IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i3p1514-d737100.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is Anyone Else Feeling Completely Nonessential? Meaningful Work, Identification, Job Insecurity, and Online Organizational Behavior during a Lockdown in The Netherlands

Author

Listed:
  • Jaap W. Ouwerkerk

    (Department of Communication Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Jos Bartels

    (Department of Communication Studies, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China)

Abstract

COVID-19 has affected employees worldwide, and in many countries, governments have used lockdowns to control the pandemic. In some countries, employees were divided into essential and nonessential workers. A survey among Dutch employees (N = 408) investigated how a lockdown in response to the pandemic affected work perceptions. The study found that employees who were not working during lockdown, or whose work hours were reduced sharply, perceived their job as contributing less to the greater good, identified less strongly with their organization, and experienced more job insecurity compared with those who retained a large percentage of their work activities. The longer employees were in lockdown, the weaker their greater-good motivations and the more job insecurity. Furthermore, identification with colleagues and perception of positive meaning in one’s job were significant predictors of online organizational citizenship behavior directed at other individuals (OCB-I), whereas organizational identification predicted such behavior directed at the organization (OCB-O). Moreover, indicative of a job preservation motive, increased job insecurity was related to more online OCB-O, and more deviant online behaviors directed at others in the form of cyberostracism and cyberincivility. We further discuss practical lessons for future lockdowns to minimize negative consequences for organizations and employees.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaap W. Ouwerkerk & Jos Bartels, 2022. "Is Anyone Else Feeling Completely Nonessential? Meaningful Work, Identification, Job Insecurity, and Online Organizational Behavior during a Lockdown in The Netherlands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-20, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1514-:d:737100
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1514/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/3/1514/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blake A. Allan & Cassondra Batz-Barbarich & Haley M. Sterling & Louis Tay, 2019. "Outcomes of Meaningful Work: A Meta‐Analysis," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 500-528, May.
    2. Mehwish Majeed & Muhammad Irshad & Jos Bartels, 2021. "The Interactive Effect of COVID-19 Risk and Hospital Measures on Turnover Intentions of Healthcare Workers: A Time-Lagged Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Qing Miao & Jun Zhou, 2020. "Corporate Hypocrisy and Counterproductive Work Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model of Organizational Identification and Perceived Importance of CSR," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, March.
    4. Lynne J. Millward & S. Alexander Haslam & Tom Postmes, 2007. "Putting Employees in Their Place: The Impact of Hot Desking on Organizational and Team Identification," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 547-559, August.
    5. Caroline A. Bartel & Amy Wrzesniewski & Batia M. Wiesenfeld, 2012. "Knowing Where You Stand: Physical Isolation, Perceived Respect, and Organizational Identification Among Virtual Employees," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 743-757, June.
    6. William D. Reisel & Tahira M. Probst & Swee-Lim Chia & Cesar M. Maloles & Cornelius J. König, 2010. "The Effects of Job Insecurity on Job Satisfaction, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Deviant Behavior, and Negative Emotions of Employees," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 74-91, January.
    7. Carnevale, Joel B. & Hatak, Isabella, 2020. "Employee adjustment and well-being in the era of COVID-19: Implications for human resource management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 183-187.
    8. Batia M. Wiesenfeld & Sumita Raghuram & Raghu Garud, 1999. "Communication Patterns as Determinants of Organizational Identification in a Virtual Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(6), pages 777-790, December.
    9. Ana Soto-Rubio & María del Carmen Giménez-Espert & Vicente Prado-Gascó, 2020. "Effect of Emotional Intelligence and Psychosocial Risks on Burnout, Job Satisfaction, and Nurses’ Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-14, October.
    10. Nicole Carusone & Rebecca Pittman & Mindy Shoss, 2021. "Sometimes It’s Personal: Differential Outcomes of Person vs. Job at Risk Threats to Job Security," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-15, July.
    11. Bram P. I. Fleuren & Lieze T. Poesen & Rachel E. Gifford & Fred R. H. Zijlstra & Dirk Ruwaard & Frank C. van de Baan & Daan D. Westra, 2021. "We’re Not Gonna Fall: Depressive Complaints, Personal Resilience, Team Social Climate, and Worries about Infections among Hospital Workers during a Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-14, April.
    12. Samma Faiz Rasool & Mansi Wang & Minze Tang & Amir Saeed & Javed Iqbal, 2021. "How Toxic Workplace Environment Effects the Employee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Organizational Support and Employee Wellbeing," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-17, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Begoña Urien, 2023. "Teleworkability, Preferences for Telework, and Well-Being: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-32, July.
