Boosting Employee Creativity and Innovation

This assignment delves into the crucial role of employee creativity and innovation within organizations. It examines various methods to cultivate a creative work environment, emphasizing the impact of incentives, effective teamwork, and a supportive organizational culture. The document also highlights the significance of recognizing and rewarding creative contributions to drive business success.

TASK 1: Individual Portfolio 1
TASK 1: Individual Portfolio
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Professor’s name
University
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Date

TASK 1: Individual Portfolio 2
TASK 1: Individual Portfolio
Agricultural based companies perform relatively well in Netherlands. The high
performance is attributed to innovative, export-oriented and great value-added agricultural
system (OECD 2015). The growing population both within the country and the international
population provides a vast market for farm produce which in turn results in business
opportunities for agricultural-based businesses. Focusing on the country's population, the
market size provides a broad market for food commodities. Netherlands has a population of
17 million people (statistical Netherlands (CBS) 2014). Small agri-businesses can start and
develop in the country. Water supply to the farmers is throughout the year meaning that the
farmers will have a continuous supply of farm produce. The continuous supply provides an
opportunity for food processing companies. Below is a business portfolio for an agriculturally
based business idea.
Name of the business. High-Grade Food Limited
Mission statement: To be the leading company in fruit processing while maintaining quality
services.
Location of business operations: The business will be located at Assen in Drenthe.
Business target – the venture will aim at taking advantage of the insufficient canned fruits
supply in the country.
Target group- the business goals the entire population. People of all ages will be targeted
since fruits are universally consumed.
The line of business activities-The business will engage in small-scale food processing. The
primary product will be canned fruits.
Market assessment- the fruit processing companies occupy 13% of the food processing
industry. Most of the fruits exported are fresh from the farms which have a low shelf life.
Fruit processing is an appropriate venture since that line of business is not congested.

TASK 1: Individual Portfolio 3
Starting capital- the company will involve the use of some machinery for fruit processing.
Also, the company will require renting operation premises. The starting capita is
approximately 60,000 USD
Source of capital-the business will acquire its initial capital from a bank loan of $40,000 plus
an additional $20,000 from personal savings. The caters for unplanned costs that may arise.
The scale of operations-the business will be a small-scale enterprise. The target estimate
output per day is 200 cans. The number of employees will be between 20 to 30. The daily
operations will run from
Management-a single manager will be responsible for monitoring the day to day operations
with the help of a staff supervisor. The manager will be responsible for monitoring the
business transactions and will be the sole authority. The management will also be responsible
for recruitment.
Estimated net income- the business has an estimated returns of a gross income of 500,000
USD in the first year. Tax deductions and salary deductions for the firm will result in a net
income of 200,000 USD. The net income is anticipated to rise in the future as the business
expands.
Expected setbacks. The machines for production in the firm will be initially second-hand.
Their performance might not be at peak, and technical problems may delay operations.
Competition from already established companies may also pose a challenge.
For every business to grow, innovation and creativity must be enhanced, and
encouraged.creativity leads to improvement of products while innovations develop new and
effective methods of production.individual staff should enhance their critical thinking and
come up with new ideas that will help st the business apart from the rest of the competition.
Creativity differentiates a business from other businesses (Neal 2016). High-Grade Food

TASK 1: Individual Portfolio 4
Limited will focus on various strategies to promote individual and team creativity and
innovation.
Techniques to Enhance Individual and Team Creativity and Innovation
Innovation and creativity occur at an individual level and team level. Innovation is
crucial to the growth, survival, and development of any organization (Tahidi 2012 p. 534).
Various techniques aid in the creativity and innovation at an individual level and a team level.
Talent management.- Talent involves having the right skills to perform a particular task. An
organization with the right people working in the right places is always at peak performance.
A prospective employee assigned to a talent development program can develop
professionally (Heathfield 2016). Talent management involves identifying talented
employees and developing their talent. It is also wise to recruit employees that show skills
that would be useful to the organization. Talent management also involves retaining skilled
employees in the company. Creativity and innovation are influenced by the skills employees
in an organization possess. A talented staff will come up with new ideas that enhance the
companies products in various fields. Talent and effort are the reasons for the success of
individuals (Premuzi 2016). The good performance will translate to the success of the
employee which in turn brings to the success of the company. Skill management instills
creativity and innovation at the individual level. Teams of talented employees invent new and
better ways of production and come up with permanent solutions to company problems.
Encourage employee competition- employee competition leads to creativity and innovation as
the workers try to do each other out. Competition can be controlled to avoid rivalry among
the employees. Competition leads to new or better ways of production or service delivery.
Tasks are assigned to different employees and a reward given to the employee that performs
best. Workers compete for bonuses, recognition or promotions ( Steinhage 2017). Teams are
also given tasks to work on and. The exchange of ideas among the team members results to

