Employers value employees that are productive, solution-oriented, and great team players. Employers are also prone to expecting a lot from their employees without communicating their expectations, goals, or even sharing their vision for the company.

The majority of employers simply expect employees to know these things naturally, or to master them in a short period. Because expectations setting is barely existing in the business area, a vast gap tends to appear between employers and employees. They are often not aligned because they don’t know how the other side thinks.

For example, rare are employees who understand that employers don’t have working hours – they have to work 24/7 and always be on the move to be ahead for any business change. For them to keep the business running, a specific support system is mandatory.

That support system is often seen in people. People are the force that keeps a business running. Different people come with different sets of skills. Each skill can be used in the working field to improve a particular process, operation, or a product.

It’s actually refreshing to note that one skill that means a lot in today’s working environment is so needed, that people don’t see it as a crucial one – creative thinking.

When people hear the word ‘creativity,’ they usually envision a child drawing, without thinking about the broader concept of creativity. Creativity can be used in almost any area of people’s lives, including business.

WHAT IS CREATIVE THINKING?

As mentioned earlier, people associate creative thinking with various artistic tasks such as painting, writing the next best novel, or simply creating beautiful music.

However, creativity goes beyond that. Being creative is knowing how to get from point A to point B with multiple obstacles. People who are capable of solving problems in most different ways with the best possible outcome are people who are creative. When this is put into the workforce, you actually get a new solution.

Many jobs need creative thinking. Also, creative thinking in person means that new solutions are possible. With that in mind, creative thinking is a specific process that can always consider something – an information distribution, a conflict between multi-employees, or with a new and challenging project – differently and uniquely.

The truth is that employers want people who are different, who can solve things, and offer new solutions. Moreover, everyone wants in their team someone who can think outside-of-the-box and bring something fresh to the static workplace.

Are you passionate about creativity? Do you know that creative solution that can boost performance and increase revenue?

Make sure that you share that with your team members, team leader, and even higher management. Giving a fresh perspective can be a fast way to reach the mutual goal and provide a positive outcome.

So, feel free to share your world of creative thinking with soon-to-be employers. If you are just applying for a new job, make sure that you highlight your creative thinking as a crucial skill that qualifies you for the job.

If you are already a part of an important industry, share your creative skills with employees, co-workers, and, most importantly – with your boss.

Recognize your own creativity because employers will love your skill of creative thinking for many reasons. Here are the most common reasons why employers value creative thinking.

CREATIVE THINKERS ARE BETTER AT ANALYSIS

Business owners love analytic people. Since we are all living in a world that becomes more and more dependent on technology, we are actually becoming more dependent on information that technology gives us in return.

Being able to organize business on any level is beneficial for companies of any size. To offer a creative approach, you must first understand what lies behind a specific problem.

To understand the background, you must possess strong analytical skills as well, and that’s the very first thing that employers appreciate when it comes to creative thinking – the ability to understand the back end.

Simply said, to fix something, you must be able to understand it. In other words, you must understand how things work so that you can understand them. Whether you are creating a vacation plan, team meeting outline, a training plan, or even a simple math equation, you need to be able to analyze it first.

CREATIVE THINKERS ARE MORE PRONE TO OPEN-MINDEDNESS

Creativity is about thinking differently. Going the extra mile to understand the issue and offer the best possible solution. Also, creativity is about grasping the bigger picture.

To be able to fix something, you must be able to keep an open mind, and put aside any prejudices or even the smallest assumptions you may have, and to look at the thing in front of you in an entirely brand-new way.

When you approach a problem with an open mind, you are actually open to creativity, to something new, to a different approach, and unexpected things. It’s not enough to work in an international company to be open-minded.

No, open-mindedness is different in every person. Some people are open to it, while some prefer a straightforward approach, a specific way of thinking, and an explicit way of doing things.

If you take a closer look at your surroundings, you might be surprised once you learn that only a few people are actually open-minded. If you have an open mind, any business can benefit from it.

Also, open-mindedness can be practiced. If you want to put in shape your open-mindedness, you should:

  • Practice active listening
  • Exchange ideas on a daily basis from people from different background
  • Support other people’s achievement
  • Develop work tasks, based on employees’ talent, skills, and preferences

So far, you should know that open-mindedness is a desirable skill from an employer’s point of view.

This way, your employer is sure that you can thrive in any international group that you won’t make someone feel uncomfortable due to their physical, emotional, or physical characteristics.

Moreover, this skill puts you in a good position when it comes to handling people.

How?

With open-mindedness comes great people-skills, meaning that you can be a good team leader and team member.

CREATIVE THINKERS ARE BETTER AT GENERAL PROBLEM SOLVING

Problem-solving in business is one of the most crucial moments in modern industry, in any industry. With so many unplanned moments in business, it can only come handy when you are surrounded by people who can actually solve problems.

Problems solvers are those people who won’t leave you drowning on your own. They will team-up with you to find the most perfect and fastest solution possible.

