Peter Drucker was quoted in Forbes Magazine’s Management New Paradigms “Managing people will become increasingly crucial in developed countries like US. For only competitive advantage developed countries can still hope to have is productivity of their knowledge workers.

The productivity of knowledge worker is still abysmally low. It has probably not improved in past 100 or even 200 years – for simple reason that nobody has worked at improving productivity.”

This is true. However, before there can be an increase in productivity of knowledge workers, process of creativity has to be encouraged.

How creativity can be flourished?

According to Brian Clegg, author of Creativity and Innovation for Managers, there are 4 situations when business creativity is exuded,

1)When determining strategy – whether working in regular strategy meetings or in larger-scale off-site strategy sessions, creativity can be a powerful tool to ensure that future direction is genuinely forward looking and original.

2)When starting a project – at outset of a project many variables are still unsure, and there will inevitably be problems.

3)When devising a new product or service

4)When a specific problem occurs – whether it is industrial action or supply shortages, there are many problems that arise along way. An innovative solution, quickly reached, is in great demand.

Below are some practical guide-posts to foster creativity in your workplace:

This issue I discuss an induction program on which I am currently working for an organization with 30 offices spread across continental Australia. The organization has a high turnover of staff within its remote offices requiring frequent, ongoing induction.

I recommend a two-phase process for most organisations. Phase One is local, in-house induction commencing on day one and running for up to a week.

Phase One induction follows a checklist in which topics are entered eg, ‘computer login procedures’, name of a responsible person who will show newcomer how to login to corporate computer system, and a date column to show when activity has been completed. Topics included in Phase One are ‘survival topics’. That is, topics that need to be covered if new starters are to be effective immediately.

Phase Two is ongoing for weeks or months depending on organisational needs. I’ve decided on a one week local induction and two to three months for ongoing induction, at least in trial stage.

Scoping Content

Determining content coverage is always difficult in that it is necessary to cover what is important and essential. It is easy to pile too much into an induction program to extent that newcomers are overwhelmed with information, much of which becomes meaningless.

Legislative requirements relating to harassment, secrecy and security, occupational health and safety etc should be covered as soon as possible as should topics like conditions of service, attendance policies and so on.

As different occupational groups have different priorities for information, it’s useful to identify needs using subject matter experts. By using SMEs you increase buy-in from new-starters’ team members and reduce resistance to time off routine duties inductees need for induction.

You could use a decision-matrix chart to help you with identification process. It looks something like this:

TopicVery ImportantModerately ImportantSomewhat ImportantFor Future Reference Office securityPhase One Purchasing StationeryPhase Two Organisational StructurePhase Two Topic nProvide Reading List

The idea is to work through a process of elimination until you have identified what MUST be incorporated in Phase One checklist, Phase Two activities, and those topics that are nice to know, but can be read about later. Using this process helps you ensure you don’t miss critical topics.

Delivery Method

Classroom attendance for my client is not an option. If it is an option for you, then it’s largely a matter of finding someone to deliver topic content in an interesting way using a variety of methods.

I’m a great believer in multiple media whether used in a classroom or with distributed learning. (Not multimedia!) Multiple media encourages interaction from inductees, better accommodates different learning styles and is more interesting for learners and trainers.

I’ve decided to design a program that includes: