Beyond creativity: implementing innovative ideas through human resource management

Although scholars are starting to reflect on the way in which human resource management (HRM) might enable or impede innovation it is still not clear exactly what practices or combinations of practices stand out, why this might be so, and what this means for managers in practice. Employees contribute to organizational innovation via their innovative behaviors, both devising creative ideas and working collaboratively to implement those that make sense in a given context. Creativity stands at the start of an innovation, and plays its part in transforming the idea into reality. Given the challenges involved, the innovative behaviors that lie behind innovation may remain dormant and excellent opportunities be missed. In this chapter, we suggest that high-commitment HRM prompts innovation by supporting, guiding and facilitating the exchange and effective combination of knowledge. We refer to HRM implementation, arguing that what matters is not the existence of practices per se, but how they are interpreted and enacted by line managers, and perceived by employees.