Empowering Leadership and Work Environment as Predictors of Innovative Work Behavior of Teachers

Empowering Leadership and Work Environment as Predictors of Innovative Work Behavior of Teachers

Ivy Suzzete A. Lancian¹, Celso L. Tagadiad²

Department of Education¹, UM Panabo College²

Mati, Davao Oriental¹, Panabo City, Davao del Norte², Philippines

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.9030001

Received: 16 February 2025; Accepted: 24 February 2025; Published: 25 March 2025

ABSTRACT

This study explores the role of empowering leadership and work environment as predictors of innovative work behavior among teachers. The work environment is assessed through co-worker and supervisor relationships, physical work conditions, organizational commitment, job qualities, opportunities for training and development, communication practices, and alignment with departmental goals. A total of 300 teachers were randomly selected to participate, with data gathered via three research questionnaires. The study adopts a descriptive-correlational research design. The findings indicate that empowering leadership, particularly through leading by example, has a very high overall impact on innovative work behavior. Teachers also exhibit a high degree of innovative behavior, especially in realizing ideas. Among the work environment factors, physical aspects of the workplace were rated the highest. The study shows that empowering leadership behaviors, such as leading by example, coaching, informing, and demonstrating concern/interaction with the team, significantly influence innovative work behavior, with p-values below 0.05. Additionally, empowering leadership and innovative work behavior are positively correlated. Coaching, informing, demonstrating concern/interaction with the team, and training and development also significantly impact innovative work behavior both individually and in combination, as indicated by their p-values being less than 0.05. It is recommended that leaders prioritize coaching and setting an example to create a work environment that promotes innovative behavior and idea realization. Organizations should invest in training and development programs and improve the physical workspace to further empower teachers and foster innovation.

Keywords: empowering leadership, work environment, innovative work behavior, leadership, Philippines

SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

INTRODUCTION

Innovative Work Behavior may be hampered by an unsupportive organizational culture. Organizations may find it difficult to motivate staff members to adopt new practices if they do not create an atmosphere that supports innovation (Xu and Suntrayuth, 2022). Additionally, encouraging innovative work behavior requires strong leadership. Employees may become deterred from exhibiting creative behaviors if their leaders do not actively support or encourage it (Coun, Edelbroek, Blomme, and Peters, 2021).

Innovative Work Behavior promotes innovation to help organizations remain competitive. Innovative employees support the company in creating new concepts that can result in better goods, services, and procedures, increasing the company’s flexibility in a shifting market. Applying ideas is the most crucial aspect of Innovative Work Behavior, which entails embracing new concepts as innovations. Implementing the answer, altering current procedures, or restructuring, and ultimately accepting the new course from a board-based viewpoint are all included (Dahiya & Raghuvanshi, 2022).

Innovation has been acknowledged as one of the key strategies businesses use to stay competitive in the market today. Employees’ creative work practices mainly drive organizational-wide innovation. Creating valuable goods, procedures, or services results from identifying issues and generating ideas. Additionally, a transformational leader strengthens the actors who promote innovative work behavior and encourages employee commitment to the organization’s improvement (Al-Omari et al., 2020).

Additionally, according to some researchers (Anderson et al., 2004; Zhou & Shalley, 2003 cited by Al-Omari et al., 2020), innovative work behavior is highly influenced by an individual’s ability to engage with other people or groups in a work environment (i.e., emotional intelligence). Numerous academics contend that prior research shows innovative behavior significantly impacts organizational performance. Most businesses, whether for-profit or charity, are affected by this predicament. Furthermore, according to research findings, innovation in the public sector enhances organizational performance and promotes worker productivity in the work environment (Choi et al., 2021)

For these reasons, the researcher wants to look at empowering leadership and the work environment as predictors of innovative work behavior. Even though there have been previous and latest studies on work environment and creative work behavior, researchers did not discuss these topics as predictors affecting innovative work behavior, having two independent and one dependent variable. Additionally, studies have yet to be conducted in the Davao Region in general, and currently, there is a shortage of research on the predictors of innovative work behavior.

Empowering leadership, cited in the works of Huy (2002); Oreg & Berson (2011), is an effective method for managers to influence negative employee attitudes and actions, such as cynicism and time stealing. Additionally, leaders who empower their teams give them the ability to make decisions and share power with them. They also convey confidence in the workers’ capacity to carry out their duties independently (Spreitzer, 1995, as cited by Lorinkova & Perry, 2017).

