Creativity training

INTRODUCTION

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CREATIVITY TRAINING:

This paper looks at the creative training function, which influence in contribution
towards obtaining a non-replicable competitive advantage. Training is the most
important period where the employer evaluates the attitude of the recruited employees
in the company in career development in the company. Here the employers meet the
new employees giving training to them and moulding them according to the
environment of the company. A small survey on the HR managers of the companies that
the pressure on high performance is not lost on them. The main issue goes with the
production ability of the employee of the company. It is a opportunity to the employer
to meet the employees and training according to their mental ability to understand. But
the question in the entire HR managers mind is “How is it possible to train candidates
more effectively to increase the productivity.” This report discusses about the various
kind of training process which can be implemented at the time of training their
candidates.

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LITERATURE REVIEW

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LITERATURE REVIEW:

CREATIVITY TRAINING REQUIRES DISCIPLINE - MAGAZINE

MANAGEMENT:

Getting employees to think in new ways takes a lot of time and effort--and
determination--from management.

The single greatest hindrance to the creative process is management itself. Challenging
assumptions and looking at information in new ways takes time and patience--not
things management typically has lots of. And although fostering creativity and
teamwork is basically easy, making it a priority is extremely hard. Without a major
commitment by senior-level management, new ideas are unlikely to surface.

Every business's growth hinges on innovation. Unfortunately, creativity--the activity

that leads to innovation--is one of the first things to take a back seat in a downsized
environment. People aren't inherently less creative when they're working hard; they
simply have less time to indulge their creative energies.

With this in mind, I offer four ingredients for fostering the creative process:

Make the time. Creativity can't be a hobby: It requires serious attention. Management's
role must be to force the time to let it happen. Designate one day a month for the entire
company to engage in some sort of creative activity, such as brainstorming sessions. For
example, tell your employees to scour the press for creative ideas in other industries.
The monthly "creative day" can then be used to identify the principles behind those
creative successes and to see how they might be applied to your own business. I have
found that the very best ideas for our industry often come from observing what works
in other fields. We need not reinvent the wheel. Pairing things that have seemingly little
in common often leads to new revelations.

There are a dozen ways to use the day effectively--the key for managers is to provide the
structure to let employees take the time. People are not inherently motivated to
structure themselves in teams--it takes effort, organization and a willingness to be
flexible.

Make it fun. Creativity can't be simply another office task. Take off the ties, the jackets,
the high heels. Develop entertaining procedures for engaging people in the process. The
entire Times Mirror circulation department recently spent a week thinking of ways to
increase profitability by looking beyond the traditional ways of cutting costs and
increasing revenues. To get the creative juices flowing, the department was divided into
groups of eight people, and each group was assigned a certain task. One group was sent
to the grocery store to buy boxes of cereal that caught their attention, with the idea that
the cereal shelf is similar to a newsstand. When the group met and discussed their
decision-making processes, the results were related to how consumers buy at the
newsstand, which led to several new, very creative thoughts about magazine cover
design.

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Another group was told to purchase the most valuable item they could find (other than
a magazine subscription) for $10. The group discussed what they bought and what they
found valuable in the items they purchased. As a result of this exercise, a number of
very creative copy platforms were developed for direct mail. There were several other
similar activities that were fun to do; as a result, people became willingly engaged in the
process.

Make it everyone's job. Some of the very best ideas can come from the people who sit
quietly in their cubicles, typing away all day. You must figure out a way to unlock
creative thinking at all levels of your company. We have a program called "Plant-a-
Seed" that encourages employees to submit written ideas for improving the company.
Once a month, a group of managers evaluates the ideas and moves forward on those
with potential. Those ideas that are chosen are publicized, and the responsible
individual receives a bonus.

Another approach is to include employees from all levels of the company in

brainstorming sessions, and to mix people from different departments. I find that those
who are inexperienced or just beginning their careers often have more open minds
compared to those of us who have already developed our perspectives and set our minds
on a certain course of action. Naiveté can be the best medicine for creative thinking.

Make it happen. A serious hindrance to the creative process is a company's inability to

execute good ideas. Lack of follow-through leads to skepticism and inertia among
employees. Nothing breeds success more than success itself. Set priorities, focus on two
ideas, make those happen--and people will begin to believe in the process. Reward
people financially and psychologically in a substantial way for the successful execution
of a new idea.

Creativity can be learned, but it often requires training. But just as there are tools to
train sales and management staffs, there are many practical tools and proven methods
for nurturing creativity. For instance, several companies specialize in facilitating
brainstorming sessions. Almost always, I find that a third-party perspective fosters our
ability to think outside the boundaries of business. Synaptic, Inc., in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, is one company I have found particularly helpful.

For computer fans, there is the software program Idea Fisher. The computer helps you
make unobvious connections as you fill out an on-screen survey form. Times Mirror's
marketing communications department uses it regularly for creative tasks such as
naming products and developing tag lines.

The best practical guide to idea-generating techniques that I have come across is
Thinker toys: A Handbook of Business Creativity for the 90's, by Michael Michalko,
published by Ten Speed Press in Berkeley, California. It's full of very specific, mind-
stretching exercises and many, many inspirational examples of companies that have
achieved incredible success through seemingly small observations. For instance, Lenox
China started the concept of bridal registries when the company realized few people
could afford to buy an entire set of china at once.

These are a few of the tools. More important, you must make fostering creativity a top
priority for you and your staff. Although creativity requires the same type of training

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that salespeople receive, in a downsized environment, it's 10 times more important

because people will not make the time to do it on their own. When we most need to be
on the cutting edge, we can ill afford to have the backbone of our business--new ideas--
be an afterthought.

Creativity Training: A survey of the frequency of various methods of applied corporate

creativity training as reported by current creativity trainers.

