Being proactive in the age of AI: exploring the effectiveness of leaders' AI symbolization in stimulating employee job crafting

Purpose This study aims to explore whether, how and when leaders' artificial intelligence (AI) symbolization (i.e. the demonstration of leaders' acceptance of and support for AI by engaging in AI-related behaviors and/or displaying objects that reflect their affinity for AI) affects employee job crafting behaviors. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted two studies (i.e. an experiment and a multi-wave field survey) with samples from different contexts (i.e. United States and China) to test our theoretical model. The authors used ordinary least squares (OLS) and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to test the hypotheses. Findings Leaders' AI symbolization is positively related to employee change readiness and, in turn, promotes employee job crafting. Moreover, employee-attributed impression management motives moderate the positive indirect effect of leaders' AI symbolization on employee job crafting via change readiness, such that this indirect effect is stronger when employee-attributed impression management motives are low (vs high). Practical implications Leaders should engage in AI symbolization to promote employee job crafting and avoid behaviors that may lead employees to attribute their AI symbolization to impression management. Originality/value By introducing the concept of leaders' AI symbolization, this study breaks new ground by illustrating how leaders' AI symbolization positively influences employees' change readiness, as well as job crafting in the workplace. Further, integrating AI as a novel and timely context for evaluating job crafting contributes to the literature where empirical research is relatively scant, particularly regarding the factors that prompt employees to engage in job crafting.