Combine Your “Able” and “Will”: Career Adaptability Influence on Performance

Abstract

Researchers drawing on adaption models of career construction have shown positive effects of adaptivity on adaptation results. However, the interactive effect between career adaptivity and career adaptability has been under-researched. Based on career construction and conservation of resources theories, this study examines the joint effect between adaptivity and adaptability on predicting adapting responses and adaptation results. In particular, using a sample of Chinese employees (N = 232), this study first examines the mediating effect of career self- management between career adaptability and performance and then tests the moderating role of proactive personality in the first stage of the model. Results show that career adaptability positively predicts performance, with this relationship partially mediated by career self-management. The positive relationship between career adaptability and career self-management is higher among those who are more proactive as opposed to the less proactive group. Further, the indirect effect of career adaptability on performance is stronger among proactive employees than those who have a lower level of proactive personality. These findings provide implications for career construction and conservation of resources theories as well as practical implications for company recruitment and training.