Agor (1997) looked at hypnosis as a vehicle for increasing creativity for applied problem
solving among Executive MBA students. Thirty-five participants took part in a one-day
workshop on "The role of intuition in decision making." The study was comprised of
two steps. In step one, two groups (analytical and intuitive) were formed based on brain
skill/style types, in an effort to illuminate the problem solving strengths of each. The
MBA's were asked to suggest individual problems that they were facing at work that
they would like the group to address, and from that list a problem was chosen for the
group to focus on. After clarification of the problem, the full group spent ten minutes
writing their personal solutions to the problem on slips of paper that were then collected
and recorded on flip charts. Qualities of solutions were widely varied by brain
skill/style. Once the whole group had exhausted its perceived ability to propose new
solutions, the study moved to step two. The group was exposed to a hypnotic induction
tape that had been specifically designed to enhance creative problem solving. Following
the hypnotic induction, slips of paper were again passed out and the group was
requested to record any new problem solving suggestions. There was a marked increase
in the number of solutions generated after the hypnotic induction. The study concluded
that hypnosis can serve as a useful tool for creative problem solving if properly used by
a trained facilitator.

Armstrong (1999) created an experiential role-playing exercise aimed at teaching

business managers methods of decision making that complement traditional rational
decision-making processes. In the exercise, participants were split into groups of 8 to 10
and were given a raw material that could be touched, passed around and molded. The
groups were asked to come up with as many possible product or service ideas for the
raw material. One product idea was selected from among the list in each group, and the
group then had to design a product name and slogan, and create a video advertisement
for the class. Based on participant feedback, the role-playing exercise "appears to be a
powerful and useful learning experience."

Berg (2001) presented an overview of many author's ideas and statements relating to
the power of a playful spirit at work, and examined ways that play and work can be
blended to improve performance, productivity, and profits. Berg presented quotes and
practical suggestions compiled from fifteen creativity and business leaders related how
to incorporate fun and creativity into the corporate world. Berg concludes that
companies that provide a pleasant, fun, and supportive work environment will have an
edge in attracting and keeping employees who share the same values.

Boone & Hollingsworth (1990) studied the need for creativity in business organizations
as a way to ensure their viability in a rapidly evolving future, gave an overview of the
creative process, and proposed a framework for structuring training sessions in creative
thinking. To examine methods of creative-thinking training, business situations were
presented and traditional methods of decision-making were discussed. With traditional

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methods of decision making as a foundation, an overlay of creative decision-making

techniques were presented and an organizational decision strategies matrix was
introduced. The need for constant practice of creative thinking was mentioned, and
games and puzzles were cited as a way to sharpen mental skills. The paper concluded
that although creative efforts often challenge standard management practices, the
payoffs can be high. The decision strategies matrix used was a helpful basis for
structuring training sessions in creative thinking.

Caudron (1998) presented case studies and referenced creativity researchers to advance
the idea that corporate creativity is coming to be regarded as a useful discipline within
American corporations. Caudron interviewed and quoted eleven business leaders and
creativity researchers and practitioners regarding philosophies and methods to bolster
innovative and creative business practices. Caudron concluded employees need to un-
learn the perception that creativity is only for a few individuals, that corporate trainers
must thoroughly educate themselves about creative processes, and that trainers need to
make sure that creativity-enhancing techniques are valid before presenting them to
their employees.

Caudron (2000) referenced experiential training researchers and presented case studies
to advance the theory that "fun and feel-good" training efforts can improve morale,
increase customer satisfaction, boost retention, and teach new skills and behaviors.
Caudron interviewed and quoted seven business leaders and experiential trainers, and
partook in experiential training exercises. Caudron concluded that with proper design
and planning, non-traditional training can produce measurable results.

De Bono (1995) presented the argument that creativity is a skill that can be developed
by anyone, and proposed the "six thinking hat system" as a way for individuals and/or
groups to engage in creative thinking. De Bono looked at the brain as a system of nerve
networks that self-organize into patterns. Since these patterns are counterproductive to
creative thinking, the author describes the "six thinking hat system" as a way to break
out of patterned thinking. De Bono explained the use of each of the six hats and
concluded that the use of this tool can be useful to switch the brain into different modes
of thinking.

Ditkoff (1998) stated that corporate organizations need to shift from traditional left-
brain analytical thinking to whole-brain thinking by using brainstorming, and that a
trained facilitator must employ ten different personas to successfully conduct
brainstorming sessions. Ditkoff argues that chaos is an important attribute of business
and gives much argument to support his assertion. The ten personas of a brainstorm
facilitator are given. Conclusions were not offered.

Eskildsen; Dahlgaard; and Anders (1999) sought to establish a causal relationship

between the creative organization, the learning organization, and business excellence.
The causal relationships were based on theoretical considerations comparing three
established methodologies of excellence in business with three different levels of
learning. Data were derived from a survey of business leaders from Denmark, France,
Germany, and the UK. A questionnaire relating to different business environments and
attitudes was given to 400 executives selected at random from various European
databases and were restricted to private companies with more than 50 employees. The
study concluded that an increase in the learning organization would impact business

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excellence approaching 1:1. An increase in the creative organization had no direct

impact on business excellence.

Glenn-Ryan and Guss (1989) conducted a training program aimed at fostering initiative
and creativity in senior career civil servants in an effort to increase the level and quality
of service provided. An ultimate goal of the research was to gain a critical mass to move
the organization in a new direction. Seventy-five civil servant supervisors were exposed
to a two-and-one-half day management seminar. A snapshot of the organization was
taken through the use of two surveys: a management development survey and a client
survey. The training consisted of eight main components: creativity and vision;
organization culture; assessment of current culture, leadership style and stress
conditions; small-group exercises; building small wins; setting a direction; and a
personality-type indicator. The study concluded that change is difficult when dealing
with an "antiquated infrastructure", and that substantial risk is involved when
managers state their values publicly.

