The WORK STRESS AND CAREER SUCCESS: THE MODERATING ROLE OF LEADER SUPPORT

Tika Siregar

doi:10.33365/technobiz.v9i1.1359

Tika Siregar Universitas Sriwijaya

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33365/technobiz.v9i1.1359

Keywords: Objective Career Success, Subjective Career Success, Work-Stress, Leader Support, Startup

Abstract

Career success has become an important topic in organizational research due to its relevance for employee retention, well-being, and organizational effectiveness. Drawing on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study examines how work stress influences both objective and subjective career success, and investigates whether leader support moderates these relationships. A quantitative survey approach was applied, involving 250 employees from various startup companies in West Sumatera. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) through SmartPLS. The findings reveal that work stress negatively and significantly affects both objective and subjective career success. Additionally, Leader support does not moderate the relationship between work stress and objective career success, but it significantly moderates the effect of work stress on subjective career success, reducing its negative impact. The study extends COR theory in the context of startups and highlights the importance of stress management programs and leadership development.

References

S. Seibert, J. Akkermans, and C. J. Liu, “Understanding Contemporary Career Success : A Critical Review,” Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav., vol. 11, pp. 509–534, 2024.

L. Xin, W. Zhou, M. Li, and F. Tang, “Career Success Criteria Clarity as a Predictor of Employment Outcomes,” Front. Psychol., vol. 11, no. April, pp. 1–11, 2020, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00540.

Y. M. Kundi, S. Hollet-Haudebert, and J. Peterson, “Linking Protean and Boundaryless Career Attitudes to Subjective Career Success: A Serial Mediation Model,” J. Career Assess., vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 263–282, 2021, doi: 10.1177/1069072720959782.

D. Spurk, A. Hirschi, and N. Dries, “Antecedents and Outcomes of Objective Versus Subjective Career Success: Competing Perspectives and Future Directions,” J. Manage., vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 35–69, 2019, doi: 10.1177/0149206318786563.

M. Piteira and S. Cervai, “Objective and subjective career success : individual , structural , and behavioral determinants on European hybrid workers,” Front. Psychol., no. June, pp. 1–12, 2023, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1161015.

M. Butt, B. Hu, K. Shafi, and B. H. Malik, “The Negative Relationship between Work Family Conflict and Career Satisfaction and the Role of Individual Differences,” Int. J. Acad. Res. Bus. Soc. Sci., vol. 5, no. 8, 2015, doi: 10.6007/ijarbss/v5-i8/1766.

B. Erdogan, S. Kudret, E. D. Campion, T. N. Bauer, J. McCarthy, and B. H. Cheng, “Under Pressure: Employee Work Stress, Supervisory Mentoring Support, and Employee Career Success,” Pers. Psychol., pp. 1–22, 2024, doi: 10.1111/peps.12662.

N. Zahoor, N. A. C. Abdullah, and N. Zakaria, “The role of high performance work practices, work-family conflict, job stress and personality in affecting work life balance,” Manag. Sci. Lett., vol. 11, pp. 1367–1378, 2021, doi: 10.5267/j.msl.2020.11.003.

J. He et al., “Occupational stress and mental health among civil servants during COVID-19 in China: The mediation effect of social support and work-family conflict,” Heliyon, vol. 9, no. 11, p. e21930, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21930.

S. E. (1989). Hobfoll, “Conservation of Resources A New Attempt at Conceptualizing Stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513–524),” Am. Psychol., vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 513–524, 1989.

R. Shrivastava et al., “‘We are everyone’s ASHAs but who’s there for us?’ a qualitative exploration of perceptions of work stress and coping among rural frontline workers in Madhya Pradesh, India,” Soc. Sci. Med., vol. 336, no. October 2022, p. 116234, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116234.

S. M. Yesuf, B. T. Derseh, D. Girma, and T. M. Dejene, “Work-related stress and associated factors among health professionals in zone 1, Afar region, Ethiopia,” Heliyon, vol. 8, no. 12, p. e12167, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12167.

A. Türe and İ. Akkoç, “The mediating role of social support in the effect of perceived organizational support and psychological empowerment on career satisfaction in nurses,” Perspect. Psychiatr. Care, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. 985–993, 2020, doi: 10.1111/ppc.12562.

A. Hirschi, N. Nagy, F. Baumeler, C. S. Johnston, and D. Spurk, “Assessing Key Predictors of Career Success: Development and Validation of the Career Resources Questionnaire,” J. Career Assess., vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 338–358, 2018, doi: 10.1177/1069072717695584.

S. Sonnentag and L. L. Meier, “Gain and loss cycles revisited : What to consider when testing key assumptions of conservation of resources theory,” vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 154–167, 2024, doi: 10.1177/27550311241247833.

