Organizations now understand that for employees to be successful, they need to be knowledgeable, skilled, and motivated — but also that the quality of workplace relationships matters deeply. The term "relational energy" focuses on the psychological resources that employees generate and spend through workplace interactions. These resources arise from exchanges with colleagues, mentors, teams, and leaders, and they shape employee engagement, creativity, service performance, and organizational commitment.
Baker (2019) described relational energy as a meso-level construct connecting individual emotional energy to macro-level organizational energy systems. Recent evidence confirms that relational energy is a central mechanism linking leadership, employee interactions, psychological resources, and performance outcomes across diverse organizational contexts.
This special issue seeks high-quality empirical and theoretical contributions that advance understanding of relational energy as a strategic organizational and psychological resource. We welcome research grounded in established theoretical frameworks including Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory, Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Theory, Self-Determination Theory (SDT), Social Exchange Theory (SET), and Organizational Support Theory (OST).
Methodological approaches may include qualitative, quantitative, longitudinal, mixed-methods, systematic review, and multilevel designs. We particularly encourage research examining how relational energy intersects with leadership, employee well-being, resilience, innovation, digital transformation, and organizational performance in both emerging and traditional work settings.
All submissions must be original, unpublished work not currently under review elsewhere. Authors should follow the SEISENSE Journal of Management author guidelines and select "Special Issue: Relational Energy" during submission. Submissions are handled through the journal's online platform.