Raudsepp (1987) proposed a list of twenty-four interventions to enhance organizational

and personal innovation and achievement, and to harness and focus employee's energies
to achieve innovative results. Among the interventions listed, of special note was the
philosophy of providing a safe atmosphere for failures. Business managers and
psychologists were quoted to support the interventions. Conclusions were not offered.

Global Business Management Week (2001) published on the World Wide Web a
synopsis of a five-day round table discussion on the role of creativity in UK business.
The discussions were built on the findings of Professor Amin Rajan's report,
"Harnessing creativity to improve the bottom line." Of note among the discussions were
the statements that business creativity was not a "luxury" to be harnessed only in
prosperous times, but was essential all the time; that there are suspicions of creativity in
some organizations due to its elusive nature; that creativity can best be harnessed by
creating small teams within an organization that are not over-controlled and that are
connected within the company; and that creativity should not be compartmentalized,
but should be seen as a way of life for the entire organization.

Umilker (1988) presented a review of literature identifying the often-faddish nature of

business improvement theories, and gave six necessary characteristics of successful
managers that want to support organizational creativity. The six characteristics were:
identify innovative employees; foster an innovative environment; provide challenges;
provide idea sources; and offer rewards. Conclusions were not offered.

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SECONDARY DATA

SECONDARY DATA:

The secondary data gives a brief data about the strategies implemented in training their
employees. In creative training the employee would know his ability to:

• Be one of the best communicators.

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• To build the better business environment and relationship at all levels of

customer organisation both in and off the show floor.

• Making the employee to know “what is he all about to the company.”

• Making the employee to give his best to the organisation to increase the
productivity in the company’s performance.

• Making the employee to know his strength and weakness.

Thus the following is the small flowchart which gives small description about the reason
creative training:

Countering
negativity of
the
Creativity employees Identifying
inhibitors of creativity of
the employees the employees

Steps for the

Creativity
creativity
enablers for
training process
the employees
for the

Enhancing the
creativity in the
employees
Awakening the Encouraging
creativity of the participant’s
employees involvement

Flow chart about creat ivity training

Enhancing the creativity in the employees:

• Allowing them to dissect ideas logically.

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• Diversification of mind mapping process.

• Training them to process the structured idea gathering.

• Preparing them to use the techniques for making ideas visual.

• Making them to think and lay strategies outside the box.

• Usage of some puzzles and evaluating the way the candidate sees the world.

The above some points can be used to enhance the creativity in the employees.

Awakening the creativity of the employees:

To generate some of the creative ideas requires evaluation of personal paradigms. The
first step to enhance creativity of employee is to recognize and make him believe on
himself that he/she is a creative person. Secondly, the employees must seek out and
welcome opportunities to exercise your creativity. Making them to open their minds and
use the different variety of techniques for generating alternative and creative ideas.
Making the candidate to personally participate in interactive training techniques, in
which participant individually or collectively work together to solve problems.

Creativity enablers for the employees:

Enablers make the candidates to think beyond the box which makes them to
understand that they have to be more strategic rather than following the instructions
blindly. This will cause the candidates to think, plan, organize, develop, experiment and
strategize the problems. Some of the enablers are puzzles, jigsaws and some
brainstorming questions makes them to think analytically.

Creativity inhibitors of the employees:

There is unlimited number of puzzles which enables the creativity, but the main factor
lies in the adaption of the candidate. There are also many things or factors which blocks
the creativity activity of the candidates. By identifying those types of factors in advance
will give a chance to reduce or eliminate in these sessions of creative training. Mainly in
this situation the organisational environment plays a major factor. The organisational
environment will spark or extinguish the creativity of the candidate. Any changes in the
effective planning of the organisation by welcoming the change and new ideas will leads
to the experiment in effective learning. In this case, the participants become more
excited and make them to involve for their brainstorming ideas which helps to get some

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effective solutions for the issues in the organisation. In other cases, if there are any other
limitations in learning will make the participant’s creativity usually limited.

Countering negativity of the employees:

To overcome the potential reluctance towards the work and to make candidates creative
in their approach, the following flowchart can be used:

Attending
creativity
courses

Positive Taking up a
self- creative hobby
Countering
affirmatio
negativity of the
ns
employees

Keeping a Reading
daily journal books a lot

Flowchart f or c ounter ing negativity of th e em ploy ees

Thus, th e abo ve fl owchart says about the supp res sion of the negatives
in the cand idat e’s psycho logy.

Identifying creativity of employees:

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This is the goes to the trainer’s aspect. The identification of employees as per
their psychology by the trainers gives extra boost to the training. Identification
of the trainees and categorising them as per their knowledge and giving training
for the enhancement for their creativity gives a extraordinary performance of
the candidate.

Steps for the creativity training process for the employees:

There are some steps which must be followed will giving training in the
creativity some of them are as follows:

• Design creative program openers that will grab participant’s attention

and help set the stage for learning.

• Facilitate training programs and presentations that can help induce

behaviour change and are FUN.

• Identify, make, or obtain inexpensive materials that add boost to the

training programs and presentations.

• Increase interactions with participants.

• Assign participants to small groups in a variety of imaginative ways in

order to facilitate networking and exchange of ideas.

• Review program concepts throughout the session in order get an interim

check of learning before the program ends.

Thus, the above mentioned steps are some of the steps which must be used while
giving and effective creative training to the candidates.

