Considering the Impact of Employee Engagement on Innovation

What is the measure of employee engagement?

Put simply, it is Contribution.  Engaged employees know their work is important and they want to contribute to the workplace for that reason.

Workplaces that have built a bottom-up collaborative culture have empowered and inspired employees who come into work every morning and think, “I know what I’m going to do today. I’ve got some great ideas about how to do it well. I’m looking forward to seeing the team and helping them work better.”

It should come as no surprise that employees in these workplaces foster innovation. They feel valued, so they provide value. Sounds simple enough.

But how exactly does one create a workplace that encourages employee engagement?

Stifling Creativity (and a little risk taking)

Before we dive into what we must do, let's look quickly at a work environment that stifles engagement. 

The biggest offender is unhealthy competition within teams. Which in turn, leads to a team filled with individuals only concerned about themselves. Of course, a little healthy competition, combined with the right processes, may lead to more innovative outcomes. 

But if a workplace ethos pits employees against one another, in order to produce "results", it may just do more harm than good.

There's also the workplace that likes to play the "blame game". Mistakes happen when you're innovating. Innovation requires change. And for every idea that is “hired”, another is fired! 

Workplaces need to learn to allow for these changes and the adjustment periods that follow. It may be uncomfortable at times - but the prize is a workforce that contributes and innovates and takes your workplace another step into a better future. 

So, what works best to dramatically encourage employee contribution? 

One of the first steps could be diversifying your workforce. Bringing on people from a range of backgrounds who are inspired, who ask questions, and have ideas on how to do things differently has immense value.

However, allied to a diversity plan must be a listening Plan. But of course, it is not enough to just hear suggestions and then omit to explore them! A truly innovative workspace will want to implement viable suggestions.

At Consideration, we understand that employee engagement and innovation are linked. By encouraging innovation discussions, by getting people to keep asking Why, you will experience improvement.

The simple act of making it both easy and natural for managers to share Challenges – without them appearing to be devoid of solutions themselves - will generate gratifying and positive results. Such efforts will be viewed as an exercise in co-creation and leadership.

We encourage you to check out our six week trial. Doing so – without cost or commitment -  is the best way to understand the immediate and sustained value Consideration brings to your innovation arsenal.