Comprehensive moderated mediation model of potential appraisal of employees
Journal of Management Development
ISSN: 0262-1711
Article publication date: 28 February 2020
Issue publication date: 28 March 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Potential appraisal is the foremost indicator of employee's readiness to take higher responsibilities and used for multiple purposes in promotion, human resource development including training and development needs of employees. This study examines how construal level as psychological difference among employees (holistic–analytic differential in preference of thinking for various action domains among individuals) and meaningfulness of work is related to their readiness for development and responsibility. Combining meaning of work literature and cognitive psychology, the moderated mediation model is formed to examine the psychological process and social boundary conditions in the relationship between construal level and potential appraisal of employees.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 1,494 working executives and their 297 reporting managers across companies operating in an industrial cluster situated in India. The proposed model considered “experienced meaningfulness” as mediator and contextual factors of psychological empowerment and supervisor feedback as moderators.
Findings
Using multi-variate analysis and after controlling for industry type and experience, supervisor potential appraisal ratings of employees are found to be statistically related to construal level, and this relationship is found to be partially mediated by “experienced meaningfulness” of work. Further, contextual factors are found to be significant as moderators.
Originality/value
By bringing the subjective interpretation of different aspects of meaning of work from work design literature to examine its role in relationship between aspects of cognitive psychology and potential appraisal of employees, this study bridges the gap between cognitive psychology of development, meaning of work literature and HRD literature. Further implications for academic literature and managers are discussed.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
We didn’t receive any financial assistance for conducting this research. The authors are thankful to the esteemed reviewers for their feedback.
Citation
Mittal, S. (2020), "Comprehensive moderated mediation model of potential appraisal of employees", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 145-162. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-03-2019-0077
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited