Revisiting workaholism: lived experiences and new insights

Abstract

Purpose

While worker well-being is increasingly recognised as a performance driver and marker of socially responsible organisations, workaholism is ubiquitous and remains poorly understood. This study aims to uncover workaholism precursors, dynamics and trajectories, and explains how organisations can manage its emergence and impact.

Design/methodology/approach

Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with a diverse sample of self-identified workaholics in New Zealand and analysed through interpretivist phenomenological analysis.

Findings

This study contributes to the workaholism literature by elucidating how the work–identity link is formed and maintained, the psychophysiological experiences and worldviews of workaholics and the role families, organisations and culture play in workaholism. The findings also elucidate the relationship between workaholism, work addiction and engagement.

Practical implications

The authors outline how leaders and organisations can detect and manage workaholism risk factors and understand its trajectories to develop healthy workplaces.

Originality/value

The retrospective experiential accounts obtained from a diverse sample of workaholics enabled the identification of workaholism precursors, including some previously undetected in the literature, their complex interrelations with environmental factors and workaholism trajectories.