Section 5 Leadership Context

#### **Chapter 13**

## Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces

*Kumars Ahmadi*

#### **Abstract**

Regarded as the future of management, leadership is becoming increasingly important, but one of the most serious challenges facing leaders today is the declining trend in job satisfaction, commitment, and work motivation in HR, making the current working environment less effective. Today, neuroscience provides a more precise definition and description of the human being, so many different sciences use neuroscience findings more effectively, and leadership is linked to neuroscience in the form of organizational neuroscience. New understandings of human concepts regarding human brain-directed thoughts, feelings, actions, and behaviors consider that almost all human activities are the result of interactions between the brain and chemistry. Founded upon the brain–directed man, the theory of brain-friendly workplace aims to introduce processes and activities, which can lead to a pleasant experience for employees' brains, and it can help HR to experience favorable thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Conducted on the basis of qualitative research and implication research, the two contributions of brain structure and chemistry are considered as the source for calculating the effects of neuroscience on workplace design. Sampling and validity are also theoretically considered by examining valid sources and implications. This research is first about cognition and finally considers the conceptual extension of the brain-friendly workplace. Based on the theoretical framework and implications, seven processes and dimensions were counted: Communication, happiness and mobility, ability by self-awareness, respect, purposefulness & focus, security & relaxation, and sleep & rest. This brain-friendly workplace model was called CHARPSS, which is intended to help leaders create different and effective workplaces.

**Keywords:** leadership, organizational neurosciences (ON), brain–friendly workplace, CHARPSS model, implication study

#### **1. Introduction**

First of all, we want to consider the state of the existing workplaces, worrying levels of motivation, commitment, and human resource (HR) satisfaction. Organizational leaders need to know new human perceptions to become more effective because leadership is the future of management. A leader's mission is to motivate his subordinates. Human resources (HR), which is the most vital element in the field of

organizational management, have always received special attention in various eras by researchers in the field of leadership. However, the quality of employees' performance have been found to be influenced by their motivation within and toward the organization. Leadership in an organization requires new but practical ideas. Creating an ideal work environment is an important investment for the company. Today, with the help of neuroscience, a more suitable workplace must be designed. There is an increasing trend of using neuroscience research results in different fields [1].

According to the prestigious journal of science in 2018, almost 24% of different sciences use neuroscience findings. Neuroscience may be able to make extremely important contributions to management sciences in terms of interdisciplinary studies [2]. In 2018, LinkedIn reported that 93% of employees want to stay longer with their organization, as long as their organization invests more in their workplace [3]. One of the most important responsibilities of a manager is to create a happy and positive environment in which employees feel safe and valued [4]. Leaders need to know that today the ability to create a motivating workplace and have motivated employees is a competitive advantage for an organization as it leads to developing organizational commitment and motivation [5]. The declining trend of commitment, motivation, and satisfaction in the workplace is a matter of serious concern. According to the Gallup Institute, about 20 percent of American employees are not committed and 50 percent are not very committed to their organizations. The annual cost of employee commitment reduction in the United States of America is approximately 300\$ billion. This cost is greater than the GDP of countries like Portugal and Singapore and a quarter of the GDP of Iran. In some countries, fully committed employees account for about 3% of their total workforce [6]. Committed employees are 20% more productive and 87% less likely to leave the organization [7]. In a 2013 report by the Business Monitor Institute, about 90% of Iranian employees rated their organization's incentive system as ineffective. On the other hand, about 75% of managers feel that their employees lack the necessary commitment and loyalty [8].

According to Gallup's global study, approximately 13% of employees are completely satisfied with their jobs [9]. The Gallup Institute recently announced that by 2022, employee engagement and workplace belonging will be 21% globally and 15% in the Middle East. In another survey of 20,000 employees, only 36% said they felt positive and energized at work [10]. In another study of 20,000 employees, only 36% said they received positive feelings and energy in their workplace. It is estimated that many workplaces today reinforce the tendency of employees to quit because in today's workplaces up to 30% of employees suffer from mild to severe anxiety disorders.

Another study by the Gallup Institute found that about 88% of employees tended to do their best, but workplace barriers did not allow it, and 55% of employees said they did not do their best in those workplaces. They should strive only to the extent that they will not be dismissed, and they should fulfill their common duties [11]. These examples are important signals and warnings for managers. They point to rethinking and revision at workplace. Leaders need to know that sticking to and insisting on the current workplace is a mistake and that a better and more accurate solution is to rethink and reshape the workplace based on neuroscience findings. This introduction explains the problem and clarifies the concerns.

#### **2. Literature review**

Neuroscience is helping improve leadership behaviors while making it easier for employees and, in turn, for organizations. In the light of contemporary research, the

#### *Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

leadership training can be a personal, brain-based approach that helps individuals identify their problems and realize their true potential. While there are still many gaps in how the brain makes us better leaders, clear evidence now shows that the brain is the foundation for building effective leadership [12]. Science is just beginning to study the neurological mechanisms underlying these effects [13]. As I said at the beginning, there are many similar examples. This is evidence of the inefficiencies we see in the workplace.

Leaders need to know that existing workplaces are inefficient and boring. Unfortunately, the workplace plays a significant and undeniable role in altering the brain chemistry of employees within the organization. Thus, the quality of employees' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors deteriorates. We need to create a new framework for the workplace design. This chapter introduces a brain-friendly workplace that is also highly efficient. Since our brains function under certain conditions, methods can be used to provide brain-compatible functionality. These are called brain-friendly strategies. You can transform your workplace to boost brain function for your employees, managers, and customers, which means the brain consumes less energy and imposes less tension on the brain. Knowing that the workplace alone cannot provide a brainfriendly environment, it must be provided [14]. According to Franklin Becker, a workspace is like body language, and every part of that environment conveys messages to the brains of employees, managers, and customers. When you talk about improving employee performance and satisfaction, the workplace needs to support it too [15]. When it comes to the evolution of organizational man, we adopt Taylor's economic human theory and witness a new view of man as brain-driven human (**Figure 1**).

Understanding this change in the concept of organizational humans is resourceful and vital for leaders. Brain-directed man is a new conception of man that considers the brain as the basis of all human thoughts, feelings, wills, and behavior and the basis of all actions and reactions of the individual as the brain interacts with the environment. It is the chemical change in our brain that create our emotions and logic and guide our behavioral function. Simply put, hormones and neurotransmitters are quite effective in shaping our performance. This view may be a reinterpretation of the complex concept of man but with its own logic. This view is for the black box to explain the complexities of human thought, emotion, and behavior. Neuroscience translates and explains the black box of the complexity of human behavior. Neuroscience is giving a renewed and serious interest to the accuracy and depth of analysis of human behavior in personal, professional, and social life [16, 17]. Everything we do is a reflection of our brain. Even man, his death is completely under the control of the biological changes of his body, which underline the same concept of man as directed by the brain [18].

The purpose of the new perspective and knowledge resulting from the combination of management and neuroscience is to examine human reality to enhance managers' perception of themselves and their employees [19]. The brain is one of the organs that fully involved in our temperament, character, consciousness, and every

**Figure 1.**

*The evolution of the concept of organizational man [15].*

decision. The brain tells us to be cautious or reckless, to try or be indifferent, and considerate [20]. Neuroscience helps us gain valuable insights that are considered unknown and unanalyzable in the dark basements of behavioral science [21].

A brain-friendly workplace seeks to create satisfaction in HR and to create satisfaction within them. An important and guiding fact from neuroscience is that anything that is good for the brain is good for business [22], and this is good news for organizational leaders. The brain-friendly approach is a scientific and practical approach that provides the best working conditions for brain functioning in an organization. It seeks to provide things like convenience, happiness, and many other rewards from the employee's brain's point of view. The condition in which brain energy is consumed the least. Diligence and hard work are kept to a minimum degree. Leaders are advised to improve employee decisions and actions by establishing brainfriendly approaches in their organizations [23]. A brain-friendly workplace that strives to provide a maximum reward experience for the brains of employees, managers, and even customers or consumers, and the conditions under which they experience maximum and minimal threat to create inner satisfaction. Remember that for the brain, rewards and threats may be different from our previous perceptions. The brain needs very subtle stimuli to function properly. Brain-friendly workplaces seek to provide processes to provide a positive emotional experience during the workday for employees so that their brain awareness is one of the maximum rewards and minimum threats. We want to tell organizational leaders that a brain-friendly workplace is where employees' brains are more rewarded and less threatened (**Figure 2**).

The whole point of organizational neuroscience (ON) is that the workplace should be designed to provide the maximum reward experience from the brain's point of view for employees and managers and even customers or clients during the business day to further govern the trend-based approach to thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and this is an important point that leaders need to keep in mind. Because it will make the workplace more satisfying and attractive. The biased approach in the brain is influenced by the release of hormones and neurotransmitters including serotonin, oxytocin, dopamine, and endorphins, and the avoidance approach in the brain is influenced by the hormones cortisol and even adrenaline or epinephrine, as well as sometimes testosterone. For example, an increase in testosterone is inversely

**Figure 2.** *The tendency-avoidance approach of the brain [24].*

#### *Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

associated with development of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The PFC is one of the brain's upstream systems. This lobe prevents immediate, impulsive, and even hostile actions. Cortisol plays an important role in the amygdala hyperactivity in our brain. The amygdala is one of the downstream systems in the brain that increase our anxious and negligent behaviors. HR brain chemicals, although highly impactful, can be influenced by changes in behavioral and structural conditions in the environment. This golden tip is the window into designing a brain-friendly workplace. ON helps leaders look at the factors that drive employee behavior and performance from a new angle.

#### **3. Methodology**

Methodology can determine how an idea and a theory form for us. To present a new point of view and theory, it is necessary to look at this Suddody matrix to see from what angle we are discussing (**Table 1**).

The lower right quadrant of **Table 1** characterizes a theoretical approach that focuses on clear structures and incorporates some literary content. Oswick and colleagues suggest that mixing explicit structures from multiple knowledge domains can produce creative output, depending on the characteristics of the input domains. The higher the similarity between the input domains, the less likely the resulting theory is to be considered entirely new. In the model presented in this chapter, neuroscience was used to combine leadership topics and workplace design to make organizational leadership more effective. For theorizing, a new method of implication study has been used, and the steps of this method are presented in this methodology section. Oswick, Fleming and Hanlon make this observation most clearly, convincingly demonstrating that most (i.e., roughly two-thirds) of the research conducted in management is rooted in theories borrowed from other disciplines [25]. This research also seeks to combine the topics of leadership and workplace with neuroscience. This research is strategic, qualitative, and method-based participatory discovery study. The two contributions of brain structure and chemistry are considered to be the source for calculating the effects of neuroscience on workplace design.

Sampling and validity are also theoretically cited and reliable with valid sources and implications. In this study, the concept of a brain-friendly workplace is first defined and finally will be explained. Implied research is one of the popular strategies for adapting and borrowing knowledge from one field to extend knowledge in another. This approach introduces a new methodology and we can use the findings of


**Table 1.** *Map of different theorizing approaches.* one science in another. However, borrowing the sciences from each other was used and led to the creation of interdisciplinary. In fact, much of human progress is due to studies of this implication. In this study, the researcher extracts important implications that are consistent with the underlying theoretical framework.

