(How) Can Performance Appraisals Improve Employee Creativity? A Multidimensional Perspective

ABSTRACT Performance appraisal (PA) is commonly used by organizations to manage their employees. However, the role of PAs in employee creativity remains ambiguous, with positive, negative, or even nonsignificant relationships reported in the literature. The aim of the present research is to address this ambiguity. Drawing on multidimensional conceptualizations of PA and creativity, and integrating self‐determination theory and expectancy theory with selection, optimization, and compensation theory, we develop a multilevel conceptual framework incorporating diverse linkages between PAs and creativity. Time‐lagged survey data were collected from 582 research and development employees working in 49 companies. The results indicate that developmental PA is positively related to radical creativity via intrinsic motivation, with age augmenting this indirect linkage. In contrast, administrative PA is positively related to incremental creativity through extrinsic motivation, with age attenuating this indirect relationship. These findings extend the theoretical understanding of the PA–creativity relationship and offer important practical insights into the utility of PAs in managing employee creativity.