Synergistic Rewards for Proactive Behaviors: A Study on the Differentiated Incentive Mechanism for a New Generation of Knowledge Employees Using Mixed fsQCA and NCA Analysis
In practice, the new generation of knowledge-based employees often exhibits a “lying flat” attitude. This reflects the failure of organizational incentive mechanisms. In order to improve the incentive system and encourage employees to be proactive, the study explores and compares the synergistic eff...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Systems |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/7/500 |
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| author | Jie Zhou Junqing Yang Bonoua Faye |
| author_facet | Jie Zhou Junqing Yang Bonoua Faye |
| author_sort | Jie Zhou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In practice, the new generation of knowledge-based employees often exhibits a “lying flat” attitude. This reflects the failure of organizational incentive mechanisms. In order to improve the incentive system and encourage employees to be proactive, the study explores and compares the synergistic effects of different rewards tools on various forms of proactive behavior in the new generation of knowledge employees. After conducting fsQCA and NCA analyses on paired data from 93 leaders and 210 employees based on the ERG theory, the findings indicate that no single reward tool is a necessary condition for triggering high proactive behavior. Instead, different reward tools need to work in synergy to produce effective motivation. Three patterns drive employees to exhibit high individual task proactivity. They are the “Dual-Drive Salary Security and Moderate Labor Dominant” pattern, the “Moderate Labor Dominant” pattern, and the “Salary Security Dominant” pattern. Two patterns drive employees to demonstrate high team member proactivity, namely the “Employee Care Dominant High-Investment” pattern and the “Pay Fairness Dominant High-Investment” pattern. Additionally, good work experience (i.e., colleague relationships) in the workplace has a significant impact on both types of proactive behavior. The research conclusions will provide insights and references for enterprise managers to design more targeted compensation incentive policies and unleash the vitality of the new generation of knowledgeable employees. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-624c7f8e487e4abda24b7167a4529d1e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2079-8954 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Systems |
| spelling | doaj-art-624c7f8e487e4abda24b7167a4529d1e2025-08-20T03:08:10ZengMDPI AGSystems2079-89542025-06-0113750010.3390/systems13070500Synergistic Rewards for Proactive Behaviors: A Study on the Differentiated Incentive Mechanism for a New Generation of Knowledge Employees Using Mixed fsQCA and NCA AnalysisJie Zhou0Junqing Yang1Bonoua Faye2School of International Trade, Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, Taiyuan 030006, ChinaSchool of Business Administration, Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, Taiyuan 030006, ChinaSchool of Public Administration and Law, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, ChinaIn practice, the new generation of knowledge-based employees often exhibits a “lying flat” attitude. This reflects the failure of organizational incentive mechanisms. In order to improve the incentive system and encourage employees to be proactive, the study explores and compares the synergistic effects of different rewards tools on various forms of proactive behavior in the new generation of knowledge employees. After conducting fsQCA and NCA analyses on paired data from 93 leaders and 210 employees based on the ERG theory, the findings indicate that no single reward tool is a necessary condition for triggering high proactive behavior. Instead, different reward tools need to work in synergy to produce effective motivation. Three patterns drive employees to exhibit high individual task proactivity. They are the “Dual-Drive Salary Security and Moderate Labor Dominant” pattern, the “Moderate Labor Dominant” pattern, and the “Salary Security Dominant” pattern. Two patterns drive employees to demonstrate high team member proactivity, namely the “Employee Care Dominant High-Investment” pattern and the “Pay Fairness Dominant High-Investment” pattern. Additionally, good work experience (i.e., colleague relationships) in the workplace has a significant impact on both types of proactive behavior. The research conclusions will provide insights and references for enterprise managers to design more targeted compensation incentive policies and unleash the vitality of the new generation of knowledgeable employees.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/7/500individual task proactivityteam-member proactivitytotal rewardsERG theoryconfiguration effect |
| spellingShingle | Jie Zhou Junqing Yang Bonoua Faye Synergistic Rewards for Proactive Behaviors: A Study on the Differentiated Incentive Mechanism for a New Generation of Knowledge Employees Using Mixed fsQCA and NCA Analysis Systems individual task proactivity team-member proactivity total rewards ERG theory configuration effect |
| title | Synergistic Rewards for Proactive Behaviors: A Study on the Differentiated Incentive Mechanism for a New Generation of Knowledge Employees Using Mixed fsQCA and NCA Analysis |
| title_full | Synergistic Rewards for Proactive Behaviors: A Study on the Differentiated Incentive Mechanism for a New Generation of Knowledge Employees Using Mixed fsQCA and NCA Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Synergistic Rewards for Proactive Behaviors: A Study on the Differentiated Incentive Mechanism for a New Generation of Knowledge Employees Using Mixed fsQCA and NCA Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Synergistic Rewards for Proactive Behaviors: A Study on the Differentiated Incentive Mechanism for a New Generation of Knowledge Employees Using Mixed fsQCA and NCA Analysis |
| title_short | Synergistic Rewards for Proactive Behaviors: A Study on the Differentiated Incentive Mechanism for a New Generation of Knowledge Employees Using Mixed fsQCA and NCA Analysis |
| title_sort | synergistic rewards for proactive behaviors a study on the differentiated incentive mechanism for a new generation of knowledge employees using mixed fsqca and nca analysis |
| topic | individual task proactivity team-member proactivity total rewards ERG theory configuration effect |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/7/500 |
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