Creativity and Innovation: Demands in Technological Advancement
The complete world of Business is driven by sales. And if the product couldn’t attract the consumers it becomes a horrid task for the company to pull off sales. Therefore the necessity of creativity and innovation is very much understandable. The demand for creative and innovative ideas in technological advancement for a company to grow is noticed by every CEO, Founders, and VCs. Nowadays, employees need to be on par with the technological advancement in the industry and should be able to derive their goals innovatively to sustain a rapid growth of the company.
Some can say, creativity is an inborn trait, though it may be true in most cases, there is no denying that to flourish a creative environment in the workplace employees should be given space and opportunities to showcase their talents.
Rewarding employees for their ingenuity is one way to motivate them to come forward with innovative ideas. The rewards can be tangible like monetary incentives or recognition by the management to make employees think out-of-the-box. Once the ideas are put forward it is also the management’s job to consider those ideas and implement the best one chosen, so as to not discourage employees to showcase their creativity in future.
Providing a suggestion box or something similar can also help in bringing out creative ideas from more private employees, who prefers anonymity and confidentiality, though who should also be recognized for their suggestions. It should also be noticed that most creative concepts are born out of brainstorming sessions where people discuss and debate over possible solutions. Hence, having a private channel to present ideas may obstruct the creative process. Therefore, the company should manage both private and public mediums in order to provide employees a perfect intermediate to portray their creativity.
A more pragmatic system of promoting creativity in the workplace is to assemble an innovation team tasked with coming up with ideas to improve a more distinctive aspect of the workplace. The best solution can also be rewarded. This will illustrate the organization’s value towards work related creativity. On the downside, this can also come out “deliberate” to some employees, as creativity should be instinctive and not premeditated.
Another cause of employees not coming forward with their inventive ideas could be because of them not knowing whether the organization supports creativity. A major incentive to bring in innovative ideas forward is the fear of repercussions of making mistakes. Risk-taking should be encouraged by the organization to develop a creative culture. It starts with the management being more receptive and open-minded towards their employee’s suggestions.
A homogeneous work environment can not contribute to flourishing creative solutions to a problem. Hiring employees with diverse background, knowledge, and experiences will instigate a varied number of creative ideas to come out. Getting these employees to mingle in social events and projects will bring out interchanging thoughts and original ideas forward.
All work and no fun have a true meaning. Hence, a bit of fun and mischief can go a long way into keeping the employees fresh and in a good mood before a crucial project. It also helps employees bond and elevates confidence among coworkers. As a drab working environment will only make employees look forward to the end of the day and not work things differently.
It is understandable that every organization is defined by its employees and its growth depends on the uniqueness of the product the company is selling. Hence the importance of creativity cannot be excluded from the organization’s perspective, be it in sales or product design.
-Masuk Siddik
