Businesses in Britain at risk of ‘creativity crisis’

Uninspiring workplaces (41%), a stressful atmosphere (34%) and a lack of appropriate spaces to focus and think alone (28%) were all identified as major inhibitors to creativity.

Two in five workers surveyed say that creativity and innovation are neither encouraged or rewarded within their workplace – despite creativity being a skill workers will need to thrive by 2020, according to the World Economic Forum.

The research of more than 1,100 workers also found that while almost three quarters of respondents consider themselves to be creative, demands of the modern workplace need rethinking, with symptoms such as overworking and stress stifling ability to tackle problems and produce good ideas.

Half of workers feel least creative when tired and 45% less creative when stressed, while existing workloads and organisational processes were also cited as barriers to employees being more creative.

Respondents also felt that their organisations were doing little to address the problem with three quarters of UK employees saying they have not been offered training to nurture skills within the past two years.

Explains Ryan Asdourian, Windows and Surface lead at Microsoft UK: “Any organisation that believes creativity is the privilege of a few senior execs is missing out on huge opportunities for growth.

“Creativity is everywhere if you know where to look but like all skills, it needs to be nurtured and given the right tools. Businesses must do more to provide employees with the right working environment to handle different kinds of tasks, and the flexibility to get out of the office to spark their creativity.

“This research shows a clear lack of investment in innovation and creativity training, which is especially alarming when we consider the potential impact to the UK economy. If UK businesses are not able to find ways to spark creativity within the workplace, they’re at risk of falling behind.”