Employees' self-efficacy and perception of individual learning in teams: The cross-level moderating role of team-learning behavior

Abstract

Despite the importance of employee learning for organizational effectiveness, scholars have yet to identify the factors that influence employees' perception of individual learning. This paper identified employees' self-efficacy as a potential antecedent to their perception of individual learning in the context of teamwork. We also hypothesized that team-learning behavior had a moderating effect on the relationship between employees' self-efficacy and their perception of individual learning. We conducted a study of 236 teams working in a retail firm, comprising 236 team supervisors and 1397 employees, and analyzed the data using hierarchical linear modeling. This study revealed that employees' individual-level self-efficacy was positively associated with their perception of individual learning in teams. Additionally, team-learning behaviors moderated the positive relationship between employees' self-efficacy and the perception of individual learning. This study has theoretical and practical implications for a more nuanced understanding of the perception of individual learning in the context of teamwork. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.