In this study, the researcher extracts important implications that are consistent with the underlying theoretical framework. In this study, we identified and calculated significant implications in two areas of brain chemistry and brain structure to demonstrate the dimensions of the theoretical framework. The steps to conducting the research based on the implied research method are as follows:


#### **4. Discussion of brain-friendly workplace**

A golden tip for leaders to learn is that consider a brain plate that the brain can access during the day to optimize its performance. This study was carried out using the implication research method. Underground research is one of the popular strategies for adapting and borrowing knowledge from one discipline to refine and extend knowledge from another. The two contributions of brain chemistry and brain structure are considered to be the source for calculating the effects of neuroscience on workplace design. In fact, much of human progress owes much to this search for participation. In this approach, the researcher develops a basic conceptual framework in his or her science before borrowing contributions and other scientific implications. For each component of the conceptual framework, it computes the implication. Thus, the researcher derives a meaningful implication that matches the elements of the theoretical framework (**Figure 3**).

A plate for healthy brain human resources can be considered as the processes and conditions for forming a brain-friendly working environment as follows:


*Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

**Figure 3.** *Workplace plate for the brain.*


These seven factors can be considered as components of the theoretical framework and are known to be the source for finding implications. In this study, the contribution of neuroscience in the two areas of brain chemistry and brain structure was considered. Two main questions can be asked (**Table 2**):


Based on current implications and evidence, it seems likely that providing the conditions and context for effective workplace communication and interaction as a


**Table 2.**

*Effective communication as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*

brain-friendly process can be accepted. Therefore, it is an important task for leaders to establish effective communication and interaction in the workplace, as the findings of neuroscience see it as a reward for employees' brains. By providing the right conditions for employee interactions, neuro leaders can truly claim that they have provided a brain-friendly workplace (**Table 3**).

Current evidence and existing findings suggest that coaching-based interactions create relationship emotionalization and provide familiarity in relationships as brainfriendly components in brain-friendly work relationships. Studies have revealed the significance of familiarity and we now know that leaders who profusely used social language in their vision and mission statements are more likely to have greater coherence in the right frontal part (PFC) of the brain than leaders with more self-language [12]. We have learned that effective work interactions and connections are rewarding for the HR brain. Leaders are encouraged to take seriously the impact of some behaviors and preparations that create the conditions for effective workplace communication on institutionalizing brain-friendly interactions.

• Improve communication skills, effective listening, and empathy to increase oxytocin and estrogen


#### **Table 3.**

*Components related to effective communication.*


In the image below you can see the relationship between the type of hormone and the activity state of the brain system. Some hormones and neurotransmitters cause more activity in the lower and posterior systems of the brain, and some other hormones cause more activity in the upper and front systems of the brain (**Figure 4**).

#### **Figure 4.** *Brain systems and brain chemistry [24].*


**Table 4.**

*Happiness and mobility as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*

Analyzing the dimensions and components identified, it is important to know that anything that provides maximal activity of the upstream and cortical systems of the brain is considered brain-friendly (**Table 4**).

From the current implications and evidence, it appears that providing conditions and a platform for happiness and mobility in the workplace as a brain-friendly process can be accepted and approved. Maybe before, organizational leaders did not consider happiness in the workplace to be so important, but neuroscience has shown that it is a pleasant reward for the brain, and it has a great effect on improving work performance. Happiness is one of the vital elements for the optimal functioning of the brain, so it will be considered one of the vital elements of brain-friendly workplaces. Creating a happy workplace is one of the characteristics of a neuroleader. A neuroleader is a leader who uses neuroscience as a benchmark to have a deeper and more accurate impact on employees (**Table 5**).

The happiness and mobility of HR, as neuroscience implications have shown, are a reward for the human resource brain. A neuroleader understands the positive effects of happiness in the workplace so he tries to create it. Acts and actions and preparations that provide the conditions for happiness and mobility in the workplace are:


#### **Table 5.** *Components related to happiness and mobility.*


In a simple and superficial view, it may be thought that these implications are not for organizational issues, but the rewards of the brain are the same for all of us, and this inspiration and borrowing from neuroscience can be the basis of a new approach in leadership. Evidence and current evidence suggest that providing empowerment for self-awareness in the workplace as a brain-friendly process can be acceptable. Organizational leaders should know that the best kind of awareness is self-awareness, so they should try to make their employees self-aware in the workplace (**Table 7**).

The implications, current evidence, and available findings suggest that providing conditions and contexts in the workplace for the emotionalization of memory, flow, independence, and learning are acceptable components of the workplace and activities within the workplace ability by self-awareness process. Any reflection, contemplation, and thinking on oneself or on different topics can cause the creation of new neural circuits in the brains of employees. Self-awareness and HR empowerment are considered a reward for their brains. Suggestion to organizational leaders and activities that provide the conditions to facilitate self-awareness and empowerment in the workplace are:

• Utilizing coaching capabilities for self-awareness and internalizing motivation to increase serotonin and decrease cortisol


**Table 6.**

*Ability by self-awareness as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*


#### **Table 7.**

*Components related to ability by self-awareness.*


Respect is a vital and inseparable part of inner satisfaction. In a work environment where the priority is to respect the employees, in that work environment, the brain function of the employees can be much better and the organizational efficiency can be improved. So that both the employees reach inner satisfaction and the organization achieves efficiency. It has been proven that if we talk to people with behavioral abnormalities with respect, they will behave more reasonably and so, we should have respectful words and behavior with the employees so that their brains feel rewarded (**Table 8**).


#### **Table 8.**

*Respect as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*


#### **Table 9.**

*Components related to respect.*

Current implications and evidence suggest that providing a platform for respect and reverence in the workplace as a brain-friendly process can be accepted and endorsed. Respect has always been important, but leaders now know why and how to increase it. They learned the consequences of disrespect on the brains of employees therefore, conditions for increasing respect for employees should be provided (**Table 9**).

As an important point, we must mention that a neuroleader empathizes with his employees, not with sympathy. Because sympathy aggravates their pain and problems, sympathy strengthens the ability and self-confidence of employees. The neurological reason is that empathy causes the release of serotonin and sympathy causes the release of cortisol. From the implications, current evidence, and findings, it appears that providing conditions in the workplace to appreciate the efforts and actions, compassion and empathy for each other, forgiveness and sacrifice of colleagues toward each other, gender differences in delegating authority can be used as components are brain-friendly. These activities should be considered as part of the process of respect in the workplace. Suggestions to organizational leaders and activities that provide the conditions to facilitate respect in the workplace are:



*\* RAS: Reticular Activation System.*

#### **Table 10.** *Purposefulness and focus as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*

*Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

• Encouraging sacrificing behaviors in the organization to increase the hormone oxytocin (**Table 10**).

Having a purpose at work helps to build a sense of purpose in employees. The feeling of dignity and satisfaction among employees is increasing day by day. Concentration is important for creating purpose. From the meanings and evidence in the table above, it can be seen that providing the conditions and context to create purpose and focus for personnel in the workplace as a process of the brain-friendly paradigm sets can be accepted and verified. With these discoveries, wise leaders know they must provide the conditions and platforms to increase workplace focus and employee engagement like never before (**Table 11**).

From the implications, current evidence, and available findings, it seems that providing conditions and contexts in the workplace for meaning and hope, mindfulness, lack of multitasking, and appropriateness of workplace conditions as acceptable components and activities within the process of purposefulness and focus can be accepted and approved. Suggestion to organizational leaders, activities that provide the conditions to facilitate purposefulness and focus for HR in the workplace are:


Based on the implications and current evidence, it seems acceptable to provide the conditions and context for safety and relaxation in the workplace as a brain-friendly process. **Table 13** shows the components of the safety and relaxation in the workplace. Therefore, leaders should know that providing a quiet and safe environment can be a good brain reward for their employees.

The implications, current evidence, and available findings suggest that providing conditions and contexts in the workplace to increase similarity, simplicity, support, transparency, and certainty as brain-friendly components and activities within the security and relaxation process are acceptable. It can only be said about the importance of similarity, results showed that in 80 percent of the 43 elections since 1901, the candidates who used the most collective-oriented language (we-or us-referencing) in their official election speech were the victors. Research findings showed that leaders' words are inspiring when they convey a sense of commonality and us. gives some neuroscientific substance to claims that it is only when in-group leaders speak for "us" that followers embrace their pronouncements enthusiastically [13]. Accordingly,


**Table 11.**

*Components related to purposefulness and focus.*


**Table 12.**

*Security and relaxation as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*

suggestion to organizational leaders, activities that provide the conditions to facilitate security and relaxation for HR in the workplace are:


Current implications and evidence suggest that providing conditions and contexts to improve the adequate sleep and rest in the workplace as a brain-friendly process can be accepted and approved. With these experimental and important findings, it is necessary for organizational leaders to pay special attention to the quality of sleep and rest of their subordinates (**Table 15**).

Sleep is also an active state that is important for cognitive processes such as memory consolidation, semantic integration, learning, and emotional processing. Sleep is also important for the body, and evidence suggests it may be even more important for the brain. A study of working hours, sleep, and depression of 2643 fulltime employed Japanese citizens found that participants worked more than 10 hours a day, slept less than 6 hours a day, and reported inadequate sleep 37 and 43,


#### **Table 13.**

*Components related to security and relaxation.*

respectively, and also 97% were more likely to be depressed than those who worked 6–8 hours a day, slept 6–8 hours a day, and reported getting enough sleep. The study concluded that depression associated with long work hours is primarily a result of sleep deprivation [93]. The implications, current evidence, and available findings suggest that providing workplace conditions to minimize shift work, compensating for sleep deprivation in shift staff, and ultimately providing short restpackages during work are components of sleep and rest and having enough activities. As suggested to organizational leadership, the activities that provide the necessary conditions to facilitate adequate sleep and rest for personnel in the workplace are:


#### **Table 14.**

*Enough sleep and rest as a brain-friendly process in the workplace.*


**Table 15.**

*Components related to have enough sleep and rest.*


### **5. Conclusion**

The findings and statements in this chapter help leaders execute their strategy more effectively in creating motivation. This model presented a valuable opportunity. A smart organizational leader knows when the current workplace is dysfunctional. This leader should find a way to design a new environment that is more appropriate. Due to the downward trend in job satisfaction, employee engagement, and motivation

**Figure 5.** *Brain-friendly workplace of CHARPSS model.*

#### *Leveraging Leader Relations to Cultivate Brain-Friendly Workplaces DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107836*

in different organizations, the need to renovate the current workplace is inevitable. Today, neuroscience offers more precise definitions and explanations of human beings, so many different sciences use the findings of neuroscience to have greater effect, and management knowledge is linked to neuroscience in the form of organizational neuroscience. Based on the brain-driven human, brain-friendly workplace theory suggest that workplace implementations bring pleasurable experiences for employees' brains, ultimately introducing favorable processes and activities into employees' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This research is first about cognition and finally considers the conceptual extension of the brain-friendly workplace. This is an important message for leaders. Based on the theoretical framework and implications, seven processes and dimensions were counted: Communication, happiness, and mobility, ability by self-awareness, respect, purposefulness and focus, security and relaxation, and sleep and rest. In addition, multiple ingredients are blended for each process, and a total of 27 types of brain-friendly ingredients are blended. This brainfriendly workplace model was called CHARPSS. The quality of employees' thoughts, feelings, and actions is due to brain activity. Therefore, by introducing measures and actions to implement the components of the CHARPSS model, we can create a brainfriendly environment in the HR workplace. The CHARPSS model is able to maximize the satisfaction and rewards that an employee's brain receives from the workplace, while also minimizing frustration and brain threats (**Figure 5**).

