The Role of Managers in Developing Creativity and Managing Talent

INTRODUCTION

Today, rapid changes around the world have emphasized the importance of creativity and societies can only adapt to new conditions through initiatives and innovation. Recently, regarding the efforts made to restructure and re-engineer processes and reduce costs, the product portfolio needs to be renovated. In this respect, the creativity and new thoughts and ideas of managers and employees of the organization are very significant and take a high position in the organization. In the current competitive world, organizations that are constantly applying new ideas and thoughts in the organization can succeed and survive and it is only possible by using creative managers and employees. Some people misunderstand that creativity is a privilege of scientists and artists, while currently, scientists believe that creativity and innovation are not limited to a certain group of people. People at any level of organization and any work level benefit from the creativity and thinking powers, and creativity is a function of the three constituent parts of specialization, creative thinking, and motivation in everyone's consciousness. It is no longer necessary to argue whether creativity is innate or acquired. Nowadays, the world seeks to properly understand and develop various aspects of creativity and related issues not only in the fields of psychology and education but also in business and economics.

Also, assessing talent and paying attention to the potential skills of people working in the organization, especially those in other important positions, is a requirement for competitiveness and consistency in present rapidly changing world. Therefore, it is impossible to obtain maximum efficiency when inner talents and the mental and physical state of employees are not taken into account.

Hence, three areas have to be considered to develop and identify talents. First, it is essential to examine the individual's psychological talent and ability to perform tasks and develop the organization mentally. Second, it is necessary to review and perform the physical tests required for physical aptitude assessment in employees. Third, it is important to conduct personality tests during recruitment and service to achieve and develop the talents of the workforce.

Literature Review

Definition of Creativity

There are various definitions of creativity. In some definitions, creativity and innovation are similar to change concepts, and in others, creativity is defined as a type of adaptation. However, some definitions regard creativity and innovation beyond both change and adaptation concepts.

From an organizational point of view, creativity means presenting a new idea and plan that improve and strengthen the quantity or quality of an organization's activities such as increasing productivity, products or services and reducing costs, products or services in a better way, and presenting new products or services, etc.

Thus, creativity is higher than an intellectual activity. Innovation is normally something practical and also the end product of creativity is innovation.

Creative Staff

Employees and executives should be considered valuable resources of an organization since the productivity of human resources is associated with the efficiency of these people. The success of the organization is a goal made possible through the support and efforts of employees who support the creative guidelines of managers.

 Therefore, if the goal of an organization is to make efficient employees (creative employees), these features need to be taken into account.

Creative Managers

Currently, various efforts are being made to pave the way for making creative managers through holding training workshops in many organizations. Training creative managers can be considered the right policy to achieve “organizational success”.

Today, even the productivity level of an organization is measured by its ability to make optimal use of human resources. Creative managers are more efficient than non-creative ones in making proper job opportunities, creating an organizational environment where employees can work harder, and improving their organizational productivity. In this regard, they try to solve bottlenecks and problems innovatively.

Managers’ Role in Training Creativity and Making Creative Organizations

The current organizations are always face with changes that in the present customer-oriented and competitive world crush all forms of resistance and move people forward (Esmailpour & Saadat Alizadeh Kangi, 2013, quoted by Pinkat, 1985). As organizations enter the information age and face the dramatic changes and developments that have occurred in the environment, and because of the instability, variability, and unpredictability of these changes, they maintain their competitive advantage and increase productivity, growth, and development which are subject to using opportunities in competition with other organizations (Nodeh, 2012).

Nowadays, innovation is crucial to enjoying a competitive advantage. This is because companies and organizations with no constant innovation are excluded from the competition, especially in large organizations (Fazel et al., 2011). Innovation is also holding one of the key factors for a company's long-term success in a highly competitive market as companies with high innovation capabilities can respond quickly and appropriately to environmental challenges (Rezvani & Grailinejad, 2011).

