Laura L. Lemon, Claudia Bawole, Nancy H. Brinson and Bahareh Amini
The purpose of this paper is to use the concept of boundary turbulence from Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory to better understand how employee monitoring impacts…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use the concept of boundary turbulence from Communication Privacy Management (CPM) theory to better understand how employee monitoring impacts employee engagement. This study is one of the first in corporate communication to combine the frameworks of CPM and employee engagement to better understand employee experiences.
Design/methodology/approach
To answer the research question, we conducted an online, open-ended survey that asked 633 participants to provide feedback regarding being monitored at work and how these experiences impacted their engagement with their employer.
Findings
This study sought to understand how boundary turbulence occurs in relation to employee engagement when employees are monitored at work. In total, four examples of boundary turbulence were illustrated in the data: employer monitoring creates distrust; employees find ways to resist being monitored; monitoring doesn’t accurately capture employee engagement; and monitoring leads to disengagement.
Originality/value
The findings from this study lead to important conclusions regarding what happens when employees experience boundary turbulence, and how it relates to employee engagement. This study illustrates how employee monitoring is interpreted as an attempt to control employees, which can lead to distrust and negatively impact employee engagement. Furthermore, boundary turbulence can threaten psychological safety and presence, which can cultivate employee disengagement. Therefore, employees may seek out ways to actively resist, which reiterates that internal publics are distinctive, active, and agentic audiences that cannot be forgotten or assumed.
Details
Keywords
Neda Hassanpour, Ali Shaemi Barzoki, Mohammad Hossein Moshref Javadi and Ali Safari
This study aimed at developing and testing a model to evaluate employee performance in Isfahan municipality.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed at developing and testing a model to evaluate employee performance in Isfahan municipality.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed-method design is applied in this study. To extract the model, a semi-structured interview based on the thematic analysis approach was employed. The qualitative data were obtained using a researcher-made questionnaire from a sample of 12 municipal experts selected based on purposive sampling. In the quantitative phase, the sample consisted of 76 managers and interim managers. The validity of the questionnaire was determined by the content validity index, while the structural validity was tested based on structural equation modeling using SmartPLS software. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability indices.
Findings
The factors obtained in the qualitative model included performance evaluation criteria, the desired time interval for performance evaluation, results announcement, performance evaluation approach, performance evaluation method and evaluator-related variables. There should have been an agreement between evaluators and those who were evaluated in all components of the model. In the quantitative section, performance evaluation criteria, evaluators, the evaluation method and time interval were confirmed with coefficients of 0.871, 0.815, 0.646 and 0.615, respectively.
Practical implications
The novelty of this study is that it uses a mixed-method research approach to extract a performance evaluation model that is specific to the Isfahan municipality.
Originality/value
The novelty of this study is that it uses a mixed-method research approach to extract a performance evaluation model that is specific to the Isfahan municipality.