Also, employers don’t want to hire creative people because they are fun, exciting, or impressive. No, they want to hire them because they can solve many work-related problems. Moreover, problem-solvers are capable of fixing multiple issues by using new solutions.

So, whenever you apply for a job, don’t forget to highlight two skills:

  1. Your ability to think creatively
  2. Your ability to solve problems

Employees want to see people who are solution-oriented and action-packed. Simply said, they love seeing people who are willing to stand in front of a problem and fix it.

An employee with excellent problem-solving skills can fix problems fast and without extra costs. Furthermore, problem-solvers can save a company a considerable amount of money on a yearly level because they are prone to spotting a problem and dealing with it.

CREATIVE THINKERS ARE OFTEN PRONE TO ORGANIZATION

We all have a prejudice about creativity being somewhat chaotic, but it’s not always the case.

It’s simple as this: if you know how to solve a problem, you know how to organize! Moreover, you know how to:

  1. Meet deadlines
  2. Create deadlines realistically
  3. Delegate
  4. Set goals and meet goals, alone or in a team
  5. Make a decision
  6. Manage team and manage team activities
  7. Schedule

Organizational skills are an important part of creativity. Any creative process may seem messy if you don’t know how to organize it.

Trying a new idea, testing a fresh approach, implementing a new solution… everything can be confusing and messy, if you can’t put things in order, delegate proper tasks, set deadlines, and schedule an entire process.

In order to create solutions, ideas must be organized. Only through organization ideas can thrive. Furthermore, organized ideas enable people to understand and follow mission and vision.

Being capable of creating a plan of specific action steps with straightforward goals and deadlines is vital when it comes to creative thinking.

All in, being able to organize brings employees more that they have hoped for. If you know how to organize, you actually possess a more significant line of different skills that might be used in everyday operations.

CREATIVE THINKERS ARE GOOD COMMUNICATORS

If you know how to communicate clearly and effectively, you know everything.

With proper communication skills, anyone can find a job in every place on Earth. To be able to communicate with people, you must possess a high level of empathy. Only by being able to put yourself into other people’s shoes, you can actually negotiate. Moreover, communication deeply interferes with every level within the company.

In the majority of companies, people with the most fantastic communication skills are often found in the customer support department. Why? They are creative when it comes to fixing customer problems.

They are also great at active listening, know how the company works, and they aim for the company’s success. After all: better customer service means both happier customers and higher profits. 

Also, excellent communication skills are handy when you have to make a good relationship with your co-workers. It’s essential to communicate appropriately to the people you work with, to your clients, and even your vendors. Also, having strong oral and written communication skills puts you in high place inside your networks.

Everyone loves people who know how to communicate appropriately. Being able to express your thoughts in written forms leads to useful and result-driven emails. Whether you realize it or not, writing good emails is not easy for everyone.

Also, by talking, you should be able to get yourself from any problem. Also, before you start addressing problems creatively, it’s essential to understand a situation entirely.

As a first step, you should be a really good listener. People love talking about them and their problems – so you should just ask the right questions and listen to them.

By asking the right questions, you will be able to understand the problem better, and you will come faster to a unique solution. If you are blessed with this skill, or you have practiced enough to master strong communication skills, you will be able to provide company:

  1. Original solutions
  2. Solving internal problems
  3. Maintain the good relationship between co-workers
  4. Learning base
  5. Space for improvement

AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET

Employees love employers who are ready to stand in front of a challenge. Some would say that willingness to overcome challenges is actually an entrepreneurial mindset.

The truth is that a dynamic mindset is actually separated from business owners, but in reality, it can be seen in employees that are willing to demonstrate creative thinking.

Entrepreneurial mindset applies to a specific state of mind which pushes people toward entrepreneurial outcomes, and entrepreneurial activities.

Self-driven people are people who care about the company the most. Those people are willing to go the extra mile to solve a problem.

Each skill can be placed under creative thinking. Even the World World Forum and their report The Future of Jobs set creativity as a mandatory skill for 2020 and beyond. Creativity is definitely a must this season.

Even five years ago, it was clear that creativity and creative thinking in the workforce are going to be one of the most critical skills in the next five years. In fact, so far, creativity is the third most important skill overall.

As a skill, creativity is growing in value. Moreover, creativity becomes the most needed skill in the world’s largest corporations. With creativity comes innovation, which is followed by results.

EXAMPLES OF CREATIVE THINKING IN THE WORKPLACE

Since creativity is an abstract idea in its core, it’s far easier to understand it when you place it in an example. Creativity is on the rise because creativity can transcend boundaries, and creativity skills are needed in every industry.

Creative thinking is a global occurrence, can function among cross-industrial components, and can be transferable.

Also, creativity skills can empower almost anyone to become an entrepreneur, or intrapreneur, by pushing to redefine job descriptions.