Organizations recently have focused only on routine management and typical tasks due to the growing size and number of employees. However, managers who try to manage the spirit of innovation and development, understand the uncertainty of the environment and emphasize knowledge-based management which can play an important role in economic growth (Protonia, 2012). Management support is one of the most important prerequisites for entrepreneurship that encourages employees in innovation (Esmailpour & Saadat Alizadeh Kangi, 2013).

In today's competitive world, creativity and innovation are critical to the survival and success of organizations. Some experts on the importance of creativity and innovation liken it to the lifeline of an organization and the vitality of an organization is destined to perish and be destroyed if it is cut off. The key to this category is the training of creative and innovative employees within the organization, as everyone has the potential for creativity and innovation, but to realize the capabilities requires proper planning by managers. In addition, managers' interest and acceptance of new ideas can provide a good platform for training and developing these capabilities (Liang, 2002). In such an environment, the role and position of managers and entrepreneurs as the driving force of development is much more obvious and effective among officials, policymakers, and planners even in industrial and developed countries. Due to the close relationship between creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, many developed countries have designed and implemented a system called the National Innovation System according to their conditions, facilities and values, and economic systems. The economic development of the present world is based on innovation, creativity, and the use of knowledge (Tamizi, 2012).

The Importance of Creativity and Innovation in the Organization

Influential and impressive organizations keep constant interaction with their external and internal environment (Abdollahi, 2008 quoted by Soltani Tirani, 2009). The expansion of globalization, new information and communication technologies, as well as the resulting changes, have turned the conditions of organizations into a competitive environment. However, this environment is highly heterogeneous and unpredictable (Nodeh, 2012). Creative organizations characterize by adaptability, diversity, risk-taking, ongoing teaching and learning, constant presentation of new ideas and perspectives, and institutionalization of progress and innovation culture in the organization. These unique characteristics not only can quickly adapt to the changes resulting from the expansion of globalization, and information and communication technologies, but also they can modify the effectiveness of the organizational environment and sometimes even guide them towards the realization of the goals of organizations (Nodeh, 2012).

Creativity and innovation lead to the realization of the following goals:

1. The growth and development of talent lead to the self-flourishing of the organization
2. Personal, professional, and social successes in the organization
3. The emergence of the organization
4. Products and services
5. Increasing the quantity, variety of products and services
6. Increasing the quality of products and services and success in the organization's competition
7. Reducing costs, losses, and waste of resources in the organization
8. Increasing the work motivation of the organization's employees
9. Improving the level of mental health and job satisfaction of the organization's employees
10. Improving the productivity of the organization
11. The success of the management and employees of the organization
12. Growth and maturity of the organization
13. Stimulating and encouraging a sense of competition
14. Reducing administrative bureaucracy (Reducing desk jobs and encouraging pragmatism) (Mohammadi, 2005).

Factors Affecting Creativity and Innovation within the Organization

According to the latest scientific achievements, the effective factors in creativity and innovation are divided into four categories, including employment of a creative and innovative workforce in the organization, appropriate research and financial facilities for innovative efforts, sufficient freedom of action in carrying out creative activities and efforts as well as utilization of creative activity results and rewarding creative employees. Finally, it should be noted that keeping cultural exchange between organizations, connecting conservative and traditional workers and newcomers, and creating an environment where information and ideas can be easily exchanged are all facilities that lead organizations to innovation and creativity (Sherkat, 2007).

The Role of Managers in Making Creative and Innovative Employees

Creativity, innovation, and the introduction of new thoughts and ideas by managers are particularly important. Today, successful organizations can survive in a competitive world that constantly uses new ideas in the organization which is possible by creative and innovative managers and employees. Therefore, creating a suitable atmosphere in the organization and making an open and constructive culture can make the employees creative and innovative (Mohabbati et al., 2008).

The manager's role is to foster creativity and innovation, motivate and encourage employees, empower employees, find creative minds, and use the creativity of others. The participatory management system plays an important role in fostering creative and innovative employees by relying on employees’ self-control, consultation, encouraging initiative, and respecting individuals. Besides, the role of management in organizations where creativity and innovation are essential is highly significant. Management can create, nurture and develop the abilities and talents of employees for creativity and innovation, and their actions and performance can prevent this critical issue (Mohammadi, 2005).