Encouraging participant’s involvement:

Involvement of the candidates is very much important in the training. What if

trainer is just narrating some things about the company and the candidate is
busy in another activity. The encouragement should be in another different way
which makes the candidates dazzled. Making the participants to involve in some
group activity encourages the candidate. This involvement of the candidate to
interact with the different personalities and different view points on certain
topics given to discuss makes the interaction more fun and same time serious

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too. The candidate feels lonely when he/she enters into the training class, now
asking them to interact with others and asking the candidate to speak about the
person he just met will make the conversation more encouraging. By this
method the trainer can also evaluate the leadership quality of the candidate and
encouraging him in that field makes the participants to interact more
effectively.

Thus, these are some of the best steps which can also be involved in creativity
training for the candidates.

Adding to the above material, these are some of the small points on “how to
train the candidates.”

Training: it is the process of learning for improving knowledge, attitudes and

skills.

• Training of the candidates should be of interface of an experiential

approach.

• The experiential learning technique represents an innovative approach

toward training, best suited to the development of a highly-skilled,
motivated and high performing work force.

• Experiential learning incorporates a flexible structure of classroom

activities, simulation exercises, and actual experiences in “real life”
situations.

• The learners acquisition of knowledge and skills related to their work

must be facilitated by competent trainers.

• The primary role of the trainer is one of creating learning environments

which are stimulating, relevant, and effective.

• This learner-centred experiential approach toward training allows the

individual learners to manage and assume responsibility for their own
learning.

Experiential learning is exactly what the name implies – learning from

experience. Experiential learning occurs when a person engages in an activity,
reviews this activity critically, abstracts some useful insights from the analysis
and applies the result in a practical situation. The experiential process follows
the theoretical chart shown in diagram below:

Experiencing:
Processing:
Generalizing:
Activity doing
Applying: Page
Sharing and14 of 40
Inferring from the discussing
Planning more experience truth about reaction and
effective behaviour the “real world” observation
 Creativity training

Creative Questions - Taking Charge of Creativity

If I was to ask you to remember "your worst nightmare", and then to produce a
painting/sculpture/photograph/essay/poem/etc. based on this, you would be able to do
that.

It would be a hideous (painting/sculpture ...etc..), of course, because your worst

nightmare is a very disturbing thing, undoubtedly coming from a system in you that is
in high disturbance and calling your attention so that it may receive some healing or
resolution.

Something that the "mad artists rolling around in their own agony and filth" never
seem to do, is to ask A DIFFERENT KIND OF QUESTION.

I could ask you to remember "your best ever dream" and then produce a (etc...)
BASED ON THAT INSTEAD.

And you could do this, and your work of art that would result would be of a very
different flavour altogether.

This is the absolute 101 of taking control of your own creative processes, of OWNING
YOUR CREATIVITY instead of being at the mercy of some unpredictable madness, do
you understand?

Essentially, creativity, or "streaming data from your energy mind and then acting upon
this information to create something", is a CONTENT FREE PROCESS.

You ask for streams of pain, and you GET streams of pain.

You ask for more, deeper, harder, faster - and you get EXTREMES of pain!

What seems to be entirely forgotten is that the artist is NOT a glove puppet, but a
HUMAN BEING who is supposed to be in charge of their processes and output, and

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they are supposed to have A PURPOSE in what they do, why they do it, and how they
do that.

Instead of asking you about dreams, I could ask you about numinous experiences. I
could ask you to remember a time when you KNEW what it meant to love someone.
Something will come to you and it doesn't really matter if you are any good with brush,
bronze or typewriter, ANYONE who HONESTLY tries to represent something like
THAT will be creating ORIGINAL, CREATIVE ART - because it comes straight from
our energy mind and wasn't constructed artificially by your conscious mind.

These things, these EXPERIENCES, they have power, and emotion - they are ALIVE
and they are completely UNIQUE, because only YOU have lived YOUR life, were there,
thought, felt, experienced THOSE things, and are now taking them outside of yourself
so others can get a glimpse of what you have learned.

Questions are endless, and the power of the artist to ask these questions and receive the
answers, and THEN make them into something to SHARE THIS WITH OTHERS is
what creativity is, and why it is so highly prized and paid for so very well.

What questions would YOU like to ask of your own self and stream the answers to
share with the world?

Most artists never get that far. They just paint their own pathology, over and over
again, and because they are dealing with streamed material, THINK that all that pain is
creativity.

But that's just one thousands of one percent of what a true artist can do.

The training process:

Four of these steps are mutually necessary for any training program to be effective and
efficient.

STEP 1: ESTABLISHING A NEEDS ANALYSIS.

This step identifies activities to justify an investment for training. The techniques
necessary for the data collection are surveys, observations, interviews, and customer
comment cards. Several examples of an analysis outlining specific training needs are
customer dissatisfaction, low morale, low productivity, and high turnover.

The objective in establishing a needs analysis is to find out the answers to the following
questions:

- “Why” is training needed?

- “What” type of training is needed?
- “When” is the training needed?
- “Where” is the training needed?
- “Who” needs the training? and "Who" will conduct the training?
- “How” will the training be performed?
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By determining training needs, an organization can decide what specific knowledge,

skills, and attitudes are needed to improve the employee’s performance in accordance
with the company’s standards.

The needs analysis is the starting point for all training. The primary objective of all
training is to improve individual and organizational performance. Establishing a needs
analysis is, and should always be the first step of the training process.

STEP 2: DEVELOPING TRAINING PROGRAMS AND MANUALS.

This step establishes the development of current job descriptions and standards and
procedures. Job descriptions should be clear and concise and may serve as a major
training tool for the identification of guidelines. Once the job description is completed, a
complete list of standards and procedures should be established from each
responsibility outlined in the job description. This will standardize the necessary
guidelines for any future training

STEP 3: DELIVER THE TRAINING PROGRAM:

This step is responsible for the instruction and delivery of the training program. Once
we have designated our trainers, the training technique must be decided. One-on-one
training, on-the-job training, group training, seminars, and workshops are the most
popular methods.