The study of Naqshbandi et al. (2019) revealed how empowering leadership positively influences both types of open innovation. Thus, enabling leadership encourages followers to look for, incorporate, and disseminate new information to enhance open innovation outcomes. The researchers further suggested that empowering leadership fosters an environment of employee involvement that empowers staff and involves them in pertinent decision-making, ultimately improving a company, institution, or business performance in open inbound innovation.

Additionally, Zheng et al. (2021) examined how empowering leadership and directive leadership affect projects differently. Further, they investigated how the intricate interplay between directive and empowering leadership styles influenced leader-member interaction and project performance. There are four leadership philosophies: ambidextrous, delegating, directive, and laissez-faire. These may be used in conjunction with directive and empowering leadership. Compared to the combination of a directing style and directive leadership at a high level, results were better when delegating and empowering leadership were used.

Researchers surveyed 78 working groups from various teams and diverse business fields in Indonesia. The results revealed that empowering leadership positively influences learning behavior in groups, and trust among group members strengthens the influence on learning behavior (Wibowo & Neuneung, 2019).

In the study of Çelik & Konan (2021), they focused on the interaction between teachers’ self-efficacy and organizational citizenship behaviors and school principals’ empowering leadership. The findings indicated that teachers’ organizational citizenship behaviors and self-efficacy favorably correlated with school principals’ and teachers’ empowering leadership styles. The researchers then declared that the association between teachers’ opinions of their own efficacy and organizational citizenship behaviors, as well as the school principals’ empowering leadership, has been proven to have an impact.

Moreover, another study looked at teachers’ assessments of how much empowering leadership is displayed by school principals. It was discovered that teachers have positive perceptions of the empowering leadership of school principals; male teachers and teachers who have worked with their principal for one to four years or more, respectively, have more positive perceptions of their principals’ empowering leadership than female teachers and teachers who have worked with them for two years (Konan & Çelik, 2017).

Investigated the connections between teachers’ psychological empowerment, principals’ empowering leadership, the organizational atmosphere of creativity in schools, and teachers’ creativity-teaching behavior. According to the results, there are strong positive associations between principals’ empowering leadership, the organizational atmosphere of creativity at schools, teachers’ psychological empowerment, and teachers’ behavior when teaching creativity. Although the organizational atmosphere of creativity at schools had a direct impact on teachers’ creativity-teaching behavior, it also had a more significant impact due to the inspiring leadership of administrators. Additionally, teachers’ psychological empowerment was directly impacted by the empowering leadership of principals (Chao et al., 2015).

An enjoyable work environment is essential to ensure employee productivity and prevent unneeded stress on the staff, which could impair their work performance. The results demonstrate a considerable link between employee performance and the workplace. It was discovered that supervisor support was the dominating factor in ensuring a positive work environment (Saidi et al., A. 2019).

Additionally, people are delighted to have a job, but many of them no longer consider their place of employment a second home, even though they spend much time there. They frequently feel obligated to make accommodation because of this in an uncomfortable atmosphere. Thus, the work environment significantly impacts the quality and efficacy of an employee’s output. Motivated workers perform better on the job and accomplish the objectives and results set for the position because of a favorable work environment. As a result, employers are more satisfied.

A good work environment is essential to encourage work-life balance. According to the study, three aspects of a respectable workplace—employment, social interaction, and workers’ rights—affect work-life balance negatively. Results demonstrate that the nature of jobs, a lack of social dialogue, and a lack of workers’ rights throughout the banking sector, as well as unfriendly surroundings, significantly contribute to the lack of a work-life balance among employees in this sector. Furthermore, findings indicated that work motivation and engagement had a significant positive relationship among professors who worked from home during COVID-19 in Malaysia’s higher education sector. In contrast, the work environment and job satisfaction did not. Lastly, the researchers encouraged university and college administration to support improvements in the teaching profession to inspire and involve faculty in achieving business and operational objectives. This will improve educators’ job satisfaction and, in turn, enhance the performance of their organizations.  (Nafe & Alizadeh, 2022).