The Effect of Entrepreneurial Managers on Creativity and Innovation in Organizations

The recent organizations do not need managers who focus solely on conventional management and task templates due to the large size and the high number of employees, rather they prefer to benefit from innovators, entrepreneurs, and developers as managers. When the managers understand the conditions of uncertainty of their environment and knowledge-centeredness, they can highly affect the growth and economy of the country. Such managers in an organization can create conditions for all employees to have creative and innovative spirits and to carry out entrepreneurial activities individually and in groups within the organization. Managers, on the other hand, encourage employees to be creative, innovative, and risk-takers, manage new ideas appropriately, and take responsibility for decision-making. Thereby, quality, innovation, and executive capacity of human resources guarantee the survival of an organization, and they are regarded as the most important factor in moving economic cycles (Protonia, 2012).

Manager as a Factor in Creating Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Culture

Recognizing and assessing an organization's culture as a foundation for organizational change plays a vital role in organizational success (Heidari et al., 2011). Cultural contexts, as an underlying factor or as the basis for other necessary contexts of entrepreneurship, require significant changes in the understanding of national beliefs, rights, customs, traditions, and ethics (Heidari et al., 2011). Regarding the importance of organizational culture, experts argued that if an organization had effective and lasting changes, it would have to change its culture. In other words, the success and failure of organizations are associated with their culture. Therefore, by accessing and benefiting from culture, managers are freed from the bindings of past solutions and they can offer new solutions and move toward more development of the organization (Shohgi & Haj Fath Ali, 2012, quoted by Lau & Ngo, 2004).

Talent Management and Organizational Performance

Numerous studies^[1] have shown a relationship between talent and corporate performance and revealed the increased investment in talent attraction, as talent management seeks to identify and differentiate organizational talents for the realization and excellence of organizational performance. Schweier (2004) emphasized that talent is the most important component of success in today's economy. Although no exact formula has been presented to be evaluated in this regard, it is necessary to identify and differentiate talented employees and evaluate their performance and capabilities and use the obtained results for proper allocation and raise of the employees’ salaries and promotions.

The Effect of Talent Management on Organizational Creativity regarding Organizational Trust Role

The rapid global development of science, technology, industry, information, values ​​, and standards has led many successful organizations around the world to turn their goals, directions, and interests in the pursuit of creativity and innovation (Kowsari et al., 2010; Ukibayev et al., 2021). Today is an era of dramatic and fundamental changes in technologies. The structure of this age is based on strengthening the ability and information and paying attention to the participation of creative and innovative human resources, instead of functional forces. Therefore, conscious managers need to survive and face uncertain factors and expand the competitive position of the human resources in the position of the main source of development of creativity and innovation (Jahanian & Haddadi, 2015). Working in any organization, including educational institutions, requires the implementation of a variety of ongoing measures and solutions. Managers also need to perform various tasks and functions to be able to lead the organization (Mazaher et al., 2017; Mubayrik et al., 2021).

Today, third-millennium organizations refer to a concept called human capital. Human resource development is considered the secret of business sustainability and the most important challenge in business and it is no longer a matter of technology (Sayadi & Yaripour, 2014). The key to face with business challenges is to benefit from smart manpower and talented human capital.

Literature Review

Kian (2016) in a study entitled “Designing the Establishment of the International Talent Organization” argued that the future of millions of people and consequently the future of societies and humanity is in great danger which is called the waste of human resources. If there is a global mechanism to discover talents in different countries and provide them with the right path, human society will undergo a profound transformation and sustainable social justice will be formed as the basis of sustainable development in less than a generation. Therefore, discovering and directing talents in the international community is a necessity.

Haji Karimi and Soltani (2011) studied the factors assessing the talent management of managers of the machinery and industrial equipment industry in Iran. Their findings showed that talent management can be measured by using 17 factors while the main ones are as follow: recognition of talent management, motivation of talented forces, job support of talented forces, and creativity and innovation of talented forces.

