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(ISO 9001-2000)
“UNLOCKING CREATIVITY
AT WORK PLACE-A ROAD
MAP”
Presented by:-
1. Shri Ripunjoy Bhuyan,
Engineer(Mech)
NORTH EASTERN ELECTRIC POWER
CORPORATION LIMITED
(ISO 9001-2000)

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TABLE OF CONTENT
Description Page Number
1. Abstract 3
2. Introduction 4
 What is creativity 5
 Why we need to unlock creativity 5
3. Factors that unlock creativity 6
 Motivation 6
 Job Enrichment 10
 Leadership 12
 Training & Development 13
4. Case Study 15
5. Conclusion 17

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Abstract
An Organization cannot survive without individual contribution. Similarly,
without harnessing individual potential an Organization cannot prosper.
This paper has given emphasis on various techniques for unlocking the
creative mind of individual and the reason for harnessing individual
creativity.
INTRODUCTION:

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Harnessing individual potential of an employee is becoming very
important for survival of an organization, because, only people can make a
company grow. According to Richard Gunderman “Organizations do
nothing: it is the people who work in them that make things happen”. Each
individual has got immense hidden talent. Now the question arises how to
bring out the individual potential, so that the company can grow. This
paper has given emphasis on reasons for harnessing individual creativity
as well as technique for exploration of the same.
In today’s increasingly competitive business environment, as well as
hectic personal schedules, it does not pay to be ‘ Struck in a Rut’. We all
have to come up with new and old problems. It has been observed that in
Indian PSUs people can most usefully be employed doing the same nature
of job. The decisions are taken by the highest level organizational pyramid
and instructions were conveyed down through the layers of the
organization for compliance. This approach forfeits the greatest asset of
the organization –the unused creativity and the brain power of the
employees of those organizations. Without unlocking the latent human
potential available to the organization, there will be small growth in the
modern era of globalization.
The only challenge, which is common to all nations, trade blocks and
business houses today, is harnessing people potential for their survival.
Breakthroughs that shape the field of the future competitions are most
likely to emerge when companies create internal echo systems that enable
creativity .The physical, cultural and human environment of the
organization can either stifle or stimulate creative solution generation.
What is creativity and why it is necessary?

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Creativity includes the use of colour, laughter and freedom to
enhance productivity. Creativity is fun. When people enjoy what they do,
they work much harder. Creativity includes conscious efforts to see things
differently, to break out of habits and outdated beliefs to find new ways of
thinking, doing and being. Creativity is a natural, normal aspect of healthy
human beings.
People are naturally creative and this inherent creativity must be
allowed to manifest itself. Or else, suppression of the same may lead to
destructive manifestation leading to negative growth of the individual and
the organization.
Why we need to unlock creativity?
Creativity raises the spirit of the workforce. People want to make a
difference in what they have to do. If the organization gives them the
chance to work for a particular job and let them know that they trust them,
their untapped human potential will unleash, and they will solve problems
and serve the organization better then it was dreamed possible.
Creativity is a human capital. Human can make or break an
organization It is the people who make things happen in an organization,
and not the machines.
People create things and ideas everyday. Often, people create worry
and negative imagination- images of things that will never happen. These
worries provide a diversion to the harsh reality that exists in some
organizations. These worries and stress of continuously adjusting in a
hostile environment deplete the creativity that could be channelised into
positive directions and reachable targets.

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For example, the organization grapevine/ rumour mill is a prime
example of the use of creativity. The stimulation provided by learning about
possible outcomes creates excitements and emotional energy. Whether the
rumours are actually true or not does not lessen their impact. They provide
a way for people to become energized and emotionally connected with the
fellow workers. The ensuing discussions provide more opportunity for
people to have reason to work. This is another reason why employees are
encouraged to participate in official get-togethers organized from time to
time.
FACTORS THAT UNLOCK CREATIVITY
Motivation
Motivation plays an important role in unlocking creativity at
workplace. In an organization we can come across both bad and good
people. But we believe that most of the people are good and they know
what to do, but due to lack of motivation people are not doing it. The motto
of the organization should be to bring about awareness amongst its
employees and motivate them to give their best.
Motivation is the tool, which make an individual behave in a certain
way i.e motive for action. Performance of an individual depends upon
individual ability and motivation. Motivation is something that encourages
action or feeling. Motivation also means to turn on or ignite the feeling or
action. Motivation means not only willingness to work but also willingness
to work in a desired manner which may help to attain organizational
objectives.
Motivation is a driving force in our lives. It comes from a desire to
succeed. Without success there is a little pride in life; no enjoyment,

