Linking leaders’ learning goal orientation to employees’ innovative work behaviour, job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion: leaders’ provision of learning-oriented goals and feedback and coaching accuracy

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ABSTRACT Providing employees with opportunities to learn and develop oneself is essential in cultivating a productive, happy and healthy workforce. In this study, we explore the role of leaders’ learning goal orientation, and their provision of (developmental) performance management practices to employees, in this regard. More specifically, we hypothesize that leaders’ learning goal orientation is positively related to their provision of learning-oriented goals to employees, in which employees have the opportunity to improve and develop their abilities and knowledge over time. Next, we expect that leaders’ provision of learning-oriented goals to employees has a positive relationship with employees’ innovative work behaviour and job satisfaction, and a negative relationship with their emotional exhaustion. Moreover, we study the role of feedback and coaching accuracy as a moderator, strengthening the relationships between learning-oriented goals and each of the three outcomes. Data from a time-lagged survey design using multi-informant reports from 687 employees and 277 corresponding leaders confirms our hypotheses. Interestingly, the data also indicates that when employees receive low levels of feedback and coaching accuracy, leaders’ provision of learning-oriented goals to employees shows no significant relationship with employees’ job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion.