GETTING CREATIVE

Women are a powerful creative force – so, as an employer, how can you support them?

Whether omen creatives have made significant progress over the past few decades, but there is still a long way to go.

In the digital sector, only 26% of the workforce are women; 37% are women in the TV and film industry; women account for 25% of senior positions in advertising; and there are less than 33% of female managers in the cultural industries. The statistics were reported by Glassdoor Economic Research. Creativity is a valuable commodity in business, closely related to innovation, problem-solving, and the ability to stay ahead of the competition. To a business, creative minds are vital for survival.

In the UK, there were over 15m women aged 16+ in employment between October and December 2021 (Office for National Statistics). That poses a lot of opportunity to foster creativity among women. If women are confident to share their ideas at work, imagine how much more innovation could be taking place.

Employers can foster creativity in their female employees by recognising their achievements, encouragement, providing equal opportunities, offering flexibility, providing mentorship and networking opportunities, and celebrating differences in the workplace.

Discover more ways to encourage women’s creativity at diversityq.com.

Tips On How To Foster Creativity

Recognition

Recognising women’s creativity is the first step in helping to support them. Give employees a shout out at team meetings for creative ideas they’ve suggested or put into action in the past month or week.

Culture

Create a culture that thrives on peer-to-peer recognition. Make sure your teams have the opportunity to congratulate each other. When employees celebrate the success of their colleagues and their milestones, this will help to inspire one another and keep team morale high. Most of all, supporting women and their creativity will contribute to breaking the bias.

Encouragement

Encouraging women to take risks and be themselves is another important step. Too often, women are asked to play second fiddle to their male counterparts. This doesn’t have to be the case. Women can be empowered and successful if they’re given the opportunity to be heard and to shine.

Support

Make sure you have a solid support system in place. This will help women feel safe and supported in their creative endeavours. Give them the opportunity to share their ideas and thoughts. You can provide this throughout one to one meetings that exist purely for them to express their wants, needs, ideas and opinions, and to recognise their recent achievements.

Speaking Up

It’s important to encourage women to be themselves. You don’t need to change who they are or what they do, you just need to make sure you’re creating an environment where they can be themselves and feel comfortable without judgment. When women are comfortable in their work environment, they are more likely to be successful. Encourage them to raise issues if they feel they’ve been wronged or if they think their ideas could improve the workplace.

Inspire

Encourage women to take on new challenges and help them develop their skills. If women feel that their employer wants them to succeed and grow professionally, they’re more likely to stay with a company for a long time.

Be Flexible

Many women are often juggling multiple roles in their lives and need flexibility to balance work and family. Provide them with the opportunity to do so and they’ll be more likely to stay with your company and offer up their most ingenious ideas.