When are overqualified employees creative? It depends on contextual factors

• Published date: 01 July 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/job.2054
• Date: 01 July 2016
• Author: Christiane Spitzmueller,Aleksandra Luksyte

When are overqualified employees creative? It

depends on contextual factors

ALEKSANDRA LUKSYTE

1

*AND CHRISTIANE SPITZMUELLER

2

1

Management and Organizations, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia

2

Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

Summary The research on perceived overqualification has mainly examined its negative consequences. Defined,

employees who feel overqualified have surplus talent and thus can be excellent workers if managed properly;

yet, empirical evidence in this domain is lacking. Building on person–environment fit theory, this research

explored whether, when, and how employees who feel overqualified can engage in creative performance.

The results of a multi-source field study (N= 113 employees and 19 supervisors) supported theoretical predic-

tions. Perceived overqualification was related positively to supervisor-rated creative performance when these

workers felt supported and appreciated and successfully negotiated developmental idiosyncratic deals. Oppor-

tunities to mentor others had an impact on the relationship between perceived overqualification and

supervisor-rated creativity, although the simple slopes were non-significant. This study is novel in that it

unpacked actionable steps that organizations can utilize to motivate this large segment of workforce to use

their surplus qualifications constructively by, for example, engaging in creative performance. Copyright ©

2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Keywords: perceived overqualification; creative performance; perceived organizational support; mentoring

others; i-deals

In the modern global economy, large numbers of employees across the world report significant levels of

overqualification for the jobs they currently occupy (O’Connell, 2010; Randstad-Workmonitor, 2012), meaning that

their skills and abilities are being under-utilized. Adding to the problem, perceived overqualification has also been

found to be associated with a range of negative outcomes, such as poor job attitudes (Bolino & Feldman, 2000; Fine

& Nevo, 2008; Johnson & Johnson, 2000), decreased psychological health (S. Anderson & Winefield, 2011), coun-

terproductive work behavior (CWB; Liu, Luksyte, Wang, Zhou, & Shi, 2015; Luksyte, Spitzmueller, & Maynard,

2011), and increased voluntary turnover (Erdogan & Bauer, 2009; Maynard, Joseph, & Maynard, 2006; Maynard

& Parfyonova, 2013; McKee-Ryan & Harvey, 2011). Although considerable knowledge has been accumulated

about negative consequences of perceived overqualification, its links with positive outcomes remain under-explored.

Defined, perceived overqualification refers to feelings of having more knowledge, skills, abilities, and work experi-

ence than required for a job (Maynard et al., 2006). As such, employees who feel overqualified have the potential to

“make valuable contributions to their organizations”(Erdogan, Bauer, Peiro, & Truxillo, 2011, p. 223). Yet, empir-

ical evidence is lacking in this domain. Some preliminary research explored factors that could minimize negative

consequences of perceived overqualification (Erdogan & Bauer, 2009; Maynard & Parfyonova, 2013; Wu, Luksyte,

& Parker, 2014). Despite the informative nature of this research, virtually nothing is known about factors that may

motivate employees who feel overqualified to utilize their qualifications constructively by, for example, being

creative. Considering that approximately one in five American workers reported being overqualified (O’Connell,

2010), with comparable and even higher rates of perceived overqualification across the world, ranging from 30

percent in the European Union and 45 percent in Australia (Randstad-Workmonitor, 2012), the information about

how organizations might manage this large group of potentially excellent employees is important.

*Correspondence to: Aleksandra Luksyte, Management and Organizations, The Universityof Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley,

WA 6009, Australia. E-mail: alex.luksyte@uwa.edu.au

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Received 17 April 2014

Revised 14 July 2015, Accepted 06 September 2015

Journal of Organizational Behavior, J. Organiz. Behav. 37, 635–653 (2016)

Published online 28 September 2015 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/job.2054

Research Article

Employees who feel overqualified may excel in those work domains that require outstanding credentials such as

creativity or the generation of novel and useful ideas that benefit multiple stakeholders (Byron, Khazanchi, &

Nazarian, 2010; Tierney, Farmer, & Graen, 1999). Yet, they may lack intrinsic motivation to do so. Supporting this

idea, research has unpacked mixed findings regarding the link between perceived overqualification and other extra-

role work behaviors that, similar to creativity, also depend on a person’s motivation such as organizational citizen-

ship behavior (OCB). Specifically, in some studies, perceived overqualification has been negatively related to OCB

(Y. J. Chen, 2009); in others, this link was positive (Moorman & Harland, 2002), whereas some research found no

relationship (Holtom, Lee, & Tidd, 2002) or showed that this link depends on contextual factors such as presence of

similarly overqualified peers (Hu et al., in press). This mixed evidence suggests that the perceived overqualification–

creativity linkage likely depends on contextual factors. How can organizations encourage these workers to use their

surplus qualifications constructively (i.e., engage in creative performance)? Initial research has revealed that some

of the negative consequences (e.g., job dissatisfaction and voluntary turnover) can be mitigated if workers who feel

overqualified are psychologically empowered (Erdogan & Bauer, 2009). Unexpectedly, being empowered did not

influence performance of these workers, thus challenging future researchers to identify factors that may motivate

employees who feel overqualified to be productive and creative. Although empowerment proved effective in

minimizing negative consequences of perceived overqualification, “further research on the boundary conditions of

overqualification will aid organizations and employees in the management of overqualified employees”(Erdogan

& Bauer, 2009, p. 564).

In responding to this call, we build on person–environment (PE) fit theory (Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman, &

Johnson, 2005) to explore theory-based moderators in the perceived overqualification–creativity link. In deciding

what factors will prove effective in achieving this goal, we draw on the PE fit literature . Specifically, given the

importance of fit for organizational effectiveness, Kristof-Brown et al. (2005) concluded that

managers wishing to maximize the benefits of fit are encouraged to attend to the various aspects of the environment with

which fit may occur …the demandsand supplies of jobs, coworker characteristics,and organizational elements (p. 325).

Accordingly, we explore three types of contextual factors that may maximize the potentially high contributions of

employees who feel overqualified: (i) organizational (i.e., perceived organizational support (POS)), (ii) coworker-

based (i.e., mentoring others), and (iii) task-based (i.e., idiosyncratic deals (i-deals)) factors. We also focused on

these factors because they help address needs–supplies misfit of employees who feel overqualified. Specifically,

these workers’needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness will be satisfied when they feel appreciated and

cared for their well-being, have opportunities to utilize their credentials by mentoring others, and are able to nego-

tiate development opportunities. We argue that to use their qualifications constructively (e.g., creativity), employees

who feel overqualified need to have opportunities to improve the match between their qualifications and jobs.

We begin by introducing a conceptual basis for establishing moderators in the perceived overqualification–creativity

relationship, followed by hypotheses development.

Theoretical Background

Person–environment fit theory (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005) may prove useful in unpacking factors that may motivate

employees who feel overqualified to engage in creative performance. PE fit refers to the congruence between

people’s characteristics and attributes of their work environment (Kristof-Brown et al., 2005). One dimension of

PE fit is person–job fit, which is composed of two types: (i) needs–supplies fit, which captures how well the

environment fulfills people’s goals, values, and aspirations; and (ii) demands–abilities fit, characterized by the com-

patibility between employees’knowledge, skills, and abilities, and formal job requirements (Cable & DeRue, 2002;

Edwards, Cable, Williamson, Lambert, & Shipp, 2006). These two types of fit represent a complementary fit,

636 A. LUKSYTE AND C. SPITZMUELLER

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Organiz. Behav. 37, 635–653 (2016)

DOI: 10.1002/job