Beyond leadership: The impact of coworker relationships on employee motivation and intent to stay

Abstract

AbstractRelationships between coworkers are an important, yet understudied, source of influence in people's lives. While psychological research widely supports the significance of peer relationships, too few studies have specifically examined the impact of relationships between coworkers. The present study was designed to add to the small but growing body of research on coworker relations. Drawing from a large sample of service-sector employees, we tested and found support for the hypotheses that positive coworker relationships independently increase employee motivation and intent to stay above and beyond two sources of supervisor support – immediate supervisors and senior managers. We also examined how employee job status moderates these relationships, finding that the impact of coworker relations on intent to stay was stronger for employees in high-status positions. Job status was not shown to moderate the relationship between coworker relations and motivation, with employees at both low- and high-status levels reporting higher motivation when coworker relationships were good.