Nexus Between Excessive Enterprise Social Media Usage and Employee Creativity with Mediating Role of Enterprise Social Media Fatigue and Moderating Role of Job Autonomy: A Probe in IT Industry of Islamabad and Rawalpindi

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the potentially harmful but less-discussed effects of excessive use of enterprise social media (ESM) on employee creativity (EC). The ESM has been recognized for its benefits in promoting cooperation and collaboration within organizations, but questions arise frequently regarding its effects on employee productivity and well-being. The present study explores the impact of excessive usage of enterprise social media (ESM) focusing on information overload which can result in ESM fatigue in employees. Moreover, this study also highlights employees lacking job autonomy are particularly vulnerable to the damaging effects of ESM fatigue, which exacerbates the problem. This matter is especially pertinent in organizations in Pakistan where the concept of work-life balance is overlooked. A quantitative research strategy and pre-tested structured survey questionnaires were adopted from the past research. For data collection convenience sampling, one of the non-probability samplings was used as it is effective and suitable for time constraints. A sample of 500 participants from various IT firms was used, utilizing both SPSS and SMART PLS for data analysis. The results obtained indicate that Enterprise Social Media (ESM) impacts negatively on employees’ creative thinking. ESM fatigue negatively mediates the relationship between ESM and EC. Whereas, Job autonomy (JA) positively moderates the relationship between ESM and EC. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for companies to optimize their use of ESM effectively while enhancing their overall performance.