Does career timing of challenging job assignments influence the relationship with in-role job performance?

• Job challenge is often presented as a panacea to keep work life motivating and developmental.
• We examine the influence of career timing on the relationship between challenge and in-role job performance.
• Challenge and job performance are positively related in the early career.
• Challenge and job performance are related in an inverted U-shaped way in mid-career.

To prevent the potential threats of career plateauing for mid-career employees, it has been suggested to give them challenging assignments. This approach is inspired by empirical findings demonstrating that challenging job assignments generally have positive effects on job performance and career development. However, these studies have predominantly investigated the performance effects of job challenge for employees who are in their early career. Drawing on work experience theory and in line with contemporary career theories, we argue that the relationship between challenging assignments and in-role job performance may depend on when people encounter them in their career. Data were collected in a local branch of an international furniture retailer. For early-career employees, a positive relationship emerged between having challenging assignments and peer-rated in-role job performance. For mid-career employees, the relationship exhibited an inverted U-shaped curve, such that challenging assignments have a positive influence on in-role job performance up to some point and then begin to exhibit diminishing returns. Our findings suggest that challenging assignments should be tailored to the experiential background of the employee.