Why you need creativity: 

In the last few years we’ve seen more challenges than ever before being thrown at HR. 

I mean, who knew you had to have a playbook for how to handle a global pandemic??

I’m not sure anyone was prepared to navigate the world of work during a global pandemic but we learned in those early days of 2020 how to get creative. 

Creative with the challenges we were facing, creative with the resources we had and creative with the processes we were building! 

Dare I say it? HR might be one of the most creative departments out there, up there with Marketing and Product. 

And creativity is NEEDED to do our job well!

But first a definition! My fave!!

💭Creativity is all about the ability to generate new ideas, solutions, or strategies. It involves being able to think outside the box, envision new possibilities, and making connections between unrelated concepts. 

Soooo um the average day in HR. See why I said creativity is needed to do our job well??

Here are some ways creativity can manifest: 

• Problem solving: when you try to figure out why candidates are dropping out of your interview process, or why there is high employee turnover, etc 
• Artistic expression: designing beautiful onboarding decks or employee materials that are engaging. Even writing engaging internal comms! 
• Idea generation: when you come up with new programs, or solve an employee complaint. 
• Adaptability: when you have to adjust – the best example of this was the shift to remote work. 

So, if you find yourself thinking “I’m not creative” I bet you’re wrong. 

Because, at the heart of almost everything in HR is a creative spark. 

How you choose to embrace that is up to you but if you need some help getting into the creativity zone, I got you. 

Entering the creativity zone:

🎨Let me paint a picture (how creative of me!): You’ve started your work day. Before you get a chance to thoughtfully think about anything you’re bombarded with messages and meetings. You run back to back to each meeting and before you know it the time is 6PM. You haven’t given a second thought to the tricky employee situation you’re trying to solve, you feel drained by your day and you think “I’ll get to it tomorrow.” Tomorrow comes and the same cycle starts over again. You think: how long am I meant to do this for? 

Did I describe your day? BE HONEST!!! 

If I did, maybeeeee you need some help getting into the creative zone. 

Getting into the creative zone means being in the combo of the right mindset, environment, and practice to fuel creative thinking. 

You might need to get into the zone to solve a problem, innovate on a process, address a business challenge, or to simply create something, anything! 

But being in the creative zone can’t be an afterthought… 

✨ Here’s what you’re going to do: ✨

Minimize distractions: it’s time to hit that do not disturb button, block your calendar or do whatever you need to make it clear to everyone that you are not to be interrupted.  Your goal is to be able to do deep thinking. 

Warm up: What creativity fuels you?? You’ll want to do an activity to warm up for being in the creative zone. For me, it’s music. Without further ado I give you my hot off the presses creativity boost playlist. If music isn’t for your or you don’t have a set activity – here’s a list of 20 things you can try! 

Try a creative technique: Once you’ve warmed up you can get to it and start working on what you need to be creative about. I leverage techniques like brainstorming or 6 thinking hats. If you need inspo – here are 16 techniques you can try next! 

Being in the creative zone is sometimes described as being in a flow state. 

Now if you’re wondering, WTF can I even be creative about in HR??

The answer: A LOT. 

Where HR can be creative:

“Because you’re everywhere to me and when I close my eyes it’s you I see.”  – Michelle Branch was talking about creative opportunities in HR. 

They really are EVERYWHERE! 

Here are 3 places in HR to consider getting creative with:

🫱🏽‍🫲🏿1. Employee Engagement: we’ve all read the stats, engagement has been trending down so what is there left to do? Lots, like:

Personalizing experiences: map out key milestones in your employee’s journey and then figure out how to enhance each milestone. From onboarding, anniversaries, even birthdays! How you celebrate these moments is totally up to you from kudos boards to gifts. The possibilities are endless and it’s a chance to be creative AF with what you do! I know a company that gives all their new hire embroidered bomber jackets and does a whole ceremony around it. The key here is to try things you’ve haven’t done before and continue iterating by asking employees for feedback. 

Gamify things: who doesn’t love a good game? By gamifying work tasks, projects, etc you have a chance to try something new. Think leaderboard, prizes, and so much more. 

📣2. Communications: I could RANT about how company comms should be super creative, fun and interactive for hours. 

BTW: How you communicate with your employees probably needs to change. They are bombarded with info and content all day long so you want your comms to break through the noise. 

Think: interactive town halls, live polls, Q&A sessions, external speakers, a video series, maybe even an internal podcast! Endless opps here. 

📚3. Learning and Development: oh boy do I have A LOT to say here. L&D is where I started my career in HR and I have a DEEP LOVE for all things learning at work. How adults learn is so different from how we learned as children growing up, so it can be hard to step out of what we’ve always known about learning. 

Here are some things to try:

Experiential learning: hands on is the best way for adults to learn something! Organizing role player scenarios or hackathons is an engaging way to learn new skills. Here are 14 examples to peep for inspo!

Mentorship opportunities: I think a mentorship program is one the most powerful programs an HR can build. My work mentor truly shaped the trajectory of my career. She taught me how to think strategically, ask the right questions and hold my emotions in. There is so much opportunity here to pair employees with folks from other departments or even build an external program where you leverage folks outside the organization to help! 

I could really go on for hours about what else HR can be creative about – I’m serious when I say the possibilities are endless. 

A last note: facing so many opportunities for creativity can be so overwhelming. Don’t get stuck thinking you have to do it all. 

Every quarter I pick 1-2 creative projects. I select something I know the organization needs and something that we could get creative with. Start small and a year later you’ll look back and see the (creative) fruits of your labor. 

Who is the captain of this ship? 

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk on creativity. I will never STFU about it because creativity is all around us and it can make this job really really really fun!

Leaders impact so much from business, culture and even CREATIVITY at work. 

As this quarter comes to an end, I want to dive into leaders and the impact they have on their teams and how some of them might not understand the true power they wield. 

Up next week – leadership styles and their impact. 

Until then, TTYL.