Psychology Commons^™

Employee, Manage Thyself: The Potentially Negative Implications Of Expecting Employees To Behave Proactively, Mark Bolino, Sorin Valcea, Jaron Harvey

Business Faculty Publications

Previous research investigating proactive behaviour at work has generally focused on the ways in which proactive behaviour enables individuals and organizations to be more effective. Although it has been noted that some proactive behaviours may be undesirable or have potentially negative consequences, researchers have not examined the ‘dark side’ of proactive behaviour in any systematic way. In this conceptual paper, we explore the potentially negative individual and organizational implications of expecting employees to behave proactively. Specifically, at the individual level, we argue that expecting proactive behaviour in organizations may contribute to stress among employees and friction between proactive and less …