Job insecurity as a barrier to thriving during COVID-19 pandemic: a moderated mediation model of knowledge hiding and benevolent leadership

Purpose Drawing upon the conservation of resource (COR) theory, the purpose of this paper is to explore the mediating role of knowledge hiding in the relationship between job insecurity and two dimensions of thriving at work, i.e. learning and vitality. The study further aims to investigate the moderating role of benevolent leadership in the aforementioned mediating relationship by applying the moderated mediation framework. Design/methodology/approach The sample for the study consisted of employees working in service sector in India. The hypotheses were tested with two wave survey data collected from 365 employees during the COVID-19 pandemic when the Indian Government was lifting phase wise restrictions. Data was analyzed using mediation and moderated mediation analyses on PROCESS v 3.0 macro. Findings Results showed that knowledge hiding mediated the relationship between job insecurity and both dimensions of thriving at work. Further, benevolent leadership was seen to moderate the mediated relationship providing support for the moderated mediation framework. Practical implications The results highlight the significance of providing benevolent leadership training to the managers to help them cope with the anxiety arising out of job insecurity. Further, employees need to be cautioned regarding the deleterious effects of knowledge hiding, which can impede their own learning and vitality. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the mediating role of knowledge hiding in the relationship between job insecurity and thriving. Further, the role played by benevolent leadership in mitigating the harmful effects of job insecurity especially during COVID-19 pandemic is a unique contribution of the study.