Left out of the office “tribe”: the influence of workplace ostracism on employee work engagement

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how workplace ostracism influences employee work engagement. It further examines the mediating role of workplace belongingness and moderating role of intrinsic work motivation.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was collected from 402 hotel employees from Thailand. A second stage moderated-mediation is used to test the relationship between workplace ostracism and employee work engagement.

Findings

Workplace ostracism negatively impacts employee work engagement and workplace belongingness mediates this relationship. The negative effect of workplace ostracism on employee work engagement through workplace belongingness is stronger for employees high on intrinsic motivation.

Practical implications

Hotel firms should make social connection an organization-wide strategic priority. They can include workplace ostracism as workplace harassment in their policy.

Originality/value

Besides contributing to the nascent literature on workplace ostracism in the hospitality industry, the present study extends research on workplace ostracism by empirically testing the relationship between workplace ostracism and employee work engagement. By using workplace belongingness as a mediator, a better understanding is provided regarding “why” workplace ostracism relates to employee work engagement. By introducing intrinsic work motivation as a moderator, scholars can gain a better understanding in regard to “whom” workplace ostracism negatively relates to employee work engagement.

Citation

Haldorai, K., Kim, W.G., Phetvaroon, K. and Li, J.(J). (2020), "Left out of the office “tribe”: the influence of workplace ostracism on employee work engagement", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 32 No. 8, pp. 2717-2735. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2020-0285