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excitement at work and at home. The greatest motivation comes from a
person’s belief system. That means he needs to believe what he does and
accept responsibility. That is where motivation becomes important. When
people accept responsibility, their behavior and actions, their attitude
towards life becomes positive. They become more productive, personally
and professionally. Their relationship improves both at home and at work
place. Life becomes more meaningful and fulfilling and unfolds creativity.
Some Demotivating factors which blocks unlocking creativity:
Some of the demotivating factors which blocks unlocking creativity at
work place are as follows:
 Unfair criticism.
 Negative criticism.
 Public humiliation.
 Rewarding the non performer which can be demotivating for the
performer.
 Failure or fear of failure.
 Success which leads to complacence
 Lack of direction
 Lack of measurable objective
 Low self esteem.
 Lack of priorities.
 Negative self-talk
 Office politics
 Unfair treatment
 Hypocrisy
 Poor standards
 Frequent changes.
 Responsibility without authority.

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Unless the above demotivating factors are removed by the organization
any method of motivation will not work and the productivity of the
employees will not improve.
What motivates people to work in a more creative way?
When people accept responsibility, it leads to improvement in quality,
productivity creativity, relationship and teamwork. The following steps can
be used to motivate the manpower of an organization:
 Financial Incentives
 Recognition
 Trust
 Respect
 Status
 Promotion
 Interesting work.
 Responsibility
 Empathy
 Good listening capability.
 Challenges
 Assistance where required; and at the same time encouragement for
getting job done by themselves.
Motivation pattern in Indian Organizations

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Various theories of motivation exist, but the correct theory to be
adopted and implemented depends on various factors like size, place,
nature etc. of the organization. Various research studies have been
conducted in Indian context to find out what motivates people for better
performance. These researches are, however, concerned mostly to find out
applicability or non-applicability of these theories in Indian environment.
This is so because motivation is a complex problem as shown by various
theories and is determined by both individual and organizational factors.
As such, it is not necessary that many of the theories developed in
economically advanced countries may apply to Indian situations because
ours is basically a developing country and situational variables may be
quite different as compared to advanced countries.
When we take human beings in an organization for analyzing
motivational pattern, we identify two groups of individuals- managers and
workers. While there are some common problems in terms of their need
fulfillment and satisfaction associated with them as human beings, workers
tend to identify themselves distinctly. This is because management enjoys
certain authority in the organization to make and implement the decisions,
while workers are devoid of such authority. Management actions, to a very
great extent, affect the need satisfaction of the workers. Further, family and
social background, level of education and competence, aspiration and
growth avenues in the organization create distinction between the
expectations of managers and workers while working in the organization.
In a comprehensive study of 1213 managers from 47 Public Sector
Enterprises , Laxmi Narain has found that Managers rank worthwhile
accomplishment, recognition of good work done, decision making
authority, opportunity for personal goal and development, opportunity for
promotion, prestige of organization outside the company, pay , allowances
and other benefits and job security in that order. Though there is variation

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in ranking by top, middle and lower level managers, the variation is not
very significant. It has been observed that in case of workers, three most
highly ranked motivational factors are adequate salary, job security and
opportunity of promotion comes in to play.
In view of the above, for unlocking creativity, these factors play a
major role.
Job enrichment
Job enrichment is a term used often for the process of achieving and
improving the ‘Quality of work Life’ . Herzberg described job enrichment as
that type of improvement in the context of the job, which may give the
worker more of a challenge, more of a complete task, more responsibility,
more opportunity for growth and more chance to contribute his idea.
Following are the important job characteristic underlying job enrichment:
 Skill Variety
 Task identity
 Task significance
 Autonomy
 Feed back
Some important techniques of job enriching are as follows:
 Rotation of task, Broadening of qualifications of skills and
responsibilities, enhancement of intrinsic quality of the job and
removing and lessening supervision.
 Increasing responsibilities of individual for their own work.

