How leaders influence employees' innovative behaviour

TLDR

Innovative behaviour is crucial in knowledge‑intensive service firms but has received little research attention, and neither the innovation nor leadership literature offers a detailed overview of specific leader behaviours that stimulate employee innovation. The study aims to inventory leader behaviours that enhance employees’ innovative behaviour, filling a gap in the literature. Using literature review and in‑depth interviews with employees in knowledge‑intensive service firms such as consulting, research, and engineering, the authors identify leadership behaviours that stimulate idea generation and application. The authors identified 13 relevant leadership behaviours that influence employees’ innovative behaviour through both deliberate actions to stimulate idea generation and application and through general daily behaviour. Future quantitative research should condense this overview, identify the most relevant practices, examine contingency factors, and test applicability in other firm types.

Abstract

Purpose To provide an inventory of leader behaviours likely to enhance employees' innovative behaviour, including idea generation and application behaviour. Design/methodology/approach Based on a combination of literature research and in‐depth interviews, the paper explores leadership behaviours that stimulate employees' idea generation and application behaviour. The study was carried out in knowledge‐intensive service firms (e.g. consultants, researchers, engineers). Findings It was found that there were 13 relevant leadership behaviours. Although innovative behaviour is crucial in such firms, it has received very little attention from researchers. Leaders influence employees' innovative behaviour both through their deliberate actions aiming to stimulate idea generation and application as well as by their more general, daily behaviour. Research limitations/implications Future quantitative research could condense our overview of leader practices, explore which practices are most relevant to employees' idea generation and/or application behaviour, which contingency factors influence the leadership‐innovative behaviour connection and provide information as to whether different practices are relevant in other types of firms. Originality/value Neither the innovation nor the leadership field provides a detailed overview of specific behaviours that leaders might use to stimulate innovation by individual employees. This paper fills that void.