Analysing the relationship between performance appraisal and employee innovative behaviour in digital competitive environments

Employee innovative behaviour plays a vital role in fostering organisational innovation and helping organisations succeed in challenging environments. Beyond generating creative ideas, innovation requires employees to implement and sustain them in the workplace. This study is based on the concepts of social cognition and psychological momentum. It examines the relationship between Performance Appraisal and Employee Innovative Behaviour, while also investigating the mediating role of Delay of Gratification (DG) and the moderating effect of Supervisor Developmental Feedback. Data were collected from 712 employees of IT firms, including frontline employees, junior staff, middle managers, and senior managers across IT, R&D, marketing, and HR departments. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used for data analysis. The findings supported hypotheses H1, H3, H5, and H6. Performance Appraisal was significantly associated with Employee Innovative Behaviour (p = 0.047), while Distributive Fairness also showed a significant effect (p = 0.001). However, Procedural Fairness (p = 0.382) and Interactional Fairness (p = 0.730) were not significant. Supervisor Developmental Feedback significantly moderated the relationship (p = 0.000), and Delay of Gratification significantly mediated it (p = 0.000). Timely supervisory feedback and clear communication of organisational goals strengthened employees’ emotional attachment and commitment, encouraging greater innovative behaviour.