Before presenting a training session, make sure you have a thorough understanding of
the following characteristics of an effective trainer. The trainer should have:

- A desire to teach the subject being taught.

- A working knowledge of the subject being taught.

- An ability to motivate participants to “want” to learn.

- A good sense of humor.

- A dynamic appearance and good posture.

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- A strong passion for their topic.

- A strong compassion towards their participants.

- Appropriate audio/visual equipment to enhance the training session.

For a training program to be successful, the trainer should be conscious of several

essential elements, including a controlled environment, good planning, the use of
various training methods, good communication skills and trainee participation.

STEP 4: EVALUATE THE TRAINING PROGRAM:

This step will determine how effective and profitable your training program has been.
Methods for evaluation are pre-and post- surveys of customer comments cards, the
establishment of a cost/benefit analysis outlining your expenses and returns, and an
increase in customer satisfaction and profits.

The reason for an evaluation system is simple. The evaluation of training programs are
without a doubt the most important step in the training process. It is this step that will
indicate the effectiveness of both the training as well as the trainer.

There are several obvious benefits for evaluating a training program. First, evaluations
will provide feedback on the trainer’s performance, allowing them to improve
themselves for future programs. Second, evaluations will indicate its cost-effectiveness.
Third, evaluations are an efficient way to determine the overall effectiveness of the
training program for the employees as well as the organization.

The importance of the evaluation process after the training is critical. Without it, the
trainer does not have a true indication of the effectiveness of the training. Consider this
information the next time you need to evaluate your training program. You will be
amazed with the results.

The need for training your employees has never been greater. As business and industry
continues to grow, more jobs will become created and available. Customer demands,
employee morale, employee productivity, and employee turnover as well as the current
economic realities of a highly competitive workforce are just some of the reasons for
establishing and implementing training in an organization. To be successful, all training
must receive support from the top management as well as from the middle and
supervisory levels of management. It is a team effort and must implement by all
members of the organization to be fully successful.

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General Benefits from Employee Training and Development

• Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees

• Increased employee motivation
• Increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in financial gain
• Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods
• Increased innovation in strategies and products
• Reduced employee turnover
• Enhanced company image, e.g., conducting ethics training (not a good reason for
ethics training
• Risk management, e.g., training about sexual harassment, diversity training.

Systematic Approaches to Training:

The following manuals outline systematic training processes. A systems approach

ensures a comprehensive training process that remains focused on the needs of the
organization. The process typically includes the phases:

1. Analyze the organization's needs and identify training goals which, when
reached, will equip learner's with knowledge and skills to meet the
organization's needs. Usually this phase also includes identifying when training
should occur and who should attend as learners.
2. Design a training system that learners and trainers can implement to meet the
learning goals; typically includes identifying learning objectives (which
culminate in reaching the learning goals), needed facilities, necessary funding,
course content, lessons and sequence of lessons.
3. Develop a training "package" of resources and materials, including, e.g.,
developing audio-visuals, graphics, manuals, etc.
4. Implement the training package, including delivering the training, support
group feedback, clarifying training materials, administering tests and
conducting the final evaluation. This phase can include administrative activities,
such as copying, scheduling facilities, taking attendance data, billing learners,
etc.
5. Evaluate training, including before, during and after implementation of training.

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Benefit of Systematic Approaches to Training:

Adopting a systematic approach to training helps ensure that supervisors are getting
the most out of themselves and their employees. A systematic approach to training
includes taking the time to analyze what results the organization needs from its
employees, if employees are accomplishing those results, and what training and
development approaches are needed by employees to better accomplish those results. A
systematic approach includes evaluating approaches before, during and after training
to ensure employees truly benefited from the training in terms of enhanced results to
the organization.

Training managers provide worker training either in the classroom or onsite. This
includes setting up teaching materials prior to the class, involving the class, and issuing
completion certificates at the end of the class. They have the responsibility for the entire
learning process, and its environment, to ensure that the course meets its objectives and
is measured and evaluated to understand how learning impacts business results.

Training specialists plan, organize, and direct a wide range of training activities.
Trainers respond to corporate and worker service requests. They consult with onsite
supervisors regarding available performance improvement services and conduct
orientation sessions and arrange on-the-job training for new employees. They help all
employees maintain and improve their job skills, and possibly prepare for jobs
requiring greater skill. They help supervisors improve their interpersonal skills in order
to deal effectively with employees. They may set up individualized training plans to
strengthen an employee’s existing skills or teach new ones. Training specialists in some
companies set up leadership or executive development programs among employees in
lower level positions. These programs are designed to develop leaders, or “groom”
them, to replace those leaving the organization and as part of a succession plan.
Trainers also lead programs to assist employees with job transitions as a result of
mergers and acquisitions, as well as technological changes. In government-supported
training programs, training specialists function as case managers. They first assess the
training needs of clients and then guide them through the most appropriate training
method. After training, clients may either be referred to employer relations
representatives or receive job placement assistance.

Planning and program development is an essential part of the training specialist’s job.
In order to identify and assess training needs within the firm, trainers may confer with
managers and supervisors or conduct surveys. They also evaluate training effectiveness
to ensure that the training employees receive helps the organization meet its strategic
business goals and achieve results.

Depending on the size, goals, and nature of the organization, trainers may differ
considerably in their responsibilities and in the methods they use. Training methods
include on-the-job training; operating schools that duplicate shop conditions for
trainees prior to putting them on the shop floor; apprenticeship training; classroom
training; and electronic learning, which may involve interactive Internet-based

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training, multimedia programs, distance learning, satellite training, other computer-

aided instructional technologies, videos, simulators, conferences, and workshops.

