Linking Superior Developmental Feedback with Employee Job Satisfaction? A Conservation of Resources Perspective

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that superior developmental feedback (SDF) has a mixed impact on employees’ long-term development, but its effect on job satisfaction (JS) has been generally ignored. Therefore, this study proposes and tests a model based on the conservation of resources theory to shed light on how feedback from a leader or superior may increase employees’ JS. In this study, researchers analyzed responses from a two-stage questionnaire distributed to 296 employees to test the proposed hypotheses using MPlus 7.4 software. The results show that employee resilience (ER) partially mediates the link between SDF and JS. The results also indicate that the relationship between SDF and ER is strengthened by job complexity (JC). The results provide novel avenues for further study and practice in the areas of SDF and JS.