–248). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Schieman, S. (2006). Gender, dimensions of work, and supportive coworker relations. The Sociological Quarterly, 47, 195–214.Google Scholar
Sherony, K. M., & Green, S. G. (2002). Coworker exchange: Relationships between coworkers, leader-member exchange, and work attitudes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), 542–548.Google Scholar
Simon, B., & Strumer, S. (2003). Respect for group members: Intragroup determinants of collective identification and group-serving behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(2), 183–193.Google Scholar
Simon, L. S., Judge, T. A., & Halvorsen-Ganepola, M. D. K. (2010). In good company? A multi-study, multi-level investigation of the effects of coworker relationships on employee well-being. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 76, 534–546.Google Scholar
Singer, J. D., & Willett, J. B. (2003). Applied longitudinal data analysis: Modeling change and event occurrence. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Spector, P. E. (2006). Method variance in organizational research: Truth or urban legend? Organizational Research Methods, 9(2), 221–232.Google Scholar
Tse, H. H. M., & Mitchell, R. J. (2010). A theoretical model of transformational leadership and knowledge creation: The role of open-mindedness norms and leader–member exchange. Journal of Management & Organization, 16(1), 83–99.Google Scholar
Tucker, S., Chmiel, N., Turner, N., Hershcovis, M. S., & Stride, C. B. (2008). Perceived organizational support for safety and employee safety voice: The mediating role of coworker support for safety. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 13(4), 319–330.Google Scholar
Veronneau, M., Vitaro, F., Brendgen, M., Dishion, T. J., & Tremblay, R. E. (2010). Transactional analysis of the reciprocal links between peer experiences and academic achievement from middle childhood to early adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 46(4), 773–790.Google Scholar