“What about me?”: veteran organizational members’ negative emotional responses to newcomers

ABSTRACT

Uncertainty is a pervasive feature of organizational membership, exasperated by the presence of newcomers. Using uncertainty management theory (UMT), this study explored how veteran organizational members emotionally respond to the presence of new coworkers. Results revealed that veteran organizational members’ perceptions of new coworkers’ work, social, and relational performance associated with veteran members’ jealousy, envy, and job insecurity. This study progresses knowledge of how organizational members emotionally respond to uncertainty. Considering the “Great Resignation,” managers should clarify newcomers’ roles while veterans and newcomers should acquaint themselves with one another and find common ground for themselves and their organizations.

KEYWORDS:

• Envy
• jealousy
• newcomers
• uncertainty
• veteran members

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Sollitto

Michael Sollitto (Ph. D., West Virginia University, 2014) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication & Media at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He teaches courses focusing on organizational communication, leadership, and instructional communication. His research interests include relationships, specifically student-student relationships, leader-follower relationships, and peer coworker relationships.

Stephanie Kelly

Stephanie Kelly (Ph.D., University of Tennessee, 2012) is a Professor in the Department of Business Information Systems and Analytics at North Carolina A&T State University. She teaches courses in statistics, research methods, computer-mediated communication, and data communication. Her research focuses on the role of presence variables in mediating communicative exchanges and measurement development.