The Makeup of a Creative Workforce

If you are in a business where creativity is valuable, then no matter whether your workforce is large or small, there are some qualities you want to look for when recruiting new folks or deciding where to put your retention emphasis. We have talked about many of these characteristics at various times in this blog, but it is worth trying to pull them together in one place to describe your ideal group of employees. Not every one of your employees will have all of these; the idea is to get the right mix of these factors throughout your workforce. Obviously, if you have a larger firm you have got a better chance of finding all of these, so the smaller your firm, the more you will have to work at getting it right.

First of all, you are looking for employees that are young at heart, though not necessarily young in age. After all, if you go discriminating based on age you may find yourself in pretty big legal trouble, not to mention just being morally wrong. But really, age is just a number. What you need are people who are enthusiastic, self-motivated, hoping to try new things and planning on making a difference in their field. As a matter of fact, far from hiring only employees who are young in age, you will ideally have a mix of ages to give you different levels of experience. The goal here is to have employees who are not set in their ways, but who instead are still excited about doing something innovative.

You should also look for people with an education. That education might not be in their particular creative field, but having an education provides a strong foundation for innovation. One of the best graphic designers I know earned his degree in biology, while a great hairstylist double-majored in biology and psychology. Education is not just about the specific classes someone takes, it is more about learning how to think in different ways. Even if your employees do not have a university education, they should at least have some formal training in their field. Study helps your creative employees to further develop, and learn how to best use, their natural talents.

Another factor to look for is overseas experience. As we have talked about before, people who have lived overseas tend to be more creative. Whether that is because they lived overseas, or they lived overseas because they are more creatively focused, is unclear. Either way, it is a useful indicator.

Finally, you need people who have strong individual abilities they can bring to a team. Finding people who can work equally well on their own or as part of a team can be tricky. You need employees who can work well on their own, who have developed strong skills. But in most cases, a single creative employee is not what you need; you need to combine a number of people’s skills. At the same time, you do not want employees who are totally dependent upon others. So…strong individual AND strong team player. Often a tough mix to find.

Again, remember that not every employee is going to have all these qualities; what you need is a good mix. But the smaller your firm, the fewer employees you will have to spread these requirements across, so each employee will need to have more of these attributes than is the case in a larger company.

And of course, these are just a few things to look for; there surely are more. Any thoughts?