Learning to identify employees that are engaged, helpful and proactive

Purpose – The purposes of this paper are to: help managers and other practitioners learn about voluntary, helpful employee behavior; provide examples of how such behavior is manifest in everyday work situations, and demonstrate how to assess the behavior for recruitment and selection. A brief study is presented that demonstrates how valid and reliable measures may be used to identify employee predisposition for voluntary, helpful behavior. Design/methodology/approach – Two substantive components of this work are: a detailed literature review that describes and demonstrates the elements of voluntary, helpful behavior (v-hob); and a report of a brief correlational study that demonstrates how two short surveys may help in predicting employee voluntary, helpful behavior. Findings – Literature review reveals that v-hob is related to many positive employee outcomes among which are better work performance, more positive relationships with co-workers and managers, and lower turnover, as contrasted with employees-in-general. The study undertaken reveals two measures: job dedication, and contextual performance are valuable in predicting employee v-hob. Research limitations/implications – In the survey portion of this paper the sample size is relatively small yet amenable for statistical analysis. Study participants are representative of a single academic discipline and are representative of the same university. The two survey tools used have repeatedly been shown to have validity and reliability. Practical implications – This paper offers a detailed view of employee helpful behavior and it helps managers develop ways to assess one ' s proclivity for the behavior. Originality/value – This paper helps managers, HR specialists and others attain knowledge on the expression of employee v-hob. Two survey tools are provided to help identify employees who may be predisposed to offer this desirable behavior.