Is guanxi-building in the workplace a boost or a burden for employees? Exploring the role of relational job crafting

Guanxi in Chinese culture is deeply rooted in asymmetric interpersonal interactions, where favors and reciprocity play central roles. This emphasis on guanxi extends to management practices, known as guanxi human resource management (HRM) practices. Drawing on the transactional theory of stress and coping, we explore why individuals with high self-monitoring are more likely to adapt to workplace stress induced by guanxi HRM practices, which in turn motivates them to engage in relational job crafting (RJC) as a coping strategy. We further propose that engaging in RJC serves as both a boost and a burden for individuals, thereby highlighting its double-edged consequences. Our mediated-moderation framework was examined with a three-wave survey conducted with 114 supervisors and 268 employees from Taiwan. The results indicated that self-monitoring moderated the relationship between guanxi HRM practices and RJC. As predicted, RJC was positively associated with both ingratiation and work fatigue. Specifically, individuals with high self-monitoring were more likely to proactively engage in RJC in response to guanxi HRM practices. Furthermore, RJC mediated the interactive effects of guanxi HRM practices and self-monitoring on ingratiation and work fatigue. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.