Investigating the Effect of Human Resource Flexibility on Organizational Innovation with the Mediating Role of Job Turnover

Karimianzadeh, Farhad; Mohajeran, Behnaz; Ghalavandi, Hassan

doi:10.22034/jmep.2025.489687.1442

Investigating the Effect of Human Resource Flexibility on Organizational Innovation with the Mediating Role of Job Turnover

Document Type : Original Article (Quantified)

Authors

Farhad Karimianzadeh ¹

Behnaz Mohajeran ²

Hassan Ghalavandi ³

¹ Ph.D Student, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran .

² Associate Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

³ Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22034/jmep.2025.489687.1442

Abstract

Abstract
The aim of this research is to study the effect of human resources flexibility on organizational innovation with the mediating role of job turnover among employees of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. The present study is of applicable type in terms of purpose, and descriptive-correlational in terms of nature. The statistical population of this study includes employees of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2022-2023, with a statistical population size of 1300 people, of which 207 people were selected as a statistical sample through the Morgan table and stratified random sampling method. To collect research data, a questionnaire on flexibility, organizational innovation, and job turnover was used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS and PLS 2016 statistical software. The results showed that human resources flexibility has a direct effect on organizational innovation of university employees. Human resources flexibility has a direct effect on job turnover. Job turnover has a direct effect on organizational innovation. Human resource flexibility has an indirect effect on organizational innovation by mediating the career turnover of university employees.
Introduction
In today's competitive world, given the progress of science and technology, society needs to cultivate people who can face problems in an original and creative way and try to solve them. To achieve this, the need for education, strengthening creativity, and creating new ideas is of great importance to attain a flourishing society (Estanesti & Sholibour, 2020). Organizational innovation is the adoption of an idea or behavior that is new to the general environment of the organization. The tendency towards organizational innovation can occur in the human resources sector, behavioral and psychological studies of employees and recognition of their values and abilities; or in the technical and technological sector, modernized equipment and new techniques; or in the structural sector, which includes a set of rules, methods, norms, and criteria (Eyni, 2020).
Organizations need flexibility and adaptation to environmental uncertainty in many aspects; in particular, from the human resources perspective, this adaptation is achieved through a variety of forms, which are generally defined as human resource flexibility (Kether & Sett, 2009). Among the influential factors that cause change and transformation in organizations is human resource flexibility. Human resource flexibility includes a wide range of organizational designs and management models and theories such as: socio-technical system theory, self-organization, lean manufacturing, and just-in-time production management. Human resource flexibility is considered as a tool to improve production performance because it creates several strategic advantages (Heydari Gojani et al, 2021).
Another influential variable in this study is job rotation. Job rotation is a systematic, purposeful and principled movement for employees from one job to another; job rotation also includes horizontal transfers that enable employees to work in different jobs and gain managerial knowledge and experience. Job rotation can reduce work fatigue and increase employee motivation through various activities, and also increase the vitality of organizations; because employees become familiar with a wide range of skills and will have high flexibility in work management (Bastani & Ghorban Hosseini, 2020). Hence, the main research question is: does human resource flexibility affect organizational innovation by mediating job rotation among employees of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences?
Theoretical Framework
Flexibility
The flexibility of human resource activities also refers to effective, rapid, and sustainable actions of the human resource department in adapting and implementing new human resource processes and structures (AmirNejad, 2022). Skill flexibility refers to the speed and ease of acquiring new skills and abilities of employees. Employee behavioral flexibility is the ability to demonstrate a variety of behavioral roles in different situations (Seyed Naghavi et al, 2012).
Organizational Innovation
Innovation is more than just popular creativity in the commonly accepted sense. Innovation is a process that can move towards customer satisfaction through the creation and application of new ideas (Azizifar, 2014). The concept of organizational innovation can be defined as the successful implementation of new ideas, which includes changes in the structure and processes of an organization in order to apply new management, work and operational concepts (Junga et al, 2019).
Job rotation
Job rotation is the movement of people in a range of other jobs in order to increase their interest and motivation in the work environment (Ebrahimzadeh, 2015).
Eini Nargeseh (2024) investigated the effect of factors affecting human resource flexibility in government organizations using the fuzzy cognitive map method. The results of this study indicate that commitment-oriented human resource management practices, positive organizational culture, and organizational intelligence are the most important factors affecting human resource flexibility in government organizations.
Sonmez et al, (2024) investigated the effects of organizational innovation and knowledge management strategy in information technology companies in research and development departments on service quality and product innovation. The results showed that both knowledge management strategies and organizational innovation have a positive effect on the success of service quality and product innovation in information technology companies with research and development departments. At the same time, as a result of the analysis, it can be explained that innovation capability has both an independent and a mediating variable.
Research Methodology
The present study is of applicable type in terms of purpose, and descriptive-correlational in terms of nature. The statistical population of this study includes employees of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2022-2023, with a statistical population size of 1300 people, of which 207 people were selected as a statistical sample through the Morgan table and stratified random sampling method. To collect research data, a questionnaire on flexibility, organizational innovation, and job turnover was used.
Research findings
Data analysis was performed using SPSS and PLS 2016 statistical software. The results showed that human resources flexibility has a direct effect on organizational innovation of university employees. Human resources flexibility has a direct effect on job turnover. Job turnover has a direct effect on organizational innovation. Human resource flexibility has an indirect effect on organizational innovation by mediating the career turnover of university employees.
Conclusion
The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of human resource flexibility on organizational innovation with the mediating role of job turnover among employees of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. The results of this study are consistent with the results of Eini Nargeseh (2024), Sonmez et al, (2024), AmirNejad (2022), Effat& Saeedi (2021), Eyni (2020), Hisham & Ahmad (2020), Ketabchi (2020), Davidescu et al, (2020), and Huang et al, (2019). AmirNejad (2022) showed that employee skill flexibility and employee behavior flexibility have an effect on adaptive culture, and the effect of adaptive culture on service innovation and process innovation was also proved. The results also indicate the mediating role of adaptive culture in the relationship between employee skill flexibility and employee behavior flexibility with service innovation and process innovation.
According to the research results, the following suggestions are made:
It is suggested that human resources processes (recruitment, training, etc.) be designed for employee flexibility so that employees can grow and develop more flexibility in the organization. It is suggested that human resources flexibility can be increased in view of changes in the external organizational environment, and to create it, it is necessary to create a special attitude in managing the culture of adaptability in employees. In today's changing and unstable environment, it is necessary for organizations to use their human resources flexibility as a culture in order to maintain and survive, so that they can take an important step in their workplace with these changes.

Keywords

Flexibility

organizational innovation

job rotation

creativity

job skills

Subjects

Human Resource Management

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