A lighthouse in the desert? Evaluating the effects of creativity training on employee innovation

Abstract

The contribution of three different creativity training programmes to employees' workplace idea generation and implementation was evaluated. The research was conducted within a government organization, where 191 employees (a mixture of participants and non-participants in creativity training) were surveyed. Analyses showed that creativity training participants in one type of course only were more likely to generate ideas back at work and that this relationship was mediated by their creative ability and motivation to innovate. However, in terms of later implementation of those ideas, the environmental factors of management support and divisional climate were much more strongly related than the creativity training.