Ebrahimi Ghavam (2011) in a study entitled “The relationship between resilience and job satisfaction among teachers teaching in normal and special schools in Tehran” reported a positive relationship between the two variables of resilience and job satisfaction. Thus, job satisfaction and resilience are interrelated and can be enhanced by implementing appropriate interventions for each.

Afjeh and Saleh Ghaffari (2013) in a study entitled "Factors affecting the knowledge-based employees’ retention and leaving” showed that organizational development planning is correlated with the retention of knowledge-based employees and job paths while organizational promotion has a significant relationship with employees’ leaving or turnover.

Hosseini (2013) in a study entitled “The role of talent management in providing and retaining talented human resources” showed that creating a talent treasury, reducing organizational leave, and not leaving key positions are the most important results of talent management in the organization.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

It is a causal and applied study as the researcher examined the effect of talent management on the job enlargement of hospital managers. Thus, structural equations were used to analyze the causal relationships between the variables. The statistical population included a total of 550 managers, deputies, and senior experts of the hospital while 318 questionnaires were completed by using the Morgan table.

Questionnaire Validity: To assess the validity of the questionnaire, in the first stage it was examined by some university professors and relevant experts during compiling the questionnaire resources. In the second stage, 30 designed questionnaires were distributed among the experts and they examined the items of the questionnaire one by one, and their corrective views were taken into account. Therefore, the data collection tool in this study was a questionnaire and its content validity was confirmed.

 Questionnaire Reliability: to assess the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha was used. At this stage, 30 questionnaires were distributed to measure the reliability, then SPSS was used to determine the validity and the value of Cronbach's alpha coefficient is as follows:

Table 1. Cronbach's alpha coefficients

Regarding the obtained coefficients in Table 1, it was found that all the calculated alpha coefficients are higher than the standard value (0.7) and are acceptable. On the other hand, the calculated coefficient for all the questionnaire items was obtained at (0.733) which confirmed the reliability of the questionnaire.

Research Hypotheses

• H1: The job experience of hospital managers positively affects their promotion probability to higher management positions.
• H2: The job specialization of hospital managers positively affects their promotion probability to higher management positions.
• H3: The job experience of hospital managers at the same level negatively affects the promotion probability of a manager to higher management positions.
• H4: The job specialization of hospital managers at the same level negatively affects the promotion probability of a manager to higher management positions.
• H5: The social capital of a hospital manager positively affects his promotion probability to higher management positions.
• H6: The social capital of hospital managers at the same level negatively affects the promotion probability of a manager to higher management positions.

Figure 1 shows the coefficients t for the measurement model (coefficients t for the questions and their related variables) and the structural model (coefficients t for the paths in the model between the variables). Figure 2 shows the standard coefficients for the measurement model (standard coefficients for the questions and their related variables) and the structural model (path coefficients for the paths proposed in the model within the variables). The path between all independent variables is called according to the dependent variable the gamma path coefficient. Regarding the model relationships, six paths have been drawn and all of which are gamma types.

According to the proposed model, manager's job experience (V1), manager's job specialization (V2), manager's social capital (V3), job experience of managers at the same level (V4), job specialization of managers at the same level (V5), the social capital of managers at the same level (V6) are the independent variable and the manager’s job enlargement (promotion) (V7) was regarded as the dependent variable of the model.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

H1: The job experience of hospital managers positively affects their promotion probability to higher management positions. According to the obtained results, this hypothesis is accepted. Therefore, it can be concluded that any increase or decrease in managers' job experience increases or decreases their job enlargement. In other words, job experience has a positive and direct effect on job enlargement, and the higher the managers' job experience, the higher job enlargement they will acquire. In this regard, the job experience of managers can be increased by using managers to identify and solve problems and face them in challenging situations. Thus, they have to make decisions alone to improve their job path for their future job enlargement and promotion. This result is consistent with the results of Klausen et al. (2013)’s study in which they reported a positive and significant effect of managers’ job experience on their job enlargement.

