A study led by Prof Wang Huatian, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Lingnan University, titled “Working Proactively in a Social Status-Diverse Workgroup: The Important Roles of Job Crafting Strategies and Emotional Intelligence” , finds that employees who proactively seek work resources in their jobs, are willing to learn, and at the same time possess higher emotional quotient, have significantly higher job performance and work engagement.
A research team jointly formed by Prof Wang Huatian, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Lingnan University, and the Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, conducted a study from September 2020 to December 2022, with hospitals as the research setting. Over a continuous period of four weeks, the study involved a total of 368 medical employees, including registered doctors, nurses, administrative employees across 42 different departments in three public hospitals in Shandong Province, China. The participants had an average age of 34.9 years and an average job tenure of 9.7 years. Each week, the participants were required to complete rating forms to record their own work performance, including whether they had engaged in proactive behaviours, their level of work engagement, and self-rated performance. The team divided the sample into two groups: high-ranking and low-ranking employees. They then used objective indicators such as the participants’ actual years of service and income to analyse the employee working groups’ social status diversity.
The research findings revealed that in work teams with significant disparities in seniority and income, junior employees who proactively sought guidance, advice, and opportunities from senior colleagues or supervisors demonstrated significantly higher job performance and engagement. In contrast, this effect was not pronounced among high-ranking employees. Furthermore, if employees possessed higher emotional intelligence (EI), such as the ability to read social cues, understand others’ emotions, judge appropriate timing for communication, and express themselves in a suitable manner with careful wording to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts, they were more successful in securing the resources they proactively sought.
Prof Wang Huatian explained, “In the context of cross-team collaboration within the workplace, although junior employees may find themselves at a disadvantage, often lacking influence and resources, they can turn this around by leveraging strong emotional intelligence and proactively creating opportunities (i.e., job crafting). By reframing the hierarchical gap with senior colleagues as a resource for learning, they can accelerate their growth, accumulate work experience more rapidly, and expand their professional networks. This can enhance their visibility and value within the team, paving the way for more favourable conditions in their future career development.”
Prof Wang added, “Although this study was conducted in a healthcare setting, the analytical results provide valuable insights applicable to various workplace environments. Taking Hong Kong as an example, its work culture is generally characterised by distinct hierarchies, diverse team backgrounds, and a strong emphasis on operational efficiency, commonly seen in large corporations, public institutions, financial services, and professional service industries. Many employees in these sectors also face intense internal competition, which poses even greater challenges for junior or early-career staff. Therefore, proactively seeking guidance, actively acquiring new knowledge and skills, and cultivating the ability to understand others’ emotions can help employees accumulate experience more effectively, create broader development opportunities, foster stronger synergies, and achieve sustained growth in a diverse and inclusive workplace.”
He suggests that enterprise managers should actively encourage junior employees to proactively seek advice. Additionally, EI training could be incorporated into team development programmes to strengthen employees’ social and adaptive skills.