    2. van Veelen, Ruth & Kruger, Johanna S. W. & Derks, Belle & Manzi, Francesca & Vink, Melissa & Yerkes, Mara A., 2025. "The psychological threat of being declared nonessential during the COVID‐19 pandemic: effects on professional identification," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 127517, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Meenakshi & Adeeba Hoor & Yogesh Sharma & Rajeev Sijariya, 2023. "Building a transcendental attitude: integrating ancient wisdom for ethical conduct in the modern workplace," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 50(4), pages 461-471, December.
    2. van Zoonen, Ward & Sivunen, Anu E. & Blomqvist, Kirsimarja, 2024. "Out of sight – Out of trust? An analysis of the mediating role of communication frequency and quality in the relationship between workplace isolation and trust," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 515-526.
    3. Ngqabutho Moyo & Anita D. Bhappu & Moment Bhebhe & Farai Ncube, 2022. "Perceived Risk of COVID-19 and Employee Decision-Making: How Psychological Distress during the Pandemic Increases Negative Performance Outcomes among Healthcare Workers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-16, June.
    4. Weisman, Hannah & Wu, Chia-Huei & Yoshikawa, Katsuhiko & Lee, Hyun-Jung, 2022. "Antecedents of organizational identification: a review and agenda for future research," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117626, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Mark Boons & Daan Stam & Harry G. Barkema, 2015. "Feelings of Pride and Respect as Drivers of Ongoing Member Activity on Crowdsourcing Platforms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(6), pages 717-741, September.
    6. Guillermo Bermúdez-González & Ana M. Lucia-Casademunt & Laura Padilla-Angulo, 2024. "What can talent management do about involuntary remote working in the post-COVID-19 era? Spanish IT employees’ organizational commitment," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Ni, Dan & Jiwen Song, Lynda & Zheng, Xiaoming & Zhu, Jinlong & Zhang, Mengyi & Xu, Lingxiao, 2022. "Extending a helping hand: How receiving gratitude makes a difference in employee performance during a crisis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 967-982.
    8. Ali Zackery & Joseph Amankwah-Amoah & Zahra Heidari Darani & Shiva Ghasemi, 2022. "COVID-19 Research in Business and Management: A Review and Future Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-32, August.
    9. Dongying Du & Xiaojian Tang & Huaiming Wang & Joseph H. Zhang & Stephanie Tsui & Dongjie Lin, 2022. "CEO organizational identification and corporate innovation investment," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(3), pages 4185-4217, September.
    10. Isabel Marques & Zélia Serrasqueiro & Fernanda Nogueira, 2021. "Managers’ Competences in Private Hospitals for Investment Decisions during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-14, February.
    11. Sirola, Nina, 2023. "Going beyond the call of duty under conditions of economic threat: Integrating life history and temporal dilemma perspectives," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    12. Mehwish Majeed & Muhammad Irshad & Jos Bartels, 2021. "The Interactive Effect of COVID-19 Risk and Hospital Measures on Turnover Intentions of Healthcare Workers: A Time-Lagged Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-15, October.
    13. Suresh Kamarapu & P. Sujendra Swami & Shakti Chaturvedi, 2023. "Impact of Home-based Teleworking During Pandemic on Telecommuters’ Organizational Commitment: Interaction of Gender and Family Status," Metamorphosis: A Journal of Management Research, , vol. 22(2), pages 121-132, December.
    14. Margherita, Alessandro & Elia, Gianluca & Klein, Mark, 2021. "Managing the COVID-19 emergency: A coordination framework to enhance response practices and actions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    15. Leonel Prieto & Md Farid Talukder, 2023. "Resilient Agility: A Necessary Condition for Employee and Organizational Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-24, January.
    16. Tachia Chin & Yi Shi & Manlio Giudice & Jianwei Meng & Zeyu Xing, 2023. "Working from anywhere: yin–yang cognition paradoxes of knowledge sharing and hiding for developing careers in China," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    17. Turgut Karakose & Ibrahim Kocabas & Ramazan Yirci & Stamatios Papadakis & Tuncay Yavuz Ozdemir & Murat Demirkol, 2022. "The Development and Evolution of Digital Leadership: A Bibliometric Mapping Approach-Based Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-26, December.
    18. Stephan, Ute & Tavares, Susana M. & Carvalho, Helena & Ramalho, Joaquim J.S. & Santos, Susana C. & van Veldhoven, Marc, 2020. "Self-employment and eudaimonic well-being: Energized by meaning, enabled by societal legitimacy," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(6).
    19. Maira Worek & Barbara Covarrubias Venegas & Sonja Thury, 2019. "Mind Your Space! Desk Sharing Working Environments and Employee Commitment in Austria," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 83-97.
    20. Gong, Baiyun & Sims, Randi L., 2023. "Psychological contract breach during the pandemic: How an abrupt transition to a work from home schedule impacted the employment relationship," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:3:p:1514-:d:737100. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.