Researchers in the US found that companies with a culture of innovation not only grow faster, but are more productive and profitable than their peers. For example, innovative companies tend to embrace automation solutions, as they help decrease repetitive manual work and free employees to work on more valuable, customer-focused tasks.
Promoting innovation in the workplace also allows the business to react better to changing market conditions. It enables you to develop products, services and processes that are in line with your customers’ needs and, as a result, help the business achieve a more competitive edge.
In short, innovation can be an important catalyst for your business's growth and success. Try the following tips to promote innovation in your business.
1. Keep up to date on market trends
It's important to keep a close eye on your niche market at all times. Are there new technologies, processes or regulations that affect your line of business? It can help to follow and build relationships to relevant thought leaders and influencers. They're often quick to spot emerging trends that can end up changing the face of your industry.
2. Listen to your customers
How could you better meet customer needs? Look for ways to connect with customers, for example through social media, and solicit their ideas on how to improve your products, services or marketing efforts. They might point out some things you wouldn't have even thought of.
3. Share and capture ideas
Openly sharing knowledge and ideas is a great way to promote innovative thinking within your business. You could, for example, set up an online platform, where employees can share their knowledge and ideas and then vote for the ones they like best.
Regular brainstorming workshops can be another great way to get creativity flowing among your team. Good ideas should be heard, so you should encourage collaboration between employees, teams and departments.
4. Be supportive
Innovation can only happen in an environment where people feel they can express bold ideas without the risk of being criticised or ignored. So, ensure everyone in your business – from the very bottom up – feels empowered to think outside the box and comfortable to share those thoughts. This helps make them feel like they're an important piece of the big picture.
5. Take risks
Experimenting, accepting failures and learning from your experiences are all important parts of the innovation process. So, avoid penalising employees who try new ideas that don’t succeed – you might find an important lesson in their failure. Also, a thorough risk assessment analysis can help you minimise any losses to the business before they occur.
6. Invest in new technology
A large portion of business innovation today is driven by technological improvements. Look at ways you could leverage new technologies, such as the cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) or robotics to improve in your processes, operations, products or services. For example, you could integrate AI-based tools to automate repetitive tasks or use the cloud to store and analyse customer data.
7. Seek outside partnerships
Use available resources such as government grants, business advisors, university researchers or venture capital firms to fine-tune your ideas and turn them into viable products or services.
8. Look beyond qualifications
The most innovative thinkers don’t always come with impressive degrees or qualifications. Qualities that closely relate to innovation when recruiting new employees, such as creativity, initiative, teamwork skills and leadership, may be a better fit for the future of your business.
