Supervisory Performance Feedback as a Catalyst for High Quality Employee Self-Development

Karin Orvis

The Hub, 2
April 18, 2007, 08:00 PM to 07:00 PM

Abstract:

A heightened reliance on continuous learning, as well as increased pressure to reduce the costs associated with formal training and development, have prompted an interest in employee self-development. Research on self-development has focused on factors that stimulate the quantity of employee self-development participation. Yet, meaningful development in an employee's job knowledge/skills is contingent on the quality of self-development activities in which one participates, not simply the quantity of self-development. The present study developed and tested a model of the effects of supervisory performance feedback on the quality of employee's choices with respect to self-development. Data collected from 149 employees and their supervisors generally supported the model. Results suggest that supervisory performance feedback shapes the quality of an employee's subsequent self-development choices both directly and indirectly through its influence on the employee's self-regulatory processes. Furthermore, results suggest that the attributes of feedback combine both additively and multiplicatively to influence self-regulation. Implications for performance appraisal practice and future research directions are discussed.