We examined the relationship among supervisor–employee task conflict, supervisor ostracism, and employee depression and job performance, as well as the moderating effect of supervisors' and employees' interpersonal harmony values. Data were collected from supervisors and employees at three timewaves. We found that supervisor–employee task conflict positively predicted supervisor ostracism, which in turn predicted higher employee depression and poorer job performance. The dualistic model of interpersonal harmony proposes that people show two motives in responding to conflicts while trying to maintain interpersonal harmony: an approach motive to promote high‐quality relationships (i.e. harmony enhancement) or an avoidance motive to prevent relationship disintegration (i.e. disintegration avoidance). From the supervisors' perspective, we found that supervisors' harmony enhancement values buffered the positive relationship between supervisor–employee task conflict and supervisor ostracism. From the employees' perspective, we found that employees' harmony enhancement values buffered whereas employees' disintegration avoidance value exacerbated the detrimental effect of supervisor ostracism on employee depression and job performance. Practical suggestions were offered to help both supervisors and employees manage workplace ostracism.

Although past research has found that professional isolation can affect discernible work‐related outcomes (e.g. job performance and turnover) and important job attitudes, researchers have not examined its impact on those less discernible but still costly work behaviours. Drawing on self‐regulation theories, this study examined the effect of professional isolation on employees' cyberloafing and time theft through self‐control capacity impairment. With longitudinal data collected from 343 U.S. employees across five consecutive weeks at the early stage of the pandemic (i.e. from mid‐March to late April 2020), our results of latent change score modelling analyses found that professional isolation change was positively related with changes in cyberloafing and time theft via change in self‐control capacity impairment. The results increase our understanding of the hidden performance cost of professional isolation. This research also shifts the research focus from a static, between‐person perspective to dynamic, within‐person changes in professional isolation and related outcomes. The findings shed light on the self‐regulation perspective in understanding the harmful consequences of professional isolation. Implications for future research are discussed along with practical implications for organisations.

Although much research has accumulated substantial findings on the impacts of challenge job demands on employees’ work and well-being outcomes, less is known about the effects on employees’ family well-being. Based on the work–home resource (W–HR) model, we propose that challenge job demands are negatively related with employees’ family well-being (i.e., marital satisfaction and parent–child relationship) via time-based work–family conflict (WFC). We further propose that conscientiousness buffers this relationship. Data were collected from 217 employee–spouse/partner dyads. We found that challenge job demands had negative indirect effects on marital satisfaction and parent–child relationship via time-based WFC. We also found that conscientiousness buffered the positive effects of challenge job demands on employees’ time-based WFC and the indirect effects of challenge job demands on marital satisfaction and parent–child relationship via time-based WFC. Findings can help guide future theoretical development of challenge job demands, time-based WFC, and family well-being. Our study informs practitioners regarding the double-edged sword effects of challenge job demands and the importance of conscientiousness in reducing the negative effects of challenge job demands on employees’ family well-being. Our research reminds dual-career parents that challenge job demands could invade their family domain, affecting not only marital satisfaction but also parent–child relationship, which they may hold dear to their hearts.