Workplace isolation: salespeople and supervisors in USA

Abstract

Virtual work is becoming the norm in sales organizations because it is cost effective for the firm and can benefit customers and salespeople. However, along with these benefits, virtual work brings new challenges to organizations. One critical issue is workplace isolation (WI). This study uses responses from a sample of 346 salespeoples in the pharmaceutical field to test a model that investigates the relationships among WI, selfefficacy, leadership style, extra-role performance (ERP), satisfaction with the supervisor, and turnover intentions. Salespersons perception of managers as considerate leaders are associated with lower WI levels. Salespeople with higher levels of self-efficacy are less likely to believe that they are isolated from the company and their colleagues. WI, in turn, is significantly related to satisfaction with the supervision and ERP. Managerial implications and future research directions are presented.

Invisible, therefore isolated: Comparative effects of team virtuality with task virtuality on workplace isolation and work outcomes

“…It is very difficult to predict which products should be offered and what the needs/wants/expectations of the client are when there is no face-to-face interaction. Although individual experience varies between employees, our study has nevertheless identified solid patterns: when individuals interact physically with those who are important for their tasks, they feel a sense of belongingness, receive social support, and find friendship opportunities (Morrison, 2004;Mulki & Jaramillo, 2011;Wiesenfeld et al, 2001). When employees are physically separated from others, they sense that they lack the resources necessary for performing tasks, lose the shared social context (Cramton, 2001), and feel socially isolated (Levin & Stokes, 1989;Maslach & Jackson, 1981;Rook, 1984;).…”

“…The extent of face-to-face interaction has a strong impact on the social support received in the workplace (Marshall, Michaels, & Mulki, 2007;Mulki & Jaramillo, 2011;Wiesenfeld et al, 2001). Especially for virtual workers, lack of face-to-face contact creates threatening conditions that cause isolation in the workplace and subsequently detrimental effects on the well-being of employees .…”

“…Jobs in virtual settings vary greatly in terms of visibility. In extreme virtuality contingencies, where no physical contact with others takes place, lack of visibility in addition to social, physical, and informational isolation negatively impact work outcomes (Bartel et al, 2012;Mulki & Jaramillo, 2011). As a result, there is a need to distinguish individual exposure to the impacts of virtuality.…”

Out of mind, out of sight? Leading distributed workers to ensure health and safety

“…the extent that workers do not feel part of the organization and feel excluded from social networks, as a potential threat to workers' job satisfaction, commitment, involvement and intentions to remain in the job. Among sales representatives, Mulki and Jaramillo (2011) found that considerate leadership was negatively related to workplace isolation which in turn was negatively related to job satisfaction. Although these results suggest a mediational path, there is good reason to explore the interaction effects between leadership behaviours and the degree of workplace inclusion to understand whether a general sense of being part of a greater whole may make distributed workers more receptive to acting according to the health and safety agenda.…”

Untitled

“…We adapted the scale for ESM use from Gonzalez et al (2013), which research has shown to have high reliability and validity. We assessed workplace integration/isolation, which refers to an employee's perceived connectedness with / isolation from the company and colleagues and is shaped by support from colleagues and the opportunities to socialize and interact with others, using the scales by Marshall et al (2007) and Mulki and Jaramillo (2011). We measured positive emotions, which refer to emotions such as joy, happiness, interest, pride, affection, caring, contentment, and love, using the scales by Diener, Smith, and Fujita (1995) and Lucas, Diener, and Larsen (2003).…”