Managerial response to ambitious employees.

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the extent to which managers supported ambitious employees. The research endeavoured to establish relationships among key variables of gender, age, mentoring and ambition. This allowed for the determination of the more supportive gender as well as the age category of the most supportive managers. It also determined the extent to which workplace jealousy existed from a managerial perspective towards ambitious employees. This study was conducted using a questionnaire methodology and within this context of field research, respondents were made up of 100 managers selected through snowball sampling from diverse sectors of the economy. A quantitative research design was employed using a realism paradigm. The main research findings indicate that managers themselves were highly ambitious by nature and were most likely to support ambitious employees. In particular, male managers demonstrated marginally more support towards ambitious employees. The relationship between age and ambition showed that older managers were more supportive of ambitious employees. Finally, the link between lack of support and managerial jealousy was established to a very limited extent through the findings of this study. Further research to extend the current investigation can be achieved through the insight of employees who could be included as potential respondents. This study is biased towards the manager, where only manager’s responses towards ambitious employees were solicited. Future avenues of research involving both employees and managers would allow for a more articulated discussion on managerial response to ambitious employees. The study is unique since it will contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of managerial attitude to ambitious employees and is based on empirical research findings using the opinions of practicing managers from various sectors of the economy.