Why and when newcomer career consultation behaviour attracts career mentoring from supervisors: A sociometer explanation of supervisors' perspective

Abstract

Drawing from the perspective of sociometer theory, we posit that the career consultation behaviour of newcomers can bolster supervisors' organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), thereby increasing their access to career mentoring from supervisors. Additionally, we suggest that the impact of newcomers' career consultation behaviour on supervisors' OBSE will be more pronounced among individuals with a higher power distance orientation. A time-lagged, four-phase data collection involving 238 newcomer–supervisor dyads supported this moderated mediation effect. The results indicate that newcomers' career consultation behaviour contributes to supervisors' OBSE, particularly for those with higher power distance orientations compared to their counterparts with lower power distance orientations. Subsequently, this is positively associated with supervisors' career mentoring as reported by newcomers. The implications of this study are discussed in the context of existing literature on newcomer socialization and mentoring.