Workplaces are failing to nurture the creativity of employees, with 58% of respondents to a new survey conducted by the Harvard Business Review for Canva declaring their organisations aren't rewarding creative pursuits.

The insights come from a study conducted by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services on the challenges of fostering creativity within the workplace. The study surveyed over 500 business professionals globally and found that a significant majority agree on the essential role of creative ideas in an organisation's long-term success and performance.

According to the study, 96% of respondents agree creative ideas are essential to an organisation's long-term success and performance. Furthermore, 94% of respondents agree organisations that invest in creative tools and technology will be more successful in the future. The survey identified three categories of organisations: leaders (22%), followers (56%), and laggards (22%), based on their success at identifying creative solutions to business problems.

While 91% of respondents believed creative thinking is a key attribute for employees, 58% of laggards say their organisational culture doesn't reward creative pursuits. Leaders are more likely than followers and laggards to encourage creativity by rewarding employees for taking creative risks.

In addition, while 94% of respondents agree having a creative leader increases the creativity of their team, 72% of laggards say the leadership at their organisation is not engaged enough in creative thinking to support creativity among employees. Among leaders, only 23% felt the same.

Despite this, the study found 87% of respondents expect their organisation's overall financial investment in creativity-building tools and technologies to increase or stay the same in the next year. The most used technologies to unlock creativity among leaders are collaboration platforms (65%), visual communication (64%), and data visualisation tools (56%). Interestingly, 42% of leaders think generative AI can enhance creativity at their organisation to a great extent, compared to 30% of followers and 14% of laggards.

"In a business world focused on the bottom line, it's easy to lose sight of the value of creativity. The findings highlight that creativity isn't just a complement to business growth, it's foundational to driving long-term success," Cameron Adams, co-founder and chief product officer at Canva, said. "Ultimately, innovation and creativity is what will differentiate the leaders from the laggards; it's what drives growth in a challenging landscape."

The survey was conducted in November 2023 and included 542 members of the Harvard Business Review audience.