Awakening Your “Sleeping Innovators”
In an age of constant change, upward movement, and new technology, we find ourselves becoming more and more innovative to meet the changing demands. We push, create, and sometimes stumble while reaching towards the next goal. In many organizations, individual employees personalize their goals which propel the company forward toward a common goal.
But what happens when an employee isn’t as innovative, creative, or motivated as their counterparts? The normal response to an employee like this is that they are un-innovative; determined to do their job within the predetermined job description with no deviation. Employees that are left to their own devices with no attempts to lift them up fall victim to office gossip and eventually drag the company down. They repeat the same habits and pitfalls of their job; I mean, wouldn’t you if you didn’t have any other reason to react positively?
So comes the major question to many company complaints about un-innovators: How do we get them to innovate, create, motivate and repeat? Many un-innovators can and will become a larger, more positive influence on your company by introducing inclusion, respect, and understanding into their work routine. Help them deviate from the norm that has kept them captive for so long; believe in them! Inclusion is key and can be accomplished by simply allowing them the space andfloor to participate in meetings, brainstorming, and familiarizing them with the motivated energy from their innovative counterparts that they have never known in themselves. Respect means giving them the chance to provide you with information and ideas while reassuring them that you believe in their input. Lastly, understanding will give them a platform to stand. Understand that they are just a sleeping innovator and that you can help wake them up! See what they have the potential of becoming and provide them with the support and resources available to succeed.
The process begins and ends with the employee, but is influenced by their superiors. Awakening the sleeping innovator inside starts with you, their superior!
A Period of Reengineering: Your Current Business Situation
We all know what the economy downturn has done to our businesses. The unexpected collapse of our financial health of our country just about
wiped away many dreams and plans for our business future. Those companies that stayed open, our workforce changed and took a very different shape. Employees were laid off; those that kept their jobs had to wear many hats to get the job done. Depending on your market segment, you may only now begin seeing resurgence in bottom line improvements and profits. Hope for our business future is beginning to take shape again. But what organizational challenges are we dealing with today, after the aftermath?
I like to call this time a Period of Reengineering. Organizations are picking up the pieces and beginning to rebuild their workforce infrastructure. Strategies are forming around the future with the hope that businesses will continue to thrive again. Now is the time to ensure that our culture rebuild into a stronger workforce with long term sustainability. The time is now to get it right-for our employees as well as for building a healthy workforce.
The first attempt in understanding your workforce health and attitude is easily uncovered in an Employee Engagement Survey. Crafting specific questions to uncover how your employees feel about their positions, culture and company will provide you with a landscape for improvement. A very important tip in engagement surveys is in the marketing of them to your workforce. If you communicate to your employees the need for workplace improvement without retaliation, you are far more likely to receive true and honest feedback. If you don’t have a trusting culture and/or receive honest feedback and do nothing with the information, you will have a much less change for future engagement survey successes. Your employees will just not trust your intentions. It’s all up to you!
The form will walk you through each question to make you even more prepared for the process in detail. If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment on our blog or send me an email at amelya@e-ventexe.com.
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