From control to creativity: Cultivating creativity through supervisory behaviour and a conducive work environment

Abstract

Background: Digitalisation, knowledge-intensive work, and workforce mobility have reduced the effectiveness of control-oriented supervision. As work increasingly requires adaptability, problem-solving, and innovation, diverse supervisory approaches and creativity-enabling work environments are now central to sustaining employee-driven innovation (EDI).
Aim: This study aimed to analyse the relationship between supervisory behaviour and work environment factors in advancing employee innovation.
Setting: The study was conducted among 4206 employees within the administrative and academic sectors of a South African higher education institution.
Method: A quantitative, cross-sectional design was used, employing a census survey in which 624 participants completed a self-developed questionnaire (15% response rate). Inferential statistical analyses were conducted to examine how supervisory behaviour and the internal work environment influence employee innovation.
Results: Supervisory behaviour demonstrates a positive relationship with EDI, a link that is mediated by internal organisational factors such as an innovation-supportive culture, established innovation mechanisms, available innovation opportunities, and tolerance for risk-taking.
Conclusion: Employee innovation does not arise from individual effort alone but is shaped by the interaction between supervisors’ day-to-day behaviours and the broader internal work environment. Innovation is most likely to be sustained when supervisory support, an innovation-oriented culture, and enabling structures operate in a coherent, mutually reinforcing manner.
Contribution: This study makes practical contributions by identifying supervisory support and management–team alignment as key levers for fostering innovation, and theoretical contributions by demonstrating how innovation culture and environmental mechanisms mediate the relationship between supervisory behaviour and employee innovation.