The Effect of Proactive Behavior on Competence Improvement in a Workplace Through Reflection

A Focus on Young Workers in the 20s

Abstract

Although proactive behavior, which is characterized by individuals’ actively and proactively working on themselves and their surrounding environment to adapt to an organization, improves working ability and self-understanding in the workplace, the process has not been studied. This study examines the effect of young workers’ proactive behavior on the improvement of their competence at work, focusing on the mediation effect of reflection. A quantitative survey was conducted on 942 employees of Japanese companies in their 20s. Their mean age is 26.6 years; 46.0% are females. Factor analysis demonstrated that proactive behavior comprised feedback-seeking, organizational information-seeking, and networking behavior, and that their impact on ability improvement was examined through reflection. Path analysis showed that the feedback-seeking and organizational information-seeking behaviors of young workers positively influence the improvement of competence in the workplace through the mediation effect of reflection. Based on these results, the significance of this study and future issues are discussed.