The relationship between organizational precursors and employee creativity during COVID-19 pandemic: An examination of the psychological safety mediation effect

Amy Yeo Chu May; Tan Xuen Min; Felizia Arni Rudiawarni

doi:10.31106/jema.v19i2.18960

Authors

Amy Yeo Chu May School of Business Studies, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tan Xuen Min Tricor Corporate Service Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Felizia Arni Rudiawarni Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31106/jema.v19i2.18960

Keywords:

Transformational Leadership, Perceived Organisational Support, Psychological Safety, Corporate Social Responsibility, Employee Creativity, COVID-19

Abstract

The study aims to examine the mediating effect of psychological safety on the relationship between organizational antecedents (corporate social responsibility or CSR, transformational leadership style, and perceived organizational support) and employee creativity. This research lends its support to the mediating effect of psychological safety to inspect the underlying reasons that motivate employees to be more creative. The results also raise managerial awareness that it is time for organizational leaders to review CSR policies and revisit their leadership style and organizational support rendered to employees to foster psychological safety and employee creativity. The research employed a positivist approach based on 220 respondents. Data was collected through an online open-ended questionnaire using a convenient sampling technique. The collected data were further analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling. The key findings reveal that the four domains of CSR (legal, philanthropy, economic and ethical), transformational leadership style, and perceived organizational support create a climate of psychological safety among employees, which mediates the relationship with employee creativity.