This model, derived from the effects of neuroscience on the two contributions of brain chemistry and brain structure, can provide leaders with new insights so they can provide additional motivation and job satisfaction. To create a mind-friendly workplace, a leader must make a list of what to add to the current workplace and a list of what to remove from the current workplace. Most of these changes including changes of values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors toward employees must happen within the leader himself. CHARPSS model can create very positive changes in brain chemistry and neural circuits of employees. In our brain, there are neurons called mirror neurons. These neurons are activated when we do something or when we observe or imagine the same thing. These neurons cause emotional transmission and the good feeling of the employees from the workplace, of the brain, will spread to the customers and clients and will have positive effects even in their families.

#### **Author details**

Kumars Ahmadi Department of Management, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran

\*Address all correspondence to: ahmadi.kumars@gmail.com

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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#### **Chapter 14**

## Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case of Food Processing Enterprises in Vietnam

*Nguyen Thanh Hung*

#### **Abstract**

This research investigates the relationships among human resource management (HRM) practices, corporate social responsibility (CSR), organizational commitment (OC), and the performance of food processing enterprises. The study involved a sample of 438 staff and managers from 278 food processing enterprises in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed for data analysis. The findings indicate that HRM practices directly influence CSR dimensions, including CSR towards employees, customers, and the environment, all showing positive effects. CSR, in turn, positively correlates with OC. However, the study found a direct link only between CSR towards customers and enterprise performance. While HRM did not directly impact OC, it significantly predicted it indirectly through CSR and OC. These results underscore the importance of enhancing HRM practices such as recruitment, training, job evaluation, compensation, job stability, and fostering innovation. Integrating CSR initiatives is crucial for enhancing organizational outcomes in food processing enterprises.

**Keywords:** human resource management, corporate social responsibility, organizational commitment, business performance, leadership and management

#### **1. Introduction**

In the twenty first century, businesses frequently expand across national borders. Not only multinational corporations and international organizations, but also small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), strive to gain and maintain a competitive advantage by effectively managing their human resources. The strategic importance of effective human resource management (HRM) and development for the future prosperity of organizations cannot be overstated.

People are the most valuable asset of an organization, but they can also become a burden if their abilities and attitudes do not align with the organization's needs. In a

fiercely competitive environment, both globally and locally, finding and nurturing the right human resources to execute business strategy is crucial for success [1]. Previous transactional leadership methods, which focus on offering better salaries, incentives, and perks, have failed to attract and retain the best talents in the long run [2]. While these methods provide immediate relief, they are insufficient for long-term retention and solving the talent crunch. Organizations need inspiring leadership, an appealing vision, and meaningful employee engagement to transform into a meaningful, soulful social entity [3]. Effective leadership can radically improve organizational performance and fortunes, as leaders are responsible for key organizational decisions.

Effective HRM is especially essential for SMEs, as international expansion puts additional pressure on their limited resources, particularly their people. Lado and Wilson defined HRM systems as "a set of distinct but interrelated activities, functions, and processes that are directed at attracting, developing, and maintaining (or disposing of) a firm's human resources" [4]. To maintain competitive advantage and sustainable development, organizations should focus not only on human resources but also on other aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) such as customers, community, society, and the environment. Today's business competition involves quality, price, distribution channels, advertising, and the implementation of CSR.

Carroll argued that CSR operates through economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic dimensions [5]. Profits and legal compliance are top priorities when it comes to business ethics and corporate social support. Carroll further argued that employees are the main factor linking HRM and CSR, and they are the ones who bring social responsibility to stakeholders [6]. HRM practices play a critical role in achieving this goal, as they garner the employee support and commitment necessary for the implementation of CSR policies [7].

The stressors facing organizations highlight the need for leaders who lead with purpose, values, and integrity; who build enduring organizations; who motivate their employees to provide superior customer service; and who create long-term value for shareholders [8]. When leaders evaluate the long-term outcomes of making socially and ethically responsible decisions, the results are significantly positive [9]. To evaluate the effectiveness of leaders, this chapter analyzes the impacts of HRM functions on business performance by evaluating the perceptions of employees and managers in Vietnamese seafood processing companies.

HRM has different measurement components across studies by George [8], Mahoney and Thorne [9], Pfeffer [10], Singh [11], and Guest [12]. In Vietnam, research on HRM mostly focuses on SMEs, such as the studies by Guest [12], Thang and Quang [13], and Dung et al. [14]. To specifically analyze the function of HRM, a path analysis model of the relationship between HRM practices and business performance in food processing companies was conducted. The findings provide a basis for proposing measures to enhance leadership effectiveness and improve organizational performance.

#### **2. Literature review**

#### **2.1 Leadership and management**

Leadership is a part of management, characterized by the ability to persuade others to achieve defined goals, bring cohesion to a group, and motivate the group towards these goals. Management activities such as planning, organizing, and decision-making *Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

are ineffective until the leader unleashes the motivating power of people and directs them toward certain targets [15]. Leaders are fundamental to an organization, with their essential role being the direct influence on people and group activities.

Managers engage in activities that derive from the management function: they develop and apply development strategies, make forecasts and plans, organize and coordinate work, and provide an environment conducive to performance, which in turn motivates employees. They also ensure the effective execution of management actions, promote communication with employees, customers, and suppliers, and develop strategic relationships [16].

Managers are associated with action verbs, such as do, develop, intervene, manage, control, and fix. They do not merely manage equilibria but dynamic phenomena, seeking not to maintain an unprofitable situation. In contrast, leaders are associated with the inflection of the verb to change [17]. Therefore, within the framework of this chapter, we will focus on the aspect of HRM in organizations.

#### **2.2 Human resources management**

Schuler and Jackson argued that HRM practices refer to organizational activities aimed at managing the pool of human resources and ensuring these resources are employed towards fulfilling organizational goals [18]. Theriou and Chatzoglou stated that all superior practices that lead to performance were referred to as "best HRM practices," "high commitment practices," and "higher productivity and product quality practices" [19]. A significant body of research suggests specific HRM practices that promote inimitable attributes in human resources, helping an organization gain a competitive advantage and enhance performance [20].

Tocher and Rutherford defined HRM as "a set of distinct but interrelated activities, functions, and processes that are directed at attracting, developing, and maintaining (or disposing of) a firm's human resources" [21, 22]. HRM is a strategic and coherent approach to managing an organization's most valued assets—its people—who individually and collectively contribute to achieving its objectives [18, 19]. HRM is a very important function in organizational operations, encompassing recruitment, compensation, organizational development, safety, employee motivation, health care, effective information sharing, training, and managing all employee-related activities to achieve organizational goals [23, 24]. More recent definitions emphasize the strategic and humanistic roles of HRM, aligning with sustainable development trends in organizations [14].

For this study, components of HRM include selection and recruitment, training and development, employee performance evaluation, workplace stability and advancement, compensation and rewards, and the encouragement of engagement and innovation.

#### **2.3 Corporate social responsibility**

Carroll argued that CSR involves economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary benefits, and social support activities [5]. The CSR literature suggests that socially responsible companies strive not only to be economically sustainable and profitable but also to work with their employees, families, local communities, and nation–states to improve the quality of life in ethical and sustainable ways [25]. CSR includes two dimensions: external and internal stakeholders. The external dimension reflects the relationship between the organization and the community, while the internal

dimension involves management and employees, who expect functional, economic, psychological, and ethical benefits from their employer organizations [21, 22, 26].

Peterson showed a positive relationship between a civic enterprise and organizational commitment (OC) through employee perceptions of CSR activities [27]. Crowther and Abreu identified five stakeholders of CSR: consumers, suppliers, communities, government, and the environment [28]. Based on the concepts of Peterson [27], Carroll [6], Mason and Simmons [29], and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), as well as CSR characteristics in Vietnam [24], CSR can be understood as activities that meet stakeholder expectations and contribute to sustainable development, focusing on employees, customers, and the environment [6, 23, 26].

Becker recommends linking CSR and HRM, suggesting that this combination can bring business benefits such as improved reputation, loyalty, and employee retention [30]. According to Sarvaiya, the interaction between HRM and CSR is mainly influenced by factors such as the scope of CSR implementation, the stage of CSR development, and differences between companies [31]. HRM assists employees in enhancing their commitment to CSR policies and practices.

We propose the following hypotheses:

*H1a: There is a positive relationship between HRM practices and CSR toward employees.*

CSR activities are also influenced by external stakeholders such as customers, shareholders, suppliers, competitors, the environment, and the community [32]. HRM practices help foster an environment that meets customer satisfaction and enhances organizational performance [29].

*H1b: There is a positive relationship between HRM practices and CSR toward customers.*

Clarkson [29] argued that HRM roles have a significant impact not only on organizational behavior, attitudes, organizational culture, and leadership skills but also on employee awareness [28, 33]. In addition, Cacioppe and Fox emphasized the importance of analyzing environmental factors in relation to CSR [25]. HRM influences employee awareness, behavior, attitudes, organizational culture, and leadership skills development [34, 35].

*H1c: There is a positive relationship between HRM practices and CSR toward the environment.*

Organizational commitment (OC) represents a spiritual relationship between workers and the organization, reducing the likelihood of turnover [36]. Commitment impacts business goals and outcomes when employees align with the organization's aims [37].

Social Identity Theory (SIT) explains the link between CSR perceptions and employee attitudes and behavior [38]. When employees see their organization acting for societal good, it enhances their image and satisfaction, boosting confidence and pride [23, 29].

De Roeck et al. showed CSR improves employee attitudes toward the organization [39]. Mory et al. [40], Albdour et al. [41], and Thang [42] found positive correlations between CSR towards employees and OC [36–38, 43]. In addition, CSR is viewed as an important tool to influence the emotions, thoughts and purchasing behavior of target customers. However, these activities not only improve the corporate image but also affect the perception of employees. At least from the customer's point of view, the employee looks like an agent of the employer. Therefore, if an organization misleads its customers or produces unsafe products, its employees may

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

be ashamed of this behavior as well. On the contrary, if an organization cares about its customers by providing quality products and accurate information about its activities, employees can be proud to be part of that organization [43].

Moreover, studies by Farooq et al. [44] and Glavas and Kelley [45] noted positive relations between CSR towards employees, the environment, and customers with OC [42, 43].

We propose the following hypotheses:

*H2a: CSR towards employees has a significant positive effect on OC.*

*H2b: CSR towards customers has a significant positive effect on OC.*

*H2c: CSR towards the environment has a significant positive effect on OC.*

Business performance is expressed through organizational and market performance [44, 45]. Richard et al. [46] recommend measuring company performance based on accounting, financial, and market factors obtained via company reports and feedback on Likert scales [47].

As employees become more aware of their organization's activities and goals, their increased support can significantly enhance organizational performance, impacting both job satisfaction and business outcome [48].

Commitment, defined as the psychological state that influences an employee's relationship with the organization and their decision to stay or leave, plays a crucial role in this dynamic [49, 50]. Committed employees tend to participate more actively and produce more, leading to lower absenteeism and turnover, and consequently higher operational performance. Engaged employees are thus more productive, with lower absenteeism and turnover rates.

It is essential for an organization's personnel practices to consider employee attitudes and beliefs, as misconceptions can lead to demotivation and poor performance, adversely affecting organizational outcomes [51]. A high-performance facilitator work system, which fosters trust, OC, and a positive perception of performance, can significantly boost organizational performance [52].

