The role of individual and organizational characteristics in feedback seeking behaviour in the initial career stage

The present study investigates whether the frequency by which employees seek informal feedback and the quality of the self-initiated feedback influences perceived career development. Furthermore, we investigated goal orientation and perceived learning culture, as antecedents of feedback seeking behaviour. Data were collected from 116 financial experts from various multinational corporations worldwide. Results show that particularly the quality of self-initiated feedback from supervisors positively affects perceived career development. The quality of self-initiated feedback from supervisors mediates the relation between the perceived learning culture and perceived career development. Furthermore, learning goal orientation directly relates to perceived career development. Last, our results highlight the significance of creating a learning culture in which informal feedback is stimulated. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords:

• informal feedback seeking
• goal orientation
• perceived learning culture
• perceived career development