Leadership and Employee Development Update from H.Leiner & CO.
How To Foster Creativity Amongst Your Employees
An organization’s greatest asset is its people. As such, developing the skills and abilities of those involved in your organization is the greatest way to drive your organization forward. There are both specific skills and general areas that you can focus on developing within your organization, such as creativity, giving and receiving feedback, and mindset. Working on each of these areas can help your employees grow significantly, and your organization will grow as a result.
Fostering creativity in your employees takes creative work on your part; you must think about how to best give your employees opportunities and incentives for thinking creatively. The following are a few keys to help your employees develop their creativity.
Keep an open mind – Whether you are the leader of an entire organization or a group of people, it is imperative to keep an open mind when it comes to creative ideas. Creativity can come from anyone – whether they are the leader of the organization or the newest employee. EMake it clear that you value your employees’ creative ideas, and you may be surprised by who comes up with new ideas that make a big impact within your organization.
Balance structure and freedom – While dates and deadlines are always important, creativity requires the freedom to think about new ideas. It is therefore important to strike a balance between structure – timelines and limits, and freedom – time and space to think about new ideas without pressure. While taking time away from regular tasks can feel like a waste of time, the benefits of creative new ideas can often more than make up for this time. Set deadlines, but make sure that they are loose enough for creativity to flourish.
(Harvard Business Review)
