An Inclusive Leadership Framework to Foster Employee Creativity in the Healthcare Sector: The Role of Psychological Safety and Polychronicity

Abstract

Creativity at the level of employees is of utmost importance for every sector of an economy, with no exception to a healthcare system. The reason why employee creativity is important lies in the fact that employees have profound knowledge of their job and thus can serve as a source of meaningful innovation in an organization. Research shows that employee creativity is largely dependent on leadership. Corporate leaders significantly influence subordinates’ behavior. However, with the economic development, globalization, and changing business environment, a traditional authoritative leadership style can no longer be effective in understanding employees’ psychological needs to foster their creative behavior. In this regard, the role of inclusive leadership as an effective organizational management strategy was recently discussed in literature at different levels. It was also stated that an inclusive leader could foster employee creativity. However, such relationships in healthcare systems of developing economies have largely remained under-explored previously. We explored employee creativity in a healthcare context of a developing economy in an inclusive leadership framework to bridge such knowledge gaps. We also investigated the mediating roles of psychological safety and polychronicity in the above-stated relationship. We collected the data from hospital employees through a questionnaire (paper–pencil method). A hypothetical model was developed, which was tested through structural equation modeling in AMOS. Based upon the statistical outcomes, we found that an inclusive leadership style in a hospital can significantly foster employee creativity, whereas psychological safety and polychronicity mediate this relationship. This study offers different theoretical and practical insights, especially to a healthcare system. An important finding was that an inclusive leader can motivate the followers to be more creative. This finding is significant for a hospital because creative employees provide a hospital with a solid competitive base.

Environmentally Specific Servant Leadership and Employees’ Energy-Specific Pro-Environmental Behavior: Evidence from Healthcare Sector of a Developing Economy

“…The variables in this study (ESL, EPEB, GSE, and GPOS) were measured by adapting items from different sources. Given that their reliability and validity are known, we followed other authors in using pre-existing scales [26,78].…”

“…Similarly, the role of personal factors such as values [20,21], personality [22], emotions [23], and motivation [24] was also highlighted in the previous literature. Recently, organizational interest in understanding the role of corporate leaders in influencing employee behavior has increased [25,26]. In particular, the role of an environmentally specific servant leadership style (ESL) to spur the PEB of employees was realized at different levels [27,28].…”

Humor at work that works: A multi-level examination of when and why leader humor promotes employee creativity

“…Despite the fact that leader humor is thought to be an effective tool for cultivating a creative environment ( Amjed and Tirmzi, 2016 ; Peng et al, 2020 ; Yang et al, 2021 ; Fu et al, 2022 ), the influence of leader humor on employee creativity is rarely investigated. The few scholars who have studied the relationship between leader humor and employee creativity put leaders and employees at the same level of research, i.e., individual level, and the theoretical perspective of the research is limited to the relatively single perspective, i.e., social exchange theory.…”

Proposing a Robust Model to Reduce Employees’ Turnover Intentions in an Ethical Leadership Framework: Empirical Evidence from the Healthcare Sector

“…Leadership literature suggests that corporate leaders are in great positions to influence employees’ attitudes and behaviors [ 5 , 41 , 42 ]. While different leadership styles have been discussed previously to influence different employees’ outcomes, recently, the concept of ethical leadership has gained momentum.…”

“…Considering different negativities associated with turnover, contemporary enterprises from every sector of an economy place a great emphasis on retaining their employees and understanding the factors contributing to turnover. When linked to the healthcare system, an increasing turnover rate has more consequences than other sector because the healthcare sector worldwide is identified as a sector facing resource scarcity [ 4 , 5 ]. Studies have shown that turnover has been increasing in healthcare systems globally [ 6 ].…”