When Coworkers Sabotage: How Lost Self-Worth and Justice Sensitivity Delay Deadlines

What is it about?

This study explores how coworker undermining—purposeful attempts to damage another employee’s reputation, confidence, or effectiveness—can lead to missed work deadlines. It focuses on how such harmful behavior diminishes employees’ organization-based self-esteem, or their sense of being valuable and respected members of the organization. It also considers how this process is intensified when employees have high justice sensitivity, meaning they are especially disturbed by unfair treatment in the workplace. Using survey data from employees and supervisors across multiple industries in Pakistan, the study finds that coworker undermining increases task delays and missed deadlines. This occurs because employees’ sense of self-worth declines, leaving them feeling excluded and less motivated to perform promptly. The effect is stronger among employees highly sensitive to perceived injustice, as heightened emotional strain deepens feelings of devaluation and further disrupts timely task completion. For organizations, the findings highlight a critical threat: when coworker hostility erodes employees’ confidence and belonging, it directly undermines productivity and time management. Leaders should take proactive steps to curb undermining behavior by fostering transparent communication, recognizing contributions fairly, and encouraging collaboration. Helping employees build self-assurance and manage reactions to perceived unfairness can also buffer against the demotivating effects of coworker mistreatment.

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Photo by Alexandr Podvalny on Unsplash

Photo by Alexandr Podvalny on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The uniqueness of this study lies in uncovering how diminished organization-based self-esteem serves as the psychological mechanism through which coworker undermining leads to reduced timeliness. By also demonstrating how justice sensitivity strengthens this harmful chain, it integrates personal and interpersonal dynamics into one coherent framework, showing that even subtle peer hostility can cascade into measurable performance declines. The timeliness of the research reflects growing awareness that toxic coworker relationships can disrupt performance as much as poor leadership. In modern, interdependent workplaces, where teamwork and collaboration are essential, undermining behaviors can spread quickly and damage collective efficiency. This study thus reinforces the importance of cultivating fairness, inclusion, and mutual respect, ensuring that employees maintain a strong sense of organizational worth even when interpersonal tensions arise.