*H3: OC relates positively with business performance.*

Torgusa et al. found significant positive relationships between CSR measures and employee engagement, CSR, and organizational performance [53]. CSR toward customers had a positive effect on financial performance [48–50]. If customers are dissatisfied with a product or related service, investors worry that negative customer reactions, such as a shrinking customer base or lawsuits, will directly impact revenue [54]. Therefore, companies must pay attention to factors such as ethical advertising standards, the health and safety of their customers while using their products, and a company-wide quality program to offer better products at fair prices. A company's policies and practices for dealing with such issues can signal its responsible attitude towards its customers, thereby improving performance [55].

Aragon-Correa et al. examined the impact of environmental practices on business performance and showed that companies actively taking steps to minimize their environmental impact can positively influence performance [56]. Although the government has introduced many regulations and legal systems to regulate behavior, the implementation of CSR depends on the capacity of the organization [57]. Therefore, we propose the following hypotheses:

*H4.a: There is a statistically significant relationship between CSR towards employees and business performance.*

*H4.b: There is a statistically significant relationship between CSR towards customers and business performance.*

*H4.c: There is a statistically significant relationship between CSR towards the environment and business performance.*

Singh [11] showed that components of HRM practices have a positive effect on performance [9, 58]. Dung et al. have shown that HRM practices not only affect business performance through human resource outcomes but also have a direct impact on business performance itself [59].

*H5: HRM practices have a directly positive effect on business performance.*

#### **3. Method**

#### **3.1 Sample**

Sample size plays an important role in estimating and interpreting structural equation modeling (SEM) results. Hair et al. [60, 61] suggested that the sample size for SEMs with 10–15 indices typically ranges from 200 to 400. This also depends on the number of observed variables and the reliability of each study, which can be measured across different survey samples [60, 61]. According to Hair et al. [60, 61], the sample size must be at least four to five times the number of observations. With 49 items in this research, the minimum sample size is 49 \* 5 = 245. Samples were selected using a convenient stratified sampling method, distributing answer sheets to 278 enterprises to ensure enough suitable samples for analysis.

The survey targeted private businesses and sole proprietorships in 2018. The questionnaire was administered through face-to-face interviews and selected responses from a conveniently stratified sample of 438 observations. The sample structure included managers and employees with at least 5 years of professional experience.

Based on geographical characteristics and the number of food processing enterprises, 7 out of 13 provinces/cities in the Mekong Delta were selected for the survey, ensuring appropriate sampling for analysis in the official study. A total of 452 questionnaires were collected, but 14 were rejected as incomplete. Thus, the final usable questionnaires totaled 438, resulting in a response rate of 75.3%. About half of the respondents were women (41.3%).

#### **3.2 Research methods**

Qualitative Research: The initial scale development involved reviewing documents, conducting discussions with survey participants, and gathering expert opinions, resulting in 51 observed variables.

Quantitative research: Subsequently, a survey involving agricultural personnel in 136 companies was conducted using these 51 variables. Through Cronbach's alpha analysis and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), 42 variables were retained. These were further tested in a formal study involving 438 samples across 278 companies, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate the observed variables and confirm their conceptual relationships. This phase aimed to demonstrate consistency and the unidimensionality of the concept. SEM was then employed to assess and calculate the relationships within the research model [62].

Measurement of HRM components included selection and recruitment, training and development, task evaluation, job stability and advancement, compensation and rewards, and promotion of engagement and innovation. The scale was adapted from

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

sources such as Schuler and Jackson [18], Bohlander and Snell [26], Lievens and Chapman [63], Mathis and Jackson [64], Huselid [65], Jiang et al. [66], and Katou [67].

Measurement of CSR encompassed CSR towards employees, CSR towards customers, and CSR towards the environment. The scale focused on Turker [68] and other relevant sources [69, 70].

Measurement of OC utilized scales adapted from Turker [68], Jesús Barrena-Martínez [69], Meyer and Allen [70], and Allen and Meyer [71].

Measurement of business performance (PER) included both organizational performance (PEP) and market performance (PEM) and was adapted from Huselid [65] and Delaney et al. [72].

#### **4. Result**

#### **4.1 Descriptive statistics**

Among the 278 surveyed companies, 21.6% were private enterprises, 48.6% were Co., Ltd., 21.9% were joint stock companies, and 7.9% were household businesses. In terms of the scale of employees:


Regarding the number of years of operation:


Descriptive statistics confirmed no missing values in the study. All 438 responses collected were considered for data analysis.

#### **4.2 Analysis of the reliability of the scales**

The results in **Table 1** indicate that all scales alpha weight > 0.7, indicating satisfactory internal consistency reliability. Additionally, the total variable correlations within each scale are acceptable, further supporting the reliability of the analysis. Therefore, it can be concluded that the scales used in the study demonstrate sufficient reliability for the analysis.


**Table 1.** *Testing reliability of the scales.*

#### **4.3 Results of CFA analysis for component concepts**

The scale results show the index of df, Chi-square/df; TLI and CFI are both >0.9. The model fits the market data [60]. The normalized weights of the variables are >0.5. The scale reaches one dimension (**Table 2**).

**Table 3** describes the overall reliability of all scales with composite reliability coefficients greater than Cronbach's alpha value (> 0.8). In addition, the scale with total variance was extracted to explain the variability in the data for high scores (all at 55% or greater). Combined with the built-in reliability and reliability values, this scale meets the requirements for reliability and total variance extracted.


#### **Table 2.**

*Analysis results of CFA for each component concept.*

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*


#### **Table 3.**

*Summary results of testing the reliability.*

#### **4.4 Model results - The standardized estimates**

**Table 4** shows the results of the model path analysis. As noted from the path analysis, the associated standardized regression weights are provided. However, two of the hypotheses were not confirmed with the required statistical significance. It is important to note that the significance threshold for this study was set at a P-value of 0.05. In tables with P-values, three asterisks (\*\*\*) indicate a P-value of <0.001 (**Figure 1**).

The results show a statistically significant relationship between HRM practices and CSR towards stakeholders. This shows that HRM practices play a crucial role in CSR, especially in aspects related to the environment and employees in the food processing industry. In addition, HRM activities can positively influence employees' attitudes through OC. This finding aligns with studies by Whitener [73], Chew and Chan [74], and Gong et al. [75], which highlight the relationship between HRM and business performance through OC [72, 73, 76].

The results also show that the implementation of CSR towards customers and the environment directly affects a company's performance. This is consistent with studies by Rettab et al. [77] and Murtaza et al. [78], which argue that expanding CSR improves the organization's image in the minds of consumers, positively impacting financial performance [77]. Aragón-Correa et al. found that enterprises reduce the positive impact of the environment on financial performance [56].

CSR for employees does not directly impact company performance. However, if employees are aware of the level of CSR that the company has for its stakeholders,

#### *Leadership - Advancing Great Leaders and Leadership*


*Source: Data surveyed by author.*

#### **Table 4.**

*Results of testing the relationship between concepts in theory model.*

**Figure 1.** *SEM results for the theoretical model.*

they will actively promote a positive attitude to improve productivity. Social Identity Theory (SIT) is often used as a basis to explain the relationship between CSR perception and employee attitudes [38].

#### **5. Conclusion and implications**

The research results show that leadership plays an important role in HRM, having a positive influence on employee perception and company performance [2, 79]. HRM

#### *Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

practices positively affect CSR across employee, customer, and environmental dimensions, aligning with previous studies emphasizing HRM's role in shaping organizational social responsibility policies [7, 31]. Particularly notable is HRM's substantial impact on CSR related to human resources and the environment (β = 0.796 and 0.794), highlighting the critical management and implementation levels of CSR, especially concerning environmental factors, echoing findings from Clarkson's study [77].

These results are consistent with the food industry, an industry in which most companies adhere to management standards such as SA 8000 to ensure suitable working environments. Customer-oriented standards continue to evolve to meet food safety management norms such as GMP, HACCP, and ISO 22000.

All three aspects of CSR affect OC, with CSR towards employees exerting the strongest impact (β = 0.329). This underscores the crucial role of employee-focused initiatives in enhancing OC, which is consistent with research such as that by This result is consistent with a study by Skudiene and Auruskeviciene on internal CSR (employee orientation), which showed that insternal CSR has a more positive influence on employee motivation than external CSR aspects [80]. Additionally, studies by Al-bdour et al. and Halim and Rahayu also confirmed that internal CSR strongly influences OC [41, 81, 82].

In addition, OC has a positive impact on a company's business performance (β = 0.325), indicating that committed employees contribute to enhanced business outcomes. Gouldner [83] theorized that reciprocal benefits between individuals lead to positive organizational outcomes, supporting the link between OC and firm performance [41, 81, 84].

While CSR toward employees and the environment is important, it does not directly affect business performance. However, CSR towards customers positively affects operational efficiency (β = 0.348). This result motivates underscores the importance for companies to bolster brand image and reputation among customers [78].

Although HRM practices do not directly affect performance, they indirectly impact business performance significantly (β = 0.805), explaining 82.3% of the variance. This highlights the critical role of HRM in integrating stakeholder accountability, including employees, customers, and environmental responsibilities. Companies are encouraged to focus on factors such as working conditions, labor protection, food safety, and environmental stewardship, as these positively impact organizational performance.

#### **5.1 Implications**

To improve OC and business performance among employees in the seafood processing industry through HRM activities, leaders need to focus on implementing certain activities, which we discuss in the following sections.

The first is to improve management efficiency by maintaining and reforming a company's ISO management system. For this, it is necessary to approach, maintain, and develop a good manufacturing practice (GMP) management system to ensure safe and hygienic conditions for production. This includes adhering to general principles, regulations, and guidelines for basic production conditions to ensure product quality. Additionally, it involves developing a Hazard Analysis

and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system and food safety management standards (ISO 22000).

Employee recruitment and training should be done publicly, with clear job descriptions for each position. To improve the quality of on-the-job training, HRM needs to focus on direct and indirect workers.

For workers who directly create products, it is necessary to pay special attention to their skills and production levels, as well as the implementation of regulations and processes, ensuring strict adherence to regulations in occupational and food safety as well as hygiene.

For indirect workers, it is necessary to improve their qualifications in many aspects, including regularly updating standards on quality management, science, and technology, and accessing and developing products suitable for market. In addition, employees should be encouraged to become proficient in other areas to increase flexibility in problem-solving and to easily take on other jobs when there is a change of responsibilities. Regularly organizing and sending employees to participate in professional training and retraining courses helps them update their knowledge in a timely manner to respond to market demands.

Leaders should regularly monitor and evaluate employees through a set of assessment criteria based on knowledge, skills, qualifications, and work performance in the company, regardless of gender. The criteria should be clear, open, and fair in evaluating employees. In addition, it is necessary to build a feedback channel and hold dialogs with the company at least twice a year to answer questions, solve difficulties, and address employee complaints.

The salary and bonus policy must be implemented in a timely manner, ensuring that the salary is suitable for the job position and reasonable compared to other companies of the same type. Today, the demand for human resources for the processing industry is expected to increase. Therefore, salary and bonus policies should be carefully considered to both increase revenue and ensure OC. The determination of marginal labor and wages should be reviewed and adjusted every 6 months to suit the actual production and business situation. This includes regulations on salary, bonus, sick leave, convalescence, maternity, and so on.

Leaders should encourage employees to help develop rules and procedures within the company to ensure quality improvement and increase employee engagement. This will improve operational efficiency through improved management and streamlined work processes. Consequently, the quality of the product will improve to meet customer needs, thereby improving the company's market performance.

The research presented in this chapter is limited to analyzing three aspects of social responsibility: employees, customers, and the environment. Social responsibility also encompasses other aspects, such as social responsibility towards the community, suppliers, shareholders, and others; however, these were not analyzed in this study. Therefore, the study underestimates the extent to which social accountability is exercised among stakeholders. This gap in the research points to the need for future research to analyze the broader aspects of CSR towards stakeholders.