PRIMARY DATA

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PRIMARY DATA:

There are many companies which follows the creativity training. As there was a survey
on all the requirement of the candidates thinking should be extraordinary. Most of the
CEOs of the companies say that they are in search of the candidate who is creative
enough to handle the situations. Thus some of the companies which follow little of the
creative training are ACCENTURE, SUTHERLAND GLOBAL SERIVICES and
BIRLA CEMENTS ltd, some other companies too.

The above stated companies want their employees should be innovative, creative and
time managers. As every company wants its employee to open himself to the world and
explore it through the different point of views which makes him to think in a broad
ways. These companies give there selected employees a extra gear to work effectively
which comprises of efficiency.

Let us see ways and different types of strategies which are used in creativity training of
their own employees:-

Here are some of the strategies which are implemented while training their employees.

Let us first see Accenture’s style of training their employees:

ACCENTURE:

As the most famous quote of this company is “high performance delivered”. By this
motto of the company we can say that the company depends on the performance of the

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employees. Company gives different styles of training to nourish their employee’s

thought process which is very much important in the company’s point of view.

Many candidates who are selected in the companies in the prohibition period might
have a big question how will their future in the company.

And another most important and valid question of the candidate is “where do I fit in
the company?” well ACCENTURE has its own answer for this:-

They say that since you are the candidates who are selected, should have good
knowledge in your own areas and we are going to give a real time experience which will
make you all to nourish your knowledge to the edge of the situation faced.

Accenture Company follows “steps for the creativity training process for the
employees” in the creativity training process.

They make a very powerful presentation which attracts the candidates about
the company.

They make an on job training gives the boost to the trainees in the training
period.

Every member of the consulting workforce is aligned with one of three

consulting workgroups: Management Consulting, Systems Integration
Consulting, or Technology Consulting.

Professionals with specialized knowledge are used to train the candidates.

Strategies are structure effectively for the carrier development of the candidate.

The Accenture Company invests around $700 million in training and provides an
average of 75 hrs of training per person. They offer around 80 more percent training
hours than their competitors. The programs are designed to the individual needs and
the courses people take depending on their skill, experience and area of interest.

The training is conducted in different ways, from classrooms to the web. The candidates
are trained by the best supportive leaders and colleagues in the business who can pass
on their industry, technical and functional expertise.

NEW-JOINER ORIENTATION AND TRAINING:

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New joiners spend their first week in orientation, becoming familiar with the
company’s business process, operations, culture and management of the work
and creation of solution in the company.

After orientation the next two weeks are dedicated to developing business,
industry and technology skills.

Thus further training is provided to every individual as per the assignments and
needs.

ON-THE-JOB TRAINING AND FORMAL TRAINING:

To make the employee achieve their goals while building the knowledge and
expertise to help our clients become high-performance businesses.

Variety of formal and informal training programs at every level to help the
candidate to acquire and build the skills faster.

The curriculum will vary, depending on your level, industry group and
specialization.

It will involve developing a portfolio of business, technology and industry

expertise, together with professional skills such as communication, business
acumen and selling.

You’ll also have opportunities to hone your functional skills and expertise in
your area of specialization.

After the training and getting developed in the specialized area the company have a
career path for the Consulting workforce with the following levels:

Analyst.

Consultant.

Manager.

Senior manager.

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Senior executive.

Thus, the company have designed the training and career paths for the candidates to
develop their creative skills and also develop in the company.

SUTHERLAND GLOBAL SERVICES:

This company is one of the best in 500 Fortune Company in its Business Process
Outsourcing, implementation of Networking Technology and Knowledge Process
Outsourcing.

The company has designed the training process in a very different style:

There are different levels of Business process outsourcing in the company they are as
follows:

Back office operations.

Customer relationship management.

Call centres and telemarketing.

Tele-servicing and product support.

Finance/accounting/billing.

Human resources.

Medical transcription.

Insurance claim processing.

Thus, this company mainly points the quality of the service it gives and good creative
training to its candidates.

The company gives communication training for one month. The candidate is given all
types of liberty to be creative and enhance the creative quality as he got to communicate
with the customers who might belong to some other countries.

The below points is the structure of the training given by the trainers of the company to
the candidates:

Group plays are played by the candidates so that the interaction is made.

Real time scenarios are given to test the decision making ability of the candidate.

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The candidate is given an opportunity to work under the experienced

professionals to learn how the show floor will be.

Candidates are asked to give the speech so that the communication gap can be
evaluated and usage of texture can also be evaluated.

Many puzzled games are also played to make the candidate to fell like he is
working in his own company.

Reducing the negative attitudes and developing the positive attitude is important
part in the companies training period.

Thus, the above points says that the company is very much particular about the
candidates creativity and performance.

After a good tenure of the candidate in the company have career plans for the
employees in BPO and KPO. They are as follows:

Technical or customer support executive.

Senior technical or customer support executive.

Level-3 executive

Level-4 executive.

Team leader.

Branch manager.

Thus, the above plans are for the candidates who show what they are exactly to the
company.

In the case of Implementation of Networking Technology the career plans are as

follows:

Junior network technician.

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Senior network technician.

Network packet flow maintainer.

Junior network administrator.

Senior network administrator.

Network administrator.

Team leader.

Thus opportunities are given the candidates and encouragement is given so that the
candidates can excel and make a successful tenure in the company.

BIRLA CEMENTS:

Birla cements the company can be known by its name. A top 500 fortune company
known for its quality product and service. A quality delivery is the main motto of the
company, now the question comes how this is possible:

The answer to the query is the quality creative training of the employees and facilities
given to them while training.

Thus the below are the steps or say strategies followed by the Birla cements;

• Trainers are highly experienced and known for their job.

• Making the classroom a real time system.

• Group discussions and puzzles.

• Asking the candidates to present in front of every individual.

• Technical knowledge boosting by asking them to do ON-JOB work.

