Does the UK need a creative productivity boost? New research from office furniture manufacturer Steelcase has revealed that UK workers are trailing behind when it comes to having time to work creatively.
In a study of 5000 workers across the globe it was revealed that just 36% of UK workers are able to be creative on a daily basis, placing the country behind the US, Germany and France.
While over half of UK respondents said they would like to be able to be more creative at work, the study indicated that many workers are held back by a number of factors.
- 42% of UK workers said workload impacted their creative abilities;
- 49% said physical space was an issue due to open plan offices;
- More than half (53%) of respondents didn’t see a need to up their creativity, saying that their job would not require more creative input over the next five years.
While workers are finding it difficult to find the time to be creative, the UK creative sector is undergoing a period of growth.
In order to allow the UK to continue on this growth trajectory Rob Shaw, Managing Director at Glu Recruit thinks that more emphasis should be being placed on developing creativity in the workplace: “It is clear from this study that many UK employees either don’t have time or space to be creative, or they don’t understand the impact creativity can have on a workplace as a whole.
“Digital transformation is rapidly changing the way in which we work and employers are increasingly requiring workers that can think creatively to problem solve and innovate.
“The UK’s creative sector is growing at four times the rate of the UK workforce as a whole, generating more than £90bn a year towards the economy and accounting for 1 in 11 of all jobs in the country.
“Businesses have a real opportunity to tap into this growth, but many are falling short of encouraging, and training employees to hone their creative skills.
“It’s important that employers provide environments which foster creativity- both through training and the physical office spaces themselves.”