#### **A. Appendix**

(See **Table A1**)

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*


#### *Leadership - Advancing Great Leaders and Leadership*


**Table A1.**

*Impact of Human Resource Management Practice on Organizational Performance: The Case… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108003*

#### **Author details**

Nguyen Thanh Hung Tra Vinh University, Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam

\*Address all correspondence to: nthung@tvu.edu.vn

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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#### **Chapter 15**

## Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement in Decision-Making and Outcomes

*Hanan AlMazrouei*

#### **Abstract**

One of the most important roles in leadership is to support and encourage team members by empowering them and providing them with the opportunity to take greater ownership of their work outcomes. By supporting a culture of innovation, authentic leaders inspire and support individuals, encouraging them to improve performance and develop the confidence to exhibit creativity, demonstrate innovation, and show greater agility when faced with challenges. This enables them to work more independently, helping their organization to better achieve its objectives and increase competitiveness. Authentic leadership enhances an organization's effectiveness by encouraging its employees to approach their tasks with a more optimistic attitude and with creativity. Through the use of emotional sensitivity organizational leaders can tailor their interactions with their employees to elicit their best performance. By drawing on each employee's strengths, erudite leaders can create effective individuals that will enhance performance and foster a positive organizational culture. Authentic leadership also encourages employees to participate in decision-making. This empowers them and offers them a feeling of ownership of their tasks and responsibility for the outcomes. Encouraging such a culture promotes the organization as an employer of choice, further supporting its efforts to gain and maintain competitive advantage.

**Keywords:** authentic leadership, employees' performance, creativity, participative decision-making, outcomes

#### **1. Introduction**

Authentic leadership is a style of leadership that has attracted a significant amount of attention, by both scholars [1, 2] and practitioners [3]. It is characterized by an affirmative psychological attitude that promotes a positive organizational culture with a view to developing increased self-awareness, the objective evaluation of information, the application of supportive moral principles, and transparency on the part of the leader. This then enhances self-development not only for the leader, but also their followers [2]. Academic opinion is that it enhances organizational performance by

encouraging positive approaches and behaviors by employees [4]. Authentic leadership enhances an organization's performance by providing employees with the support and motivation to take greater ownership of their work and its outcomes, which benefits the organization as a whole. It also allows employees to participate in discussions regarding their tasks and make decisions that affect their work.

Leaders can reap the benefits of practicing authentic leadership through the enhanced motivation of their employees that it brings. By supporting their employees in this way the employees will, in turn, support their manager and their organization by taking greater ownership of the outcomes derived from their efforts, resulting in mutual benefit.

As the world business environment continues to gather pace, organizational leaders need to adapt in order to benefit from management methodologies that help them to gain and maintain competitive advantage. The purpose of this chapter is to assist managers to better understand the concept of authentic leadership so that they can utilize its practical aspects for the mutual benefit of themselves, their employees, and their organization. The aim is to shed light on the importance of authentic leadership with regard to employee motivation by involving employees in decision-making. This chapter discusses the robust relationship between authentic leaders and followers that could lead to increased employee commitment and job performance. It also seeks to determine the relationship between authentic leaders and their followers and how it supports and encourages employee creativity at both the individual and the team level.

#### **2. Theoretical framework**

Uhl-Bien et al. [5] traced the historical study of leadership from its beginnings, where leaders were the focus and followers were considered merely the resources used to achieve the leader's desired goals, through to the concept of a dyadic relationship, where leadership and followership engaged in a symbiotic relationship directed toward the mutual attainment of the organization's goals and objectives. In this, the hierarchical view of the leadership-followership model has developed into more of a social view.

Authenticity has been described as an individual's taking ownership of their experiences, thoughts, feelings, opinions, principles, or longings [6]. This involves an individual possessing a large measure of self-awareness and taking actions commensurate with their beliefs [7]. Erickson [8] advises that authenticity is not either fully present or fully absent in a person but, rather, is on a continuum. Whitehead [9] defined authentic leadership as involving self-awareness, humility, a desire for continuous improvement, an awareness of others' welfare, the ability to create an organizational culture of trust by emphasizing and maintaining strong ethics and morals, and a commitment to the organization's success. Shamir and Eilam [10] based their definition of authentic leadership on the association between leaders' self-concepts and their ensuing actions and behaviors, describing how the leader's organizational role is a part of their concept of self and how, as role models, their actions and behaviors are consistent with this. This, they argue, generates authenticity on the part of their followers, given that the followers are motivated to follow their leaders out of a desire to form genuine working relationships. Zhang et al. [11] and Javed et al. [12] note that the effectiveness of an authentic leader varies between employees, with factors such as employees' political skills and openness to experience affecting how strongly they adopt the behaviors demonstrated by their authentic leader.

*Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108624*

Authentic leaders possess transparency in relation to their intentions, linking their actions and behaviors to their values [7]. In rapidly changing business environments, organizations need authentic leaders to engender followers' confidence in the direction they take the organization. Such situations are the basis of leadership of the highest quality [13, 14]. A review of the body of literature by Kernis and Goldman [15] and Kernis [16] found that authenticity involves four aspects relating to both an individual's thoughts and behaviors, these being based on an awareness of themselves and having belief in their emotions, motives and values, objectivity in evaluating their personal qualities, both positive and negative, taking actions based on their values rather than being influenced by others, and the ability and willingness to be both open and genuine in interpersonal relationships.

Given that authentic leadership may be viewed as a function of the dyadic mutual exchange process, research into followership needs to investigate the type of influence that leaders and followers have on each other in their combined pursuit of organizational objectives for their mutual benefit.

#### **3. Method**

This chapter is based on a review of the literature concerning authentic leadership and its relationship with employee creativity and participative decision-making. These important associations have not received the attention they deserve, given their importance in developing robust working relationships and, through these, enhanced competitive advantage. This research critically reviews the literature to improve our understanding of authentic leadership based on the theoretical focus of follower participation in decision-making. The focus of this chapter is on creating a clear understanding of how authentic leaders can build a strong relationship with followers. This chapter is centered on theory and its practical application, and although it may be based on existing research, it covers a topic that is only now beginning to receive the attention it deserves. Participative decision-making has enjoyed only limited coverage in the literature to the present time [17, 18], yet it is deserving of increased attention. This chapter aims to examine how the existing theoretical frameworks can be combined with more recent work on authentic leadership to arrive at a better understanding of authentic leadership and how it affects leaders' dynamic relationships with their followers. This stands as one of the most important challenges that leaders face.

#### **4. Discussion**

#### **4.1 Leader self-awareness**

An authentic leader is one who leverages their own positive characteristics, such as a strong awareness of self and a robust sense of ethical behavior in order to nurture a positive working environment in which employee trust and positive working relationships are developed and employee creativity and innovation are encouraged and rewarded [19]. A leader's self-awareness develops over time as they gain an increased understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and talents, as well as their personal beliefs, values, and desires [1].

Authentic leadership entails a manager possessing well-developed emotional intelligence. With this, leaders can work on building not only their own positive

characteristics by recognizing their strengths and weaknesses, but also those of their followers. In so doing, they can develop empathy with their followers and utilize this to develop better and stronger working relationships by enhancing their followers' positive characteristics as well as their own and harnessing them for mutual benefit.

Self-awareness is akin to self-evaluation, in that a better awareness of self is more likely to result in a more accurate self-assessment. How individuals assess their leadership is related to this. Discrepancies between an individual's assessment of themselves and assessments of them by others can indicate a lack of self-awareness regarding their leadership [20]. An individual's awareness of their own leadership may well enhance both their workplace effectiveness and the satisfaction they derive from this [20]. Of course, a leader's self-awareness needs to be truly objective if it is to be an accurate reflection of their capabilities. This is a difficult undertaking for any individual given that the natural human trait is often to view events in a favorable light.

#### **4.2 Follower development**

Authentic leadership affects outcomes such as employees' job performance and also their organizational commitment and their demonstration of citizenship behaviors [21, 22]. It develops over time as the leaders become increasingly aware of their values, beliefs, desires, and role within the organization [23]. Followers also develop a greater transparency and a stronger awareness of their values and beliefs within the organizational context as a result of their leader's influence, thereby cultivating their own values, beliefs, and desires. This, then, creates a symbiotic relationship where both leaders and followers can develop. This is not necessarily intentional on the part of the leader, but may occur simply in the act of their being a role model [1].

By building on their awareness of self and of others, authentic leaders increase their ability to evaluate not only their employees' current capabilities, but also their potential capacity for increased responsibility [24]. This, of course, presupposes that followers are resources that exist in a vacuum and need developing by the leader. Followers already have their own views, perceptions, and predispositions. In order for followers to be developed by their leader, they must be willing for this to occur. Good leaders may well be able to develop positive working relationships with most followers, but should recognize that not all followers can be bent to the will of the leader in the way the leader would always prefer.

#### **4.3 Authentic leadership and creativity**

By emphasizing the positive aspects of working relationships rather than the negative [21, 25], authentic leaders encourage trust among their followers. This then increases the followers' sense of safety and encourages them to contribute their creative ideas [26]. Followers of authentic leaders obtain increased motivation through their leaders' support [27], thus encouraging creativity [28]. This is achieved by the authentic leaders having a heightened self-awareness, particularly in relation to their strengths and weaknesses, emotions, values, and beliefs. These leaders candidly share these with their followers transparently, engendering trust. In this way, authentic leaders develop trust and encourage creative thinking among their followers by creating a supportive organizational environment that allows reasonable risk-taking. As well as this, these leaders carefully consider all the information available to them, while maintaining a moral standpoint, before deciding on any courses of action.

#### *Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108624*

Authentic leaders encourage constructive exchanges between stakeholders [3] and enhance positive attitudes and emotions among their followers. This encourages their followers to consider creative alternatives [29]. This promotes an organizational culture where employees feel sufficiently safe to seek out alternatives, present and implement creative ideas, and develop their potential [30]. In this context, authentic leaders do not necessarily develop their followers' attitudes directly as their followers will already have their own attitudes but, rather, indirectly in that they, as custodians of the organization's culture, create the conditions and the supportive environment in which followers can feel safe to propose their creative ideas.

#### **4.4 Team leaders' authenticity and team innovation**

Innovation is the implementation of creative ideas within a specific context [31] and represents a change to the organization's traditional method of operating. This usually creates resistance to the proposed change and possible conflict, often requiring continuous effort in order to successfully implement the change. This highlights the difference between the leadership needed to encourage employee creativity and that required to support innovation, with each requiring different incentives [32].

Authentic leaders offer empowerment to their followers by instilling in them a common sense of purpose and values and providing encouragement and opportunity to undertake leadership roles in the pursuit of organizational objectives [33]. Authentic leaders do this on an ongoing basis through their presence as a role model, thus providing the conditions in which authentic followership can develop. It is this that sets authentic leadership apart from other styles of leadership. Also, by being transparent, authentic leaders can support their followers by showing their faith and trust in them [32].

As a result of the organizational environment created by the authentic leader, followers will have a greater propensity to perceive their leaders as role models. The leaders, being imbued with increased self-confidence, are themselves encouraged to support the implementation of creative new ideas [34] or generate new ideas themselves. This can, in turn, motivate the followers to devise and implement new ideas [35] as well as becoming role models themselves.

