The Creative Industries and Mental Health

Creatives at Work

The creative industries have taken a massive knock these past years and the pain looks to continue. Funding cuts and the budget constraints of clients has resulted in ‘creatives’ being under immense pressure to find and produce work. This is a historic issue but for those in work, commercial demands increasingly override an understanding of the creative process, leading to burnout in the arts and its allied tech sector. Creatives often work alone, as digital nomads, in the office, at home or in a hybrid arrangement. They are essentially one-man-bands with no cover support for workloads. Flexibility, autonomy and self-management are prime considerations in negotiating the commercial jungle.

The survival of the arts and their practitioners necessitates them being part of the commercial sphere, but the danger is when they are treated like any other business or marketing functions, without considering of the nature of the creative process, which is often slower and more complex than is generally appreciated.

The anxiety of having to produce, original, creative and inspiring work is an accepted part of the job but dealing with unreasonable deadlines, moving goalposts, layers of bureaucracy and poor communication adds undue stress. Performance stress is counterproductive and requires careful management by both employee and employer, so the duty of care needs a nuanced and insightful approach.

Managing Creatives at Work

Ideal employers and funding partners will value the cultural and social benefits of the arts on a par with commercial interests. I hear you laugh, but isn’t idealism what arts are about? We know how vital they are to human wellbeing, to our sense of self, place and belonging. We need our creatives to express and challenge our perspectives, throw light on important issues and help us tap into the wonder of the world and the human soul. This stuff is priceless, irrespective of its cost effectiveness. The ancients knew it and we are at risk of allowing our lack of appreciation to let us forget it. Project managers who understand and respect the artistic process will build working environments that allow creativity to flourish and so inject unique and extraordinary elements into the work.

Many successful firms that employ creatives are young, dynamic start-ups, driven by ambitious techies. They adopt the newest technologies to re-imagine the landscape of customer/audience engagement. These progressive environments are ideal for creatives but require wise leadership so that expectations are achievable, and respect, communication and collaboration are foundational to the work processes.

Creative professionals, whether they are artists, designers, illustrators or photographers, musicians or writers; in theatre or film; gaming or the metaverse, operate best within the sweet spot at the top of the pressure/stress curve. In this optimal space they are neither under worked nor over-burdened and is where they are most inspired, do their finest creative thinking and their best work. Understanding too that they cannot always be at the top of their game and will require positive feedback, encouragement and support is vital to their wellbeing.

In this evolving digital age, there are few industry norms unless you follow the billionaire, maverick management ideology and are prepared to burn your employees up like rocket fuel or so many mega-bytes. These state-of-the-art industries are working with global technologies and a new universal awareness, but human resource essentials remain the same – people need to be heard, respected, appreciated and inspired. If your creatives are developing your USP’s, it helps if they are enthusiastically invested in the organisation’s culture and ethos.

Too often ‘wellbeing window dressing’ or ‘wellbeing washing’ is being used by creative tech companies to attract prospect investors and talent. They utilize talk shows and podcasts to boast about core vision, company culture and amazing working environments but this is often not backed up in any material way or through any considered action. This promotion is more about cultivating a personal brand and curating market perception and company image. What they fail to realise is that organisational culture is created organically by the stuff that doesn’t always help the bottom line. It is about having a meaningful relationship with your employees and ensuring that their working conditions are excellent and their personal development plans are taken seriously.

Behind these facades is often where staff are being over worked, punished for making mistakes and actively discouraged from taking their allotted time off or using the perks and benefits that decorate the annual reports. It’s where HR hides behind a nameless, online portal acting like a private police force and creating a cultural mindset to ‘weed out the weak’.

Trying to buy cheap, meaningless culture by installing a ping pong table doesn’t fool anybody. It often lies dormant in a corner with broken paddles, attesting to a joyless environment that doesn’t foster any positive use of it and where people don’t feel comfortable or safe to play a game.  

CEO’s are often numbers driven and so may approach organisational culture from the ‘optimisation of numbers’ perspective and so prioritise optimisation over humanisation. This is an understandable bias but there is a balance to be had and having strong people on the board who can weight this imbalance should be a vital consideration to investors.

Mental and Physical Health

We instinctively understand the mental/physical health connection and although it was conveniently ‘forgotten’ by employers during the industrial revolution, it has been found. We know the elements needed for thriving life and they include involvement, collaboration, psychological safety and technological support for the modern worker.

According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, creativity is right at the top of the pyramid, being an activity of self-actualisation. If the basic physical and psychological needs of safety and security ie. (money and a good working conditions} are not met, then creativity is severely hampered. Although man has created his greatest art and inventions during periods of extreme deprivation, it is unsustainable. The starving artist in the garret and the unappreciated genius tend to die young.

Creatives are paid to express emotional messages through the tools and mediums of their particular art or craft. The brief may be set by others, but the interpretation will be the subjective expression of the artist. Since he physical and psychological space in which people work profoundly influences their output it should be conducive to overall wellbeing. For those managing creative companies and projects, active listening and acting on your team’s input to achieve realistic demands, is the mark of a seasoned manager and a great leader.

Self-management for Creatives

There is a lot of advice out there to help creatives manage their self-care. Here are a few bits and bobs that may help you to stay the course:

• Keeping self-doubt at bay and protecting your art and the motivation that drives it, is vital to longevity.
• Continually developing your skills and talents and keeping up with methods, trends and tastes will ensure your art remains sustainable and relevant.
• Networking within your field and its allied sectors will help to keep you informed and recognised.
• Staying abreast of events and news will inspire forward thinking and alight you to opportunities.
• Having a community, buddy system or creative partner will help with idea generation and problem solving and help you stay motivated and supported.
• Learning how to express your needs as a skilled professional - for time, resources or information will pay dividends into the future.
• Identifying the internal and external causes of stress will provide insight and the route map for tackling it more efficiently.
• Injecting a dash of humour can refresh your mindset and bring perspective.
• Connecting with the natural world is a calming and comforting way to reset your emotional thermostat.
• Taking small steps towards big goals and being mindful of what you have achieved by having a ‘done’ list as well as a ‘to do’ one helps to combat stress.
• You are the source of your art so looking after yourself and remembering why you chose your field in the first place, may enliven your passion and delight in it.

‘Creativity is intelligence having fun’ – Albert Einstein

Written by MHScot Team Member, Sonia Last.

Sources:

Creative Lives in Progress

The Stress Arc, NHS Leadership Academy