New study suggests creativity is the most needed skill by companies

A new study by LinkedIn Learning found that the most needed soft skill by companies in 2019 is Creativity. The top five skills listed were:

1. Creativity
2. Persuasion
3. Collaboration
4. Adaptability
5. Time management

The top five hard skills needed by companies were:

1. Cloud Computing
2. Artificial Intelligence
3. Analytical Reasoning
4. People Management
5. User Experience Design

It is also worth noting that “57% of senior leaders today say soft skills are more important than hard skills.”

New Report on “Creativity and the Future of Skills”

Interesting new report by the Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre on “Creativity and the Future of Skills”. Three key findings in the report:
 

“1. Creativity is likely to be even more important in the future job market… 

2. Employers don’t just value creativity alone: they need talent with project management and organisational skills too…
 
3. Creative occupations don’t have a monopoly on creativity”… Examples given of other occupations requiring creativity include “engineers, manufacturing and business development roles.”

UK businesses at risk of a creativity crisis

New research by Microsoft suggests that UK businesses are at risk of a creativity crisis because of a failure to encourage and support creativity within their organisations.

The research found that 40% of UK workers surveyed reported that innovation was not encouraged in their workplace. Major factors highlighted as hindering creativity included uninspiring workplaces (41%), a stressful atmosphere (34%) and  a lack of appropriate spaces to focus (28%).

 

New Creativity Research Report: Does Creativity Matter?

New research conducted by Forrester Consulting for Adobe asking whether creativity matters to businesses shows that “Companies Embracing Creativity Outperform Peers in Revenue, Market Share and Competitive Leadership”.

Key findings from the research are:

“Companies that foster creativity achieve exceptional revenue growth than peers.Fifty-eight percent of survey respondents said firms that foster creativity had 2013 revenues exceeding their 2012 revenues by 10 percent or more. In contrast, only 20 percent of less creative companies performed similarly.

More creative companies enjoy greater market share and competitive leadership.Creative companies are more likely to report a commanding market leadership position with a higher market share than competitors. Of those reporting market share leadership, creative companies outnumber their less creative counterparts by a factor of 1.5 percent.

Despite the perceived benefits of creativity, 61 percent of companies do not see their companies as creative. Only eleven percent said their practices were perfectly aligned with firms readily recognized as creative. The majority (51 percent) said they were neutral or not aligned with creative firms, and 10 percent felt their practices were, in fact, the opposite of what creative companies do.

Creative companies win recognition as a best place to work. A positive employee work environment is a fertile breeding ground for creativity. Sixty-nine percent of creative firms also reported winning awards and national recognition for being a “best place to work.” Just 27 percent of less creative companies achieved similar accolades”

You can download the full research report.

 

Report on ‘State of Creativity in Education in Asia Pacific’ by Adobe

This year Adobe completed a study looking at the  ‘State of Creativity in Education in Asia Pacific’ including countries such as Singapore, South Korea and Australia as well as China and India.

The survey showed that there was ‘strong support for creativity in the classroom’ but ‘not enough was being done’. However there was recognition by many that their education systems were somewhat ‘outdated’ and ‘restrictive’.

Follow the link below to see the full report.

Report on ‘State of Creativity in Education in Asia Pacific