Macau University of Science and Technology Promoting creativity in organisations: The role of psychological safety Qin Zhou University of York Sun LiYun Macau University of Science and Technology

Creativity in a general work environment The impact of creativity on organisational outcomes. Definition: The generation of new and useful ideas Radical breakthroughs vs. incremental developments In a general work environment, creativity is not overtly required: Challenge the status quo A type of OCBs A creative option as opposed to a habitual option

The impact of transformational leadership on employee creativity Has been examined at the individual and group levels Little attention has been given to the cross-level influence of transformational leadership on employee creativity. Contextual variables have been neglected.

Creative process engagement has been related to creativity (Zhang & Bartol, 2010) A dearth of investigation on the contextual factors that may attenuate this relationship. Tuesday, 27 November 2018

Transformational leadership Creative process engagement Creativity Psychological safety Figure 1: The Hypothesized Model

Theoretical underpinning Employees form perceptions based on social cues (social information processing theory) (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978) Individuals residing in the same work group/social system are subject to the same influence and form shared beliefs, e.g. climate Leaders are ‘climate engineer’ (Kozlowski & Doherty, 1989) Tuesday, 27 November 2018

Psychological safety climate The extent to which group members share the belief that it is safe to engage in risky behaviors such as questioning current practices without retribution or negative consequences.

Transformational leaders: idealised influenced, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized support Provide social cues for psychological safety by: Creating collective goals and mutual trust among group members Instilling behavioural norms that encourage new ideas and new ways of doing things Acting as a role model for being supportive to colleagues Therefore: H1: transformational leadership positively relates to psychological safety climate

The role of psychological safety climate Cross level effects: A direct effect of higher units on lower unit higher unit shape or moderate the relationships and processes at the lower units (Kozlowski and Klein, 2000) Direct effects of psychological safety on creative process engagement Tolerance of mistakes and different opinions Supportive Important for creative process Therefore: H2: psychological safety climate relates positively to creative process engagement H3: psychological safety climate mediates the influence of transformational leadership and creative process engagement.

The moderating influence of psychological safety Promoting knowledge sharing and ideas communication Employ relational resources to bring ideas to fruition. H4: The relationship between creative process engagement and creativity will be stronger when psychological safety climate is high rather than low. Tuesday, 27 November 2018

Method Sample: employees and their supervisor from two manufacturing companies in China Employees (342): rated on transformational leadership, psychological safety climate, creative process engagement Supervisors (126): rated employee creativity Controls: creative self-efficacy, tenure, education, time with supervisor, org.

Analyses Transformational leadership and psychological safety climate are group level variables: ICCs: .53 and .75 (df =125, 216, F = 2.915, p <.001) for TFL; .41 and .66(df =125, 216, F = 4.042, p <.001) psychological safety climate Rwg: .98 and .95 Hierarchical regression for H1 (the impact of transformational leadership on psychological safety climate) HLM 7 for H2, 3, & 4

Figure 2: The Moderating Influence of psychological Safety Climate on the Relationship between Creative Process Engagement and Creativity

Results H1: transformational leadership positively relates to psychological safety climate. (supported) H2: psychological safety climate relates positively to creative process engagement . (supported) H3: psychological safety climate mediates the influence of transformational leadership and creative process engagement. (partially supported) H4: psychological safety climate enhances the relationship between creative process engagement and creativity. (supported)

Discussion and conclusion It is important to take contextual factors into account when examining the impact of transformational leadership on employee creativity. Transformational leadership can influence employee creativity via promoting psychological safe climate within the group. Psychological safety climate enhances employee’s engagement in creative process and the link between creative process engagement and creativity.