Formation of civil servants' creativity through transformative leadership

Abstract

Purpose

Creativity is the core of digital knowledge-based economic growth and competitiveness. Given the fact that public service is a major contributor to the country's governance system, creativity among civil servants should be enhanced. Effective leadership in public services is necessary to nurture the creativity of high-quality public services. This study aims to examine the effects of transformational leadership on civil servant's creativity.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted in six selected public service agencies. A total of 214 questionnaires were distributed to civil servant offices, only 82.2 percent (176 questionnaires) were returned. Data were tested using SMART PLS to determine whether the four transformational leadership dimensions, namely, intellectual stimulation, idealized influence, individual consideration, and inspirational motivation, exhibit a significant effect on creativity of civil servant officers.

Findings

Findings showed positive effects of the four transformational leadership dimensions on the civil servant's creativity.

Research limitations/implications

With small sample size, this study can still be expanded to all available public services sector in urban and rural area to gain a wider perspective.

Practical implications

This study presents strong managerial implications that can be used by public service to evaluate the consequence of transformational leadership on the creativity of employees, particularly the young civil servants. Through transformational leadership style, public service leaders can foster and improve young civil servants' creativity and share knowledge to achieve high performance.

Originality/value

With genuine verified measurement of transformative leadership and public sector creativity, the path correlation analysis shows that intellectual stimulation, idealized influence, individual consideration, and inspirational motivation have significant direct effects on creativity of the civil servant.

Citation

Awang, A.H., Haron, M., Zainuddin Rela, I. and Saad, S. (2020), "Formation of civil servants' creativity through transformative leadership", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 499-515. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-04-2019-0142