Employee creativity: the role of team climate, challenge stress and psychological capital

Abstract

This study aimed at examining two contextual factors, team climate and challenge stress, and personal psychological resources in prediction of employee creativity among Hong Kong Chinese employees, seeking support for the interactionist model on the relationship between team climate and employee creativity; and between challenge stress and employee creativity through the mediation of psychological capital (PsyCap). The sample consisted of 113 adults, recruited mainly from six local Hong Kong companies. Results suggested that team climate did not positively predict employee creativity and accordingly there is no mediating effect of PsyCap on the relationship between team climate and employee creativity. On the other hand, results showed that challenge stress positively predicted employee creativity and this positive relationship was partially mediated by PsyCap. A supplemental regression analysis showed that intrinsic motivation significantly predicted PsyCap over and above team climate after having demographic and control variables, namely creative personality and job complexity controlled for. Explanations for the findings are discussed to shed light on limitations of the present study. Practical implications for human resources development and future research directions in the arena of psychological capital development are discussed.