Innovation Strategy: How to Facilitate Employee-Led Innovation within Organizations

Innovation. It’s a buzz word in the business world, and one that can mean a lot of different things to different people. What role does innovation play within your organization? And how can you encourage employee-led innovation?

We’ve chosen five, out of many, considerations for organizations to start encouraging employee-led innovation.

What is Employee-Led Innovation?

Employee-led innovation is the process of employees generating new ideas to address opportunities and solutions to existing problems within your organization. It’s about empowering employees to think outside the box and develop creative solutions to help the organization achieve its goals.

5 Considerations for Encouraging Employee-Led Innovation

#1 - How Does Your Organization Respond to Failure??

Can you come up with five hand-raisers in your organization? The curious or outspoken employees willing to provide a response or share an idea?

Implementing a culture that accepts failures as a result of pursuing innovation is your first step in facilitating employee-led innovation and achieving your business goals.?

#2 - Do Your Staff Feel Psychologically Safe??

To facilitate any innovation hub or jump straight into creation and development, consider how to establish psychological safety. According to HBR, Psychological safety is the shared belief held by members of a team that it’s OK to take risks, to express their ideas and concerns, to speak up with questions, and to admit mistakes — all without fear of negative consequences.

Without a psychologically safe environment, employees will feel cohibited and potentially afraid to share their ideas and insights with you or other leaders in your organization.

?#3 - Are There Any Barriers to Innovation?

Employee innovation can be brought to a standstill as a result of numerous barriers in the workplace.??

Hierarchical, environmental, and resource barriers are just a few of the things that can prevent employee-led innovation from taking off within an organization. Therefore, it’s essential to identify any existing barriers and take steps to remove them.

Asking employees for ideas and then taking 6-months to provide feedback is a surefire guarantee to failure.

#4 - Is Capacity an Issue for Employee-Led Innovation?

Short answer? Yes!

You must ensure that you have the resources in place to back up any initiative your employees have to innovate. Who is going to take action on the innovations? Is there a budget available to pursue your team’s best ideas?

When you have the capacity to support innovation, you create an environment where employees feel their ideas are valued and that they have the opportunity to make a real impact within the organization.

#5 - Have You Considered the Benefits of Innovation Software??

Innovation software provides a space for employees to submit their ideas, collaborate with others, and track the progress. It’s an essential tool for any organization that wants to encourage employee-led innovation.

Conclusion

Encouraging innovation driven by your employees within your organization is a key strategy that enables growth not only for your business, but also for one of your most valuable assets: your workforce.

We would love to hear how you facilitate employee-led innovation within your organization. What has worked? What has failed? Please share!