How can the two types of leaders'feedback bring about different employee creative performance?An integrated explanation based on the approach-avoidance theory
In the era of the knowledge-based economy,the enhancement of enterprise productivity,competitiveness,and work efficiency increasingly relies on the creativity of employees within the organization.Creative performance,as an embodiment of employee creativity in work effectiveness,can effectively drive overall organizational transformation and foster corporate innovation.Leaders'feedback,which is the most common motivational tool used by leaders in daily management and an indispensable part of performance management,may play an important role in enhancing employee innovation.Nevertheless,the impact of positive and negative feedback from leaders on employees'creative performance may differ.Revealing how leaders'positive feedback and negative feedback affect employee creative performance within the same framework holds substantial importance in elucidating the differential effects of these two types of leader feedback.Such an exploration can enable the effective utilization and refinement of leaders'feedback to foster employee innovation.The current research on the mechanisms of the impact of two types of leader feedback on creative performance mostly focuses on individual psychological and cognitive factors.However,there is a lack of understanding regarding whether and how employees proactively reshape their work after receiving leadership feedback.Empirical evidence suggests that the effectiveness of feedback arises from the behavioral changes exhibited by employees during their performance.Hence,we contend that directing attention towards employees'behavioral changes in response to diverse feedback from leaders will enable a more comprehensive understanding of the substantive impact of leaders'feedback on employees'creative performance improvement.As a result,this approach will enrich and refine the research on the process through which leaders'feedback operates.Recognizing this research gap and considering that the approach-avoidance theory can elucidate individuals'behavioral responses to positive or negative stimuli,this study introduces the explanatory mechanism of approach-avoidance behavior and tendency within the approach-avoidance framework.Specifically,approach-avoidance job crafting is selected as a mediating variable,while performance approach-avoidance goal orientation serves as a moderating variable.Based on this,two research questions are proposed:Firstly,how do the two types of leaders'feedback influence employees'creative performance through approach job crafting and avoidance job crafting?Secondly,how does performance-approach goal orientation and performance-avoidance goal orientation act as moderators in the process of leaders'feedback impacting creative performance through job crafting?This study conducted a three-stage questionnaire survey on employees of technology enterprises in Beijing,Shanghai,and other cities,obtaining survey data from 230 employees.Structural equation modeling and moderated mediation modeling were used to test the research questions with M-plus 8.3 software.The results indicate the following findings:1)Leaders'positive feedback can improve employees'creative performance by promoting employees'approach job crafting;2)Leaders'negative feedback can reduce employees'creative performance by promoting avoidance job crafting;3)Employees'performance-approach goal orientation has a complementary effect on the process of leaders'positive feedback affecting creative performance through the approach job crafting.When there is a high level of positive feedback and a low level of approach goal orientation,the positive mediating effect of the approach crafting is strengthened,leading to an improvement in creative performance;4)Performance-avoidance goal orientation positively moderates the relationship between leaders'negative feedback and employees'avoidance job crafting,and has a reinforcing effect on the impact of leaders'negative feedback on creative performance through avoidance job crafting.When performance-avoidance goal orientation is high,leaders'negative feedback has a stronger effect on avoidance crafting among employees,correspondingly resulting in lower creative performance.The aforementioned findings contribute to the existing literature by expanding our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the impact of two types of leaders'feedback on employee creative performance from an approach-avoidance theory perspective.These findings not only uncover the approach-avoidance mediating paths through which positive and negative leaders'feedback influence employee creative performance within the same framework,but also deepen our understanding of the relationships between employees'approach-avoidance orientations and approach-avoidance behaviors in different leader feedback contexts.Based on the research results,it is crucial for enterprise managers to accurately recognize the differential effects of positive and negative leader feedback on employee creative performance.By employing these two types of feedback judiciously and strategically,managers can support employees'engagement in approach job crafting behaviors while reducing their avoidance crafting actions,consequently enhancing the effectiveness of innovative management.Additionally,leaders should also take into account the influence of employees'performance goal orientation on their work behavior.Depending on employees'specific types and levels of performance goal orientation,leaders should employ varying degrees of positive or negative feedback to optimize employees'informational perceptions and minimize their control perceptions,aiming to elevate the level of approach crafting or reduce the level of avoidance crafting,thus further enhancing employees'creative performance.
万方数据
维普
