Self-Guided Development: A proactive approach to employee development DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Alison McConnell Dachner, B.S., M.B.A Graduate Program in Labor and Human Resources The Ohio State University 2013 Dissertation Committee: Jill E. Ellingson, Advisor Raymond A. Noe Howard J. Klein Copyrighted by Alison McConnell Dachner 2013 Abstract The effectiveness of formal training and development initiatives are becoming more difficult to realize in response to more dynamic and decentralized work environments. Organizations are increasingly relying on employee initiatives to react to rapid changes at work. The current prevalence of informal learning and development in practice emphasizes the need to further explore this phenomenon. To that effect, this dissertation defines self-guided development as a set of knowledge, skill or relationship building learning activities that generate human capital, but are unstructured, voluntary and not administratively or operationally provided by the organization. Self-guided development offers a flexible and efficient method for building human capital in today's work environment. This dissertation has two objectives. First, to embed self-guided development within the development literature as in important type of proactive behavior. Second, to define self-guided development and begin to establish its nomological network. Self- guided development should be influenced by both individual differences (e.g., proactive personality) and contextual variables (e.g., autonomy and training climate). In addition, these individual differences and contextual variables should interact such that employee's who possess traits that are likely to result in self-guided development are most likely to actually engage in self-guided development if the work environment and job support ii expression of those traits. Self-guided development should lead to valuable firm outcomes such as higher performance and knowledge sharing. This effect should be enhanced if employees experience positive exchange relationships at work with their organization, supervisor and coworkers. Field data was collected by surveying 103 employees at two times to examine the nature of self-guided development and test the hypotheses in this dissertation. Sixty-nine employees had data for both surveys that could be matched. Self-guided development was measured using 32 behaviors that met the criteria for being considered self-guided development. Content adequacy results supported the use of the 32 items. Results show that self-guided development was prevalent among employees. In fact, of the 32 self- guided development behaviors identified for this research, every single one was used to some extent by employees. Simple and hierarchical regression was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Both individual differences and contextual variables were found to influence engagement in self-guided development. Proactive personality and training climate each had a positive, significant relationship with self-guided development. However, there was not enough power to detect significant results for most of the other hypothesized relationships. iii Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to Joel and Liesel who make me happier than I could have ever imagined, as well as to my parents who have always emphasized the importance of hard work and education. iv Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have evolved without the time and effort that Jill Ellingson, Raymond Noe, and Howard Klein dedicated to me and this research. They have been instrumental in developing my skills as a researcher, writer, and teacher. Their patience and support is truly admirable and has given me confidence in my ability as an academic. Each of these members of my dissertation committee have provided me with opportunities that have exceeded all expectations. For these reasons, I am forever grateful to each one of them. The National Center for the Middle Market in the Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University funded this research. The Center also connected me with the organization where data was collected and used as the sample in this dissertation. Beth Polin, Brian Saxton, Willie Stormeyer, and Erin Makarius have provided more support and encouragement than I deserve during this dissertation process. Their willingness to listen to ideas and ability to assist when I hit a roadblock has never gone unnoticed. More importantly is their friendship that I can only strive to reciprocate to a similar degree. v Vita 2000 ................................................... Charles F. Brush High School 2004 .................................................... B.S. Human Resources, The Ohio State University 2008 .................................................... M.B.A., Cleveland State University 2008-present ........................................ Graduate Research Assistance, The Ohio State University Publications Dachner, A.M., Saxton, B.M., & Noe, R.A. (Forthcoming) To Infinity and Beyond: Training teams for unknown and dynamic situations using a narrative approach, an example from NASA. Human Resource Development Quarterly. Noe, R.A., Dachner, A.M., & Saxton, B.M. (2011). Team Training for Long-duration Missions in Isolated and Confined Environments: A Literature Review, an Operational Assessment, and Recommendations for Practice and Research. NASA/TM-2011-216162. Noe, R.A., Tews, M.J. & Dachner, A.M. (2010). Learner engagement: A new perspective for enhancing our understanding of learner motivation and workplace learning. Academy of Management Annals, 4, 279 -315. Fields of Study Major Field: Labor and Human Resouces vi Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v Vita ..................................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... xi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: The Importance of Self-Guided Development ................................................. 1 Chapter 2: Defining Self-Guided Development ................................................................. 9 Literature Review ............................................................................................................ 9 Employee Development prior to the 1990s ................................................................. 9 Employee Development during the 1990s ................................................................. 12 Employee Development in the 2000s ........................................................................ 15 The Value of Introducing Self-guided Development .................................................... 20 Self-Guided Development Defined ............................................................................... 22 Chapter 3: Nomological Network for Self-Guided Development .................................... 27 Antecedents of Self-Guided Development .................................................................... 27 vii An Interactional Approach ........................................................................................ 28 Proactive Personality and Self-Guided Development ............................................... 29 Job Autonomy and Self-Guided Development .......................................................... 31 The Interaction between Proactive Personality and Job Autonomy .......................... 32 Training Climate and Self-Guided Development ...................................................... 34 The Interaction between Proactive Personality and Training Climate ...................... 35 Outcomes of Self-Guided Development ....................................................................... 37 Self-Guided Development and Task Performance .................................................... 39 The Interaction between Self-Guided Development and Perceived Supervisor Support....................................................................................................................... 41 The Interaction between Self-Guided Development and Organization Commitment ................................................................................................................................... 43 Self-Guided Development and Knowledge Sharing ................................................. 44 The Interaction between Self-Guided Development and High-Quality Relationships ................................................................................................................................... 45 The Interaction between Self-Guided Development and Task Interdependence ...... 47 Chapter 4: Methodology ................................................................................................... 49 Sample ......................................................................................................................