N. Karakurt, Y. Erden, and A. Sis Çelik, “The relationship between nurses’ work stress levels and work-family conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic and the affecting factors: A study from Turkey,” Arch. Psychiatr. Nurs., vol. 42, no. January 2022, pp. 61–67, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.apnu.2022.12.015.

E. Ekingen and M. Teles, “Mediating effect of work stress in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and nurses’ organizational and professional turnover intentions,” Arch. Psychiatr. Nurs., no. January, 2020.

R. Mello, V. Suutari, and M. Dickmann, “Taking stock of expatriates’ career success after international assignments: A review and future research agenda,” Hum. Resour. Manag. Rev., vol. 33, no. 1, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2022.100913.

M. Andresen and J. Stapf, “Is career what you make it? A critical review of research on social origin and career success,” Eur. Manag. J., vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 1056–1071, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.emj.2022.12.008.

V. P. Weale, Y. D. Wells, and J. Oakman, “The work-life interface: a critical factor between work stressors and job satisfaction,” Pers. Rev., vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 880–897, 2019, doi: 10.1108/PR-09-2016-0226.

S. K. Nisar and M. I. Rasheed, “Stress and performance: Investigating relationship between occupational stress, career satisfaction, and job performance of police employees,” J. Public Aff., vol. 20, no. 1, 2020, doi: 10.1002/pa.1986.

P. Trivellas, P. Reklitis, and C. Platis, “The Effect of Job Related Stress on Employees’ Satisfaction: A Survey in Health Care,” Procedia - Soc. Behav. Sci., vol. 73, pp. 718–726, 2013, doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.02.110.

I. Bourini, A. Jahmani, R. Mumtaz, and F. A. Al-Bourini, “Investigating the managerial practices’ effect on Employee-Perceived Service Quality with the moderating role of supportive leadership behavior,” Eur. Res. Manag. Bus. Econ., vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 8–14, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.iedeen.2018.11.001.

S. Blomberg, M. Rosander, and S. V. Einarsen, “Role ambiguity as an antecedent to workplace bullying: Hostile work climate and supportive leadership as intermediate factors,” Scand. J. Manag., vol. 40, no. 2, p. 101328, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.scaman.2024.101328.

U. Sekaran and R. Bougie, Research methods for business: A skill building approach. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.

K. M. Shockley, H. Ureksoy, O. B. Rodopman, L. F. Poteat, and T. R. Dullaghan, “Development of a new scale to measure subjective career success: A mixed-methods study,” J. Organ. Behav., vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 128–153, 2016, doi: 10.1002/job.

H. Tlaiss and S. Kauser, “The impact of gender, family, and work on the career advancement of Lebanese women managers,” Gend. Manag. An Int. J., vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 8–36, 2011, doi: 10.1108/17542411111109291.

A. Shukla and R. Srivastava, “Development of short questionnaire to measure an extended set of role expectation conflict, coworker support and work-life balance: The new job stress scale,” Cogent Bus. Manag., vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1–19, 2016, doi: 10.1080/23311975.2015.1134034.

M. Sarstedt, J. F. Hair Jr, C. Nitzl, C. M. Ringle, and M. C. Howard, “Beyond a tandem analysis of SEM and PROCESS: Use of PLS-SEM for mediation analyses!,” Int. J. Mark. Res., vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 288–299, 2020.

J. F. Hair, G. T. M. Hult, C. M. Ringle, M. Sarstedt, and K. O. Thiele, “Mirror, mirror on the wall: a comparative evaluation of composite-based structural equation modeling methods,” J. Acad. Mark. Sci., vol. 45, pp. 616–632, 2017.

Hair, J. J. Risher, M. Sarstedt, and C. M. Ringle, “The Results of PLS-SEM Article information,” Eur. Bus. Rev., vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 2–24, 2019.

F. Ali, S. M. Rasoolimanesh, M. Sarstedt, C. M. Ringle, and K. Ryu, “An assessment of the use of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) in hospitality research,” Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manag., vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 514–538, 2018.

J. Henseler, T. Müller, and F. Schuberth, “New guidelines for the use of PLS path modeling in hospitality, travel, and tourism research,” in Applying partial least squares in tourism and hospitality research, Emerald Publishing Limited, 2018, pp. 17–33.

S. E. Hobfoll, “Conservation of resource caravans and engaged settings,” J. Occup. Organ. Psychol., vol. 84, no. 1, pp. 116–122, 2011, doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8325.2010.02016.x.

U. Akram, “Assessing subjective career success : the role of career commitment , career resilience and self-e ffi cacy : a evidence from hospitality industry,” Int. J. Qual. Serv. Sci., no. December, 2023, doi: 10.1108/IJQSS-02-2023-0022.