A work environment is where a person performs all work-related tasks, which can have a favorable or unfavorable impact on how well they perform their jobs. Employee job outcomes may suffer if a work environment is unsuitable, such as physically, psychologically, or socially. On the other hand, a pleasant, employee-focused, and encouraging work atmosphere can result in successful employment outcomes. Therefore, firms need to provide a perfect working atmosphere. A theoretical framework has been developed to empirically investigate the sequential indirect impact of work environment dimensions and work-life quality between the relationship between ethical leadership and (i) job satisfaction, (ii) organizational commitment, and (ii) team spirit. Current research has advanced the literature by identifying the research gaps (Khan et al., 2022).

Moreover, it is crucial to comprehend how the physical work environment affects the psychosocial work environment since a positive psychosocial work environment is crucial for the health and well-being of university academics—it revealed four main themes that showed how the academic environment had impacted: difficulties with decision-making and the application of activity-based workplaces (ABW), difficulties with interpersonal interactions and communication, effects on academic identity, and problems with the actual working environment (Muhonen,  & Berthelsen, 2021).

The study of Nurhuda et al. (2019) showed the causal connection between independent variables, including work discipline, work environment, and transformational leadership styles. The work environment is evaluated based on lighting, air quality, noise levels, workplace layout, and employee relations. However, it was revealed that employee performance is unaffected by the work environment in Anwar Medika Hospital.

A condition that falls within the purview of one’s task performance is the work environment. For a teacher, the work environment is where they carry out their responsibilities as school system employees. While for special education, the working environment refers to the workplace conditions and the staff’s interactions with the children, parents, and administrators. A pleasant and supportive work atmosphere can aid in efficiently and effectively completing duties. A good and great school can be built in a peaceful workplace (Yusof et al. & bin Nordin, 2021).

The work environment is one distinct location where many stimuli (stressors) creating stress conditions in humans. The work environment was divided into three sections that addressed the following issues: the physical characteristics of the workplace, the social aspects of the workplace, and stress-inducing elements brought on by inefficient work organizations. It was revealed that the stressors are located both in the physical and social environment of work, and their occurrence concerns the errors in the organization of the plant and managing human resources (Morcinek-Słota, 2018).

Employees’ positive emotions had a positive impact on supervisors’ expression of positive emotions about their workers’ work engagement; work engagement moderated the positive effect of employees’ positive emotions on their innovative behavior; Moreover, the findings show that employees experience pleasant emotions after witnessing their supervisors display positive emotions and that supervisors who can control their emotions can quickly manage their negative emotions and express a positive emotional state. Therefore, innovative work behavior is essential for an organization’s long-term survival and success (Tung-Ju & Yenchun, 2019).

Modern businesses must constantly innovate their products and services to compete in the cutthroat global marketplace and unpredictable business environment. As a result, one of the biggest challenges facing firms now is fostering and maintaining innovative work behavior among employees. Individuals have more resources in the form of idea sharing, feedback, and support in high-team member exchange situations, enabling them to demonstrate innovative work behaviors (Ghosh et al., 2019).

The study by Afsar, Al-Ghazali, Cheema, & Javed (2021) examined how interpersonal trust and job engagement promote cultural intelligence among employees, enhancing their innovative work behavior. Employers must inspire their staff to adopt innovative work behaviors to increase creativity. Additionally, they defined “innovative work behavior” as the conception, creation, and application of a fresh idea that can enhance a good, service, procedure, or working approach. Innovative work behaviors are challenging since developing practical, original, proactive, realistic, and doable ideas is challenging. The complexity of the innovative processes is further increased by the uncertainty, risk, and opposition from the organizational members.

According to Scott and Bruce (1994), as cited by Baafi, Ansong, Kennedy, & Nicodemus (2021), who sought to distinguish Innovative Work Behavior from creativity, innovative work behavior encompasses both the development and application of sound ideas. Numerous researchers have characterized Innovative Work Behavior as a three-stage process (Scott & Bruce, 1994; Janssen, 2000). Individuals first come up with innovative answers and ideas for newly discovered problems, and then they mobilize other people’s support for the concept—a process known as idea promotion. The concept is then transformed into an original concept, method, item, or strategy that the organization or group can employ (Scott & Bruce, 1994; Hansen & Pihl-Thingvad, 2019; Suseno et al., 2020)

In another study, four hundred fifty-seven faculty members from universities across the Gulf Cooperation Council were chosen at random to participate in the study, which looked at the relationship between required new working practices (flexible work arrangements, home offices, advanced ICT-based communications, and a culture of innovation) and faculty members’ innovative work behavior. Innovative work behavior impacted new working methods besides advanced ITC-based communications, and work-life balance positively correlated with satisfaction (Almahamid & Ayoub, 2022).

