Predictors of Effective Job Performance: An Empirical Examination through Employee-Related Factors
Keywords:
Emotional intelligence, employee creativity, employee learning orientation, employees goal orientation, job performance, proactive personalityAbstract
Purpose: This study investigates the effect of employee-related factors, that is, emotional intelligence, goal orientation, and learning orientation on employee performance using moderated mediation approach where proactive personality is moderator and creativity plays a mediator’s role. The purpose of this study is to identify the mediating effect of creativity on performance with self-related factors in such a way that their relationship is being moderated by moderator. Methodology: For hypothesis testing, researcher used multiple source of data collection, where data were collected from a sample of 162 employees working in telecommunication sector of Pakistan. Statistical techniques such as conformity factor analysis, EFA and mediation, and moderation using AMOS software were performed to test proposed theoretical model. Findings: Results indicate that emotional intelligence, goal orientation, and learning orientation have significant effect on employee performance, whereas creativity mediates the relationship of emotional intelligence, goal orientation, and learning orientation with employee job performance, while proactive personality moderates the relationships between independent and mediating variables. Implications: The study implies that top management should assign higher priority to employee performance by focusing more on employee’s level variables that are major contributor to their creativity. Originality: Till now, no researcher has reported such type of empirical study in Pakistani context. This study contributes to the present stock of knowledge and understanding of the subject by contextualizing the predictors of effective job performance in the Pakistani corporate sector.
References
Aguinis, H., Beaty, J. C., Boik, R. J., & Pierce, C. A. (2005). Effect size and power in assessing moderating effects of categorical variables using multiple regression: A 30-year review. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(1), 94-107.
Altındağ, E., & Kösedağı, Y. (2015). The relationship between emotional intelligence of managers, innovative corporate culture and employee performance. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 210, 270-282.
Aradilla-Herrero, A., Tomás-Sábado, J., & Gómez-Benito, J. (2014). Associations between emotional intelligence, depression and suicide risk in nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 34(4), 520-525.
Baker, W. E., & Sinkula, J. M. (1999). The synergistic effect of market orientation and learning orientation on organizational performance. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 27(4), 411-427.
Barczak, G., Lassk, F., & Mulki, J. (2010). Antecedents of team creativity: An examination of team emotional intelligence, team trust and collaborative culture. Creativity and Innovation Management, 19(4), 332-345.
Bateman, T. S., & Crant, J. M. (1993). The proactive component of organizational behavior: A measure and correlates. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 14(2), 103-118.
Bauer, K. N., Orvis, K. A., Ely, K., & Surface, E. A. (2016). Re-examination of motivation in learning contexts: Meta-analytically investigating the role type of motivation plays in the prediction of key training outcomes. Journal of Business and Psychology, 31(1), 33-50.
Bharadwaj, S., & Menon, A. (2000). Making innovation happen in organizations: Individual creativity mechanisms, organizational creativity mechanisms or both? Journal of Product Innovation Management: An International Publication of the Product Development AND Management Association, 17(6), 424-434.
Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., Shiffman, S., Lerner, N., & Salovey, P. (2006). Relating emotional abilities to social functioning: A comparison of self-report and performance measures of emotional intelligence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 780-795.
Bradler, C., Dur, R., Neckermann, S., & Non, A. (2016). Employee recognition and performance: A field experiment. Management Science, 62(11), 3085-3099.
Bryant, S. E., & Malone, T. (2015). An empirical study of emotional intelligence and stress in college students. Business Education and Accreditation, 7(1), 1-11.
Calantone, R. J., Cavusgil, S. T., & Zhao, Y. (2002). Learning orientation, firm innovation capability, and firm performance. Industrial Marketing Management, 31(6), 515-524.
Castro, F., Gomes, J., & de Sousa, F. C. (2012). Do intelligent leaders make a difference? The effect of a leader’s emotional intelligence on followers’ creativity. Creativity and Innovation Management, 21(2), 171-182.
