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Abstract This study explores the dual role of digital communication on employee performance and well-being. Prior research highlights that individuals with central positions in communication networks benefit from greater access to information, enhanced innovation, and improved organizational outcomes. However, recent findings point also to the risk of information overload as digital connectivity increases. This research examines whether employees’ structural position in an email communication network is positively associated with work performance, engagement, and job satisfaction and whether this relationship follows a curvilinear pattern. The analysis is based on over 1.4 million emails exchanged among 1149 employees of a major Italian bank over a 1-year period during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social network data were integrated with survey responses on job satisfaction and engagement, as well as supervisor-rated performance evaluations. Social network analysis and regression techniques were employed to examine the associations between employees’ structural positions in the email network and individual outcomes. The results reveal that the breadth of distinct contacts and the volume of email exchanges operate through theoretically distinct mechanisms depending on the outcome considered. These findings offer new theoretical and practical insights into how email communication structures relate to employee well-being and productivity and highlight the need to balance connectivity and communication volume in digitally mediated work environments.
Bagnoli et al. (Sat,) studied this question.