Facilitating and Rewarding Creativity during New Product Development

Companies can enhance their employee’s creativity during new product development by training and rewarding creativity. Companies usually adopt various approaches throughout various levels to facilitate creativity. It is usually achieved by assimilating three different strategies within the organizational structure during product development; Extrinsic Rewards, Creativity Training, and Intrinsic Motivation.

Training, rewards, motivation, and desired outcome are all linked. Managers implement these strategies together to achieve the highest levels of creativity for example creative imagery training clubbed with rewards results in increased levels of creativity among employees.

Extrinsic Rewards can be in the form of public recognition, prizes, and bonuses. However, if employees always expect an extrinsic reward, intrinsic motivation starts to lose importance.

Creativity Training can be in the form of creative imagery training or creative idea production training etc. Training not only increases employee’s creativity but also boosts creative problem-solving skills, and trains them to think out of the box. However, it only works well when combined with rewards.

Intrinsic Motivation can be attained by a combination of mutual interests and passion for an activity. It can also be achieved when challenges are perceived as enjoyment.

Companies use various approaches to overcome their lack of creativity like motivation since creativity cannot be taught but inspired, internal brainstorming sessions to stimulate an idea or spark an inspiration, internal creativity training, a mixture of internal & external strategies, and sometimes outsourcing creative tasks to make it easier for the overall creative vision to succeed.

It has been observed that solely incentivizing employees with rewards to enhance creativity does not work. Thus, the importance of creativity training should not be underestimated. However, training is only effective if it is paired with rewards. Training together with rewards leads to an increase in intrinsic motivation for challenging tasks.

The highest boost in creativity is experienced when creativity training which results in better skills is combined with enhanced intrinsic motivation and specific extrinsic rewards. It also neutralizes the negative effect of rewards on intrinsic motivation.