After-Hours Work Challenges and Employee Creativity: A Moderated Mediation Model

Based on the social exchange theory, this paper constructs a moderated mediation model to explore the influence of after-hours work challenges after-hours on employee creativity. By collecting 268 questionnaires from Chinese employees and employing hierarchical regression and bootstrapping to test the hypotheses, the results show that after-hours work challenges can enhance employee creativity by improving their perceived insider status. Servant leadership, as a moderator, strengthens both the direct effect of after-hours work challenges on perceived insider status and the indirect effect on employee creativity. This research enriches the creativity and work design literature by addressing the previously unexplored relationship between after-hours work challenges and employee creativity. The study reveals that after-hours work assigned to employees needs to be challenging so that employees can experience personal development through completing it. Additionally, leaders’ support and care during the after-hours work process are essential.