Silence and proactivity in managing supervisor ostracism: implications for creativity

Abstract

PurposeAnchored in a social control theory framework, this study aims to investigate the mediating effect of defensive silence in the relationship between employees' perception of supervisor ostracism and their creative performance, as well as the buffering role of proactivity in this process.Design/methodology/approachThe hypotheses were tested using three-wave survey data collected from employees in North American organizations.FindingsThe authors found that an important reason for supervisor ostracism adversely affecting employee creativity is their observance of defensive silence. This mechanism, in turn, is less prominent among employees who show agency and change-oriented behavior (i.e. proactivity).Practical implicationsFor practitioners, this study identifies defensive silence as a key mechanism through which supervisor ostracism hinders employee creativity. Further, this process is less likely to escalate when their proactivity makes them less vulnerable to experience such social exclusion.Originality/valueThis study establishes a more complete understanding of the connection between supervisor ostracism and employee creativity, with particular attention to mediating mechanism of defensive silence and the moderating role of proactivity in this relationship.

The dark side of leadership: A systematic review of creativity and innovation

“…Several articles analysed LMX as mediators of abusive supervision, close monitoring, authoritarian leadership and dark triad personality. Most of these studies concluded that social relationship mechanisms mediate the negative effects of various forms of ‘dark leadership’, such as abusive supervision and authoritarian leadership on creativity and innovation (Arshad et al., 2021; Chen & Appienti, 2020; Echebiri & Amundsen, 2020; Fodor et al., 2021; Gu et al., 2018; He et al., 2021; Jahanzeb et al., 2021; Meng et al., 2017; Son et al., 2017; Syed et al., 2021; Tan et al., 2021). It has been shown that ‘dark leaders’ burden their subordinates with their behaviour, thereby limiting their cooperation.…”

Impact of inclusive leadership on employees’ innovative behavior: A relational silence approach

“…According to Lee et al (2022) and Maqbool et al (2019) employee silence also negatively affects employee innovation behavior. Employees’ Defensive Silence has a negative relationship with creativity ( Jahanzeb et al, 2021 ). Employees’ silence-based behavior may deprive them of any chance to offer original contributions, which limits their creativity in work environments ( Wynen et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Nurses’ silence can mediate the link between toxic leadership and organizational performance ( Farghaly Abdelaliem and Abou Zeid, 2023 ). Employees’ sense of supervisor rejection and their creativity are mediated by defensive silence ( Jahanzeb et al, 2021 ). The findings of Broeng’s research suggest that tacit silence mediates some of the mechanisms by which organizational justice influences emotional exhaustion and withdrawal ( Broeng, 2018 ).…”

Linking empowering leadership with workplace proactivity: the mediating role of psychological safety and knowledge sharing

“…Employees' proactive behavior at workplace is useful for themselves as well as organizations (Parker et al, 2019). Employees' proactivity is likely to increase job capability (Zhang and Edgar, 2021), reduce employees' perception of supervisor ostracism (Jahanzeb et al, 2021), enrich work-family relationship (Cui and Zhang, 2021), increase employee initiatives (Gorgijevski et al, 2019), enhance job crafting (Jiang et al, 2021), build meaningfulness at work (Wong et al, 2020), develop career adaptability (Green et al, 2020), augment firm profitability (Brulhart et al, 2019), bring organization change and development (Presbitero and Teng-Calleja, 2017) and develop organizational resilience (Cruickshank, 2020). According to the proactivity literature, it can be concluded that employees' proactivity not only helps to achieve an individual's goals but also ensures the accomplishment of organizational goals.…”

“…, 2019). Employees' proactivity is likely to increase job capability (Zhang and Edgar, 2021), reduce employees' perception of supervisor ostracism (Jahanzeb et al. , 2021), enrich work–family relationship (Cui and Zhang, 2021), increase employee initiatives (Gorgijevski et al.…”