Innovative behaviour in the workplace : The role of HR flexibility, individual flexibility and psychological capital: the case of Poland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the manner in which HR system’s flexibility, in combination with employees’ individual flexibility (IF) and their positive character traits, such as: optimism, hope, resistance or self-efficacy (which comprise psychological capital (PsychCap)), allow to predict employees’ readiness to display innovative behaviors in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative research methodology was adopted which resulted in the development of a both self-administered online survey instrument ( n =166) and employees students in the postgraduate program at the Warsaw School of Economics ( n =70). Using a national database of service companies, a random sample of 700 e-mail addresses was generated and respondents were invited to participate in the online survey. This resulted in the completion of 166 online surveys, representing a response rate of 26 percent. The second group of respondents consisted of 70 employees from different organizations in Poland. Findings – On the basis of the analyses it was shown that HR flexibility (HRF) and IF are a generally weak predictor of innovative behaviors. However, in a situation when PsychCap is set to be a mediator, these variables allow to predict innovative work behavior. Originality/value – Research on the relation of HRF to innovative behaviors has not been sufficiently clarified so far. The achieved results shed new light on the relations of these two variables and indicate that HRF does not translate directly into behaviors of the personnel. However, it should be noted that the relationship of these variables are of indirect nature.