Chang, H. T., Chou, Y. J., Liou, J. W., & Tu, Y. T. (2016). The effects of perfectionism on innovative behavior and job burnout: Team workplace friendship as a moderator. Personality and Individual Differences, 96, 260-265.
Choi, J. N. (2007). Change‐oriented organizational citizenship behavior: Effects of work environment characteristics and intervening psychological processes. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 28(4), 467-484.
Cote, S., & Miners, C. T. (2006). Emotional intelligence, cognitive intelligence, and job performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 51(1), 1-28.
Davcik, N. S., & Sharma, P. (2016). Marketing resources, performance, and competitive advantage: A review and future research directions. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), 5547-5552.
Davies, M., Stankov, L., & Roberts, R. D. (1998). Emotional intelligence: In search of an elusive construct. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(4), 989.
de Stobbeleir, K. E., Ashford, S. J., & Buyens, D. (2011). Self-regulation of creativity at work: The role of feedback-seeking behavior in creative performance. Academy of Management Journal, 54(4), 811-831.
Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2012). The contribution of emotional intelligence to decisional styles among Italian high school students. Journal of Career Assessment, 20(4), 404-414.
Edwards, J. R., & Lambert, L. S. (2007). Methods for integrating moderation and mediation: A general analytical framework using moderated path analysis. Psychological Methods, 12(1), 1.
Erkutlu, H., & Chafra, J. (2012). The impact of team empowerment on proactivity: The moderating roles of leader’s emotional intelligence and proactive personality. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 26(5), 560-577.
Farmer, S. M., Tierney, P., & Kung-Mcintyre, K. (2003). Employee creativity in Taiwan: An application of role identity theory. Academy of Management Journal, 46(5), 618-630.
Furnham, A. (2016). The relationship between cognitive ability, emotional intelligence and creativity. Psychology, 7(2), 193-197.
Goleman, D. (1996). Emotional intelligence. Why it can matter more than IQ. Learning, 24(6), 49-50.
Goleman, D., & Gurin, J. (Eds.). (1995). Mind Body Medicine: How to Use Your Mind for Better Health. Yonkers, New York: Consumer Reports Books.
Gong, Y., Huang, J. C., & Farh, J. L. (2009). Employee learning orientation, transformational leadership, and employee creativity: The mediating role of employee creative self-efficacy. Academy of Management Journal, 52(4), 765-778.
Gozukara, E. (2016). Beyond the expected activities: The role of impulsivity between emotional intelligence and employee creativity. International Business Review, 9, 143-153.
Grant, A. M., & Ashford, S. J. (2008). The dynamics of proactivity at work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 28, 3-34.
Halford, S., Hudson, M., Leonard, P., Parry, J., & Taylor, R. (2016). The New Dynamics of Work: A Scoping Study. Southampton, GB: University of Southampton.
Hirst, G., van Knippenberg, D., & Zhou, J. (2009). A cross-level perspective on employee creativity: Goal orientation, team learning behavior, and individual creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 52(2), 280-293.
Hsieh, J. Y. (2016). Spurious or true? An exploration of antecedents and simultaneity of job performance and job satisfaction across the sectors. Public Personnel Management, 45(1), 90-118.
Hur, Y., van den Berg, P. T., & Wilderom, C. P. (2011). Transformational leadership as a mediator between emotional intelligence and team outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(4), 591-603.
Janssen, O., & van Yperen, N. W. (2004). Employees’ goal orientations, the quality of leader-member exchange, and the outcomes of job performance and job satisfaction. Academy of Management Journal, 47(3), 368-384.
Kafetsios, K., & Zampetakis, L. A. (2008). Emotional intelligence and job satisfaction: Testing the mediatory role of positive and negative affect at work. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(3), 712-722.
Kim, T. Y., Hon, A. H., & Crant, J. M. (2009). Proactive personality, employee creativity, and newcomer outcomes: A longitudinal study. Journal of Business and Psychology, 24(1), 93-103.
