Egalitarianism and Employee Proactivity: The role of altruism and social capital

Abstract

Employee proactivity is one of the important dimensions of work role performance. However, the literature lacks of research on the mechanisms through which proactivity is enhanced. To address this issue, we develop a conceptual model to examine how egalitarianism at both individual and organizational level affects employee proactivity through social capital. Specifically, we hypothesize that (1) individual level egalitarian mindset interacts with organizational level egalitarian HR practices to facilitate social capital; (2) egalitarian mindset enhances employee proactivity through altruism and then relational social capital mechanisms; and egalitarian HR practices improve relational social capital which, in turn, leads to employee proactivity. Using a sample of 511 employees from service organizations in New Zealand and Australia, we find support for our conceptual arguments. Theoretical and practical implications derived from our results are discussed.