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In today’s business environment, creativity is an asset.  Yet, when Gallup spoke to over 16,000 employees, they found companies rarely have an expectation of creativity, allow time to be creative, or provide a safe environment for the risk taking that is inherent to creative pursuits.

Besides being risky, creativity is hard to measure unless it’s quickly linked to profitability.  But on the upside, expressing creativity fosters employee engagement – which leads to loyalty and increased productivity.  On the downside, when you don’t make room for creativity, employees keep potentially good ideas to themselves, and possibly even take them to your competitor.  

Just as some leaders schedule creative breaks on their calendar, it’s a good idea to extend that offer to those in lower-level roles.  According to Gallup, people in creative jobs – like artist and writers – believe that deliberately focused time management promotes creativity.

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