Following another successful installation of our annual creativity symposium last Wednesday, we asked our speakers if they would mind answering a few questions based on our theme, Creativity+Humanity, and the topic that they talked about.

Our final session of the day was employee focused and led by H+K’s own Victoria Entwistle, Director of People + Purpose, and Thea Knight, Senior Communications Consultant and Behavioural Strategist. Vicki and Thea talked about our creative nature and the 5 ways to thrive at work, whilst the audience simultaneously participated in real time polls linked to the discussion of the ideal work environment. After providing such food for thought for all in the room, we sat down with Vicki to find out more about the importance of creativity when it comes to employee engagement.

What does creativity mean to you?

Imagination, freedom, returning to our untethered selves as children. My children astound me every day with their limitless ability to draw, play, model, imagine, mime and inherently excel on anything digital that comes their way!

What are the top 3 qualities that employees look for in a company?

Everyone has an individual motivation to work for a particular company or organisation, but to attract talent I’d counsel that organisations need to have: a powerful purpose that employees can believe in; great managers that support you and give you the space to create; excellent tools and resources to enable you to deliver. Combined: these three will deliver and communicate a fantastic employee experience.

Is employee engagement vital to company success?

Yes: while companies have long narrated that people are their greatest asset, sometimes it has felt like lip service. It’s exciting to work in an age where this really feels like the case and investment and science are being put behind engagement, and we’re seeing some of history’s biggest companies being built upon and studied because of their commitment to company culture: The zappos, Googles, the revitalised England team!

But the paradox is that broad employee engagement keeps falling. That’s why we put behavioural science at the heart of what we do because we understand that there are more complex models at play than how people feel when they are at work.