Encouraging Creativity in the Workplace
Do your employees express their ideas and opinions? Do they come to you with ways to increase efficiency or new revolutionary marketing ideas?
If not, then you might be operating a workplace in which employee creativity is being squelched. These days a lack of creativity in your company can condemn your firm to second-tier status. It may even steer your company out of business.
Two heads are better then one right? Well what about a whole organization? Cultivating creativity means you have many individuals thinking of new ways to market your products and services, boost workflow effectiveness, and enhance overall productivity. This can consequently mean saving the company money.
One of the best ways to encourage fresh thinking is to just listen to your employees when they present new ideas. Most employees are nervous when approaching their superiors with new concepts, especially when it’s an idea that falls “outside of the box.” So make sure you give them an open forum to present their ideas and give them the respect to listen closely to them. One more way is to ask your employees, if you are trying to think of a way to improve the company’s blog, or products, send out an email asking for ideas. Not all of your employee’s ideas will wow you, but, so as not to single anyone out, listen to them all.
If you presume that your employees do not have good ideas, then you may be missing out. In addition, not listening to them, or dismissing ideas will motivate your employees to do the bare minimum. You will end up with a group of people working for the weekend.
To truly inspire creativity, reward those employees who do come up with strong ideas. This could mean paying a small bonus to those employees whose ideas you use. It could mean praising employees in company newsletters or memos. It could even mean an in-person “thank you.”
Many people want a job that allows them to be creative. It stimulates their minds and prevents boring redundancy. Many employees also have ideas on how to improve their place of business; they just haven’t voiced them to you. So encourage them to let you know what they think. It doesn’t mean that the way you have been doing things is bad; it just means that they may have ideas that you many not have thought of. Regardless, you and your business will reap the benefits of their creativity and your employees will be happier for it.
