The joint effects of personality and supervisory career mentoring in predicting occupational commitment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the joint effects of personality (agreeableness and conscientiousness) and perceived supervisory career mentoring (SCM) on occupational commitment (OC) in the Indian context. In addition, the role of SCM support as a predictor of OC was also analyzed. Design/methodology/approach – A cross-sectional survey-based research design was adopted using data from 121 employees of public and private sector organizations in North India. Findings – The results showed that the relationship between perceived SCM and OC was stronger for employees reporting high levels of agreeableness in contrast to low agreeableness. Further, perceived SCM support was observed as a significant predictor of OC in the Indian context. Practical implications – This study suggests that for fostering an occupationally committed workforce, it is critical for supervisory mentors to understand how to deal with employees of different personality traits. Further, supervisory mentors need to be trained and empowered to render vocational support to employees at all levels. Originality/value – The work advances the existing work on mentoring and vocational outcomes by demonstrating the crucial role of supervisory career support and personality interactions in predicting OC.