Paying it forward? The mixed effects of organizational inducements on executive mentoring

• Published date: 01 September 2018
• Author: Jeffrey Yip,Dayna O. Walker
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21901
• Date: 01 September 2018

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Paying it forward? The mixed effects of organizational

inducements on executive mentoring

Dayna O. Walker

1

| Jeffrey Yip

2

1

University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit,

Michigan

2

Claremont Graduate University, Claremont,

California

Correspondence

Dayna O. Walker, College of Business

Administration, University of Detroit Mercy,

4001 W. McNichols Road, Detroit, MI 48221-

3038.

Email: walkerda9@udmercy.edu

How might organizational inducements influence the mentoring behavior of senior executives?

In a multisource study of senior executives (n= 239) and their direct reports (n= 1,098), the

researchers found mixed results—relational inducements (e.g., investments in career develop-

ment) were positively associated with mentoring whereas transactional inducements

(e.g., compensation) were negatively associated. Results are explained from signaling and self-

determination theory wherein inducements communicate organizational priorities that either

uphold or undermine mentoring behavior. While prior research has examined the benefits of

inducements on job performance, this study reveals that inducements can have differential and

unintended consequence on prosocial and relational behavior such as mentoring. It is the first

study to examine the unintended and differential consequence of inducements on mentoring

behavior. In addition, the findings challenge assumptions about the trickle-down benefits of

organizational rewards and suggest that the consequences of human capital investments

extend far beyond the focal leader.

KEYWORDS

CEO compensation, leadership, mentoring, motivation, reward systems

1|INTRODUCTION

Organizations make high-stakes investments in their executives

through a range of inducements such as financial inducements,

coaching, training, and development. How are leaders influenced by

these inducements? While prior research has established the positive

effects of inducements on executive performance (Combs, Liu, Hall, &

Ketchen, 2006; Wowak, Gómez-Mejia, & Steinbach, 2017), the

effects of inducements on relational outcomes, such as mentoring,

have not been examined. This is surprising, given the importance of

mentoring to executive effectiveness (De Janasz, Sullivan, & Whiting,

2003; McDonald, Keeves, & Westphal, 2017; McDonald & Westphal,

2013) and the salience of organizational inducements in reinforcing

executive behavior (Devers, Cannella, Reilly, & Yoder, 2007).

This study examines the effects of organizational inducements

on the mentoring behavior of senior executives—leaders that are

highly influential within the organization (Hambrick & Mason, 1984),

targets of strong organizational inducements (Larkin, Pierce, & Gino,

2012; Pissaris, Heavey, & Golden, 2017), and in positions where men-

toring is valued and critical to leadership development (De Janasz

et al., 2003; Groves, 2007; McDonald & Westphal, 2013). More spe-

cifically, the study examines if and how leaders reciprocate the bene-

fits of organizational inducements indirectly through mentoring. The

relationship between organizational inducements and executive men-

toring represents an ideal phenomenon to examine the “pay it for-

ward”effect of indirect reciprocity (Baker & Bulkley, 2014), where

the benefits of an organization's investment extend beyond the focal

leader and have a positive and indirect benefit on others, through the

outcome of executive mentoring. This relationship has not been

examined in prior research.

Organizational inducements are central to employment relation-

ships and the psychological contract between employees and the

organization (Rousseau, 1995). March and Simon (1958) described

inducements as both monetary and nonmonetary rewards to

employees, associated with the organizational expectation that

inducements would increase the recipient's “motivation to produce”

and their “motivation to participate”in the organization (p. 83). In the

context of work relationships, research on organizational inducements

has focused primarily on how inducements influence employee citi-

zenship behavior (Hui, Lee, & Wang, 2015). Although organizational

DOI: 10.1002/hrm.21901

Hum Resour Manage. 2018;57:1189–1203. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hrm © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 1189