How to develop an innovative culture
Employees are the lifeblood of innovation — they generate great ideas, follow through in development processes, and bring ideas to life. If so, why do many organizations struggle with motivating their workforce? By recognizing staff appropriately you'll have found the key to innovation success.
by Chetan Chandavarkar, director of Research, futurethink
Consider this: 26% of companies say that innovation isn't rewarded in their organizations. Many organizations assume that motivating for innovation is as simple as offering a reward for every idea submitted.
You need to look beyond the simple "idea-suggestion box" and develop an effective motivation program to make your innovation efforts sustainable.
What behavior do you want?
However, if your organization already has a surplus of ideas, it's not useful to solicit more. In fact, there are 3 discreet stages of innovation in which employees play a key role. At each stage, different behavioral aspects come into play. The specific drivers behind each of these must be motivated:
- Inputs. This is the “front-end” of innovation where ideas are generated. If your organization is creativity-starved or lacking rich ideas, this stage is what you should focus on. For example, office product retailer Staples conducts an annual competition called “Inventors Quest” that asks for the best office supplies ideas from employees and the general public. The best ideas receive cash prizes worth $25,000–$50,000. Winners still get to own their ideas and sign licensing agreements with Staples.
- Development. Sometimes, ideas aren't the problem. If your organization is faltering while getting ideas to market, you should keep a close eye on this stage of the innovation process. Bank of America measures the percentage of times managers meet deadlines for decision-making points across the lifecycle of a project, and rewards them appropriately.
- Outputs. Are you launching innovations that aren't meeting your market goals or objectives? If you’re consistently missing out on profit, revenue, or market share goals – you should be motivating employees at this stage of innovation. At appliances manufacturer Whirlpool, a third of senior leaders’ salaries are driven from what comes out of their innovation pipelines.
Think about where things fall through the cracks in your organization. To begin, limit your rewards and recognition program on one stage of the innovation process and gradually grow from there.
What’s your role as a communication professional?
You’ve probably guessed this already. No matter how well you design a motivation program, what ensures its success is how you communicate it internally. Work closely with other teams and ensure that your program is communicated effectively. It’s your goal to ensure that:
- Employees know about the program.
- Expectations are clear (what's being rewarded, how, and ...
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