Navigating uncertainty: managing up as a solution to role ambiguity with positive effects on work engagement

Purpose Managing up, defined as employees’ proactive understanding of their leaders’ goals, needs or work styles and adapting their own behaviors accordingly, is highly valued in managerial practice. However, there is limited empirical evidence on its benefits beyond the relationship perspective as well as the underlying mechanisms. Drawing on role theory, this research aims to reveal the effect of managing up on role ambiguity and its downstream impact on work engagement as well as the moderating role of employee conscientiousness. Design/methodology/approach A three-wave online survey study was conducted with 322 employees to examine the proposed hypotheses. Findings Managing up is negatively related to role ambiguity and role ambiguity is negatively related to work engagement. Accordingly, managing up is positively related to work engagement via reduced role ambiguity. This indirect effect is stronger for highly conscientious employees, for whom the negative relationship between role ambiguity and engagement is more pronounced. Practical implications The findings suggest that employees can take a proactive role in clarifying their roles by managing up, and managers should encourage employees, especially those with high conscientiousness, to embrace managing up as a strategy to reduce role ambiguity and enhance work engagement. Originality/value By examining managing up from a role-based perspective, this study advances the scholarly understanding concerning why and to whom it is beneficial, contributing to literature on both managing up and role ambiguity.