Organisational mindfulness as a sustainable driver of employee innovation adoption

This study investigates the underexplored relationship between mindful organisational infrastructure (psychological safety, team learning, team voice, supportive leadership) and employee innovation adoption, via direct and indirect relationships of organisational mindfulness (a firm’s cultural characteristic that makes employees alert to solve issues and improve effective cooperation). We studied this through a survey among 115 managers/ owners of Dutch logistics companies, a sector in which employees’ occupational health, safety and wellbeing (HSW), and sustainability topics are under pressure. The relationships were investigated using path analysis based on linear regression models. Results show that employee innovation adoption was positively related to supportive leadership, and to the presence of organisational mindfulness. The presence of team voice has an indirect relation with employee innovation adoption as it was mediated by organisational mindfulness. These findings suggest that organisations should facilitate team voice and supportive leadership, as well as organisational mindfulness to successfully achieve employee innovation adoption in order to stay innovative and competitive. A future research agenda and implications for practice are discussed.

Reference

Peter R.A. Oeij, Gerben Hulsegge, Paul T.Y. Preenen: ‘Organisational mindfulness as a sustainable driver of employee innovation adoption: Individual and organisational factors.’ Safety Science 154 (2022) 105841, Elsevier.