Increasing employees’ creativity by training their managers

As pressures on organizations to adapt and solve problems creatively increase, employee creativity will become an increasingly important concern. The pressures on businesses and government organizations to adapt to new technologies and external threats require resourcefulness and creativity. Several training interventions have been shown to be effective in enhancing the participants’ creativity. In addition, a number of managerial behaviors seem to affect subordinates’ creativity. However, the topic of training managers to boost their subordinates’ creativity has been virtually ignored. This paper examines the research on creativity training, management training, and the managerial behaviors that affect subordinates’ creativity. Appropriate methods of management training intended to enhance subordinates’ creative performance are suggested.