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 Giving employee more scope to vary the methods, sequence and pace
of their works.
 Giving a person or a work group a complete natural unit of work i.e.
reducing task specifications.
 Removing some controls from above while ensuring that individual or
groups are clearly accountable for targets or standards.
 Allowing more say or influence in setting targets and the standard of
performance.
 Giving employee the control information that they need to monitor own
performance.
 Encouraging the participation of the employee in planning work,
innovative new techniques and reviewing results.
 Introducing new and more difficult task not previously handled.
 Assigning the individual or groups specific projects, which gives them
more responsibilities and help them to increase their expertise.
 Taking decision in crisis situations rather than relying on the boss.
It has been revealed in the different studies that by implementing the
decentralization in different organizations down the level, more
participation in the bottom level help in unlocking the individual creativity
and hence improving the production and productivity of the respective
organizations.
Leadership
Leadership is interpersonal influence exercised in a situation and
directed through communication process, towards the attainment of a
specialized goal or goals. Thus leadership is a process of influencing the

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activities of an individual or a group for goal achievement in a given
situation.
A key to be a good motivator is being an effective leader not a
successful leader. A successful leader may get the job done for a while by
pushing, forcing his subordinates, shouting at them and threatening at
them. But an effective leader is one, who draws people after him / her
rather then pushing or forcing them to follow. An effective leader will
involve his colleagues in problem solving, so that they can identify with the
problem and will be motivated enough to cooperative and involve
themselves in problem solving.
Leadership impacts staff morale, motivation and work quality. Good
leadership requires vision, values and understanding people, and
developing their own resilience. Leadership is not about making emotional
speeches and leading demonstrations. Leadership involves trust. And only
those inspire trust have the ability to subordinate their ego to the greater
good. Mahatma Gandhi, had no guns or money, but he had the power to
move hundreds of millions of people. He had the trust and they walked
behind him. The following aspects may be visualized in unlocking the
creativity by effective leadership-
 Set a positive example- leaders are scrutinized by all employees. A
team should made sure that he “ walk your talk” , that is, lead by
example and not just give lip service on quality. All should share
mistakes and that will creates a very good open environment.
 Give support to create trust- leaders must create a feeling of trust in
order for their team to succeed. When someone makes a mistake,
leaders can discuss what went wrong and then find solutions.

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 Develop an open line of communication- create an atmosphere
where employees can communicate ideas to the management, and
convey these ideas to the entire team. A common complaint from
non-management is that they feel uninformed. Quality teams share
their visions from the team leaders down the line.
 Create regular and productive meetings- the leader does not have to
present at every meeting. Leaders can stay for only part of the
meetings. The team may feel more comfortable and empowered in
discussing challenges without the leader. Often enough, this is what
start the creative juices flowing.
 Assess strengths and weaknesses – knowing where the team excels
and what are its weakest links is one of the strongest elements of a
quality team. It can prove fatal when the team skips over its
weaknesses. Teams need to constantly ask themselves: how can we
improve, and what areas need strengthening? Teams need to find
out what they can do to get that competitive edge. Constant
improvement is mandatory for a quality team to excel.
Training and Development
“ Give a man a fish , and you have given him a meal. Teach a man to
fish, and you have given him a livelihood “ . This ancient Chinese proverb
seems to describe the underlying rationale of all training and development
programmes. No organization can long ignore the training and
development needs of its employee without seriously inhibiting its
performance.
The objective of training is to develop specific and useful knowledge,
skills and techniques. It is intended to prepare predetermined task in well
defined job context which encompasses the whole complex process by

