Every business needs to innovate. A culture of innovation will take it to new heights.

Talk to most middle market leaders today and they will tell you that innovation is not just a business issue – it’s an existential imperative. Without innovation, your business might not survive.

Even now, during a time of economic uncertainty, companies remain committed to digital transformation and innovation. Our recently released CFO Outlook Survey found that 78% of CFOs plan to maintain or increase their investment in digital transformation this year. Some 80% are equally committed to product and service innovation, and 81% will continue to invest in workplace technology.

That’s not to say that companies have innovation all figured out. Leaders I talk to are always on a mission to maximize their investment. They know they have plenty of innovative people at their companies, but they are often challenged to unlock the full potential of the organization. There’s also the challenge of change management. How do you get people to embrace new ideas and new ways of doing things? 

At BDO, we’ve been investing aggressively in innovation for more than a decade. Along the way, we’ve tackled all of these questions, and I can summarize what we’ve learned in two statements. 

First, in any large-scale innovation effort it’s important to be clear about what you intend to accomplish and why. Second – and just as important – you need to build and foster a culture that will drive and sustain the effort over time. 

A clear scope and rationale is essential, because no organization has unlimited resources for innovation projects. Beyond that, when you can articulate your “what” and “why,” you can approach innovation in a strategic, disciplined way –innovating with purpose, quickly evaluating and developing ideas, and measuring outcomes. 

Our innovation strategy at BDO is broad in scope – and ambitious. We aim to boost efficiency, improving how we operate to deliver greater value for our clients and our professionals. At the same time, we’re striving to develop breakthrough ideas that will challenge and dramatically improve how we do business and how we help our clients do theirs.  

Our view is that these goals are complementary and part of a continuum. On one end, we’re constantly working to modernize work for our people, often using technology to automate tedious and manual tasks. This creates an environment that helps people feel good about coming to work every day, which is critically important. 

Beyond that, we’ve found that with new tools and processes comes new thinking – fresh ideas that can completely transform how a service is delivered. Incremental advances can lead to a step-change and can even be the catalyst for an entirely new solution – something we’ve seen happen numerous times at BDO. 

None of these innovations would be possible, however, without a culture that breathes life into the effort. Of course, innovation requires an ongoing investment in digital technologies and tools, but we’ve come to understand it will only thrive over the long term with a culture that embraces change and transformational thinking. 

To harness the collective talent and inventiveness of our people, we’ve learned to trust and empower the individual. We have many innovators at our firm, but we’d never know if we didn’t invite people into the process, encouraging them to participate while giving them the tools and processes they need to put their ideas forward. That’s why we’ve developed a “social innovation” platform, the Innovation Hub, where BDO professionals come together to share ideas, inspire one another, and bring innovation to life. 

Is it working? The evidence says yes. The number of ideas in the Innovation Hub is growing rapidly. In just four months since we launched the program, we’ve had almost 600 new ideas submitted. We’re also seeing a culture shift, with more people getting involved, and some professionals now dedicating some or all of their time to innovation. 

At BDO, we agree with Thomas Edison who said, “Continued innovation is the best way to beat the competition.” That’s the spirit we’re tapping into at BDO as we aim to make an impact – either by solving problems or creating opportunities for our clients. 

Innovation is helping us compete effectively – something every business needs to do. Just as important: Our efforts are improving the experience for our people, making their work lives better. For that reason alone, innovation is essential.