Authentic leaders, indeed, possessing increased levels of self-awareness will have the responsibility to nurture their team members' creative ideas and support their implementation. As leaders, they will use their knowledge of the broader issues and their experience to guide their team members' suggestions into reality by supporting their efforts, rather than taking them over and personally implementing them. This will provide the team members with a greater sense of ownership, not just of the work task itself, but the creative solution to the task's problems and its implementation.

#### **4.5 Affective commitment**

Affective commitment relates to the personal and emotional attachment an employee experiences. Those with a high level of affective commitment are less likely to separate from the organization [36] as they believe in the organization's values and goals [37]. Behaviors demonstrated by authentic leaders represent the values that support transparent working relationships. A greater employee perception of leader authenticity is likely to result in an increased emotional connection between employees and authentic leaders [16, 23] leading to an increase in the quality of exchanges between them, thus increasing employees' affective commitment [38]. Based on the

author's observation and their experience as an authentic leader, when individuals and teams have a better informal and formal working relationship with their leader, they feel more supported, are more committed to that relationship, their job, and their organization, and are more engaged. This then results in enhanced cohesiveness and a stronger leader-member exchange as well as encouraging employees to demonstrate increased creativity, resulting in mutual benefits for both the leader and the followers.

#### **4.6 Affective commitment and creativity**

As creativity involves a process of developing solutions to problems and issues [39], it may assist in increasing employees' commitment to their organization [40] and, as such, may support creative behaviors. Therefore, there is an association between employees' affective commitment and creative behaviors [41, 42]. Employees who are happier in their work display increased creativity [43] and, through this, an affective attachment to their place of employment [44]. Positive emotions enhance cognition and support creative thought [45] so there is a correlation between happiness, affective attachment, and creative thinking [46]. Following this, there is also a correlation between positive affective attachment and workplace creativity as it enhances the chances of employees making associations between seemingly unrelated pieces of information, possibly leading to creative solutions to problems [47].

Employees' affective commitment has been found to be a predictor of creativity [40]. There is also a relationship between employee autonomy, perseverance, achievement, and dedication [48]. These factors create ties between employees and their organizations and define how the creativity exhibited by an employee is influenced by the culture of their workplace [40]. As a result, employees having a strong affective commitment to their workplace are more likely to develop creative solutions and apply them in an effort to enhance their organization's efficiency [49].

#### **4.7 Authentic leadership, employee creativity and performance**

Creativity relates to the production of new and useful ideas or solutions to problems [50–52], while performance is concerned with employees' productivity in relation to desired workplace outcomes [53]. Creativity is therefore a predictor for effective workplace performance [54, 55].

Many studies have found that the workplace culture influences a number of employee-related factors, including job satisfaction, job performance, work stress, and organizational commitment [56–58]. An investigation of the literature by Da Costa et al. [59] found that intrinsic motivations, such as interest in the task, job satisfaction, the amount of pleasure derived by undertaking the task, and the challenges presented by the task are greater motivators than extrinsic motivations, such as pressure or rewards and compensation. The positive and supportive environments that authentic leaders create, therefore, lay the foundation for a variety of positive employee behaviors, many of which contribute to many of the others. By contrast, workplace cultures based on sanctions such as pressure can stifle the positivity resulting from supportive environments.

#### **4.8 Authentic leadership is positively related to psychological empowerment**

Empowerment, or autonomy, is a psychological concept [22, 60] and is considered to contain four aspects [61]. The first of these is the meaning or value of any work

*Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108624*

an employee undertakes in the light of their personal values [61]. The second is competence, or self-efficacy, which relates to an employee's belief in their capacity to successfully achieve a required outcome [62]. The third is self-determination, being an employee's perception of their freedom to instigate or alter an action [63]. The fourth is impact, or the amount to which the employee's actions affect their organization's productivity [64]. In combination, these factors encourage proactive behaviors and confidence on the part of the employee [60].

Workplace empowerment is also a function of the relationship between an employee and their manager [65]. The concept of empowerment differs between cultures. In individualistic cultures, empowerment is considered to be a function of the job itself, while in collectivist cultures, it relates more to the amount of trust a manager has in their subordinate [66, 67]. As a function of social exchange, employees gain a sense of empowerment when their supervisor has a working relationship with them. This is particularly so where large amounts of information are present requiring transparency in the sharing and processing of that information [68]. This enhances the development of trust between the supervisor and the subordinate and contributes to the enhancement of the employee's performance [2, 69, 70]. Authentic leaders are able to balance the flow of information while allowing the employee to develop a greater sense of ownership of the work. This develops an increased sense of empowerment on the part of the employee [22, 27].

Empowerment can be considered as having two varieties within the workplace environment, these being structural and psychological. The structural variety relates to the hierarchy within the workplace and the workplace environment [71], while the psychological variety relates purely to the motivation to undertake tasks [60]. Psychological empowerment practiced by authentic leaders has been found to motivate employees [72, 73] by facilitating employee autonomy and provides them with the feeling that they have influence over their tasks [74]. The concept of empowerment in cultures other than those in the west, particularly in the south-east Asian region, is the power distance between the leader and the employee and the degree of trust the leader has in the employee [75]. These theoretical aspects determine employee behaviors. This is of particular importance in organizations where the amount of information is high and where decisions need to be made quickly [76].

Based on the existing body of knowledge in this field, empowerment influenced by authentic leaders is positively related to creativity [55, 77]. This is founded on the principle that authentic leaders cultivate and sustain working relationships with their followers as a result of their personal characteristics [78]. Employees working in organizational cultures oriented toward interpersonal relationships therefore have the perception of empowerment and respond with creative thoughts that may lead to innovative solutions [76].

#### **4.9 Authentic leadership and organizational culture**

Based on the adage that the standard you walk past is the standard you accept an organization's authenticity was defined by Novicevic et al. [79] as a manifestation of the authenticity of the organization's leadership. This then creates an authentic organizational culture. The culture of a workplace directly results from the values and beliefs of its leaders. As such the role leaders play in creating and maintaining the workplace culture is vital [80]. Authentic leaders are effectively the role models for their organization. By making decisions and undertaking behaviors in accordance with their values and beliefs, authentic leaders encourage similar behaviors among

their followers [81]. Authentic leadership is therefore vital in developing an inclusive workplace culture [82] that develops and maintains an atmosphere of inclusion that encourages creativity. Authentic leaders engage in inclusive behaviors, which involve the use of participative decision-making, encouraging free and open communication from employees, and valuing opinions from a diverse variety of perspectives [81]. Employees will soon detect any incongruence from leaders who make decisions and undertake behaviors that are not aligned with their values and beliefs, undermining the leader's position.

Authentic leaders enhance an organization's culture in several ways. By demonstrating transparency, they create a culture of commitment to the organization, encourage the sharing of knowledge, and increase employee satisfaction, engagement, performance, and productivity [83], as well as increasing employees' feelings of inspiration and passion for their work [84]. By being transparent with their employees, authentic leaders promote an organizational culture that supports employee psychological safety [4], respect, and trust and, through this, encourages creativity [85]. Authentic leaders, therefore, as custodians of their organizational culture, are responsible for nurturing the positive workplace environment that results in their employees feeling sufficient confidence to propose ideas, safe in the knowledge that not only will their leaders support their efforts, but also the other employees, as all workers should share in the positivity created by the leader, having taken on some of the authenticity the leader displays as a role model.

#### **4.10 Authentic leadership and followers' participative decision-making**

While there has been much written about authentic leadership and its effect on employee motivation and employee requests for feedback from their leaders [86], less has been written about the effect of authentic leadership and its impact on participative decision-making. The organizational culture created by an authentic leader through their transparency also encourages participative decision-making by providing a safe environment in which employees feel trust and confidence that their creative ideas will be noted and considered. By encouraging employees to participate in the decision-making process, authentic leaders inspire employees at all levels to be a part of the organization's decision-making process.

Authentic leaders can also act as mentors for their employees, providing them with the guidance they need to approach their work and the decisions relating to it, increasing their self-reliance. This builds confidence among employees and helps the organization to innovate, benefitting the employees, their leaders, and the organization as a whole. By taking this path, the organization will be more likely to identify creative solutions to unsolved problems. An added benefit of this is that employees can share some of the responsibilities for managing the completion of tasks, reducing the authentic leader's workload, and providing them with greater time to manage other aspects of their role. Taking part in making workplace decisions helps employees to feel self-actualized, which increases their motivation and, through this, their performance [87]. Employees will also experience feelings of empowerment and affective commitment, thus strengthening the organization's retention of corporate knowledge. The creation of such an environment increases the organization's reputation as an employer of choice and increases its competitive advantage.

*Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108624*

#### **5. Conclusions**

#### **5.1 Theoretical contribution**

To the present time, much of the research in this field has focused on the effectiveness of empowering leadership in improving employee efficiency [55]. There has been relatively little investigation into determining the relationship between authentic leaders and their followers and how this relationship supports and encourages employee participation in decision-making and leads to creativity at both the individual and the team levels.

This chapter has focused on understanding and applying the theory of authentic leadership in order to make use of the practical features it contains as a way for leaders to utilize it for their own benefit as well as for the benefit of their followers and the wider organization. Of necessity, theory regarding authentic leadership will adapt as new research refines it by retaining its fundamentals, while incorporating new concepts. While authentic leadership has been researched [9] and found to be a characteristic of the exchange between leaders and followers, investigation of followership should examine the nature of the mutual influence between leaders and followers as all parties involved in the process seek to gain shared benefit from the pursuit of their organization's goals.

While there has been a significant amount written about the effects of authentic leadership on employee motivation and employee requests for feedback from their leaders [86], there has been less attention paid to how authentic leadership affects participative decision-making. The culture an authentic leader's transparency creates in their organization promotes participative decision-making by generating an environment where employees can feel confident that their creative ideas will receive appropriate consideration. This chapter provides an opportunity for researchers to gain a stronger understanding of how the relationships between leaders and followers develop and continue through employee involvement in making decisions and challenges researchers to investigate how the effectiveness of leaders can better be facilitated. Additionally, this study helps authentic leaders to become increasingly aware of how important it for their leadership to promote a culture based on participative decision-making, such that it increases both employees' performance and organizational commitment, as well as utilizing this awareness to develop and improve training in authentic leadership.

#### **5.2 Practical contribution**

Authentic leaders should build an innovative culture in their organization. They should support and inspire their employees to enhance their performance and gain the confidence to demonstrate creativity and agility when confronted with challenges. Doing so will facilitate their ability to do their work with greater independence and help their organization to realize its objectives. Authentic leaders exemplify mutual exchanges between themselves and their followers. Therefore, research relating to followership should examine how leaders and followers influence each other as they work in combination to achieve their organization's goals and, in so doing, achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Authentic leaders involving their followers in the decision-making process promote an organizational environment that encourages the investigation of creative ideas and innovation in resolving workplace problems, leading to a culture of learning and organizational commitment.

This chapter increases leaders' knowledge of authentic leadership and the effects it has on participative decision-making. The environment an authentic leader creates in their organization as a result of their transparency promotes participative decisionmaking by building an organizational culture where employees can have sufficient confidence that their creative ideas will gain a fair hearing that they are motivated to suggest them. This chapter assists authentic leaders to increase their awareness of how authentic leadership encourages a creative organizational culture, which then enhances employees' performance as well as their organizational commitment. This awareness can then form the basis of enhancements to leadership training so that both leaders and their organization can benefit. Employees working with an authentic leader who has created a culture that supports them are more likely to not only develop a positive attitude toward their workplace, but also experience elevated levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment [88].

