Leveraging employee creativity through playfulness climate: The mediating role of working smart

The primary aim of the study was to examine the role of playfulness climate in shaping employee creativity by analyzing working smart as a multilevel mediator. Data were gathered from 237 subordinates and their 44 immediate supervisors employed by 60 companies in China. Results showed that playfulness climate had a strong positive association with employee creativity. In addition, working smart played a mediating role in the relationship between playfulness climate and employee creativity. In the context of organizations in the Chinese culture, our results provide insights for managers to create a climate of playfulness as an emerging approach that affects employee creativity. The theoretical and practical implications and limitations of the study are discussed.