• Real scenarios to evaluate the candidate ability to solve the problems effectively.

The company has different style in maintaining that learning environment in the
company so that the candidate would enjoy in learning the concepts which has to be use
on the show floor.

The professionals in the company teach the candidates all about the company
behavioural and discipline which has to be maintained in the company premises.

They teach how the candidate should take decisions at right time at right place.

The company has excellent career planning for the employees, they are as follows:

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The company divides its employees in different categories as per their qualifications:-

• Engineer.

• Senior engineer.

• Assistant manager.

• Deputy Manager.

• Manager.

• Senior manager.

• Assistant general manager.

• Deputy General Manager.

• General Manager.

• Assistant vice-president.

• Vice-resident.

Thus the company has large scope of employee’s development in the company.

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DISCUSSIONS

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So far we have discussed about different companies have different creative training
strategies to encourage the candidates to open their creativity. Let us now discuss about
some of the aspects of employee productivity through the creativity training:

"Make sure employees know exactly what is expected of them, which means
making productivity standards clear and explicit," experts says. Some sample
guidelines experts suggests: "Answer the telephone in three rings or less, and
always address guests with 'good morning,' 'good afternoon' or 'good evening'--
never 'hello,' 'hi,' or 'how's it going?'" Productivity standards are often vague,
and too much is left up to individual judgment. This makes an explicit
impression on the employee’s way of tackling the problem and the way of
approach to solve the problem. This type of process helps the employees to make
efficient decisions and effective production to the company.

Provide regular feedback on employees' productivity using objective data.

"Annual productivity appraisals are pretty much a waste of time," experts says.
"People need frequent and specific feedback on how they are doing." This
feedback should come at least weekly, but daily is better. This type while doing
an on job training and formal training the feedback makes the employee to
evaluate himself and act according to the scenario to give a best shot.

Make sure you drive productivity with adequate positive and negative
consequences. "In many organizations, the good performers get more work and
the poor performers get less work and easier assignments," experts says. For
consequences to be useful in controlling behaviour, they need to be powerful

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(getting fired or getting a big bonus), personal (affecting the individual

employee, not a team), immediate (occurring as soon as possible after the
performance), and consistent (happening every time the employee is
particularly productive or unproductive). This mainly points the employees
personality where the negatives are reduced and positives are developed.

Technology and tools can do wonders to improve productivity. Buy your

employees the latest and best tools you can afford. "Remember when returning

a rental car used to require 20 to 30 minutes?" Brown asks. "Now it is done in

about two minutes, thanks to the handheld terminals car rental employees have
in the lot where customers return cars." On the other hand, experts points out
that purchasing on many websites is still a challenge and frustrating to many
consumers. The amount you can gain in productivity from tools and technology
depends on how much human behaviour you have in your process. For example,
the right equipment can make a huge difference in a steel mill or a paper mill,
where the work is almost completely automated, but it might make little
difference in building houses or airplanes, where people mostly work with hand
tools. Thus training the employees how to efficiently use the tools in the job
makes increase in employee productivity.

Incentives can really help boost productivity--if they are based on a balanced set
of productivity measures. If you put the incentive on a single aspect of
productivity, such as sales or profits, you will drive the wrong type of
performance. Some of today's forward-thinking companies link executive
bonuses to profits, satisfied customers and satisfied employees, so you can't just
focus on one aspect of performance--you have to balance all three. It is
dangerous to implement incentives until you are certain your productivity
measures have integrity and can't be cheated on. "People get very creative when
financial incentives are involved," say experts, "and they sometimes make the
productivity measures look good with some undesirable behaviour." This gives
the employees boost to give a effectivity.

Once you have determined the behaviours and results you want, you need to
develop a plan to positively reinforce the behaviors when you see them and

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celebrate sub-goals along the way. Set small goals in the beginning so that
improvement is easy. This will allow people to receive the positive reinforcement
that will create energy and excitement about improvement. Remember, the
more you positively reinforce, the faster the improvement. Think of positive
reinforcement in this case as any interaction with your employees that
communicates that you like, appreciate or value what they are doing. When you
reach a sub-goal, spend some time letting people tell you what they did to make
the improvement. And finally, be patient with the small improvements. If you
are, you will find that you will make more and better progress than you believed
possible.

The fact that you can't afford to do a lot of testing is probably a good thing.
Although some do believe businesspeople can learn from some tests, some don't
believe personality tests are helpful. Achievement tests, which measure
academic and job skills and should not be confused with intelligence tests, are
probably the most helpful.

Two things that you should consider when analyzing performance problems are:
Do you know that the person can do what's necessary to do the job well? Has he
or she ever done it consistently? If the answer to either one of these questions is
no, you probably have a training problem. If, on the other hand, the answer is
yes to both, you have a motivational problem. And that brings me to personality.
Making them to think beyond the box of the scenario gives you the most
appropriate solution.

Rather than focusing on talent and personality, look for those small
accomplishments to reinforce every day, and you'll be on your way to creating
satisfied, productive employees.

Here are some of the great personalities who say that creativity is you don’t believe on
where do believe.

Some of the personality’s views on creativity are as follows:

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• Dream - Stephen Spielberg is quoted as saying, ‘I get paid to dream’. Spend

some time day dreaming. Visualize yourself doing all those things you always
talked about doing but never followed through. Sit somewhere quietly and
imagine yourself playing a sport, instrument or a healthy activity you wouldn’t
normally do."I dream my painting and then I paint my painting" – Vincent Van
Goff.

• Doodle- Doodling is a freeing exercise. Watch when you first put pen to paper
how much your mind tries to take over. Most of us don’t know how to let go. We
hesitate, we try and decide what to draw, a cat, a box or a house? Will I start
with lines, circles or triangles? Then we hear ourselves say, I can’t do that, I
don’t have a creative bone in my body! Is this something you may also hear
yourself say in other areas of your life?
Doodling is just a simple exercise designed to tap into your subconscious mind
to allow the unconscious to come to the surface.

