Proactive and politically skilled professionals: What is the relationship with affective occupational commitment?

The aim of this study is to extend research on employee affective commitment in three ways: (1) instead of organizational commitment the focus is on occupational commitment; (2) the role of proactive personality on affective occupational commitment is examined; and (3) occupational satisfaction is examined as a mediator and political skills as moderator in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Two connected studies, one in a hospital located in the private sector and one in a university located in the public sector, are carried out in Pakistan, drawing on a total sample of over 400 employees. The results show that proactive personality is positively related to affective occupational commitment, and that occupational satisfaction partly mediates the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. No effect is found for a moderator effect of political skills in the relationship between proactive personality and affective occupational commitment. Political skills however moderate the relationship between proactive personality and affective organizational commitment

Proactivity in career development of employees: The roles of proactive personality and cognitive complexity

Purpose – Drawing on proactivity literature, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between employee’s proactive career planning (taking initiative to prepare for one’s career) and proactive career enacting (taking initiative to act on career plans). This study also looks into the influence of proactive personality and cognitive complexity in the relationship between proactive career planning and proactive career enacting. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data were collected in Australia (study 1; n=271) and were tested using structural equation modeling. Another set of survey data were collected in a different cultural context in the Philippines (study 2; n=215) for cross-cultural validation. Findings – Results show that proactive career planning and proactive career enacting are positively and significantly related in both cultural contexts. Results also show that proactive personality or the stable disposition of an individual to take initiative and be involved in future-oriented actions plays a significant role in moderating the relationship between proactive career planning and proactive career enacting. In addition, results show that cognitive complexity which pertains to an individual’s capacity to construe social behaviors in multidimensional ways moderates the relationship between proactive career planning and proactive career enacting. Practical implications – In today’s turbulent environment, employees need to be proactive when developing their careers. This study highlights the importance of being proactive when managing one’s career. Employees’ proactive personality and cognitive complexity also help in strengthening the link between proactive career planning and proactive career enacting, hence, these individual-level characteristics need to be developed and enhanced in organizations. Originality/value – This study is valuable as it extends and advances the understanding on how proactivity (proactive career planning, proactive career enacting, proactive personality) and cognitive complexity can contribute to career development of employees. </jats:sec

What are the Academic Findings About Top Variables for Predicting Career Progression Potential?

The correlation between high potential and career progression is a heatedly discussion in both academic and practitioner arenas. Validity of four signposts of high potential leaders-key career experience, learning ability, self-awareness and proactive personality-have been highlighted by empirical studies. In addition, methodology and challenges of developing high potentials are outlined to offer recommendations of real-world implications

Making things happen : a model of proactive motivation

Being proactive is about making things happen, anticipating and preventing problems, and seizing opportunities. It involves self-initiated efforts to bring about change in the work environment and/or oneself to achieve a different future. The authors develop existing perspectives on this topic by identifying proactivity as a goal-driven process involving both the setting of a proactive goal (proactive goal generation) and striving to achieve that proactive goal (proactive goal striving). The authors identify a range of proactive goals that individuals can pursue in organizations. These vary on two dimensions: the future they aim to bring about (achieving a better personal fit within one’s work environment, improving the organization’s internal functioning, or enhancing the organization’s strategic fit with its environment) and whether the self or situation is being changed. The authors then identify “can do,” “reason to,” and “energized to” motivational states that prompt proactive goal generation and sustain goal striving. Can do motivation arises from perceptions of self-efficacy, control, and (low) cost. Reason to motivation relates to why someone is proactive, including reasons flowing from intrinsic, integrated, and identified motivation. Energized to motivation refers to activated positive affective states that prompt proactive goal processes. The authors suggest more distal antecedents, including individual differences (e.g., personality, values, knowledge and ability) as well as contextual variations in leadership, work design, and interpersonal climate, that influence the proactive motivational states and thereby boost or inhibit proactive goal processes. Finally, the authors summarize priorities for future researc

Career Development of College Students through Part-Time Work: The Role of Leader-Member Exchange and Taking Charge Behavior