Employees that go above and beyond the call of duty are essential to a successful firm (Sackmanns & Bertelsmann, 2006). When assessing employee performance, Innovative Work Behavior, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and innovative work behavior are two concepts that are increasingly discussed. In the current age of globalization, innovative work behavior (IWB) is one factor that propels organizational advancement. Today, encouraging innovation is the most essential thing for corporations to do. As a result of adopting new business concepts, innovative work behavior emerges (Omek et al., 2015). The results of Innovative Work Behavior will be creative outputs. The definition of innovative work behavior by Shih & Susanto (2011) is “consciously create, introduce and implement new ideas & contributions in a work role, team or organization to improve role performance, team or organization.” The idea of innovative work behavior encouraged staff members to contribute novel and unusual ideas, processes, and ways of thinking (Deshpande & Farley, 2004). According to Yuan and Woodman (2010), IWB often contains systems for exposing thoughts and their application (Hong & Zainal, 2022).

Employee innovation in their duties is generally called innovative work behavior. The search, generation, promotion, and execution of original ideas in organizational activities are all included in IWB. According to the researchers, innovative work behavior and employee engagement are tightly related. One of the resources, job autonomy, directly influences innovative work behavior; employee engagement has little bearing on this effect. Furthermore, employee involvement impacts innovative work behavior more than reward and recognition alone. The research also implies that employee involvement affects the chosen job resources, job expectations, and innovative work behavior (Dixit & Upadhyay, 2021).

The global employment market’s deregulation severely threatens employees’ quality of life in today’s highly competitive and dynamic environment, where employees’ innovative work behavior has emerged as a crucial source for business success. The study investigated whether achieving good work encourages. The researchers proposed that decent work promotes IWB through improving work engagement, with intrinsic motivation and job self-efficacy as beneficial effects of a proper work environment on the work engagement of the employees (Xu et al., 2022).

In the study conducted by Abum et al. (2023), they analyzed how an innovative workplace environment affects employees’ innovative work behaviors. According to the study, creative work environments and behaviors are present, albeit low. The findings indicate a strong relationship between an innovative work environment and employees’ inventive work behaviors. Encouraging new work practices will foster a creative environment. The study acknowledges its limitations and urges more research into the various aspects of innovative work environments and how they affect productivity.

Moreover, Mustafa et. al (2021) also investigated the relationship between job satisfaction and employees’ propensity to exhibit innovative work behaviors in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Results show that encouraging work environments in SMEs that foster job satisfaction among employees can favorably impact employees’ discretionary performance. Therefore, SMEs must discover ways to create and sustain work environments that promote their employees’ innovative behavior to increase their capacity for innovation.

One research examined the effects of knowledge sharing and job engagement and empowering leadership as predictors of innovative work behavior. Results showed that innovative work behavior and empowering leadership partially contributed to work engagement and knowledge sharing. The latter contends that managers should encourage and support innovative work behavior within the company. Additionally, workers should be encouraged and helped to continue learning with the leaders’ input (Na-Nan & Arunyaphum, 2021).

Empowering leadership is leadership that creates a learning culture. Innovative work behavior is influenced by positive, empowering leadership. Innovative work behavior is essential for businesses to get started and keep their competitive edge in their target markets. Innovative Work Behavior refers to a person’s intentional conduct to generate novel ideas that are helpful for the development of goods, services, and procedures. Additionally, it was discovered that Empowering Leadership directly impacted Innovative Work Behavior (From empowering leadership to innovative work behavior: The role of working engagement and knowledge sharing, 2022).

The researchers have analyzed the effect of empowering leadership on creative work practices. According to the study, empowering leadership significantly and favorably impacts innovative work behavior. The study’s conclusions offer stakeholders helpful guidelines for formulating rules to support their workers’ creative work behavior for the institution’s success (Yadav et al., 2023).

The ability to incorporate new and practical concepts into organizational operations and services is known as innovative work behavior. According to Amabile (1988), creative work behavior is when employees develop new ideas, make those ideas a reality, and then apply those new ideas to issues. Additionally, Anderson, De Dreu, & Nijstad 2004) stated that organizational psychology strongly emphasizes the individual perspective, including the personal and environmental factors that affect the success of innovations. Moreover, West & Farr (1990) define innovations as innovative, appropriate, and beneficial for a particular person, group, or organization.

