The influence of job insecurity on employee creativity : the role of work engagement

Employee creativity can generate new ideas for products and procedures, a competitive advantage for organizations. Previous research found that employees experiencing job insecurity showed reduced creativity, a relationship partially mediated by work engagement. The goal of the present study was to investigate the same links using behavioural data. In contrast to research using Western samples, the study was conducted with Chinese employees (N = 148) using The New Test of Creative Thinking, a creativity test specifically designed for the Chinese context. In addition, participants were asked to self‐report their job insecurity, work engagement and creativity. Findings suggest that job insecurity was negatively related to creativity, both self‐reported and behavioural, through work engagement. Implications of this study include that under difficult economic conditions, organizations need to implement effective strategies to counter the negative influences of job insecurity for employees so that they will stay engaged and productive in their work.