When young adults preparing to enter the workforce find task support stressful: an investigation on individual differences and implications for human resource management

Purpose - When young employees enter the workforce, young employees typically require extensive task support to perform well and adjust to the workplace setting. However, this support often incorporates controlling supervisor behaviors that can be stressful for them, such as negative feedback, close monitoring and time pressure. This can negatively impact young employees' turnover and work satisfaction. This article presents an empirical investigation of how individual differences related to self-regulation at work determine whether controlling supervisor behaviors are appraised as stressful by young adults preparing to enter the workforce. Design/methodology/approach - In total, 315 university students completed the Survey of Activity Styles (SAS) along with items relating to dispositional traits related to self-regulation in the workplace and appraising controlling supervisor behaviors. A hierarchical regression approach was used to test the study's hypotheses. Findings - The findings demonstrate that perceiving controlling supervisor behaviors as stressful by young adults preparing to enter the workforce depends on a combination of dispositional traits: emotional reactivity, extraversion and the need for achievement as well as preferences in structuring and completing tasks: multitasking and a methodical approach to tasks. Practical implications - The study's results suggest that depending on individual characteristics, providing effective task support to young adults entering the workforce may require adjusting how the task support is provided or guiding and training on how to approach and organize work tasks. Originality/value - Previous studies focused on the organizational and personal benefits of task support provided to young adults entering the workforce; the study demonstrates how individual differences linked to perceiving controlling supervisor behaviors can undermine these benefits.