Small business HR should focus on creativity in the workplace ...

February 5, 2013 in Human Resources

Small business human resources?departments may want to put Margaret Heffernan?s advice to good use with creativity-fostering opportunities for employees, as shared by CBS News. The five-time CEO and author of Willful Blindness says in an editorial for CBS News that many corporate habits can stifle potential growth through worker innovations.

Workplace restraints
In places with strict guidelines for employees, for example, Heffernan says?ideas that may make?better companies?are squashed and often never touched upon by potential brainiacs.

?Most of the time, you don?t want a highly creative aircraft pilot; you want one who follows the rules,? she says. ?The same typically applies with accountants, engineers and lawyers. Many people in these lines of work believe that creativity is not wanted, so even if they had some in the first place they?ve grown accustomed to censoring it.?

Entrepreneur Magazine offers several ways to counter the problems Heffernan?brings to light. University College London professor of management James Berry says that even in times when employees may feel especially discouraged, like when an idea that is initially accepted never sees fruition, the employee should be praised.

?Celebrate the effort and audacity to innovate,? Berry says. ?That sends a message to employees that you?re rewarding the mindset and the willingness to try to improve.?

Berry?s assessment of a failed situation of course can only be implemented in a business setting that allows employees to take the lead every now and then.

Make the workforce the foundation
Heffernan?recognizes that many business leaders turn out to be controlling of too much within their companies. She claims these types ? narcissists ? many times encourage?employees to think on their own and be creative in business, but ultimately they will stifle worker efforts with their own reasoning. The narcissistic?business owner, she says, simply cannot give up his or her efforts as the most profitable.

One way entrepreneurs who have a hard time giving up control could become more keen to employee suggestions is by getting their hands dirty with brainstorming sessions according to Entrepreneur magazine.

?You?re asking your employees to give you feedback and suggestions,? Berry tells the magazine. ?That needs to be a reciprocal road.?

Good communication between employees and business owners is reflected by both sources as essential to using workers? originality to a company?s advantage. As Heffernan?notes, people need to feel a sense of comfort from employers as well as confidence in their own thoughts?to get anywhere creatively. Rather than encouraging employees to do the bidding of business owners, she says, they have to be assured that innovation is welcome and out-of-the-box thinking is a necessity.

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Source: http://buildmybiz.com/small-business-hr-should-focus-on-creativity-in-the-workplace/

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