Eighty-five percent (85%) of employers concerned with hiring creative people say they can’t find the applicants they seek.

This quote comes from The Conference Board: Ready to Innovate: Are Educators and Executives Aligned on the Creative Readiness of the U.S. Workforce?

While spontaneity, poise, and enthusiasm may play well in interviews, there are better ways to consistently gauge creativity across a wider range of candidates:

• Interdisciplinary history of abilities, certifications, and experience.
• Problem identification, analysis, and articulation.
• Focused assessments and prescreening exercises.

HR and recruiters need to think creatively when designing their employment brands, attracting creative talent, and building optimal profiles based on traits of their own high performers. They also need a consistent and disciplined hiring process.

For the strategy to succeed, close the loop between the recruiting and performance process so you recruit and review on the same system to drive quality of hire.

Stephen J. Dubner of Freakonomics fame weighs in on measuring innovation and asks some experts for their opinions. Note Seth Godin’s take; it applies to innovation, talent management…and life in general:

“Innovation happens long before the benefit is realized… And if we embrace the process, not the event, we win.”