Employees with positive attitudes about accepting help from colleagues may perform better.
The willingness of American employees to accept colleagues’ offers of help was examined in four studies. Five common negative beliefs about accepting help were uncovered: finishing work with assistance may reduce their image at work, accepting help will indebt them to their coworkers, it is more satisfying to complete work without assistance, colleagues may be offering help for self-serving reasons and colleagues may not be providing high quality assistance.
The researchers found that employees with higher levels of such beliefs had poorer job performance, showed less citizenship behaviour and less creativity, and more negative job attitudes, according to their supervisors. Contrary to the negative beliefs, employees who accepted colleagues’ assistance were viewed more favourably by their supervisors than those who did not accept help.
The research suggests the need for workplace interventions to ease employee’s concerns about accepting help from colleagues.
doi.org/10.1037/apl0000300
Disclaimer: Published in InPsych on October 2018. The APS aims to ensure that information published in InPsych is current and accurate at the time of publication. Changes after publication may affect the accuracy of this information. Readers are responsible for ascertaining the currency and completeness of information they rely on, which is particularly important for government initiatives, legislation or best-practice principles which are open to amendment. The information provided in InPsych does not replace obtaining appropriate professional and/or legal advice.