This study examines the potential benefit of college students' part-time work on their career development by focusing on leader-member exchange (LMX) and taking charge behavior in the workplace. Using a sample of Japanese college students, results from this study indicate that taking charge behavior in part-time work mediates the relationship between LMX quality with supervisors and career development (focus of career exploration, self-efficacy toward postcollege employment and proactive career behavior). The results also indicate that proactive personality and conscientiousness moderate the relationship between LMX quality and taking charge behavior, and that job autonomy and skill variety moderate the relationship between taking charge behaviors and career development. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.part-time work, leader-member exchange, taking charge behavior, career development, college student

Successful Leadership: Optimizing the Influence of Personality on Work Engagement

Abstract Objective: This paper examines the positive influence that personality has on the level of engagement workers have in their work. By determining the connection between personality characteristics and work engagement, leaders can be proactive in promoting higher levels of engagement by their workers. Background: Engaging in one’s work encompasses the total person and includes elements such as energy, mental resilience, willingness to invest in one’s work, enthusiasm, pride, and the happiness that comes with being involved in work. The level of work engagement of workers in their work has implications for the workers as well as for the organization. Method: Through a review of literature related to personality characteristics and work engagement, the personality characteristics having a positive influence on work engagement are identified. Along with these characteristics, the practical actions associated with these characteristics that have been shown to promote work engagement are discussed. Results: On the basis of literature reviewed, the personality characteristics of conscientiousness, extraversion, and proactive personality were found to have a positive influence on work engagement. Associated with these personality characteristics are a variety of practical actions that impact work engagement. Conclusion: The connection between personality characteristics and engagement in work has been identified. Utilizing practical actions that have been shown to be a positive influence on work engagement is beneficial for the workers as well as for the organization. Application: Leaders can achieve higher levels of success by utilizing the practical actions associated with certain personality characteristics to promote higher levels of work engagement among workers

The Impact of Early Career Experiences on Youth’s Proactive Work Socialization Behavior

Little is known about the impact of individual characteristics, historical factors, and situational characteristics on youth\u27s proactive work socialization behavior (career planning, skill development, consultation, and networking). Data from a longitudinal cross-national study (Belgium, England, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain) on career starters from two occupational groups, are used to test the hypothesized impact of predictor sets. Results confirm the positive impact of early career experience on the skill development proactive behavior; the dominant impact of the broader socioeconomic political and cultural country context on all four aspects of proactive behavior; and the sporadic effect of occupation, gender, and educational history on some proactive behavior dimensions

Are sports image rights assets? A legal, economic and tax perspective

This paper highlights the factors to consider in entering into sports agreements including the tax treatment applied to image rights and the recent update and commentary of the Inland Revenue (HRMC) to their capital gains tax manual on the taxation of image rights. The commentary of HRMC on image rights is yet another indication that, although traditional common law remedies will evolve further in the light of the growing commercialisation of image rights, a formal legislative or jurisprudential recognition of personality rights remains unlikely in the near future in the UK

Future work selves : how salient hoped-for identities motivate proactive career behaviors

The term future work self refers to an individual's representation of himself or herself in the future that reflects his or her hopes and aspirations in relation to work. The clearer and more accessible this representation, the more salient the future work self. An initial study with 2 samples (N = 397; N = 103) showed that future work self salience was distinct from established career concepts and positively related to individuals' proactive career behavior. A follow-up longitudinal analysis, Study 2 (N = 53), demonstrated that future work self salience had a lagged effect on proactive career behavior. In Study 3 (N = 233), we considered the role of elaboration, a further attribute of a future work self, and showed that elaboration motivated proactive career behavior only when future work self salience was also high. Together the studies suggest the power of future work selves as a motivational resource for proactive career behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

The role of gender in the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity and aggression among adolescents

This study focuses on the relationship between reinforcement sensitivity and aggression according to the combination of forms and functions of aggression (i.e. proactive overt, proactive relational, reactive overt and reactive relational), and on the moderating role of gender in this relationship. The survey included 656 adolescents (55.33% male) from the city of Zagreb, Croatia. The results show that reward sensitivity has the highest relation with proactive overt aggression, while punishment sensitivity has the highest relation with reactive relational aggression. A moderator analysis shows that boys with high reward sensitivity manifest higher level of proactive overt aggression than girls with high reward sensitivity. Also, boys with high punishment sensitivity manifest higher level of reactive relational aggression than girls with high punishment sensitivity. The findings can help to improve the treatment of aggressive behaviour in adolescence by focusing on reward sensitivity in relation to punishment sensitivity.peer-reviewe