Factors affecting “employees’ creativity”: the mediating role of intrinsic motivation

This article examines a particular set of influences on the creativity of individual researchers at an Ethiopian agricultural research institute. One set of influences is "work orientations," and the others are "domain-relevant skills" and "creativity-relevant processes." The study posits that another important influence, intrinsic motivation, is a mediating influence between these factors and creativity. The study moves beyond past research by examining the influences together in a structural equation model. The data were collected from 307 researchers working with an agricultural research institute in different centers in Ethiopia. Partial Least Squares (PLS) path modeling, SmartPLS3, was used to empirically test the proposed hypotheses. The findings suggested the significantly positive direct effects of creativity-relevant processes, career orientation, and calling orientation on employees’ creativity. Moreover, the results of mediating effects showed significant indirect effects of domain-relevant skills, creativity-relevant processes, career orientation, and job orientation via intrinsic motivation on enhancing employees’ creativity. However, the results did not confirm the direct effects of domain-relevant skills and job orientation on employees’ creativity. In addition, the results did not confirm the hypothesis that the mediator, intrinsic motivation, had a statistically significant effect on the relationship between job orientation and employees’ creativity. Finally, for managers and decision-makers who prioritize employees’ creativity, these findings will deepen their understanding of the holistic role of intrinsic motivation in nurturing employees’ creativity. © 2023, The Author(s).