To Mentor or Not to Mentor: A Job Demands-Resources Perspective
Author
Abstract
Understanding the antecedents of willingness to mentor is critical to facilitating positive mentoring relationships. Using the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model as the theoretical foundation, we investigated the influence of perceived supervisor support (job resource) and workload (job demand) on employees’ willingness to mentor through work engagement and emotional exhaustion. Data were collected in two waves from 423 full-time employees in Taiwan. Based on the results of structural equation modeling, we found that perceived supervisor support was positively related to employees’ willingness to mentor through its positive influence on work engagement. While workload was positively related to emotional exhaustion, the mediating relationship between workload and willingness to mentor was not supported. The theoretical and practical implications of our research findings are discussed.
Key Words
mentoring, job demands-resources model, willingness to mentor, emotional exhaustion, work engagement