TASK 1: Individual Portfolio 5
creativity on how to handle the tasks assigned. The competing teams will try and outdo each
other with news ways developed through their innovations.
Provide flexible work schedules- a flexible schedule allows employees to work comfortably
and they can increase their productivity. Workers can work from home or report to work past
the required time. The laborers have time to think about work-related issues and come up
with ideal solutions when they work under flexible schedules (Demers 2017). Working
around the clock and always worrying about punctuality limits the employees’ ability to be
creative. The management could provide work programs that allow the workers to work from
home or take vacations regularly. Such programs give employees time to reflect on their jobs
and invent more efficient ways of working.
Provide interesting tasks- employees work harder and to their potential for jobs that excite
them. Jobs that involve the employee's particular skills are significant and are autonomous
prompt innovation and creativity from the workers (people management 2001). An employee
can invest in the field which his/her skills are matched. Interesting jobs give workers ideas on
new ways of handling the tasks. Impressive works also enhance team creativity. Projects that
excite the team members give them the morale to develop the projects and provide
outstanding results.
Encourage interpersonal communications- office setups that do not allow co-workers to
communicate with each other are opposing to creativity (work culture 2016). Interpersonal
communication allows workers to brainstorm and exchange ideas. Brainstorming leads to
creativity and innovations by the exchange of ideas among the employees. Interpersonal
communication allows employees to create active- moods in the workplace. A working
atmosphere enables the laborers to be creative and innovative since the environment has a
working mood.

TASK 1: Individual Portfolio 6
Reward creativity- rewarding employees, is also an effective strategy for encouraging
creativity. Recognizing employees who come up with excellent ideas motivate them and also
the rest of the laborers to come up with better ideas. Choice of the reward can be determined
by the workers to motivate them even more. Rewarding of teams that come up with the best
projects also contribute to team creativity and innovation.
Tolerate mistakes- risk-taking is inevitable with creativity (ICAEW 2011). Employees are
driven to more creativity when they are allowed to learn from their mistakes. Punishment for
every mistake will lead to workers avoiding innovations. Errors are used to gain knowledge
so that an employee learns from the mistakes of others.
Conclusion
Creativity was once a concept associated with painters, writers, musicians and other
people in similar artistic careers. With the increased importance of building a unique brand
personality, creativity has become a concept that is embraced and applied in daily business
operations. Creating a business is never easy. It requires both entrepreneurial and creative
mind. The idea of coming up with a product that stands out from rest in a competitive
environment where it’s hard to distinguish the products requires a high level of creativity in
marketing and innovation. It is essential to acknowledge that innovation is not a phenomenon
that occurs naturally. Like a crop, it needs the nutrients in the right amount and type for it to
flourish. For this reason, effective strategies and frameworks must be formulated to promote
divergent thinking levels. Such strategies can include the creation of an environment where
employees can exchange ideas among themselves at all levels. This will inspire employees
and will help in maintaining an innovative workplace. Managers are, therefore, called upon to
manage the creative process effectively and should not involve themselves in managing the
creativity itself. When they indulge in managing the creativity, they will be interfering with
the employees’ minds which will significantly affect their thinking negatively. In promoting

TASK 1: Individual Portfolio 7
creativity, incentives come in handy. Such incentives can be in the form of monetary
compensations, or job promotions. The aim should be to encourage employees to think
creatively in order to propel the business to greater heights.

TASK 1: Individual Portfolio 8
List of References
Heathfield S.M. 2016. What is talent management -really?. [Online]. Available at: chapter 5:
theories of motivation. (2017). saylordot. Retrieved 2 October 2017, from
https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_organisational-behaviour-v1.1/s09-theories-of
motivation.html
ICAEW 2011. 10 ways to encourage creative thinking. [Online]. Available at:
www.icaew.com/archive/library/subject-gateways/business-management/strategy-and-
planning/innovations/small-business-update/10-ways-to-encourage-creative-thinking
Neal S. 2016. Creativity:it's important for your business. [Online]. Available at:
blog.catmedia.com/creativity-its-important-for-your business
OECD. 2015. The Netherlands should invest in the long-termsustainability of the food and
agricultural system. [Online]. Available at: www.oecd/newsroom/the-netherlands-should-
invest-in-the-long-term-sustainability-of-the-food-and-agricultural-system.html
People management 2001. How to promote creativity in a team. [Online]. Available at:
wwwz.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2013/01/29/1114a-2001-03.aspx
Demers J 2017. 5 ways to inspire creativity in your employees. [Online]. Available at:
https://www.enterpreneur.com/article/271905
Premuzic C T 2016. Talentmatterseven more than people think. [Online]. Available at:
https://hbr.rg/2016/talent-matters-even-more-then-people-think
StatisticalNetherlands (CBS) 2014. facts on the population in Holland. [Online]. Available at:
https://investinholand.com/demographics/
Steinhagen. D C D , 2017. The pros and cons of competition among employees. [Online].
Available at: https://hbr.org/2017/03/the-pros-and-cons-of-competition-among-empoyees

TASK 1: Individual Portfolio 9
Tahidi H. M M J 2012. The importance of innovation and its crucial role in
growth,survivaland success of organizations. Procedural technology, 1(2), pp. 535-538.
Work culture 2016. Here are six ways to enhance creativity in a workforce full of various
personalities and skill sets. [Online]. Available at: https://www.tmprod.com/blog/2014/six
ways-enhance-creativity -workplace/