Four Key Advantages to Internal Employee Hackathons

Each year, PGIM invests in hackathons to continue building a culture of innovation while inspiring creativity and collaboration across our firm.

We recently held a three-day internal hackathon where 24 teams and 119 participants from across PGIM’s businesses competed to create an app that would benefit their team, business, or the broader enterprise. The competition was stiff and gave participants the opportunity to utilize new technology, collaborate cross-functionally and showcase their skills.

While there are many benefits in hosting and a hackathon, four key advantages are:

Accelerating Innovation

Hackathons serve as powerful catalysts for accelerating innovation and solving business challenges by providing a safe space for both business and technical professionals to unleash their creativity and think outside the box. One of the biggest pieces of advice I give time after time is to fail fast, and hackathons give us the permission to do this. Under the time constraint of a hackathon, we have no choice but to test and learn – and fail fast. However, the environment that enables employees to fail fast is also the same one that enables them to innovate fast.

Catalyzing Innovative Thinking

The fail-fast environment hackathons foster is also the same one that enables employees to innovate fast – serving as a catalyst for innovative thinking. These events inspire employees to break free from conventional approaches and embrace a mindset of exploration and risk-taking. Participants are empowered to pursue bold ideas, experiment with emerging technologies and push the boundaries of what's possible. This culture of innovation not only drives progress towards finding business solutions during the hackathon, but it also permeates throughout the company, fostering a spirit of continuous improvement and adaptability – while empowering employees to integrate innovation into their roles throughout the year – not just during hackathons.

Collaborating Across Our Businesses

Hackathons inspire cross-functional collaboration, bringing subject matter experts from different backgrounds and departments together. By working collaboratively on multidisciplinary teams, employees have the opportunity to gain valuable insights into the perspectives and skills of their colleagues, fostering mutual understanding and respect. By working together to problem solve and innovate, participants can leverage their diverse knowledge and experiences to tackle complex challenges from multiple angles, leading to more robust and holistic solutions. Furthermore, the relationships forged during hackathons often extend beyond the event, laying the foundation for ongoing collaboration and knowledge sharing across the organization.

Enabling Growth and Development Opportunities

Participating in these events offers employees the chance to hone their problem-solving skills, expand their technical knowledge and develop their creativity in a supportive and collaborative environment. Hackathons also serve as platforms for professional growth and networking, allowing employees to showcase their talents, build relationships with colleagues from different departments and gain visibility within the organization. In addition, the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that comes from successfully tackling challenges and bringing innovative ideas to life during a hackathon can boost employee morale, motivation and job satisfaction, contributing to the company's success while fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.

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