Workplace Loneliness and Employee Innovation: A Social Network Perspective

Abstract

Loneliness is an emerging organizational issue, as people feel their work situation, communication and interaction with others are becoming different than what they are used to. While prior studies have associated loneliness in the workplace with negative employee outcomes, few studies have focused on the role employees' placement in the social network of their workplaces plays in their ability to produce innovative ideas. In this study, the relationship between loneliness and employee innovation in the workplace was studied in a social network perspective. The methodology used was social network design that had the intent to collect information about how employees interact, collaborate and communicate in the workplace. Data from employees in selected organisations were gathered and network indicators such as centrality, density and connectivity were derived from network analysis techniques. The relationships between workplace loneliness, network position, and employee innovation were then analyzed by network regression analysis. The study suggested that workplace loneliness would have a negative link to employee innovation and that the more central and connected in their workplace network would their employees be, the higher their innovative potential would be. The study makes a significant contribution to organizational research in that it goes beyond the individual level of loneliness and examines the role of structural positions in workplace networks on innovation related outcomes. The results could guide organizations to select socially isolated employees and create cooperative and communication-oriented workplaces to promote knowledge sharing and innovation.