In retail and services alike, employee creativity is highly valued. Yet a paradox has long persisted in research: creativity, however universally praised, does not reliably improve sales. A recent study published in the Journal of Service Research by Simon Boissonneault (ESG UQAM), Yany Grégoire, Bruno Lussier, and Christian Vandenberghe (HEC Montréal) sheds light on this phenomena. Based on 252 employee-manager dyads, it shows that creativity translates into sales performance only when it is expressed through a specific behavior. If raw creativity does not directly improve performance, it is because it must first be translated into a concrete selling behavior: value-based selling (VBS).
The Missing Link
Value-based selling means diagnosing customer needs, crafting a relevant value proposition, and clearly communicating how the product or service improves the customer’s situation. The study shows that VBS acts as a full mediator between creativity and performance. In other words, creativity influences sales solely because it drives employees to adopt these value-focused behaviors. The lesson is clear: creativity alone is not enough; it is putting creativity into action that generates results.
Two Conditions That Change Everything
Manager engagement amplifies the effect. When a manager is strongly invested in their role, providing clear direction, feedback, and support, employee creativity translates far more effectively into value-based selling. Their engagement legitimizes initiative and signals that creative efforts are valued.
Organizational commitment produces an unexpected effect. When it is high, employees maintain strong VBS regardless of their creativity, because they rely on proven routines. When it is low, creativity becomes the deciding factor: creative employees reach levels comparable to their highly committed colleagues, whereas those who are low on both show the weakest results. Commitment does not erase the effect of creativity; it attenuates it.
Three Courses of Action
- Make creativity work through VBS : Recruiting creative employees is not enough. Their value-based selling skills must be developed (role-play, customer journey mapping, diagnostic questioning, storytelling).
- Turn managerial engagement into an opportunity signal : Managers should shape, day to day, the conditions that allow creativity to be expressed. The authors suggest that leadership development may have more impact than efforts focused solely on increasing employee loyalty.
- Rethink commitment to support flexibility : Commitment and creativity are complementary rather than opposed. This is especially relevant in retail, where turnover is high: strong commitment takes time to develop, which makes creativity an essential lever for a large share of the workforce.
In Short
La créativité des employés de première ligne améliore bel et bien la performance de vente, mais seulement lorsqu’elle est canalisée en comportements axés sur la valeur, et lorsque le contexte managérial et organisationnel le permet. Pour les leaders de la vente, il ne suffit pas de cultiver le potentiel créatif : il faut aussi créer les conditions qui lui permettent de s’exprimer.
Reference : Boissonneault, S., Grégoire, Y., Lussier, B., et Vandenberghe, C. (2026). « Frontline Employee Creativity and Sales Performance: A Multilevel and Dyadic Investigation. » Journal of Service Research. DOI : 10.1177/10946705261449615.
Study supported by the Global Experience Panel, Omer DeSerres Chair of Retailing, and the Sales Institute HEC Montréal.