Dissecting "BCG's Most Innovative Companies 2023" Report

DISSECTING BCG'S MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES 2023 REPORT TO UNDERSTAND, HOW TALENT PLAYS CENTRAL AND A PIVOTAL ROLE IN DRIVING INNOVATION.

AS I BROWSED THROUGH THE REPORT, ONE THING THAT COMES OUT AS THE MOST CRITICAL YET IS PRETTY BASIC, i.e., TALENT WHILE WE SAIL THROUGH THE CHANGING TOUGH MARKET CONDITIONS.

(THE GRAPHIC BELOW, I ALWAYS REFER TO, DEPICTS WHY ANY BUSINESS CAN'T ACHIEVE IMPACTFUL DELIVERY FOR THEIR CUSTOMERS AND GAIN MARKET SHARE, WITHOUT RIGHT TALENT STRATEGY IN PLACE.)

A FEW EXCERPTS FROM THE REPORT BELOW, WHICH GIVE AMPLE DIRECT AND INDIRECT EMPHASIS TO WHY WITHOUT DEDICATED FOCUS ON TALENT, INNOVATION IS NOT POSSIBLE:

A) What Winners Are Doing

We observed that successful innovation takes three things:?

• ??making innovation a priority,?
• ??committing investment and TALENT to it, and?
• ??being ready to transform investment into results.?

We found that only about one company in four was “innovation ready”—that is, it met all three criteria, particularly possessing the elements of leadership and TEAMING that enable effective execution of a company’s innovation.

BUSINESSES NEED TO COMMIT INVESTMENT TO GAIN TALENT ADVANTAGE

B) Example: Bosch: A Culture of Innovation?

Bosch has a global R&D organization of about 84,800 employees, 44,000 of whom are software developers, in 130 locations. From 2018 through 2021, the company has maintained steady R&D spending as share of sales at between 7.6% and 8.2%. A core pillar of Bosch’s innovation strategy is its centralized Bosch Research unit. With 1,800 highly specialized employees, this unit generates about a quarter of all Bosch patents.

YOUR WILLINGNESS AND STRATEGY TO STAY AHEAD, BOILS DOWN TO - ATTRACTING AND RETAINING THE TALENT

C) Investing with Focus

Innovating through uncertainty requires tough prioritization around portfolio management, rigorous governance, investment in M&A opportunities, and the continuous building of TALENT and internal capabilities. In practice, this means companies should focus on five things.

1) M&A. Leaders look to acquire missing technologies, capabilities, and TALENT

2) Portfolio Prioritization. Innovation-ready companies emphasize breakthrough or disruptive innovations, while Less sophisticated innovators allocate RESOURCES more heavily to “near-in” or sustaining innovation.

3) Portfolio Management. Embedding effective portfolio management and governance helps ensure ROI. Almost all innovation-ready companies employ end-to-end tracking of key metrices to assess progress and make informed decisions about an initiative’s value. Top 5 of these key metrices are: Overall revenue growth, customer satisfaction?and impact on environmental, social, and governance goals.

4) Data, Targets, and Collaboration. Ready companies emphasize use of fundamental tools and ensure greater data transparency, clearer portfolio targets, and more collaboration.

5) Innovation-Focused TALENT and Culture. For many almost ready companies, TALENT AND CULTURE is the dimension holding them back from realizing the full potential of their innovation function. In fact, companies that are almost ready (according to BCG’s i2i assessment) lag ready companies more on TALENT AND CULTURE than on any other dimension. Ready companies focus on an innovation focused culture and TALENT PIPLELINE. They are three to four times as likely as their almost-ready counterparts to have successfully implemented a strong innovation-focused RECRUITING AND TALENT ACQUISITION foundation across all stages of the TALENT PIPELINE. The WAR FOR TALENT is a perennial issue. The job market is still strong, but it has softened in many parts of the world, meaning it may be easier now to build or strengthen internal teams. The same conditions that provide opportunities for M&A also offer the opportunity to ACQUIRE QUALIFIED, INNOVATION-FOCUSED TALENT.

TO BE AMONG THE TOP ORGANIZATION IN YOUR DOMAIN, IT'S EXTREMELY CRITICAL TO BE INNOVATION READY. AND TO BE INNOVATION READY, AN ORGANIZATION NEEDS TO BE A GREAT EMPLOYER BRAND.

D) Good Advice (Updated) Stands the Test of Time.?

In BCG'S 2009 report, they offered “seven aggressive innovations strategies,” both long term and short term, for leading out of the downturn. Nearly a decade and a half later, those approaches are still valid, although they could be updated to add the following strategies to reflect today’s more technology- and data-intensive environment. One of them is: Raid competitors’ TALENT POOLS. Don’t be afraid to find talent wherever it may be—and locate talent pools in other industries—to build your own capabilities.?

THEY SAY "RAID COMPETITOR'S TALENT POOL". ONE CAN GO AHEAD AND RAID COMPETITOR'S TALENT POOL, BUT WHAT IF THE TALENT DOESN'T CHOSE YOUR BRAND, INSTEAD LOOKS UPTO YOUR COMPETITION? YOU SEE, WHY CREATING A GREAT EMPLOYER BRAND IS CRITICAL TO STAY IN THE GAME?

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SO THE OBVIOUS FOLLOW-ON QUESTIONS ARE: (CLICK THE QUESTIONs TO KNOW THE ANSWERS)

• WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO CREATE A GREAT EMPLOYER BRAND?
• WHAT SKILLS ONE NEEDS TO BUILD AN EMPLOYER BRAND?

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Read #BCG 's full?#50MostInnovative?Companies Report:?https://on.bcg.com/41YJ0gr