Asking how to fish vs. asking for fish: Antecedents and outcomes of different types of help-seeking at work

In the modern workplace, it is virtually impossible to succeed without seeking any help from others. Despite its widely recognized importance, several areas surrounding help-seeking have not yet been clearly understood in the organization literature. Specifically, it is unclear whether seeking help always benefits employees in need, and how various work demands drive help-seeking behavior in different ways. In this research, we drew from the dual-type view of help-seeking (i.e., autonomous and dependent help-seeking) and the challenge-hindrance stressors framework to elaborate how seeking help of different types influences employees’ work competence-related outcomes in various directions, what work demands drive employees to seek different types of help, and when encountering work demands is particularly influential on their help-seeking tendencies. Evidence from a field study (Study 1) showed that while challenge stressors increased employees’ autonomous help-seeking, hindrance stressors increased dependent help-seeking especially for employees with greater workflow centrality. Moreover, autonomous help-seeking benefited help-seekers’ job performance ratings through increased self-perceived competence, whereas dependent help-seeking hurt their job performance via decreased perceived competence by coworkers. To cross-validate our findings, we then examined and replicated our core findings with three experimental vignette studies (Studies 2, 3a, and 3b). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.