Enjoy the pain that you cannot avoid: Investigation on the relationship between developmental job experience and employees’ innovative behavior

This study investigates the positive and negative effects of developmental job experience (DJE) on employees’ innovative behavior. Relying on transactional stress theory, we hypothesize the mediating roles of psychological capital and burnout in the relationship between DJE and innovative behavior as assessed by team leaders. The results reveal that DJE is only indirectly related to innovative behavior via psychological capital and burnout when employees’ perceived job mobility within an organization (PJM) is low (moderated mediation). We also find that employees’ PJM significantly and differentially moderates the relationships between DJE and psychological capital and between DJE and burnout. Our study provides both theoretical and practical guidance on how to utilize developmental jobs to promote employees’ innovative behavior.