UCL School of Management is delighted to welcome Greg Oldham, Tulane, to host a research seminar discussing “Effects of Rewards and Choice on the Creativity of Employees’ Ideas”​

Abstract.

This study contrasted the effects of two general reward categories - one that benefited the employee (Self) and one that directly benefited charities (Other) - on the creativity of ideas employees submitted to an organization-wide suggestion program. We also examined whether having a choice of these rewards contributed to the creativity of ideas submitted and whether an employee’s creative personality interacted with reward category to affect creativity. Finally, we probed the effectiveness of intrinsic motivation (IM) and creative self-efficacy (CSE) as mediators of these effects. Results showed that reward category interacted with creative personality such that in the Other condition, employees with creative personalities produced more creative ideas than employees with less creative personalities. In addition, employees having a choice of rewards produced more creative ideas than those who did not have a choice. Finally, CSE mediated the effects of both choice and the reward x personality interaction whereas IM mediated the effects of choice alone. We discussed the implications of these results for future research and practice.