Protean career orientation, supervisor perceptions and organizational career growth: a moderated mediation model

Protean career orientation is important for people to achieve career development in the unstable career environment, but less is known about how this orientation affects one's career development within the organizational context. Based on trait activation theory and leader-member exchange theory, this study explored the mediating roles of supervisor perceptions (i.e., supervisor-perceived employee-organization fit and supervisor-perceived proactive employee behavior) and the moderating role of job autonomy in the relationship between employee's protean career orientation and organizational career growth. Using a leader-member dyad data from 760 questionnaires, we found support for the mediating effects of supervisor-perceived employee-organization fit and proactive employee behavior. Our findings also showed that job autonomy weakened the mediating effect of supervisor-perceived proactive employee behaviors on the relationship between protean career orientation and organizational career growth. By taking an interactionist perspective, this study contributes to the literatures on protean career orientation and organizational career growth.