Kim, T. Y., Hon, A. H., & Lee, D. R. (2010). Proactive personality and employee creativity: The effects of job creativity requirement and supervisor support for creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 22(1), 37-45.
Law, K. S., Wong, C. S., & Song, L. J. (2004). The construct and criterion validity of emotional intelligence and its potential utility for management studies. Journal of applied Psychology, 89(3), 483.
Law, K. S., Wong, C. S., Huang, G. H., & Li, X. (2008). The effects of emotional intelligence on job performance and life satisfaction for the research and development scientists in China. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 25(1), 51-69.
Lee, T. W., Mitchell, T. R., Sablynski, C. J., Burton, J. P., & Holtom, B. C. (2004). The effects of job embeddedness on organizational citizenship, job performance, volitional absences, and voluntary turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 47(5), 711-722.
Li, J. Y., & Shieh, C. J. (2016). A study on the effects of multiple goal orientation on learning motivation and learning behaviors. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 12(1), 161-172.
Lunenburg, F. C. (2011). Emotional intelligence in the workplace: Application to leadership. International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration, 14(1), 1-6.
Mafakheri, A., Ounagh, N., & Asadi, M. (2016). The relationship between emotional creativity and marital satisfaction in teachers. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 5(2), 5-10.
Mayer, J. D., & Geher, G. (1996). Emotional intelligence and the identification of emotion. Intelligence, 22(2), 89-113.
Mayer, J. D., Caruso, D. R., & Salovey, P. (1999). Emotional intelligence meets traditional standards for an intelligence. Intelligence, 27(4), 267-298.
Mayer, J. D., DiPaolo, M., & Salovey, P. (1990). Perceiving affective content in ambiguous visual stimuli: A component of emotional intelligence. Journal of Personality Assessment, 54(3-4), 772-781.
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2000). Emotional intelligence as zeitgeist, as personality, and as a mental ability. In:Bar-On, R., & Parker, J. D. A. (Eds.), The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence: Theory, Development, Assessment, and Application at Home, School, and in the Workplace. New York, United States: Jossey-Bass, p. 92-117.
Mayfield, M., & Mayfield, J. (2008). Leadership techniques for nurturing worker garden variety creativity. Journal of Management Development, 27(9), 976-986.
McAdam, R., & McClelland, J. (2002). Individual and team‐based idea generation within innovation management: Organizational and research agendas. European Journal of Innovation Management, 5(2), 86-97.
McAdam, R., & McClelland, J. (2002). Sources of new product ideas and creativity practices in the UK textile industry. Technovation, 22(2), 113-121.
Menges, J. I., Tussing, D. V., Wihler, A., & Grant, A. M. (2017). When job performance is all relative: How family motivation energizes effort and compensates for intrinsic motivation. Academy of Management Journal, 60(2), 695-719.
Moss, S. A., & Ritossa, D. A. (2007). The impact of goal orientation on the association between leadership style and follower performance, creativity and work attitudes. Leadership, 3(4), 433-456.
Myint, A. A., & Aung, A. A. (2016). The relationship between emotional intelligence and job performance of Myanmar school teachers. AsTEN Journal of Teacher Education, 1(1), 1-16.
Naranjo-Valencia, J. C., Jiménez-Jiménez, D., & Sanz-Valle, R. (2016). Studying the links between organizational culture, innovation, and performance in Spanish companies. Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología, 48(1), 30-41.
Nifadkar, S., Tsui, A. S., & Ashforth, B. E. (2012). The way you make me feel and behave: Supervisor-triggered newcomer affect and approach-avoidance behavior. Academy of Management Journal, 55(5), 1146-1168.
Nito, A. B. E. (2005). A moderated mediation examination of proactive personality on employee creativity. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 12(4), 564-578.
Obeidat, S., Mitchell, R., & Bray, M. (2016). The link between high performance work practices and organizational performance: Empirically validating the conceptualization of HPWP according to the AMO model. Employee Relations, 38, 578-595.