Creativity skills can also help everyone to secure their jobs and to invent new markets. In a way, creativity enables new attitudes and fresh behaviors. These behaviors are needed by individuals and businesses, as well.

So, in a nutshell, creativity enables:

  1. Flexibility
  2. Resilience, and
  3. Collaboration

Since everything is much easier to understand when you put it in a real-life example, let’s see how creative thinking works in practice.

The most important thing about creativity and creative thinking is to understand the ‘aha’ moment.

As a general rule, anything that makes you experience an ‘aha’ moment is considered creative. So, how can you place the ‘aha’ moment in business?

Artistic Creativity

Do you have to be an artist to be creative? Not really. To have an artistic moment, you simply must be aware of creativity within you. For example: Creating a script for project volunteers is a creative process. Or, creating a lesson that can easily engage students to participate, is a creative move.

Artistic tasks are also designing a logo, writing copy, creating a product package, or simply creating an outline for a phone call.

Most common tasks related to artistic creativity:

  1. Creating a logo
  2. Creating a new clothing line
  3. Writing ads and scripts

Creative Problem-Solving

This is more than using a simple material to stop the water from running from the office kitchen’s skink. Problem-solving is about knowing your surroundings and offering your boss new solutions. Problem-solving in the workplace is actually creating new and better procedures to improve the quality of a product or customer experience.

There is a software issue, and you know how it can be improved from the customer’s point of view?

Share it with the IT department. Small improvements can save the company money and keep customers.

A creative problem solver will always find a new approach and ideas to fix an issue. Furthermore, these action-driven employees are never about fitting inside the norm. No, they are all about outstanding solutions.

You can use this skill to brainstorm new approaches to cut energy use, find new ways to reduce fixed costs, to prevent a budget crisis, or develop a customized strategy for your client. This is just a small part of all the things that you could do.

Most common tasks related to problem-solving:

  1. Brainstorming at a meeting to draft the strategy for the upcoming year
  2. Finding a way to cut expense
  3. Finding the best solutions to reduce energy use
  4. Preventing the budget crisis in a sustainable way
  5. Increasing staff productivity
  6. Facilitating various information
  7. Creating a proposal for new ways of communication to minimize conflict
  8. Improving customer service based on real-life examples

Creativity in STEM

This is straightforward. Constructing a research model to test a specific approach is creativity in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Moreover, building a simple computer program to test an approach or to automate a specific process is part of creativity in STEM.

It’s important to note that some people find science terrifying. People tend to see science, numbers, and technology, next to engineering as a practical science based on fact. Simply said, they don’t see anything creative in these fields.

This belief is common in people who are not passionate about the practical side of the world, in those who are more driven by words and visual worlds.

STEM is more for people who learn by doing something and to those who love to come to a solution by creating a path to the best outcome. So, is STEM creative? Most definitely, it is. Finding the best solution, testing different approaches to the result is a creative process.

Truth be told, the exciting and diverse world of amazing (science, technology, engineering, and math) is strikingly creative. If you don’t believe it, just open your mind to it, and you will see it.

For example, creating (designing) a valid and cost-efficient line robot, writing a new program is mandatory. Only a different computer program can lead to creative outcomes. We all hear about amazing technology projects that have changed the world, right?

In fact, for one technology-driven project to be successful, hundreds must fail. That’s right, the incredible history of technology and science is chock-full with projects that didn’t work. Why? Was the technology terrible? Was the chosen methodology faulty? Yes and no. In fact, the biggest issues with technology and its solutions lie in people, not in technology.

People tend to remain in old schemes, outdated methodology, and they often worry that creativity could take the best of them, and stop their wrong.

Sadly, this is wrong, because if they could only let the more creativity in, they would come to solutions faster. So, people must let go of old ways of fixed assumptions and old habits. The STEM field is the field that should blossom touched by creativity.

Most common tasks related to creativity in STEM:

  1. Creating a computer program to enchant a process or operation
  2. Creating a research model to test an approach
  3. Extending a social media platform for a cell phone
  4. Finding new ways to raise the number of volunteers
  5. Propping a better diet plan for overweight patients
  6. Redesigning machinery of an assembly line to enhance productivity

THE BOTTOM LINE

In a business setting, it’s essential to have an advantage. Nowadays, it’s’ not enough to have the latest technology or to have unlimited financial sources – no, today, it’s all about the people and intellectual property that comes with them.

Since everyone is different, employers are happy to have people with varying skills in their team. Therefore, the scope of beneficial skills for business are going every day.

What was considered useful in the past is today the main force of movement.

With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that creativity and creative thinking are taking the throne in. Employees with these skills are highly valuable in every business surrounding nowadays.

Recruiters and business owners love to see creative thinking in their graduates and employees because there are action-oriented people who are not afraid to measure their productivity and success – and, in a nutshell, these are the people who keep the business running. 

So, feel free to point out in your resume that you are a creative thinker and that you can bring results.

Why Employers Value Creative Thinking

Comments are closed.