DECENT WORK AND INNOVATIVE WORK BEHAVIOUR: THE MEDIATING ROLES OF ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING AND WORK ENGAGEMENT

Abstract

The idea that innovations enable organisations to enjoy adaptive, competitive, and generative advantages has become widely accepted. This recognition has seen many low and middle-income countries (LMICs) add innovation policy to their national policy frameworks. However, most LMICs continue to experience economic stagnation and low productivity growth amid calls for deeper theoretical and practical examination of what could foster and sustain innovative work behaviour (IWB) in such settings. The study developed and tested a conditional mediation model explaining the activation of IWB with a focus on the central role of decent work. A time-lagged study design informed data collection from two probability samples. Employees self-reported using previously validated measures of the constructs in use. The study used covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) to test the mediation model. Decent work had significant, positive relationships with organisational learning and work engagement. Organisational learning and work engagement were positively and significantly associated with IWB. Work engagement and organisational learning mediated the effect of decent work on IWB. The results provide complementary insights into how decent work may transform into IWB. Leadership seeking to better harness the innovative capabilities resident in their organisations should develop and nurture enterprise-wide, healthy workplaces anchored on the tenets of decent work. The modelled capabilities are learnable, and hence developable. We discuss the study implications and limitations.