A Study On The Impact Of Perceived Overqualification On Proactive Behavior Of Employees From Company Z

With the rapid development of higher education in China in recent years,the human resources entering the labor market are increasingly higher-educated.However,due to the impact of the Covid-19,the overall demand for labor force has declined.Consequently,these highly-educated job seekers settle with jobs that are not matched with their qualifications in order to find work in a timely manner.This inevitably leads to the feeling of being undervalued and the problem of over-qualification which results to the decrease of employees’ enthusiasm and initiative in work,the frustration of self-confidence and self-esteem,the loss of confidence in the future and development,the decrease of organizational performance and efficiency,the increase of employee turnover and other serious impacts.As a state-owned enterprise independently funded by the Development Zone Management Committee,Company Z enjoys high corporate recognition in the context of economic turbulence among stable job seekers which also entitled Company Z to a wide range of recruitment options.Under the same cost,it tends to hire high-quality talents to fill some positions that originally require lower qualifications.This results in the objective phenomenon of over-qualification,which makes employees prone to the perception of over-qualification after entering the company.Based on the human-environment matching theory,this study focuses on the perception of over-qualification among employees of Company Z.It investigates the relationship between over-qualification and proactive behavior,while introducing organizational identification as a moderating variable.Firstly,questionnaires were distributed to Company Z employees,and a total of 160 valid questionnaires were collected.Secondly,statistical software was used to analyze the data,and the internal relationship between the perception of over-qualification and proactive behavior was further clarified.The study found that the perception of over-qualification has a significant negative effect on employee proactive behavior while organizational identification plays a moderating role in the relationship between the perception of surplus qualifications and proactive behavior,i.e.,when employees have higher organizational identification,the negative impact of the perception of over-qualifications on proactive behavior will be weakened.Finally,based on the above conclusions,the problems and causes of the perception of over-qualifications in Company Z are further analyzed,and the following four optimization suggestions are proposed:(1)strengthen enterprise culture construction and create a good organizational atmosphere;(2)improve the salary system and employment mechanism,and create a fair job environment;(3)optimize the match between people and positions and suppress knowledge hiding;(4)provide career counseling and guidance and clarify employees’ future work directions.These above mentioned recommendations helps with the company leaders to address the perception of over-qualification among employees.By taking appropriate measures to enhance the organizational identity of employees,stimulate overqualified employees to exhibit more proactive behavior,and thereby promote the healthy development of the organization.