#### **5.3 Conclusion**

In summary, authentic leadership develops the cohesiveness of working relationships, improves both employee and organizational performance, and enhances the likelihood of improved outcomes by increasing employees' affective commitment, thereby motivating them to approach their work more positively and display creative behaviors that support their organization. It also plays an important role in encouraging employees to become more involved in the decision-making process. This gives them a sense of empowerment and ownership of their work and strengthens retention of the organization's knowledge. Authentic leaders can improve their organization's culture by creating an environment of commitment by motivating followers to share their knowledge, experience, and creative ideas, all of which can contribute to improved organizational performance. Authentic leaders can benefit by encouraging their employees to participate in decision-making as a way to enhance their organizational commitment to the extent that their creativity is maintained. Developing an environment such as this enhances the organization's reputation as an employer of choice, which helps to increase its competitive advantage.

#### **Notes/thanks/other declarations**

I would like to thank Joseph Crawford for the opportunity he has given me to contribute this chapter of his book.

*Authentic Leadership: Supporting Employees' Performance, Creativity, Involvement… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108624*

#### **Author details**

Hanan AlMazrouei UAE University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

\*Address all correspondence to: h.almazrouei@uaeu.ac.ae

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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#### **Chapter 16**

## Perspective Chapter: Creativity in the Work Environment – Reflections on the Role of Management for Creative Individuals Work

*Vânia Bessi, Paula Schmitz and Caren Rinker*

#### **Abstract**

The paper aims to reflect on creativity at work, broadening the perspective on the influence of the environment and leadership practices and policies for expressing creative individuals. Based on theory, it is argued that the creative abilities of individuals need to be associated with an organization whose leadership allows and encourages creative work. The methodology consists of a theoretical essay, to answer the proposed research question: how do leadership and management practices influence the creative expression of workers in different contexts? It appears that leadership plays a fundamental role in creating and maintaining an organizational culture that allows creativity and innovation on the part of employees. Based on this reflection, a theoretical expansion of the componential model of the invention (cyclic model systemic approach) is presented, listing elements that must be considered when one intends to analyze creativity in the work environment.

**Keywords:** creativity, leadership, management, engaging leadership

#### **1. Introduction**

Over time and with the advance of capitalist systems, companies were constituted as rigid and hierarchical structures in search of predictability of action and acting in a pyramidal model, where power relations were established rigorously. With the advancement of the twenty-first century, the insertion of technologies and new consumption patterns led to numerous transformations in the organizational environment.

These changes have driven the emergence of new organizational models, more organic and flexible, common to segments of the economy whose main asset is employees' cognitive and intellectual capabilities. In this context, the creative skills of workers are considered essential for companies to remain innovative and competitive in the market.

To authors such as Sternberg [1], creativity is a decision, an attitude toward life, and a matter of individual skills. As the author mentions, intellectual conformity is

a common point of the rigid structures that condition adults' way of thinking. This conditioning of creativity is very present in companies with management modes, especially people management, focused on standardization and rigid and bureaucratic hierarchical relationships.

Therefore, research indicates that it is not enough for workers to have creative skills, they must be engaged in the organization, so that they can obtain the best result in their work. This will happen as the worker finds, in the organizational environment, conditions that encourage them to try, experiment, create and, therefore, innovate at work.

For the understanding of creativity [1, 2], a systemic approach is important, considering the internal aspects of the individual (intrinsic factors) and their environment (extrinsic factors). When talking about factors related to the environment, creativity at work can find, in the organizational culture, elements that are configured as incentives or as obstacles to its expression.

Culture, seen as the set of assumptions, values, beliefs, policies, and practices of people, configures an organization's way of being [3]. Leadership, as guardian of the organizational culture, plays a fundamental role in creating an environment that is conducive to the expression of creativity by workers.

The leader can play the role of pushing workers to do their best, to mobilize their best skills, in favor of superior results. Engaging leadership can make your team act in an integrated, systemic, flexible, creative and innovative way, fundamental characteristics of contemporary organizations [4].

This study, whose methodology is based on a theoretical essay supported by unsystematic observation, aims to reflect on creativity at work, broadening the perspective on the influence of the environment and management practices and policies for expressing creative individuals. The aim is to answer the following research question: how do leadership and management practices influence the creative expression of workers in different contexts?

The relevance of the text lies in the relationship established between creativity, leadership and engagement. Although there are many studies demonstrating the importance of leadership for the creativity of individuals in the work environment, the association with engagement can bring new elements for reflection on the themes [5].

As an answer to the proposed question, this study presents, in the next sections, a theoretical approach to creativity, followed by the topic of leadership, engaging leadership and organizational culture. Next, the authors' theoretical reflections and observations results are pointed out. It ends with a suggestion to expand the contingency approach to creativity, which may include other elements related to organizations' leadership and management methods.

#### **2. Creativity**

Creativity has been associated with people's characteristics and abilities for a long time. To Boden [6], creativity is "the ability to present new, surprising, and valuable ideas and artifacts". To Florida, creativity is selecting and filtering data, information, and perceptions to create something new and useful.

Intrinsic motivation is an important principle for creativity [2]. This intrinsic motivation makes the individual perform the task for pleasure, for their interest, and

#### *Perspective Chapter: Creativity in the Work Environment – Reflections on the Role... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110528*

challenge. Thus, people would be more creative when motivated mainly by the interest, pleasure, satisfaction, and challenge of the work itself.

Through intrinsic motivation, people seek more knowledge, which develops domain skills. The model proposed by Amabile mentions that domain skills and creative processes are important for creative work [7, 8]. As a mastery skill, what the person possesses as skill, talent, or knowledge acquired through formal and informal education and their life experience stands out. As creative processes, the way of working, personality traits, and ways used to stimulate new ideas stand out [9].

Creativity is a decision to "buy low and sell high in the world of ideas", according to the investment theory of creativity proposed by Sternberg in partnership with Todd Lubart. Creative people generate ideas or seek out disadvantaged ideas that have growth potential, persisting in this idea until they get value and move on to the next idea [1, 10].

What is creative is new, and the human mind produces positive changes. However, the new can also seem strange, which can bring fear, which is why creativity is often not wanted to be considered, both in personal life and in companies. Creative people will be able to advance with their original ideas and improve the environment in which they are inserted, bringing benefits to those involved [11].

Different studies on the issue of creativity added new elements to the debate, as the importance of the environment where the individual is inserted was glimpsed so that they can express their creativity. According to this theory, creativity requires the interaction of the following aspects: intellectual ability, knowledge, thinking style, personality, motivation, and environment [1].

To Sternberg, no matter how much the person has all these six creative skills, if there is no favorable environment for accepting and stimulating ideas, all this inner creativity may not be demonstrated. However, in some cases, one force may be so great that it will neutralize the other, as high motivation can neutralize the influences of the environment when it is not conducive to the development of creativity [1, 9, 10].

The same author says that creativity is a decision, so in addition to having the skills proposed by this author, it is necessary to decide to use them. Thus, to be creative, it is necessary to "generate new ideas, analyze them, defend and sell them to other people" [1].

As for intellectual ability, the author highlights the ability to see problems from new perspectives, select the best ideas, and persuade with them until obtaining value [1]. It is important to know to be able to proceed with the idea, but according to this author, high knowledge in the domain area can make it impossible to visualize beyond this [1, 9]. However, creativity requires experience and practice. Ideas in creative people arise from well-developed skills and sufficient knowledge in the area in question [12].

The willingness to overcome obstacles, willingness to take risks and tolerance for ambiguity are important characteristics in the personality of the creative person [1, 11].

Analyzing external factors to the individual, extrinsic motivation such as rewards, evaluations, control, competition, and limited choices can harm creativity. The social environment can intervene in the individual's motivation, significantly influencing the creative process performance [2, 13, 14].

The research by Madjar et al. showed that employees' creative performance was related to encouraging creativity in their work environment, such as by supervisors and co-workers, but also by sources unrelated to this work environment, such as the family and friends [2].

Another important aspect of the creative process is the multicultural experience [15]. Cultural diversity can increase creativity, allowing new relationships to be made by enriching the cultural environment [12]. In this sense, groups and work teams presenting diversity among their members can facilitate creativity. Therefore, encouraging diversity in organizations must be a management decision and a leadership policy.

The creation process is also related to culture, as it serves as a reference for what the individual "is, does, communicates, and elaborates" [15]. Thus, to the author, human creativity is developed in the cultural context due to people being and developing within certain cultures, in which they share and determine their life values. The creative process lies in the interconnection between creativity, as the expression of each individual, and creation, as the realization of their potential within a cultural context. Therefore, this process is related to structuring and forming something, coming out of imagination only [15].

The human motivation to create is in the search for ordering and meanings. Creation processes occur within the scope of intuition. Intuitive, these processes become conscious as they are expressed, given form [15]. The intuitive act is a value choice through relevant and selected processes regarding its importance for each individual. In this intuitive act, the memories and knowledge acquired are renewed and resignified [15].

When thinking about creativity, it is necessary to have a broad vision, considering the individual's intrinsic and extrinsic factors, such as the environment in which they are inserted.

Creativity results from the reciprocal and favorable relationship between the individual and the environment [9, 16]. In creative expression, there is the interaction of personal variables (individuals) and elements of the historical and cultural context. To understand why, when, and how new ideas are produced, we need to consider both internal and external variables to the individual [9].

For the understanding of creativity, a systemic approach is important, considering the internal aspects of the individual (intrinsic factors) and their environment (extrinsic factors) [1, 2, 13].

To promote intrinsic motivation in the workplace, we need to have the freedom to experiment. However, concerning the work context, with technical and administrative work routines, one must reconcile creativity with management and quality in carrying out the work [17].

A study carried out by Schmitz aimed to identify how the work environment is configured as a stimulus to the creativity of the professional and to analyze the relationships between the creativity of the individual (professional) and its use in gastronomic work in food services (work environment) [18]. The research demonstrated that creativity in the work environment has a cyclical relationship; that is, as a factor increases in a category (individual's creativity category and work environment category), there is a small or moderate increase in the other factors addressed in the study. The study also demonstrated that in gastronomy, concerning creativity, there is an interaction between the intrinsic factors of the technologist and the extrinsic ones related to their gastronomic work environment.

So that the worker can exercise their creativity, it is important that they are engaged and committed to the work they perform and that they find, in the environment, the necessary elements for their motivation. In this sense, we explain the ideas about engaging leadership and the importance of this leader profile so that creativity can be manifested and converted into superior results, ultimately leading to organizational innovation.

#### **3. Engaging leadership**

One of the fundamental assets of an organization today is people and intellectual capital. Faced with this new scenario and organizational configurations, leaders now have the fundamental role of investing in companies' human capital and seeking superior results, investing in strategy and appropriate policies for people management.

Leaders play a key role in organizations, as they are responsible for defining, implementing, and disseminating strategies with their employees [19]. In addition, they assume enormous importance in the competitive environment of companies since their leadership style directly reflects on their subordinates. Being a leader means being prepared to plan, organize, execute, and analyze but always attentive to the engagement process, working with communication, flexibility, problemsolving ability, and systemic vision. Carrying out people management implies getting involved not only in issues that, sometimes, are directly linked to the goals and objectives of the organization but thinking about the individual and creating a good work environment is also a function of the manager.

Many approaches, perspectives, and definitions are recurrent for leadership in organizational studies [5, 20, 21]. However, there is a consensus among scholars that leadership reveals the influence of the leader on the subordinate, which is essential for managers to be aware that their actions and definitions will reflect on the team and the delivery of expected results. What is needed is leadership that inspires and engages.