Penrose, A., Perry, C., & Ball, I. (2007). Emotional intelligence and teacher self efficacy: The contribution of teacher status and length of experience. Issues in Educational Research, 17(1), 107-126.
Petrides, K. V. (2016). Emotional intelligence as a personality trait. In: New Directions in organizatIonal Psychology and Behavioral Medicine. London, United Kingdom: Routledge, p. 157-164.
Porath, C. L., & Bateman, T. S. (2006). Self-regulation: From goal orientation to job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(1), 185.
Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. (2007). Addressing moderated mediation hypotheses: Theory, methods, and prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 42(1), 185-227.
Primc, K., & Čater, T. (2016). The influence of organizational life cycle on environmental proactivity and competitive advantage: A dynamic capabilities view. Organization and Environment, 29(2), 212-230.
Salovey, P. E., & Sluyter, D. J. (1997). Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Educational Implications. New York, United States: Basic Books.
Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9(3), 185-211.
Salovey, P., Mayer, J. D., Goldman, S. L., Turvey, C., & Palfai, T. P. (1995). Emotional Attention, Clarity, and Repair: Exploring Emotional Intelligence Using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale. Massachusetts, United States: American Psychological Association.
Seibert, S. E., Crant, J. M., & Kraimer, M. L. (1999). Proactive personality and career success. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(3), 416.
Sikora, D., Thompson, T., Russell, Z., & Ferris, G. (2016). Reimagining overqualified human resources to promote organizational effectiveness and competitive advantage. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 3, 23-42.
Smit, B. W., Maloney, P. W., Maertz, C. P. Jr., & Montag-Smit, T. (2016). Out of sight, out of mind? How and when cognitive role transition episodes influence employee performance. Human Relations, 69(11), 2141-2168.
Tierney, P., & Farmer, S. M. (2002). Creative self-efficacy: Its potential antecedents and relationship to creative performance. Academy of Management Journal, 45(6), 1137-1148.
Tierney, P., & Farmer, S. M. (2004). The pygmalion process and employee creativity. Journal of Management, 30(3), 413-432.
Trifiletti, E., Capozza, D., Pasin, A., & Falvo, R. (2009). A validation of the proactive personality scale. TPM-Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 16(2), 77-93.
VandeWalle, D., Brown, S. P., Cron, W. L., & Slocum, J. W. Jr. (1999). The influence of goal orientation and self-regulation tactics on sales performance: A longitudinal field test. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(2), 249.
Vivares-Vergara, J. A., Sarache-Castro, W. A. and Naranjo-Valencia, J. C. (2016). Impact of human resource management on performance in competitive priorities. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 36(2), 114-134.
Wambua, S. M., & Karanja, K. (2016). Effect of human resource management practices on employee performance in commercial banks in Nairobi county, Kenya. Strategic Journal of Business and Change Management, 3(2), 675-694.
Weymes, E. (2002). Relationships not leadership sustain successful organizations. Journal of Change Management, 3(4), 319-331.
Whittington, J. L., Goodwin, V. L., & Murray, B. (2004). Transformational leadership, goal difficulty, and job design: Independent and interactive effects on employee outcomes. Leadership Quarterly, 15(5), 593-606.
Won, D., & Chelladurai, P. (2016). Competitive advantage in intercollegiate athletics: Role of intangible resources. PLoS One, 11(1), e0145782.
Wong, C. S., & Law, K. S. (2002). The effects of leader and follower emotional intelligence on performance and attitude: An exploratory study. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(3), 243-274.
Zhang, X., & Bartol, K. M. (2010). Linking empowering leadership and employee creativity: The influence of psychological empowerment, intrinsic motivation, and creative process engagement. Academy of Management Journal, 53(1), 107-128.
Zhang, X., & Bartol, K. M. (2010). The influence of creative process engagement on employee creative performance and overall job performance: A curvilinear assessment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(5), 862.
