Aims The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationship between high‐involvement human resource management, autonomy, affective organisational commitment and innovative behaviours of nursing staff who care for elderly clients. Background Nursing teams are increasingly required to demonstrate innovative behaviours that enhance care quality. Nursing leaders need to create environments where nursing staff have sufficient autonomy and feel a sense of commitment to support these behaviours. The appropriate implementation of these processes and practices may lead to greater involvement. Methods A cross‐sectional survey‐based research design was employed to explore the experiences of involvement practices, autonomy, affective organisational commitment and innovative behaviours of 567 nursing staff workers from four elderly care organisations in the Netherlands. Results The results demonstrate that a bundle of high‐involvement practices positively influences innovative behaviour and that affective commitment and autonomy fully mediate this relationship. Conclusions The study highlights the role of autonomy and commitment as routes towards translating involvement practices into nurses’ innovativeness. Implications for Nursing Management To create an innovative environment, leaders need to create a positive climate by providing nurses with opportunities to enhance their competence, relatedness and autonomy through active involvement. Leaders should, therefore, encourage involvement as a mechanism to promote innovation.