Employee Innovation: Encourage your employees’ ideas

Every company that is operating at this time, whether nationally or internationally, and regardless of its size, should know the value of its employees’ ideas, employee innovation, and take them into account. This is how big companies like Ericsson, Adobe, or LinkedIn do it. They have established systems and procedures focused on this concept because its effectiveness is proven and it translates into growth.

The basis of every business, the origin of every idea, starts from people. And it is the people who are part of the companies, who provide the ideas that can lead an organisation to survive or excel.

We want your company to be part of the group of those that stand out. For this reason, we tell you what employee innovation is based on, how to develop strategies to promote a business culture of innovation, and how to boost creativity.

Employee innovation: What is it?

This term refers to the innovation arising from the employees. It reflects the need to leave behind structures in which only superior positions are legitimated to come up with proposals or solutions. This mentality prevents people in positions of lesser responsibility from feeling involvement with the results of the business.

On the other hand, a structure that allows each person on the staff to contribute ideas that are taken into consideration or even supported and put into practice, allows for better results in terms of commitment and productivity.

3 ways to establish the innovation culture

We want to show you 3 key issues when rethinking the way you act to make it more innovative.

Customer-centric systems

We are experiencing a profound change in business mentality. Systems and strategies are created based on the audience and their clients. Every decision and every action is aimed at pleasing those who trust the brand. Thus, they manage to be more competitive and remain in the market, even increase their profits and diversify.

On the other hand, businesses that adopt approaches based on sales or other indicators, dehumanise their brand and do not achieve the expected success. And as a result, they are not sustainable in global terms.

Drive through technology

The fact is that using technology is not limited to acquiring state-of-the-art technology and applying innovative software. It goes further, and it is important to do it well; At Ideafoster we have it clear on how to help you.

We analyse companies that have invested in software that they do not know how to use, and from which they do not make a profit. Therefore, choosing the best software is crucial, as is its integration into work teams and systems. Our recommendation is to carry out preliminary research, a good needs analysis, and provide training to ensure the optimisation of resources.

Technology, by itself, does not guarantee results.

Training on innovation and development

A business culture based on innovation requires the involvement of the entire company. This is achieved by informing, involving and training. Once the information and strategy creation phases have been completed, training must be carried out to ensure success and avoid frustration in the teams.

1. Analyse needs and demands that may arise.
2. Offer the necessary tools and training.
3. Follow up and recognise the template.

Employee Innovation: 3 ways to boost it

There are many examples in which employee innovation is incorporated into leading companies. We are going to explain 3 ideas that underlie most cases:

Offer the possibility to innovate and create

If your company wants to grow through innovation, it is important to create spaces and allow time for it. Overloaded templates can’t be creative, that’s a fact. Take the opportunity to systematise and automate tasks and thus free your talents.

You can establish regular activities to promote cooperative work, care and mental health, etc.

Recruit and attract talent

The culture must be reflected in each and every one of the actions that your business develops. And, of course, regarding the selection of personnel.

To attract talent, the best thing is to offer the best destination, the most attractive positions and the most enriching work environment. So, when hiring, opt for creative profiles that also generate harmony.

Internal entrepreneurship and innovation programs

Those initiatives that promote creativity will always be an incentive for the professionals in your organisation. You can ask for their collaboration to organise them, this will increase their subsequent involvement.

An example is to open two annual calls to promote ideas, projects or improvements for the company. And then the best proposals can be voted among the teams, so that the two most voted are carried out.

Conclusions about employee innovation

At Ideafoster we work every day to be your innovation partner, and we help you make these changes that allow you to be a more sustainable and competitive business. You can choose, survive, or excel… Count on Ideafoster for the latter!