The study is anchored in the study of Bandura, the Social Cognitive Theory (1986) which states that the connection of personal characteristics, environmental circumstances, and human behavior. It makes the point that self-efficacy, or confidence in one’s own ability, observational learning, and the encouragement of the workplace culture all have an impact on employees’ innovative behavior. Observational learning and self-assurance are also powerful motivators for employees to act creatively. Additionally crucial are leadership that offers resources and positive reinforcement.

Moreover, the Empowerment Theory (Conger and Kanungo, 1988) states that this theory places a strong emphasis on psychological empowerment, which encompasses sentiments of impact, competence, and autonomy. In leadership, empowerment entails boosting workers’ self-esteem, drive, and independence in making decisions. It focusses on giving workers the tools they need to make decisions and on enhancing their abilities. Lastly, leaders enable followers through information exchange, authority delegation, and feedback that encourages workers to assume greater responsibility.

Furthermore, Social Exchange Theory (1958) by George Homans states that employers and employees have a reciprocal relationship, according to this view. Rewards like just salary, encouragement, and recognition encourage workers to perform successfully. Employee engagement and good contributions are more likely if they believe that the workplace is encouraging and fulfilling. Higher levels of collaboration, loyalty, and performance will arise from a work atmosphere where people feel appreciated and supported.

The study’s conceptual framework consists of two (2) independent variables: Empowering Leadership and Work Environment, and one (1) dependent variable of the study is Innovative Work Behavior. The first variable is Empowering Leadership, adapted from the research of Arnold & Drasgow (2000), which is similar to “providing social support” in many pieces of research, with the following indicators; coaching refers to a collection of actions that teaches the team members to thrive in developing their autonomy; informing refers to the leader communicating crucial information to the entire organization, such as the mission and philosophy; leading by example refers to a collection of actions demonstrating a leader’s dedication to their job and the work of their team members; showing concern/ interacting with the team refers to a range of actions that express comprehensive care for the welfare of team members are collective; and participative decision-making refers to when making decisions, a leader is said to be using the knowledge and suggestions of the team.

The second variable is the Work Environment, adapted from the Public Service Secretariat (PSS) and Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency (PSS & NLSA, 2007) with the following indicators: co-workers and supervisor relationships refer to a colleague, especially if they have a similar or higher position or amount of responsibility which is crucial to nurture the bond between a supervisee and a supervisor; physical work environment refers to external surroundings and conditions in which someone lives and how a person affects the health; organizational commitment refers to a member of an organization’s behavior regarding his or her relationship to the company they work for; current job qualities refers to a job that entails work that is acknowledged, valued, and significantly contributes to the objectives of the company; opportunities for training and development refers to a system a firm uses to educate its staff that contains various resources, guidelines, and exercises to enhance employee performance and have the chance to broaden their knowledge and improve their abilities; communication practices refers to doing anything that incorporates “messages” in any scenario or media, refers to various activities—communication practices—that involve speaking and listening, writing and reading, performing and witnessing; and alignment with departmental vision and goals refers to having a well-defined vision, mission, and set of objectives that set clear direction, goals, and success criteria.

Finally, the dependent variable, Innovative Work Behavior, is adapted from the research of Chang & Chen (2011), as “discretionary employee actions that go above and beyond the requirements of the assigned role” or practice of staff members to incorporate fresh, practical concepts into company activities and services, with the following indicators: idea generation refers to a creative process that involves forming, developing, and sharing original ideas that serve as the cornerstone of your innovation strategy; idea promotion refers to the efforts to promote ideas; and idea realization refers to the implementation of the newly formed strategies and ideas.

Moreover, this research aims to determine the significant influence of empowering leadership and work environment on innovative work behavior, more specifically seeking to realize the following objectives: (1) to determine empowering leadership in terms of; coaching, informing, leading by example, showing concern/ interacting with the team, participative decision-making; (2) to determine work environment in terms of: co-worker and supervisor relationships, physical work environment, organizational commitment, current job qualities, opportunities for training and development, communication practices, and alignment with departmental vision and goals; (3) to determine the innovative behavior in terms of: idea generation, idea promotion, and idea realization; (4) to determine the significant relationship between empowering leadership and innovative work behavior; (5) determine the significant relationship between work environment and innovative work behavior; (6) to determine the singular and combined influence of empowering leadership and work environment as predictors of innovative work behavior.