One of the new leadership approaches is the one that deals with the engaging leader, which is important to understand the new profile of leaders in the contemporary organization [4, 22–24]. Engaging leadership motivates and believes that employee engagement comes first, regardless of the size or segment of the company [18]. In this sense, leadership plays a fundamental role in creating a work environment that allows the creative expression of all workers.

In the engagement process, it is important to create opportunities for employee contribution through practices such as flexible teamwork, employee involvement policies, and information sharing [25, 26]. This role belongs to the leader, that is, to promote actions to involve their employees.

From this perspective the leader must have some attitudes that enable the improvement in employee performance, which, consequently, can lead to team engagement, such as maintaining a team that can meet job requirements, replacing members when they do not achieve adequate levels of performance after appropriate follow-up, enabling open and internal communication that encourages everyone's active participation, and encouraging trust and respect for the differences of each team member [27]. By creating a suitable work environment, engaging leadership lays the groundwork for creativity to be explored by workers.

Tamara Erickson points out that increasing engagement—finding ways to encourage individuals to invest more psychic energy in their work—is the most powerful lever corporations have to improve productivity [28]. There is, therefore, the understanding that people are the main asset of organizations, and leadership needs to be aware and attentive to its employees, seeking to achieve the company's objectives with them, leading to innovation and competitiveness in the market [5].

Successful organizations realize that they can only grow, prosper, and maintain their continuity if they can optimize the return on employees' investments, that is, invest in their employees and engage them so that they can deliver with more vigor, absorption, and dedication [4, 22–24]. The profile of leadership in organizations has undergone several changes. Recycling was necessary since the leadership role was no longer focused on imposing and controlling tasks.

The latest generation in the job market seeks a challenging environment with the possibility of flexible working hours and formats. It is a propitious space to develop their creative potential [22]. These aspects also shape the new profile of managers. Therefore, it becomes necessary to develop strategies and establish criteria for obtaining results, in addition to disseminating the organization's vision of what is expected of each professional [19, 22].

In this scenario, some aspects common to successful teams are observed, point out: recognition of the need for mutual support in the team, feeling of co-responsibility for the work done and for the company, trust between team members, open and transparent communication, training and recognition of conflicts in a constructive way [27]. Everyday situations are configured as opportunities for emerging new ideas and exploring creativity.

Given the notes by the authors [27, 29], it is noteworthy that the leader must be aware of these points and promote a favorable environment within organizations, as this would possibly promote the process of engagement. To this end, cultivating positive emotions is essential, as it promotes an expansive, tolerant, and creative mental disposition, leaving people open to trying out new ideas, which creates challenges for management, since it needs to be based on positive psychology, aware that promoting well-being in the work environment can attract, retain, and obtain extraordinary results [30].

Therefore, the key piece is in the role of the leader when working with their team, transforming it into a multidisciplinary team focused on results, emphasizing cooperation and not coercion, and bringing about situations that benefit everyone mutually [20]. This becomes a big challenge for managers; being present, assessing risks and opportunities, giving freedom to create and innovate, and obtaining mechanisms to achieve the expected results with team engagement and delivery.

Organizational strategies are fundamental to employee engagement, leading them to full involvement in work, where their creative abilities can be fully exercised. It needs to be an appropriate combination between people and working conditions and that a planned organizational action tends to have more results than those carried out individually by the areas [31].

In addition to performing the traditional "roles", a leader who inspires, strengthens the team, teaches and supports, is participative, and works creatively and flexibly with subordinates [30]. Leadership must foster a trusting environment; it is up to the leader to inspire and trust their team, allowing the employee to have flexibility, be aware of the organization's strategies and have the autonomy to carry out their activities.

The trust allows employees to believe in the organization and leadership, do their best, and exercise their abilities to the fullest [20]. To do so, the leader needs to trust their team and allow them to act so that the organization's objectives are achieved, and employees feel part of the process.

According to research by the Gallup Institute, when employees are inspired, motivated, and supported in their work, they naturally work harder—and that work is significantly less stressful. Therefore, management can directly influence the

engagement or disengagement of its employees. According to assumptions defended by this study, the creation of an adequate environment for work can favor the use of creative skills by workers.

The idea is that engaging leadership can stimulate employees to use their cognitive and creative capacities fully. According to the theories of creativity presented, the work environment is fundamental for creativity to be exercised.

#### **4. Reflections on the relations between creativity and leadership**

The resources, when appropriately available in the environment, promote initiative, creativity and leadership, creating engagement at work. Therefore, understanding the scenario in which the employee operates, the challenges for their performance, with regard to the structure and organization of work, are factors that can contribute to engaging the teams. A suitable workplace, with psychological and physical conditions, encourages the engagement of the teams [31].

However, creativity is a decision, in addition to having creative skills, the worker must decide to use them. To be creative, it is necessary to generate new ideas, analyze them, defend and "sell" solutions to other people [1]. The leader has the role of stimulating his subordinates, but the employee will have the decision-making power if he wants to use his creativity.

Empowering teams and actively listening is important to promote engagement and requires mutual trust between the manager and his employees. Trust allows employees to believe in the organization and its leadership, to do their best [20].

Trust helps the team to reduce the fear of the new and the strange to that group, allowing creative people to advance with their original ideas and improve the environment in which they are inserted, bringing benefits to all the people involved [11].

It is important to point out that the leader needs to trust his team and allow the workers to act safely. Thus, the organization's objectives will be achieved and workers will feel like subjects of the process. Trust happens when people feel safe to act, have initiative, reinforcing confidence in their work [28].

In the creative process, it is important to highlight the differential of the multicultural experience for workers [15]. Cultural diversity can increase creativity, as it allows new relationships to be made from the enrichment of the cultural environment [12]. The leadership approach, in order to encourage trust and respect for the differences of each team member, helps engagement and expands individual and organizational results [27].

Given the diversity of knowledge and exchange of ideas, the role of the leader is necessary for the progress of activities. In this process of engaging teams, leaders are responsible for defining and implementing strategies with employees [19]. They also have the role of inspiring their teams, being motivators, believing in the potential of their employees, considering that their engagement must come first [28].

The motivating leader can provide the right environment for increasing the employee's intrinsic motivation, which is one of the main aspects for creativity [2]. Thus, people would be more creative when motivated mainly by the interest, pleasure, satisfaction and challenge of the work itself.

Working with greater intensity, focusing on your responsibilities and having an emotional connection to your tasks are some of the positive factors that are observed from encouraging engagement, which can be promoted from actions taken by leadership with the definition of organizational policies [31].

Added to these incentives is the personality of the creative person, who demonstrates the willingness to overcome obstacles, willingness to take risks and tolerance for creative ambiguity [1, 11]. Having a creative personality and being led by engaging leadership can lead workers to develop themselves and make teams more productive.

Authors point out that there must be an appropriate combination between personal skills and working conditions and that a planned organizational action tends to have more results than those carried out individually by the areas [31]. This reciprocal and favorable relationship between the individual and the environment is fundamental for creativity [9, 16].

The importance of the systemic approach in relation to creativity is highlighted, considering the internal aspects of the individual (intrinsic factors) and their environment (extrinsic factors), for the understanding of creativity, according to the analyzed authors [1, 2, 13]. This idea is illustrated in **Figure 1**, where it is identified that creativity in the work environment happens at the intersection between resources, techniques and motivations. The overlapping area is the area of greatest creativity both for individuals and for innovation in organizations.

The Componential Model of Creativity for the individual occurs through the intersection between domain skills, relevant creative processes and intrinsic motivation [7]. For the author, for true creativity to happen and generate innovation, it is necessary to combine these three elements in the environment.

Resources are important for creativity in a given area or domain, both individually and in organizations. In individuals, these are their domain skills, such as talents, technique and knowledge in a certain area. In companies, however, they are the resources in the domain task, such as materials, human resources, specific software for each area, among others. In individuals, techniques are considered the relevant creative processes, such as the style of thinking and working, the way of checking the world, which provide new ideas. In companies, techniques are innovation skills, such

**Figure 1.** *Creativity intersection, both for the individual and for the organization. Source: [7].*

*Perspective Chapter: Creativity in the Work Environment – Reflections on the Role... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110528*

as management for the generation of creativity. Both individually and in organizations, techniques and resources complement each other [7]. Motivation drives actions aimed at creativity and innovation. In the individual there is intrinsic motivation for the task and in companies the motivation for innovation.

Based on studies carried out and the considerations pointed out in this theoretical essay, where the role of engaging leadership was considered fundamental in the creative process of teams, an expansion of the componential model of creativity is proposed [18]. The proposed framework is that of a cyclical model, where both elements related to the individual's characteristics and those related to organizational policies and leadership practices interact with each other, dynamically and in constant interrelationship. **Figure 2** presents this proposed cyclical model.

In this cyclical framework, all factors in the individual's creativity category are correlated with each other, as well as those in the environment's creativity category. It proposes, therefore, an expansion of the role of management policies and practices for the understanding of creativity in everyday work. From this model, it is

understood that creativity can be dispersed in all activities and people and it is the responsibility of the leader to encourage it for the superior results of the organization and of the workers themselves.

#### **5. Conclusion**

The aim of the study was to reflect on creativity at work, broadening the perspective on the influence of the environment and leadership practices and policies for the expression of creative individuals. The study addressed theories about creativity and leadership, focusing on engaging leadership. Theoretical reflection demonstrated the importance of the role of the leader for the construction of a work environment that allows the worker to express himself creatively.

This study addressed team leadership and management, in order to analyze the organizational strategies that encourage the stimulation and appreciation of creativity in the work environment. Thus, aspects related to engaging leadership are pointed out, which, based on team support actions, can result in more engaged workers and with superior results in their work.

It was possible to advance in studies on creativity in the work environment, demonstrating that it occurs in a cyclical relationship between the individual's creativity factors and the creativity factors in the work environment in which the worker is inserted, with emphasis on the role of engaging leadership. The proposed cyclic approach understands that creativity at work occurs in a dynamic relationship between individual creative skills, techniques, intrinsic motivation, available resources, management policies and leadership practices.

Understanding this dynamic relationship raises the importance of leadership related to creating a work environment that encourages innovation. The worker's intrinsic motivation can be increased when he finds in his leader engaging team management practices, adequate organizational support and an environment conducive to the expression of his creative potential. Finally, it is understood that creative teams lead to organizational innovation, closing the virtuous cycle of work, guiding individuals and the organization to superior results.

#### **Author details**

Vânia Bessi\*, Paula Schmitz and Caren Rinker Feevale University, Novo Hamburgo, Brazil

\*Address all correspondence to: vania@feevale.br

© 2023 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Perspective Chapter: Creativity in the Work Environment – Reflections on the Role... DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110528*

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### *Edited by Joseph Crawford*

The role of a leader has changed drastically since scholars began theorizing about the modern leader. Contemporary society has and is continuing to evolve. Existing leadership theories need to adapt to be relevant to the expectations of leaders now. That is, new leadership theories emerge in their place. This book presents new ideas in leadership in the 21st-century context as well as new models that explain how individuals enact good leadership. This book serves as an opportunity to critique or defend current understandings of leadership and propose new evidence-based and theory-driven insights into leadership. Leadership is understood as more complex than an individual influencing another. Within the broad domains of leadership, there are leaders, followers, leadership processes, followership processes, teams, dyads, relationships, and context. Each of these is critical in defining what it is to be a good leader in increasingly complex professional and personal environments. This book will encourage authors to make compelling arguments not for how leadership is and has been but rather for how good leadership should be.

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Leadership - Advancing Great Leaders and Leadership

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