News and features

Mon, 10 Jan 2011

Research shows relationship between employee health and creativity

Businesses that work to ensure the health of their personnel are more likely to benefit from creativity among their workforce.

This is according to new research from Right Management, which found firms that promote wellbeing among their employees are three times more likely to see innovation than those that do not, Recruitment Today reports.

Of the workers who took part in the research, approximately 72 per cent of those that gave their company a high rating for looking after their health also said that they work in a creative atmosphere.

And of those that did not think their business performs well in this area, only 20 per cent were positive about how their workforce encourages them to be innovative.

Senior vice president for global solutions at Right Management Deborah Schroeder-Saulnier was quoted by the news source as saying that the results are proof of a link between wellbeing and creativity.

"We now have persuasive evidence linking health and well-being to greater employee engagement, organisational productivity, talent retention and - of utmost importance in today's post-recession economy - creativity and innovation," she remarked.

Ms Schroeder-Saulnier explained that a safe and healthy environment is one of the key factors employees see as helping them do their jobs effectively, along with having an appropriate workload, maintaining a good work-life balance and not being subjected to too much pressure.

A recent study from Shine Feedback has suggested that this is an area where many UK firms can improve, as their findings showed many workers feel their managers are not interested in their wellbeing.

Based on research of a thousand businesses, read more about how nurturing talent amongst your workforce will help you through the current economic climate.