For these reasons, the researcher wants to look at empowering leadership and the work environment as predictors of innovative work behavior. Even though there have been previous and latest studies on work environment and creative work behavior, researchers did not discuss these topics as predictors affecting innovative work behavior, having two independent and one dependent variable. Additionally, studies have yet to be conducted in Mati, Davao Oriental in general, and currently, there is a shortage of research on the predictors of innovative work behavior. The study’s results may inform administrators, policymakers, and supervisors in the education sector about the importance of empowering leadership, the work environment, and innovative work behavior, particularly in Mati, Davao Oriental.

METHOD

Research Participants

The participants of the study are secondary teachers of Mati Division, Mati, Davao Oriental. Before selecting respondents for the study, they were prepared for and considered. The responders were chosen after thorough consideration and selection from the Mati Division, in total, 300 secondary teachers. The researcher will not include secondary teachers outside the Mati Division. Moreover, elementary teachers will be excluded from the study as respondents of the study in Mati, Davao Oriental, or another school other than Mati Division. The participants in the study have the right to renounce their participation at any moment, free of charge, unless the study has already been accepted. If, considering the conditions, the participant feels afraid or uneasy answering the survey’s questions, they are free to withdraw from the study.

Research Material / Instruments

The information from the respondents will be gathered using three sets of survey questionnaires. The first variable and independent variable, Empowering leadership will be examined using the first set of questionnaires, followed by the second independent variable, Work Environment will be assessed using the second set, and the dependent variable of the study, Innovative Work Behavior will be assessed using the third set of questionnaires. Experienced validators subject the three questionnaires to content validity and reliability analysis to assure the precision of measures.

The data will be arranged and subjected to analysis and interpretation using the mean, regression, and Pearson product moment correlation as statistical tools. The mean will be used to assess the level of empowering leadership work environment and innovative work behavior. Finally, the Pearson product moment correlation will be utilized to determine interrelationships between empowering leadership, work environment and innovative work behavior.

Research Design

The present study will make use of the descriptive-correlational research design. The definition of descriptive research, according to Creswell, includes describing a phenomenon based on observation or looking at the relationship between two or more variables. To gather information, the researcher evaluates the participants’ characteristics, behaviors, and experiences (Conner & Roberts). Additionally, correlational research is a quantitative non-experimental methodology in which the researcher uses correlational statistics to assess and quantify the strength of correlations between variables or groups of scores (Creswell).

Following the guidelines established by the University of Mindanao Ethics Review Committee, the researcher adopted specific measures to ensure the observance of ethical considerations. Moreover, to accomplish this ethical consideration, the study’s data collection and writing phases incorporated voluntary participation, privacy and confidentiality, informed consent, recruitment, risk identification and mitigation, and identification of potential benefits. Other ethical issues, including plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, conflict of interest identification, deception, permission from an organization or location, and authorship, were also observed throughout the study.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

This chapter outlines the data and analysis based on the responses from participants regarding the Empowering Leadership and Innovative Work Behavior of teachers, specifically focusing on the Work Environment and empowering leadership as predictors of innovative work behavior. The presentation will follow this structure: the level of empowering leadership; the level of the work environment; the level of innovative behavior; the significance of the relationship between empowering leadership and innovative behavior; the significance of the relationship between work environment and innovative behavior; significance of the relationship between empowering leadership and work environment, and finally, the singular and combined influence of empowering leadership and work environment as predictors of innovative work behavior

Level of Empowering Leadership

Table 1. Level of Empowering Leadership

Shown in Table 1 is the result of the level of Empowering Leadership with an overall mean of 4.38 with a descriptive level of Very High. The result shows leading by example with the highest mean of 4.47 with a descriptive level of Very High. This is followed by showing concern/ interacting with the team with a mean of 4.43 with a descriptive level of Very High, followed by coaching with a mean of 4.39 and the descriptive level of Very High, and participative decision-making came next with a mean of 4.34 with a descriptive level of Very High. On the other hand, the lowest mean of all indicators is informing with a mean of 4.20 with a descriptive level of Very High.

