The impact of humor climate on innovative work behavior: evidence from the banking industry in Russia

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of humor work climate on innovative work behavior of back-office employees in the banking industry in Russia.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was collected via an online survey that included scales to measure humor climate and innovative work behavior. The survey was distributed electronically among employees of one department of a bank. The sample included 104 back-office employees (response rate 60.4%). Correlation and regression analyses were used.

Findings

The results indicate that humor climate fosters employee innovative work behavior. Positive humor contributes to innovative work behavior more than remaining humor climate dimensions (i.e. negative humor, outgroup humor and supervisory support). Only position type (managers vs non-managers), and not gender, education and job tenure, was found to have a significant impact on employee perceptions of humor climate and innovative work behavior exhibition.

Originality/value

This study adds to the limited empirical evidence on the links between humor and innovative work behavior, especially at a group level. This study focused on humor climate as a multidimensional construct, whereas previous research mostly explored positive forms of humor in relation to different social aspects of the organization. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is first to use a validated scale to explore connections between innovative work behavior and humor climate.

Citation

Logacheva, E.Y. and Plakhotnik, M.S. (2021), "The impact of humor climate on innovative work behavior: evidence from the banking industry in Russia", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 53 No. 3, pp. 237-249. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-10-2020-0107