In an article in Business Insider*, Sara Caroline Sabin explains that young talent, in search of a motivating corporate culture, often turns to start-ups. Indeed, in the collective imagination, the notion of a start-up carries the idea of a dynamic work environment, which listens to the ideas of each employee and where everyone can develop new and inspiring projects. In other words, the start-up is the symbol of a culture of innovation. And that is why it is so attractive to young talent. But any company, whether it calls itself a start-up or not, can put in place the foundations of an innovation culture.
The 4 pillars of an innovation culture
The culture of innovation is a culture of error
To be competitive in a rapidly changing world, a company must be able to innovate. If your organisation does not know how to innovate, there is no guarantee that it will still exist in 10 years time. And to participate in the innovation effort, employees must have the right mindset. If your company has a "blame culture", they will not be able to innovate. This is because they will be afraid to try new things, to fail and to make mistakes, fearing the negative repercussions, especially on their careers.
To keep employees motivated to innovate, you need to show them that new ideas are an integral part of what is expected of them, even if those ideas are not "right" right away. So if your employees make mistakes, they should be encouraged to learn from them and keep trying until they succeed. Because we learn more from our mistakes than from our successes!
Building a company of leaders
Leadership is not just about people at the top of an organisation. Every person in an organisation can be a unique leader, with their own qualities. Becauseleadership is about taking responsibility, alone and with your team. Every employee must know that he or she has a role to play.
Building a culture of innovation means letting every employee know that their voice counts. An employee must be sure that he or she can really have an impact within the company and contribute to innovation. This is more than just an " idea box". Indeed, ideas must be actively reviewed and selected by management for testing.
Investing in skills development
If you are looking to attract the best talent, you can expect them to want to continually develop their skills. Take the time to understand what they need, and support them in this. You will show that you are committed to helping them achieve their goals.
It can also involve pushing your staff out of their comfort zone to help them develop new skills. For example, you can encourage them to become more creative, and to think differently to find more innovative solutions to the problems they face. To help them do this, consider organising creativity workshops!
Transparency and bottom-up communication
Authenticity can be sniffed out. Your employees will have no trouble detecting whether your approach is sincere.
Clear and transparent communication will get the message across that "we are all in this together". Indeed, your company has a single mission, and everyone has a distinct role to play in achieving it collectively. Everyone needs to feel comfortable giving feedback, participating and being involved in transparent communication.
The importance of setting an example
To implement a culture of innovation in your company, it is essential to set an example. Indeed, you must first of all get the managers and top managers of your organisation on board. They are the ones who will be able to infuse a new culture among the teams. In particular, they will be able to :
- Infuse a culture of error by changing the way they communicate
- Encourage each employee to become a "player in the company" by proposing ideas or developing projects beyond his or her own scope
- Develop the skills of teams by setting up social learning, mentoring, etc.
- Initiate more transparent communication to keep the troops motivated
Read the original article by Sara Caroline Sabin : 4 ways to build an innovative and motivated work culture