• Brainstorm - Brainstorming is an idea generating technique which will help

you come up with stacks of bright ideas. “We need some new marketing ideas;
let’s get our marketing team together and brainstorm ideas”. The only bright
ideas that you come up with are the same ideas rehashed. Want marketing
ideas? Get people from the admin, HR, sales production, design, research,
accounting areas and other people outside your company-brainstorm with all of
them. And that results in more creative Ideas.

• Talk to friends or professionals and brainstorm ideas of how to move forward in

a new direction. Do you find it hard to verbalise what is not working in your
life? If you do, you may need someone who is detached from your life to help
you see things which you wouldn’t normally see.

• Brighten your day. Be bold, wear a bright lipstick! Consult with your pharmacy
assistant to ensure you have a color that suits your skin tone. This may sound
funny, but a sure way to increase color and fun into your life.

• Pay attention. The scientist Otto Loewi had struggled for years with a
problem in cell biology. One night, in his sleep an insight to a new approach to
the problem occurred. He woke, and in the dark, he wrote down his new ideas,
and went back to sleep. The next morning, he couldn't read his writing! The

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next night the same flash of insight occurred. This time, he took no chances; he
pulled on his clothes and went straight to his lab. He won the Nobel Prize for the
work he began that night.

• Become skilled at capturing your bright ideas. Keep a pen and paper in your
pocket or handbag and place next to the bed at all times, practice daily writing
down any ideas you have, no matter how bizarre they may seem at the time.
And, don’t forget to turn the light on!

Learning is not a linear process; it includes exploration and connecting the information
that is available. Many learning opportunities are available to litigation support
professionals today, not all of which are labelled “training,” and in today’s economic
environment, the key is to leverage every educational opportunity to maximize its
return on investment (ROI). Additionally, managers can help their employees take
greater personal responsibility for their own professional development to benefit
themselves, the entire department, and the organization as a whole.

There are many ways where a creative training can be done. But when an alternative
creative training is taken into consideration it would like as follow:

Creative Alternatives to Formal Training:

People have different learning styles but we know that one of the ways in which adults
learn best is when they are challenged to share knowledge with someone else. It gives
learning a purpose. Being too busy is never a good excuse to avoid learning something
new – especially in our industry. Litigation support moves at too fast a pace for us to sit
still. So how can litigation support managers help their teams filter the extreme volume
of information that is available? By moving the focus from formal training to learning
experiences, litigation support managers can provide educational opportunities that
both challenge and teach necessary skills. Here is one 4-step learning exercise that is
easy to implement:

1. Define the learning objective.

Is it to learn a skill that will increase efficiencies? Project management?

Communication? Industry best practices? Presentation skills? Leadership skills?

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2. Define the research topic.

For example, industry best practices for data collection and preservation.

3. Assign a research resource.

Assign each team member a type of resource to research and report back to the group
on the information found. Continuing the example above of best practices for data
collection and preservation, some sources might include:

• Web sites
• Blogs
• Articles and publications
• Published research studies
• White papers
• Podcasts
• Webinars

4. Present your findings.

Establish a greater knowledge about the topic. An alternative to the process outlined
above might be to assign each team member a singe research resource— article, blog,
webinar, podcast, etc.—on different topics. Each team member is required to report
back to the group at the next team meeting on his assigned topic. This exercise also can
be done in small teams in which two or more team members (think team-building
project) research a topic to share with the rest of the department and/or case teams. To
encourage critical thinking, ask for technology developers or service providers. These
individuals often share their expertise in a genuine effort to educate and improve the
industry as a whole, so their insights should not be discounted strictly based on who
their current employer might happen to be. Having said that, some vendors do provide
educational material as part of a sales initiative which is why it’s useful to consider their
motivation and whether the information is presented in an objective manner.

Maximizing the Return on Your Training Investment Formal training can become a
train-the-trainer opportunity for your firm, corporate legal department or government
agency when the budget is tight. If there is enough money in the training budget to send
someone on the team to a traditional training program, that person should be expected
to share their learning experience with the rest of the team upon their return. For this
reason, it is important to choose the attendee wisely if you have the budget to only send
one individual. The attendee should be someone with good listening and presentation
skills, to ensure he or she is capable of effectively communicating with and training the

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team on what he’s learned. This process of sharing of information itself can be a
professional development opportunity for some staff.

Other traditional training resources are trade shows and conferences. However, to
achieve the maximum return on your training investments, be sure to assess how each
of your team members learn new information. The traditional classroom setting with a
single instructor is ideal for some learners while the standard conference style of many
presenters or panelists covering several topics is better for others. Take the time to
evaluate and ask questions to determine the best learning environment for each of your
team members.

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CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION:

The conclusion of the whole discussions is that creativity training to the candidates
should be given. This opens the candidates mind and makes the candidate to think
beyond the box.

Thus as per the CEO’s point of view they say that they need the candidate who is
creative enough to do the work more efficiently and more effectively.

The only barrier which comes in between the creativity training and the candidates is
the management. This is because the management is not so creative enough think that
in how many ways dose a work can be done and make their employees to give an
efficient and effective productivity.

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REFERENCES:

WWW.CREATIVETRAINING.COM

WWW.ACCENTURE.COM

WWW.SCRIBD.COM

WWW.STRESSFREEANDSUCCESSFUL.COM

WWW.GAELDRUM.COM

INTERVIEW OF MR. Raghu anand ( HR, SUTHERLAND GLOBAL SERVICES)

INTERVIW OF MR. Subojit Pandey(PERSONAL DEPARTMENT, BIRLA

CEMENTS)

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