Who is having all of the ideas?

This is a summary of the statistics produced as a result of a survey conducted by Vodafone UK.

Did you know that:

• 70% of workers believe their company does not reward new ideas, and over half (54%) say they are not formally encouraged to come up with new ideas.


• 79% of the workforce is not offered any financial incentive to innovate.


• 60% of workers are given no time at all to generate ideas.


• 24% of workers say that their ideas simply stay in their heads.


• 93% agree that new ideas and processes are essential to the very survival of UK companies.


• Two-thirds of senior managers say their organizations are innovative, while only 38% of skilled manual workers feel the same way.


• 67% of young employees (aged 16–25) think of themselves as innovative, only 30% of employers agree.

In terms of age, over-55s are the most likely to come up with ideas at least once a day (12%) and in terms of seniority 23% of senior managers and professionals say they come up with new ideas at least daily with 51% of senior managers having ideas at least once per week as well as 37% of both middle management and new graduates.

But ideas are not the preserve of those in suits, 17% of unskilled manual workers, 18% of clerical staff and 22% of skilled manual workers also come up with new ideas at least once per week also.

Departments that generate most of the new ideas are Research & Development (43%), IT/Systems (42%) and Marketing (40%) with the Board next (35%).

The place where workers say they are most likely to come up with a new idea is at their desk (29%), followed by travelling in a car or train (24%) and in bed (20%). Interestingly, women seem to be more likely to come up with ideas in bed than men (22%, compared with 16%).

Respondents were realistic about their chances of coming up with a good idea while in the pub (4%) or on holiday (2%). The busy cluttered office is one of the least likely places for a new idea to be formed (3%). The research also finds that workers are more likely to be creative when the workplace is informal and relaxed (32%), with flexible hours (23%) following in importance. Over half (55%) of all respondents are more likely to come up with new ideas when given more time to think.

Read a more complete article and find the source of the original research by clicking on this link.