The results indicate that the level of Empowering Leadership among respondents is perceived as Very High across all indicators. The overall mean score of 4.38 suggests that teachers feel positively about empowering leadership practices in their environment. This is supported by Hieu (2020) stating that employee creativity, work-life balance, teamwork ethics, and organizational success are all enhanced by empowerment. In addition to enabling workers, organizations ought to support empowering leadership. Encouraging staff to strive for better performance and sharing authority are two aspects of empowered leadership, and that empowering leadership significantly related to affective commitment (Al Otaibi, et al. 2023).

Level of Work Environment

Shown in Table 2 is the result of the level of Work Environment with an overall mean of 4.24 with a descriptive level of High. The result shows the physical aspect of the work environment with the highest mean of 4.48. This is followed by co-workers and supervisors with a mean of 4.39, then overall satisfaction with the government and your department with a mean of 4.28, current job with a mean of 4.23, respectively, with a descriptive level of Very High, communication practices with a mean of 4.09 with a descriptive level of High, and  training and development came last with a mean of 4.00 with a descriptive level of High.

Table 2. Work Environment

With an overall high satisfaction score of 4.24, the work environment assessment results show that employees generally have a positive perception of their workplace. Particularly highly valued are the physical elements of the workplace, indicating that cozy and well-kept spaces may have a big impact on worker happiness. Even though they are still given excellent ratings, communication practices and training and development indicate somewhat lower levels of satisfaction, suggesting possible areas for development to further improve the workplace. Even greater employee engagement and performance may result from providing more extensive training opportunities and ensuring excellent communication.

The study of Pansini, Buonomo, & Benevene (2024) emphasizes the role that personal well-being plays in the connection between employee work engagement and compassionate leadership. Although it has not been proven that compassionate leadership and job engagement are directly related, leaders’ compassionate actions are essential for enhancing employee well-being, which in turn increases engagement.  Moreover, the findings from the study of Liu, Xu, & Wang (2024) show that psychological capital and platform adaptable employees’ job performance are facilitated by work engagement. The results expand the research scope of self-determination theory and offer fresh suggestions for enhancing platform flexible employees’ job performance in addition to adding to the body of knowledge on psychological capital and job performance.

Level of Innovative Behavior

Shown in Table 3 is the result of the level of Innovative Behavior with an overall mean of 4.13 with a descriptive level of High. The result shows idea realization with the highest mean of 4.20 with a descriptive level of High. This is followed by idea promotion with the team with a mean of 4.10 with a descriptive level of High, and idea generation came last with a mean of 4.08 with a descriptive level of High.

Table 3. Innovative Behavior

The findings imply that workers exhibit a high degree of innovative behavior; they perform best in “idea realization” (4.20), which shows that ideas are executed well. Notable is the team’s capacity to advance ideas (4.10), demonstrating strong advocacy and teamwork. Even though “idea generation” is still at a high level (4.08), it is a little lower, suggesting that more work may be done to improve creative thinking. Overall, the results show that although staff members are excellent at putting ideas into practice and spreading them, there is potential to improve the creation of new ideas.

The findings are supported by Al-Azab, Al-Romeedy, (2024) asserting that creative work practices and servant leadership are positively correlated. It was also held that servant leadership encourages constructive workplace conduct, like creative work practices. In addition to creative ideas, as stated by Al-Azab, & Al-Romeedy (2024), innovative work behavior also involves the behavioral components required to implement those ideas and accomplish enhancements in the job completed. Workers who have a healthy work-life balance are more likely to be creative at work, encourage novel ideas and behaviors, and feel more at ease both emotionally and physically. As a result, inventive behavior is strongly positively impacted by employees’ work-life balance.

Significance of the relationship between Empowering Leadership and Innovative Behavior

Table 4 Significance of the relationship between empowering leadership and innovative behavior

Shown in Table 4 is the result of the significant relationship between empowering leadership and innovative work behavior which has an overall r-value of 0.667 shows a high positive correlation between variables. The corresponding p value of 0.000 is less than the 0.05 level of significance which means that the relationship between empowering leadership and innovative work behavior is significant.

The results imply that enhancing the workplace can greatly increase workers’ capacity for creative behavior. Establishing a positive and encouraging work environment should be the main goal of organizations since it may foster greater creativity and productivity. Businesses can stimulate innovation and improve overall performance by creating such an atmosphere.