H2: The job specialization of hospital managers positively affects their promotion probability to higher management positions. Therefore, it can be concluded that any increase or decrease in job specialization of hospital managers increases or decreases their job enlargement. In this regard, it can be pointed out that management and supervision can increase the expertise and job skills of managers by holding training courses and classes or asking managers to participate in seminars and conferences to increase their expertise and skills through training or contact with other managers. It may make them empowered and able to succeed and promote in their jobs. This result is consistent with the results of Klausen et al. (2013) study in which they reported that the job specialization of managers significantly increases their job enlargement.

H3: The social capital of hospital managers positively affects their promotion probability to higher management positions. Therefore, it can be concluded that any increase or decrease in the social capital of hospital managers increases or decreases their job enlargement. In this regard, it is stated that the assistance and cooperation of managers with employees, colleagues, and other managers make it possible to ask for their help and assistance when necessary. In other words, creating social communication at the organization and bank-level should help them, in the long run, to develop and improve their job path by using their colleagues and friends. This result is consistent with the results of Klausen et al. (2013)'s study in which they concluded that managers’ social capital has a positive and significant effect on managers' job enlargement.

H4: The job experience of hospital managers at the same level negatively affects the promotion probability of a manager to higher management positions. According to the obtained results, the job experience of managers at the same level negatively affects the job enlargement of hospital managers and this hypothesis is accepted. Therefore, it can be concluded that any increase or decrease in job experience of hospital managers at the same level increases or decreases their job enlargement. When one of the two managers has more job experience, the job path will be better developed and improved for him because he is more experienced and skillful compared to his colleague. He can manage and lead the tasks entrusted to him, so managers’ experience negatively affects their job enlargement. This result is consistent with Klausen et al.'s (2013)’ result in which they concluded that the job experience of managers at the same level has a positive and significant effect on their job enlargement.

H5: The job specialization of hospital managers at the same level negatively affects the promotion probability of a manager to higher management positions. According to the results obtained from this hypothesis, the job specialization of managers at the same level negatively affects their job enlargement and this hypothesis is accepted. Therefore, it can be concluded that any increase or decrease in the job specialization of managers at the same level decreases or increases their job enlargement. This result is consistent with the results of Klausen et al. (2013)'s study in which they concluded that the job specialization of managers at the same level positively and significantly affects their job enlargement.

H6: The social capital of hospital managers at the same level negatively affects the promotion probability of a manager to higher management positions. The obtained results showed that this hypothesis is not significant (the social capital of managers at the same level does not have a significant effect on the job enlargement of hospital managers) and this hypothesis is rejected. This rejected relationship can be justified as follow when managers have a friendly relationship with managers of the same or higher level, they have a close relationship with each other in different programs and can share their knowledge. This capital cannot negatively affects their job enlargement, but it can have a positive effect through making friendly relationships with each other. Thus, the more help and cooperation they are, the more promoted they will be. This result is consistent with the results of Klausen et al. (2013)'s study in which they concluded that the social capital of managers at the same level does not have a significant effect on their job enlargement.

CONCLUSION

Today, it is essential to consider talent management to increase employee productivity and maintain competitiveness in complex and dynamic environments. Talent management should be institutionalized as a system in each of the human resource development processes. Talent management belongs to all human resource development processes, and it is possible to evaluate and understand talent in many parts of the organization. In a highly competitive employment market, the foundation needed to attract talent to develop a plan and identify and determine the required resources and needs.

In the current situation, successful companies and organizations constantly increase the level of employees’ performance by cultivating their talents. Besides, by investing time and money to develop internal talents (succession), these organizations will not face a crisis of manpower when their core talents are retired or leave the organization for any other reason.

Regarding the characteristics of creative managers and strategies to enhance creativity, managers, and employees should be aware of the level of creativity. They need to strengthen their creativity through the maximum intellectual and mental capabilities to have a dynamic organization. Besides, managers should strengthen the spirit of scientific courage and research by creating, cultivating, and applying creativity, criticism, and critique. Therefore, in a creative organization, past practices are reviewed and new thoughts, ideas, goods, and services are generated through the employees' intellectual secretion. Finally, modernization as an institutional value and a common belief of the organization needs to be taken into account.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: With thanks and guidance from Professor Hassan Kian.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: None

ETHICS STATEMENT: None