Assertiveness or humility? The role of broker’s humility in promoting knowledge-based gig employee’s organizational identity and proactive behavior

Purpose Although companies are increasingly hiring knowledge-based gig employees with the expectation of leveraging their expertise and unique experiences, a lack of identity hinders these employees from proactively contributing their skills and expertise to the organizations. This study identifies the broker as a significant role that connects gig employees with formal employees in the workflow. It employs the model of proactive motivation to explore how broker’s humility can enhance gig employee’s organizational identity and proactive behavior. Design/methodology/approach We examine our proposed theoretical model using a three-wave survey, with data collected from 536 gig employees. Findings Broker’s humility significantly enhances gig employee’s organizational identity; this, in turn, promotes employee’s proactive behavior. Organizational justice (distributive, procedural and interactional justice) significantly strengthens the positive relationship between gig employee’s organizational identity and proactive behavior. Practical implications Organizations should strategically position brokers and focus on developing their humility and other soft skills. This could be a key strategy for organizations seeking to improve the integration and performance of knowledge-based gig employees. Organizations should prioritize enhancing such employee’s organizational identity, which is closely tied to proactive work behaviors and determines whether an organization can fully leverage these employees’ experiences and strengths. Originality/value This study emphasizes the importance of proactive behavior in the gig context. It is among the first to empirically examine gig employee’s proactive behavior and find an important contextual factor (broker’s humility) and mechanism (organizational identity) for enhancing it.