Communication Motives, Satisfaction, and Social Support in the Workplace: Are Supervisors Effective Support Sources in Employee Networks?

Abstract

In this study we examine the relationship among supervisors' social support skills, employees' communication motives, and supervisor-subordinate relationship satisfaction. A network approach focuses on the relational tie between actors, as opposed to characteristics of the actors themselves. Using a sample of employees (N=222) from a wide range of occupations, we found that supervisors' emotional, informative, and instrumental social support skills are positively correlated with employees' communication motives of pleasure, affect, inclusion, and relaxation. While network studies suggest the need to navigate one's social web in order to acquire different types of support from different proximate alters, employees herein report attaining emotional, informative, and instrumental support from one singular tie: Their supervisor at work.

The Impacts of the High-Quality Workplace Relationships on Job Performance: A Perspective on Staff Nurses in Vietnam

“…In light of this, employees can rely on their immediate leaders for an exchange of technical skills and resources, and the high-quality relationship with supervisors is associated with a higher level of trust, respect, obligation, support, and encouragement [11]. Otherwise, coworker relationships provide employees the source of emotional and instrumental support as they have an understanding of the internal working environment [12]. However, the literature on coworker relationships appears inconsistent regarding the healthcare sector, in which peer cohesion was less available between staff nurses who usually work on different rotating shifts [13,14].…”

Emotional Experiences in the Workplace: Biological Sex, Supervisor Nonverbal Behaviors, and Subordinate Susceptibility to Emotional Contagion

“…Brief and Weiss (2002) argue that employee emotions are a crucial component of a holistic ecosystem of organizational behavior because an organization and its members’ emotions influence each other. Topics regarding workplace emotions involve emotional labor (Kruml & Geddes, 2000), specific work feelings such as anger (Domagalski & Steelman, 2007) and burnout (Avtgis & Rancer, 2008), employees’ emotions toward bullying (Tye-Williams & Krone, 2015), and emotional support (Jia & Shoham, 2012), among others.…”

Workplace Emotion and Communication

“…Students’ classroom emotions largely depend on the teachers’ communication behaviors, including NI and emotional support (Mazer et al, 2014; Titsworth et al, 2013). Likewise, employees would expect a more immediate and emotionally supportive supervisor to maintain positive working emotions and healthy relationships (Goodboy & McCroskey, 2008; Jia & Shoham, 2012). These emotion experiences might guide employees’ motives to engage in (or avoid) interaction with their supervisor.…”

“…The final dimension of the classroom emotional experience is students’ perceptions of receiving emotional support from a teacher. Traditional perspectives argue that emotional support usually occurs within intimate relationships, such as friends and family (Miller, 2009); however, a more recent study reported that emotional support from a supervisor could be crucial in contributing to relationship satisfaction with subordinates (Jia & Shoham, 2012). Employees, like students, also expect to receive emotional support from people with more authoritative power (supervisor) to reduce stress.…”

“…Perceptions of supervisors’ social support skills are positively related to relationally oriented motives. The escape motive was significant, but to a lesser degree, and the control motive was unrelated to support skills (Jia & Shoham, 2012).…”