Abstract
Building upon the recent re-conceptualization of creativity as a multi-dimensional phenomenon and the Interactionist Theory of Creativity; this study attempts to examine and test the relationship of proactive personality with the two distinct forms of creativity; incremental and radical creativity, with employee engagement as mediator and organizational climate for creativity as moderator. This is crucial because treating creativity as a uni-dimensional construct does not give a true picture of the relationships and several previous studies have given inconclusive results due to this reason. Demarcating creativity as having distinct dimensions also allows the organizations to better plan, hire and manage their workforce according to the nature of jobs requiring different forms of creativity. A survey of 277 employees working in creative departments of advertising agencies in Rawalpindi/Islamabad (Pakistan) was conducted on a time lag basis. SPSS and Process Macro by Preacher and Hayes were used to test the hypotheses. The results of the study supported 5 out of 7 proposed hypotheses. The relationship of proactive personality is found to be significantly stronger with radical creativity than with incremental creativity while employee engagement proved to be a significant mediator between proactive personality and radical creativity only, and organizational climate for creativity significantly but negatively moderated the relationship between proactive personality and employee engagement. The findings are a significant addition to the existing body of literature on employee creativity. The paper also highlights future recommendations for research followed by implications of the findings.