Convergent perceptions of organizational efficacy among team members and positive work outcomes in organizational teams

Abstract

We explored the effects of employees’ organizational efficacy perceptions on their subsequent behaviour and performance. Study 1 demonstrated the discriminant validity of organizational efficacy and its significant incremental contribution to the prediction of job performance over the variance explained by other efficacy beliefs and organization‐directed constructs. Study 2 tested our hypotheses using multilevel analyses of 2‐wave longitudinal data collected over a 2‐year period from 846 employees of 105 work teams. Organizational efficacy perceptions significantly predicted employees’ subsequent helping behaviour and job performance. These relationships were more pronounced when an employee's efficacy perceptions were congruent with those of other team members. Growth curve analysis showed that such perceptual congruence increased over time when the focal employee experienced a high level of support from team leaders. The study contributes to extant efficacy literature by establishing organizational efficacy as a new and meaningful dimension that predicts important employee outcomes.Practitioner points The findings provide practitioners with a demonstration of how employees’ organizational efficacy perceptions affect work outcomes and predict their job performance and helping behaviour. The study highlights the importance of perceptual fit in organizational efficacy by showing how organizational efficacy perceptions improve outcomes when team members agree on their perceptions. The findings provide practitioners with insights into the role of team leaders’ supportive leadership in promoting perceptual fit among team members.