Unlocking Innovative Work Behavior: The Interplay of Engaging Leadership, Trust, Learning Climate, and Time Pressure

INKUBIS: Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis Volume 8, Issue 1, 297-309 e_ISSN: 2775-3913 https://inkubis.polteksci.ac.id/index.php/ink/index DOI: doi.org/10.59261/inkubis.v8i1.185 Unlocking Innovative Work Behavior: The Interplay of Engaging Leadership, Trust, Learning Climate, and Time Pressure Tobias Kristianto1 Yohana F. Cahya Palupi Meilani2* Universitas Pelita Harapan, Indonesia Universitas Pelita Harapan, Indonesia *Corresponding author: Yohana F. Cahya Palupi Meilani, Universitas Pelita Harapan Indonesia. 🖂 Article Info : Article history: Received: March 17, 2026 Revised: April 23, 2026 Accepted: April 25, 2026 Abstract Background: In the era of Industry 4.0, companies must foster innovative work behavior (IWB) to sustain competitiveness. Yet even organizations with structured HRM systems report low work engagement among employees, particularly under high time pressure, creating a critical gap between innovation infrastructure and actual employee innovative behavior. Objective: This study examines the influence of engaging leadership, learning climate, trust, and time pressure on work engagement and, Keywords: through it, on innovative work behavior, with work engagement as a ethical leadership; learning climate; mediating variable. trust; time pressure; work Method: A quantitative cross-sectional design was employed. Using engagement; innovative work purposive sampling (criterion: minimum 2 years of service), data were behavior. collected via a five-point Likert scale questionnaire from 170 permanent employees at PT XYZ, a multinational manufacturing company in South Tangerang, and analyzed using PLS-SEM via SmartPLS 4.0. Result: The results of the study show that engaging leadership and learning climate have a positive and significant effect on work engagement, while trust and time pressure have no significant effect. In addition, work engagement has been proven to have a positive effect on innovative work behavior. The indirect relationship of engaging leadership and learning climate with innovative work behavior is established through work engagement mediation, while trust and time pressure are not mediated by work engagement. Conclusion: These findings affirm engaging leadership and a positive learning climate as the primary drivers of work engagement and innovation. Organizations should strengthen an engaging culture, broaden learning opportunities, and frame time pressure as a motivating challenge rather than a hindrance. To cite this article: Kristianto, T., & Meilani, Y. F. C. P. (2026). Unlocking innovative work behavior: The interplay of engaging leadership, trust, learning climate, and time pressure. INKUBIS: Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis, 8(1). 297-309. https://doi.org/10.59261/inkubis.v8i1.185 INTRODUCTION The global manufacturing industry that is developing in this era has entered an era of fierce competition caused by the penetration of Industry 4.0 technology, which has an impact on product efficiency and quality (Elnadi & Abdallah, 2024). This competition requires companies to transform by improving operational efficiency, product quality, and competitiveness through driving innovation, including in the field of human resources (Dalenogare et al., 2018; Tarasov, 2018). Companies must transform the field of human resources by developing innovative work behaviors from employees, aiming to respond to technological changes and market competition in a more adaptive manner (Hermundsdottir & Aspelund, 2021). 297 | INKUBIS: Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis Tobias Kristianto, Yohana F. Cahya Palupi Meilani Unlocking Innovative... Companies developing innovative work behaviors will be influenced by the existence of a positive learning climate and an ecosystem that supports the exchange of ideas between employees (Harsanto et al., 2024; Hermundsdottir & Aspelund, 2021). One way to foster employee innovation is through organizations that build a culture of collaboration and active learning, which creates more opportunities to develop sustainable innovation by training and rewarding employees who innovate serving as the main driver that strengthens commitment and belonging to the company (Mohd et al., 2022). In addition to a supportive organizational culture, there are challenges that will affect employees in innovating, namely time pressure which is related to a decrease in work involvement if it is not supported by other adequate supporting factors (De Spiegelaere et al., 2015). This is because the existence of high production targets will make employees experience stress that results in burnout (Bakker et al., 2026). If these conditions are not managed properly, innovation will not develop optimally even though the company has supporting facilities. Building an organizational culture and managing employee stress requires HRM practices through the Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) framework, which consistently strengthens innovative work behaviors (Bos-Nehles et al., 2017). Yet high-performance work systems could impede innovation when psychological pressure exceeds employees' tolerances. The researchers highlight that perceived organizational support is crucial to productively directing challenge stress (Zhu et al., 2022). This dynamic is observable at PT XYZ, a multinational fitting-parts manufacturer in South Tangerang an intercultural organization with a paradox of a well-defined corporate culture. Having adopted AMO-based HRM via ERP systems, codified work guidelines, systematic incentives, and iterative learning, an internal survey of the organization conducted in 2024 revealed that even among production-line employees, approximately only 38 percent were highly engaged; nearly all cited chronic time pressure and ambiguous role boundaries as hindrances to their innovative initiatives. This finding unearths a structural-behavioral gap: innovation support systems are institutionally established, but psychological engagement mechanisms remain restricted underscoring the importance of including work engagement as an essential mediating variable. Previous researchers have discussed the relationship between organizational factors that drive innovative work behaviors in employees, but there are some gaps that need to be addressed. In their study, De Spiegelaere et al. (2015) emphasized that time pressure can encourage employees to innovate, but at the same time reduce work engagement. On the other hand, research conducted by Zhu et al. (2022) and Zahoor & Khan (2022) state that work systems with high time pressure have the potential to negatively impact innovative work behaviors without adequate psychological and organizational support. Conversely, research by Song et al. (2023) found that ethical leadership and a learning climate are able to increase work engagement while encouraging innovation. These contradictory findings indicate that the relationships among time pressure, engaging leadership, a learning climate, trust, and work engagement leading to innov (...truncated)