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which employees as individual learn, grow, improve their abilities to
perform a wide variety of roles within and outside the Organization and
acquire socially desirable attitudes and values. Management developments
are aimed at improving one’s abilities to perform professional management
tasks. Management development, like any form of personal development, is
a highly individual matter. It is essentially self-development.
The following aspects may be highlighted for proper training and
development programmes for harnessing individual potential:
 Knowledge – training in this area aims at helping the trainee learn to
understand and to remember facts, information and principles.
 Technical Skills- the trainee is taught physical acts and actions like
operating a machine, working with a computer, using mathematical
models to take decision etc.
 Social Skills- the employees are provided opportunities to acquire
and sharpen such behavioral and human relations skills as are
necessary for improved interpersonal relationship, better teamwork
and effective leadership.
 Techniques- this involves teaching of application of knowledge and
skill to dynamic situations.
 Attitudes- this involves attitudinal change towards increase in work
commitment and the positive orientation towards the organization
and society. The basis of attitudes, and the knowledge and skill with
which to change them have to be carefully diagnosed
 Experience- it cannot be taught in the classroom. It is the result of
practicing the use of knowledge, skills, techniques and attitudes
over a period of time in different work situations.
It may be mentioned that there are individual creative potential in
each and every person in different fields, which can be harnessed by

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imparting proper training . Therefore, training is a very useful tool to
unlocking the creativity of individual for betterment of the person
concerned as well as the organization.
CASE STUDY
The North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd. (NEEPCO)
incorporated in the year 1976 is a leading power generating PSU in the
North Eastern part of India generating Hydro as well as Thermal power.
NEEPCO’s present installed capacity is 1130MW and another 2650MW is
under execution. The total power generated in the year 2003-04 was 4743
MU and this was mainly consumed in the NE Region, contributing to the
infrastructure development of the Region.
Though there has been significant growth and improvement of the
performance of NEEPCO over the years, in the later part of 1996-97,
NEEPCO had faced its biggest challenge of motivating its talented
workforce, mainly Engineers, due to stagnation at all levels. The
Management of NEEPCO recognized the need of uplifting the morale of its
Executives and through the help of IIM Lucknow brought about a total
Corporate restructuring. IIM Lucknow , before submitting its report had
carried out extensive survey and research as to why the performance of
NEEPCO upto the mark inspite of having the best available telent in the
Country. The survey reveled that the career growth of the Executive was
very poor and lack of motivation led to low productivity.
After the induction of the Corporate Structure, post/ positions were
created at all levels according to the areas of functioning. The positions
created were well defined as well as given due emphasis on Job
Enrichment. Outcome of which there is a huge change in work culture of
the Organisation. Employees were also seen enthusiastic and acquainted
with the style of functioning. There was mass promotion at all levels for

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which employees were motivated and out come of which we can observed
while going through the performance curve of the Corporation.
PERFORMANCE AT A GLANCE OF NEEPCO( 1994-2004)
1994-
95
1995-
96
1996-
97
1997-
98
1998-
99
1999-
00
2000-
01
2001-
02
2002-
03
2003-
04
Authorised
Caital( Rs.) 500 1500 1500 1500 2500 2500 2500 2500 2500 3500
Installed
Capacity(MW) 150 284 284 451 535 625 700 970 1105 1130
Generation
(MU) 861 1243 1402 1537 1936 2226 2560 2763 2992 4743
Turn Over
( Rs. in Cr.) 43 92 133 178 259 357 392 453 412 670
Net Profit
(Rs. In Cr.) 30 26 10 26 58 28 118 53 -408 208
-1000
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
1994-
95
1995-
96
1996-
97
1997-
98
1998-
99
1999-
00
2000-
01
2001-
02
2002-
03
2003-
04
AuthorisedCaital( Rs.)
InstalledCapacity(MW)
Generation(MU)
TurnOver( Rs. inCr.)
Net Profit(Rs. InCr.)
CONCLUSION
Thus we can safely conclude that motivation, job enrichment,
training & development etc. will play a major role in unlocking of creativity
amongst the employees leading to higher satisfaction levels and loyalty
towards the organization, & hence translating to growth and profit of the
organization.