Better job performance results from employees’ dedication to an environment that aligns with their motivations (Alzadjali & Ahmad, 2024). Furthermore, these programs in the workplace must prioritize empathy, effective communication, and conflict resolution so that graduates have the abilities necessary to foster a supportive and cooperative workplace. In addition to preparing employees for the challenges of their professions daily, these programs also lay the groundwork for long-term professional development and success (Modric, Samardžija, & Vejzagic, 2024).

Significance of the relationship between Work Environment and Innovative Behavior

Shown in Table 5 is the relationship between Work Environment and Innovative Work behavior

Table 5. Significance of the relationship between work environment and innovative behavior

Shown in Table 5 is the result of the significant relationship between work environment and innovative work behavior which has an overall r-value of 0.542 shows a high positive correlation between variables. The corresponding p value of 0.000 is less than the 0.05 level of significance which means that the relationship between work environment and innovative work behavior.

The findings indicate a strong positive relationship between work environment and innovative work behavior, with an r-value of 0.542. Since the p-value is less than 0.05, it confirms that this relationship is statistically significant. This suggests that improving the work environment could enhance employees’ ability to engage in innovative behaviors, ultimately fostering creativity and productivity in the workplace. Also, Abum, Macaspact, Valdez, & Julian (2023) indicates that employees’ innovative work behaviors and an innovative work environment are significantly correlated. It suggests that the best way to foster an innovative workplace is to foster innovative work behaviors. The study acknowledges its limitations and suggests more research on the various aspects of creative workplaces and how they affect productivity.

Significance on the Combined Influence of the domains of empowering leadership and the work environment on innovative work behavior

Table 6. Significance on the Combined Influence of the domains of empowering leadership and the work environment on innovative work behaviour

Presented in Table 6 is Coaching, informing, showing concern/Interacting with the team, and training and development significantly influence Innovative Work Behavior since the P-values are less than 0.05.

The findings reveal that innovative work behavior is significantly influenced by the domains of coaching, informing, demonstrating concern/interacting with the team, and training and development, as indicated by the p-values being less than 0.05. This implies that empowering leadership behaviors—like offering direction, encouraging dialogue, and supporting professional development—have a direct impact on improving workers’ creative work practices. These results emphasize how crucial a nurturing and growth-oriented workplace is for fostering innovation and creativity. To encourage more creativity in their workforce, organizations can concentrate on enhancing these leadership strategies.

The study of Suyono, Risgiyanti, Wahyudi, & Effendi, (2023) states that while workplace exclusion has no direct impact on employee creativity, it has a negative and considerable impact on creative process participation. Surprisingly, the impact of workplace exclusion on employee creativity is totally mediated by creative process engagement. Also, Fang, Meng, Liu, & Liu, (2021) suggest that, to promote employee creativity, organizations should create a fun work environment in which employees can develop high-quality output.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

The results indicate that empowering leadership is highly valued, with all indicators showing a very high level of effectiveness. Leading by example received the highest rating, followed by showing concern for the team, coaching, and participative decision-making. While “informing” had the lowest mean, it still maintained a very high rating, reflecting a strong overall perception of leadership behavior.

Innovative behavior is often rated highly, with “idea generation” scoring the lowest and “idea realization” scoring the most. Additionally, empowering leadership and a creative work environment are significantly positively correlated with inventive behavior, suggesting that workplace conditions and leadership styles are essential for promoting innovation. Furthermore, it was discovered that innovative work behavior was strongly influenced by coaching, informing, demonstrating interest for the team, and training and development.

Teachers and supervisors are urged to embrace empowering leadership approaches that emphasize setting a good example, demonstrating team concern, and encouraging participatory decision-making in light of the findings. These actions are highly regarded and closely associated with creativity and productive teamwork. Furthermore, emphasizing coaching and training, as well as offering staff opportunity for growth and clear information, can greatly improve their inventive behaviors. Since these factors are crucial in fostering innovation in teams, supervisors should also establish a positive work atmosphere that supports creativity and promotes open discussion.

It would be beneficial for future researchers to investigate the relationship between leadership behaviors and various forms of innovative work behavior, specifically analyzing the impact of “idea generation” versus “idea realization.” Deeper insights could be gained by looking into how different workplace conditions, such as organizational culture and resource availability, affect the effectiveness of empowering leadership on innovation. Furthermore, longitudinal studies may be able to shed light on how leadership and the workplace environment affect innovation over time, particularly in dynamic or changing work environments.

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