Building a high performing team focused on innovation

Since the beginning of history, regardless of the economic circumstance, innovation is the path to growth and business resilience!!! There is a perception in today’s economy that if you give your teams the latest and greatest technology, they will naturally outperform the competition and deliver better results. However, this equation ignores the human factor – it requires people to transform and innovate to deliver results. Leaders need to shift focus from the current paradigm of investing in technology initiatives to investing in employees to create a culture that supports people by providing a safe haven to grow and innovate.?By investing in employees, leaders can avoid the high cost of not investing in talent and create high performing teams of engaged individuals with the capabilities to organically take the organization forward.?These high performing teams with committed employees will become the cornerstone of your organization that successfully delivers growth and overcomes macroeconomic challenges facing the business.

Clearly the current model of investing in technology is failing.?This year alone, we are globally anticipating $4.5 trillion in technology investments.?For comparison purposes, this number is larger than Germany’s economy, the fourth largest in the world. Ironically, less than 30% of these investments is expected to be successful.?That is over $3 trillion dollars wasted on failed initiatives ranging from inability to effectively use the implemented technology to products that are never launched to market.???

Over-investing in technology and neglecting the human factor have been contributing to a disengaged workforce.?The shift to remote and hybrid working arrangements has amplified the lack of engagement and quiet quitting is gaining momentum. According to a 2022 Pew Research Center study, two of the top driving forces influencing an employee’s decision to quit are lack of growth opportunities and lack of respect. The financial costs for replacing talent is costly, ranging between three to nine months of salary. With annual attrition rates up to 40%, there is a direct impact to the company’s margin. Beyond employees actually leaving employment, companies are also seeing the impact of quiet quitting on productivity. This double whammy of attrition and quiet quitting are a result of lack of investment in people.?????

Investing in human capital is a long term investment in growth both for your people and your business and does not have to come at a high cost. We can start with the knowledge that more motivated, higher skilled employees are the foundational building blocks to high performing teams that can deliver transformative growth. To invest in people, we can begin by demonstrating commitment to your employees and their well-being, both physical and mental. The reality is that work as we know it, 9-to-5, in the office 5 days a week, has changed. Employee needs have changed along with the environment and employees are demanding more flexibility and hybrid working arrangements. Acknowledging the reality of this change and working with your employees to support an effective, collaborative work environment will help build a team that feels valued and build loyalty.

Along with the engagement to build an effective work culture and team, providing ways for teams to upskill their capabilities is a key ingredient to winning the hearts and minds of your people. When people see the personal growth opportunities that are being opened up for them, they will embrace the challenge of growth, embrace the disruptive technologies introduced in the organization to reimagine their work and deliver value. These people become the core catalyst to build a culture of innovation and does not require a huge budget. The following three practical investment steps will support your teams’ path to self-led innovation and growth.??????

Step 1: Upskill talent with ongoing end user technology training

Just providing a technology, no matter how advanced or user friendly, is not enough to engage employees. Ongoing end user technology training helps employees embrace the capabilities of the tools that they are using and enhances their technical expertise. Further, with the increased use of SaaS products, ongoing training helps team members get in front of new features the technology offers and reimagine how best to incorporate into their work product.?Partnering with technology providers and negotiating hands-on technology training as part of the licensing agreement is a cost-effective way to provide employees with real-life, usable training.?Based on the size and scale of the organization, leaders can increase understanding and usage of technology capabilities by investing in process experts who are accountable for working with end users to increase technology usage in daily work activities. Both regular training and increased engagement with process experts increases the teams’ command of the technologies and contributes to their confidence in their day-to-day work.

Step 2: Upskill talent with enhanced analytical and problem-solving capabilities

Once the technologies have become embedded in the team’s work and they have become accustomed to finding new ways to use the technologies, using tools and data to make decisions becomes critical to building high performing teams. ?Leaders can increase their teams’ ability to analyze and solve problems by sponsoring in-house continuous improvement programs, starting small with no investment in new tools. As the continuous improvement programs grow, leaders can bring in external experts to provide teams with guidance methodologies, followed by use cases where teams can use the methodologies to execute their improvement projects. This type of investment not only demonstrates commitment to employee’s growth and success; it also enables employees to confidently embrace new technologies.?With stronger analytical capabilities, rather than the technology driving the way employees work, employees can start using the technology to augment their analytical capabilities and decision making. This pivot also helps employees shift their focus to using their energy on creativity and innovation to add value back into the organization.

Step 3: Upskill talent with stronger emotional intelligence capabilities

Effectively using technology and analytical skills creates a group of people that are very high performing on an individual level. Bringing this disparate group together requires more than just saying that collaboration and teamwork is important. We all recognize that there is a large amount of time spent dealing with conflict teamwork. Further, the increased use of technology tools and hybrid work often mask the focus on developing interpersonal, soft skills. ?As leaders, building a high performing team includes ongoing soft skill training in areas such as written and oral communication, conflict resolution and influencing skills to help team members work effectively together and create a culture of collaboration.?With minimal incremental investments, leaders can incorporate formal emotional intelligence tools into the continuous improvement program enabling the teams to practice utilizing the tools.?A highly functional team who works well together will contribute to an engaged, content team and better position them to drive self-led innovation activities.?

Recap - Pivot towards building a high performing, collaborative team focused on innovation in the digital environment.

Leaders cannot ignore the high costs of attrition in the digital-first operating model and continue to rely on the old school methods to improving employee engagement. Employees are demanding commitment from organizations to prioritize investments in their personal growth and make their personal success a part of the organization’s success. Demonstrating your commitment to employees by taking small, practical steps to enhance employee’s technical capabilities, problem-solving capabilities, and emotional intelligence will pay dividends in organically creating a high performing, collaborative team of innovators. Leaders can shift energy from constantly interviewing candidates and resolving conflicts to supporting employees execute innovation agendas.?Organizations can go from constantly hunting for talent to being sought after by talent by creating a culture where talent investments are part of the core.?

References:

Microsoft’s 2022 Work Trends Index: Exploring Hybrid Work And A Workforce In Transition. Daniel Newman. March 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2022/03/23/microsofts-2022-work-trends-index-exploring-hybrid-work-and-a-workforce-in-transition/?sh=56dc12d7c1a0

Majority of workers who quit a job in 2021 cite low pay, no opportunities for advancement, feeling disrespected.?March 2022. Kim Parker and Juliana Menasce Horowitz. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/09/majority-of-workers-who-quit-a-job-in-2021-cite-low-pay-no-opportunities-for-advancement-feeling-disrespected/