You're trying to increase employee engagement. What's the best way to use innovation?

In today's digital era, innovation is critical to ensure the survival of businesses. It enables companies to swiftly respond to evolving market dynamics, customer demands, and technological breakthroughs. Cultivating an environment that fosters innovation entails establishing a sense of psychological safety, where everyone feels encouraged to contribute ideas, experiment with novel approaches, and witness the implementation of their suggestions. By doing so, employees feel valued, motivated, and deeply invested in the success of the company. Consequently, this leads to heightened levels of engagement, productivity, and overall job satisfaction.

Encourage a culture of innovation by fostering creativity, experimentation, and idea-sharing among employees. Implement platforms or channels for employees to propose and collaborate on innovative ideas, providing them with a sense of ownership and contribution. Utilize technology tools and resources to streamline workflows, enhance communication, and facilitate remote collaboration, catering to diverse work preferences and needs. Recognize and reward innovative contributions from employees to reinforce a culture that values creativity and initiative. Offer professional development opportunities that encourage continuous learning and skill development, empowering employees to innovate in their roles.

Driving innovation internally as a culture is hard, especially as startups grow to scaleups and mature again to corporates. Ask anyone who has spent time in all growth stages of companies which one fostered the most to least innovation, and the majority of responses will be linear. It is easier to foster, grow, and maintain an innovative culture in small teams but all companies need to have innovation at their core or they will die. Innovation keeps our finger on the pulse of the future. Innovation inspires teams to come to work every day. Innovative companies adapt to the ever-changing world around them. Innovation works, that’s ‘why innovation?!’

These are the few approach I use to boost employee engagement. - Keeping communication channels open and transparent can significantly boost employee engagement. - Create platforms and channels for employees to share their ideas and suggestions for improving processes, products, or services. - Encourage employees to continuously learn and develop new skills. - Create incentive programs that reward innovative ideas and solutions. - Make efforts to connect with employees on a personal level. - Invest in leadership development programs that not only focus on work-related growth but also on fostering innovation.

Innovation isn't just about survival; it's the key to a thriving workforce. Cultivating innovation drives employee engagement by fostering empowerment, purpose, and continuous growth. As an executive coach, help leaders: Build psychological safety for idea sharing & learning from failure. Prioritize open communication & employee feedback. Promote collaboration across teams to maximize idea flow. Invest in upskilling for a growth-oriented, innovative mindset. Innovation isn't a project; it's a culture. Help your clients make it a cornerstone of their organizations!

Innovation happens when employees feel empowered. Leaders who communicate clearly and effectively give their teams tools to brainstorm, collaborate and try new things create a sense of autonomy among teams and their projects. Additionally, encouraging smart risk-taking helps teams understand that setbacks are part of the process.

Lead by example: Managers who demonstrate enthusiasm and commitment to their work inspire their teams to do the same. Their positive attitude becomes contagious, fostering a culture of engagement. Focus on middle management to amplify this effect across the organization. Coordinate volunteer opportunities: Engage employees in meaningful activities that contribute to society, fostering a sense of purpose and unity. Plan volunteer events near the office for convenient participation, promoting team building and community impact. Encourage Idea Generation & Recognize Top Performers: Establish platforms for idea submission, celebrating contributions to foster appreciation and motivate excellence in improving processes, products, or services.

In my experience, to build a culture of innovation you need to Empower your team with autonomy, and resources. This will show results when you connect innovation to the mission and performance reviews, and motivational programs. Do not forget to Celebrate team wins!

Growing a culture of innovation starts as a top-down strategy. Make no bones about it, there is no innovative company out there doesn’t have a CEO & senior leadership team driving an innovative culture. Having that in place permits autonomy for teams to further foster an innovative culture. This can be achieved organically or synthetically and most times a combination of both. Arming teams with tools, budgets, and freedom to go beyond their day-to-day tasks is imperative in authorising an innovative mindset. Thinking outside the box can work in isolation but if a company aims to nurture innovation as part of its DNA then it needs to step up to the plate itself.

I see my team is motivated to appear for the work schedule so as not to follow the status quo, rather they are looking for something new to learn, experiment and challenge them. That makes the innovative obvious to keep your employees engaged. You need to challenge the employees regularly to use new technology, an enhanced process, and better models. Give them the autonomy, opportunity to fail, and succeed to invent something new and better. Make some innovations across the way they collaborate, the way they brainstorm and solve, the way they solution and design. This will increase their engagement & productivity multi fold #PraveenShares

There are 3 crucial factors for measuring and improving innovation in your team. First create channels for feedback by showing appreciation for their input by taking action on constructive feedback, making them feel valued and heard. Then foster collaboration by forming cross-functional teams, you can tap into the collective creativity and expertise of individuals from various backgrounds, leading to more innovative and successful solutions.Follow up, maintain clear and transparent communication with your employees regarding the organization's innovation goals, progress, and achievement. This clarity helps create a shared sense of purpose and encourages active participation in driving innovation forward.

