67% of Britain’s bosses think creativity is key for business

Two thirds of employers in the UK say that creativity among the workforce is key in generating strong business results, a new study has revealed.

A survey of 500 employers and bosses from multiple sectors commissioned by print company Solopress found that lateral thinking employees have a positive effect on business output.

The study shows that creativity in a business environment is essential, with 81% of Britain’s bosses believing fostering a creative environment is important for their employees.

Creativity was ranked highly among bosses who are recruiting new talent, with 64% of respondents saying they are likely to hire a new employee based on their creative abilities. Furthermore, 74% of employers said that creativity played an important role when it came to promoting an employee.

The survey examined a range of sectors that are not typically associated with creativity, such as finance. Despite this, employers in financial service sectors advocated creativity in the workplace, with 87% of people believing encouraging employees to think creatively in their role is important.

Placing creativity above key skills was evident across sectors, with nearly half (48.5%) of bosses from not for profit organisations saying they will hire someone with creativity over analytical skills (36.4%).

Shaun Slater, Chief Innovation Officer at Solopress added: “It’s a common perception that people in certain business sectors are more creative than others – of course art directors are creative, but what about financial executives?

“We wanted to challenge the view that creative people only belong to certain sectors. Our study shows that creativity is valued across all sectors, and is important for business innovation and profitability, even if the industry area is not usually considered to be creative”.

As part of these results, Solopress has worked with author and speaker Pete Mosley, who advocates the importance of having a creative attitude towards business. Pete has created a series of advice pieces on the Solopress blog for business leaders who want to encourage more creativity at work.

Pete Mosley explains the importance of creativity in business: “It’s been proven that companies who actively invest in creativity see beneficial results. Business owners who want to up their revenue and boost employee morale should be pro-actively engaging their employees to think creatively in their roles. Instilling this level of enthusiasm will result in happier employees, and their creative energy will then filter into the results of the wider business.”

To find out what kind of creative you are click here.