Top Management's Role in Driving Innovation Culture

According to research my McKinsey & Company, 84% of executives confirm that innovation is important to their growth strategy. To ensure that continuous innovation becomes part of the country DNA, it is crucial to foster the right attitude and actively cultivate an innovation culture. Unsurprisingly, this is an aspect that top management has a huge role to play in.

Business leaders and top management executives must showcase an in-depth understanding of what an innovation culture is as well as how to cultivate it sustainably. Let’s take a look at some of their key responsibilities in the process of driving company-wide innovation.

Lead by example

Even when implementing a bottom-up approach to innovation, employees will look to top management for inspiration. Therefore, one of the first things that leaders must do is be prepared to explore new ideas themselves. Working to create an environment where innovation can flourish, is important, but it should also extend to a mindset change amongst the leaders themselves.

While Steve Jobs was known for a host of controversial opinions, one that is grounded in facts is his belief of conventional management often stifling innovation. In order to actively encourage innovation, management should be eager to embrace new tools, tactics, and technologies to keep pace with changing business landscapes. If nothing else, an adaptive company culture will increase the levels of trust and inspiration from the employees. In turn, this will keep innovation moving in the right direction. 

Set clear objectives

Innovation should encourage all employees to be creative, however, it is crucial to set clear objectives about what the organization hopes to achieve, from the onset. When innovating, the ideas that are submitted can then be evaluated based on their feasibility, viability, contextuality and desirability, in line with the pre-defined objectives. After all, even a great idea won’t work if it does not relate to the core business model or aligns with the company's overarching strategy. 

Corporate innovation is defined by Forbes as “having out-of-the-box thinking as a strategy within your business”. Setting clear objectives can stop employees working on irrelevant concepts, thus allowing them to dedicate their time to ideas that may succeed. When coupled with a defined strategy, it should be far easier for employees and organizations to identify successes.

Encourage intrapreneurship

For innovation to truly work, a company-wide buy-in is required. It is the responsibility of top management to make innovation feel accessible for employees at all levels. Implenia is a great example of how this can lead to more ideas being presented through bottom-up innovation. If employees aren’t engaged or given a voice, they will tend to hold back.

By encouraging innovation through intrapreneurship, each employee is given the opportunity to contribute their ideas and further innovation. If this is coupled with an adaptive company culture, that helps create an environment of psychological safety, it allows employees to make innovation a part of their daily responsibilities. Promoting intrapreneurship that accepts failure and encourages users to keep creating despite  a failed idea will also enable the organization to identify more successes in the long run.

Facilitate data-led innovation

While innovation stems from creative mindsets, data plays an increasingly important role in today’s climate. This is epitomized by the fact that 30% of organizations now actively want to embrace AI and its ability to aid innovation strategy, product development speeds, and project cost-efficiency. Data-driven decisions aid employees and organizations alike.

The use of data-driven innovation should not be limited to analyzing concepts. It can also instil a set of practices that provide a defined pathway for employees to follow when developing their ideas. Furthermore, it means that failures can become a part of the learning curve, feeding into an iterative approach that is often required to achieve  successful innovations. 

Implement the tools to bring it together

It’s one thing to understand the theoretical side of supporting innovation, but you also need the tools to drive it as a vehicle. Stats show that 62% of high-growth companies plan to invest in technologies that lead to higher rates of innovation. KICKBOX is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal.

The employee innovation program can facilitate a truly coordinated, bottom-up innovation strategy that enables employees to take a raw idea to a successful implementation by utilizing a defined pathway to unlock its most logical conclusion.