Para medir e melhorar a inovação de forma eficaz, é crucial definir métricas relevantes e acompanhar regularmente seu progresso. Isso inclui avaliar o número de novas ideias geradas, a taxa de implementação e o impacto nas métricas de negócios, como satisfação do cliente e receita. Além disso, é essencial coletar e analisar dados para entender os resultados e identificar áreas de melhoria. Incorporar feedback de clientes, funcionários e outras partes interessadas também é fundamental para aprimorar continuamente suas iniciativas de inovação.

For me this is the hardest thing with ‘innovation’… measurability! Let’s define the areas of innovation as: Research, Sustaining/Incremental, Disruptive/Breakthrough, and Radical. Within each of these areas we can apply various frameworks to measure and I personally like to call out ‘measuring impact’. Yes, we can measure quantitatively and qualitatively but measuring impact for me is where you see the true value of innovation. We like to say that sometimes measuring innovation can be like driving a car, you can only see it in the rear-view mirror. Impactful innovation takes time so, for me, trying to measure innovation over a period of time makes more sense for those who are seeking impactful results.

Todos los cambios requieren un proceso de conocimiento, comprensión, aceptación e implementación. Nada nuevo que llegue a los equipos puede funcionar si previamente no se ha dado a conocer en profundidad y se han explicado las causas por las cuales es conveniente que se implante. Si queremos que los equipos abracen la innovación y se comprometan con el cambio, tenemos que facilitarles conocimientos, capacitación, herramientas y reconocimiento posterior de su nivel de esfuerzo e implicación.

The best way to build trust with employees and authentically engage them is to take action on top suggestions and priorities that matter to your teams. Listen to their concerns and goals, and very visibly DO SOMETHING about it. If you trust your team, their suggestions/requests will give you the chance to demonstrate that you care about their input, and believe in their expertise. I would suspect these suggestions also have a likely chance to positively impact business outcomes, as they come from those people closest to your customers and the work of your organization.

I'm a huge fan of winning people, their ideas and their energy through collaborative innovation both with partners and employees. Leveraging design thinking style hackathons (as just one of many examples) where everyone's idea is heard and integrated is - in my experience - a phenomenal way of increasing employee engagement.

FREE FOOD!! It’s true! There is no better attraction to any team event that free food & drink. But that fix is short-term my friend and sometimes the calorific high only lasts minutes. So, we need to go beyond the pizzas, muffins, and ice-cream trucks (yes I have genuinely see this one work really well during a hot summer)! For me, employees engage when they see others engaging. When they feel safe to do so. That means they feel like they have permission to engage, they won’t feel humiliated to engage, and in fact they may even be rewarded to engage. Do as I do, not as I say - as the expression goes; generating activities that are inclusive, inspirational, fun, and rewarding could hold the key to involving employees in innovation.

We shall plan the strategies which include creating a collaborative environment through open communication and cross-functional teams. When we recognize and reward innovation, both formally and informally, motivates employees. We shall provide training programs and necessary resources that empower them to engage in innovative activities. Encouraging independence allows employees to explore and implement their ideas, and enables a sense of ownership. Executing an idea management system provides a structured way to collect and implement innovative thoughts, assuring a dynamic and innovative workplace.

This certainly involves important steps while sustaining and growing innovation. As a leader, we need to actively support and encourage innovative ideas, we should lead by a positive example, and provide the necessary tools. Training and development help employees gain the skills needed for innovation and show a commitment to their growth. Offering incentives and recognition, whether through rewards or acknowledgement, builds a positive cycle for creative efforts. Recognizing successful initiatives and expanding them, along with getting feedback, shows a commitment to valuing employee ideas and making positive changes.

Toda inovação precisa ser testada e avaliada por meio de indicadores chave em seus processos, e o emprego de ferramentas da qualidade é uma excelente forma de verificar se a evolução esperada por determinada inovação é consistente e robusta pelos seus resultados. Quando isso não for verdadeiro, faz parte da inovação, alinhar as rotas e aparar arestas para que sejam atingidos todos os resultados esperados, pois a inovação deve ser empregada para melhorias. Sustentar resultados deve ser avaliado como uma tendência pela implantação de inovações, portanto, busque resultados positivos em uma série histórica, mas também seja humilde para voltar, reorganizar a rota, e começar tudo novamente.

One practical insight to boost employee engagement through innovation is to establish cross-functional innovation teams. By bringing together individuals from different departments and backgrounds, you create diverse perspectives and expertise. These teams can brainstorm ideas, solve problems, and collaborate on projects, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation. For example, you might assemble a team comprising members from marketing, product development, and customer service to tackle a specific challenge or develop a new product. This approach not only promotes innovation but also enhances teamwork and engagement among employees.

The key is to embrace failure as a stepping stone to success. We often hear, "This is how it's always been done," but to truly engage and inspire our teams, we need to challenge the status quo and be open to experimenting. Remember, the most groundbreaking achievements didn't come from following the path well-trodden but from venturing into the uncharted. Let's not do things simply because they've been done that way in the past.