Secrets to Stimulate Innovation in Your Business

When did you last hire someone because they seemed a little unusual?

I’ve written about the benefits of hiring employees who don’t fit the stuffy corporate profile.

Hiring fresh, creative, and innovative individuals to work at your organization can stimulate innovation and ultimately help your company grow significantly.

Why Encourage Innovation?

Many business owners and leaders understand the importance of teamwork, loyalty, and a strong culture, but not enough companies value innovation. Even fewer know how to encourage creativity and innovative thinking among their employees.

According to a study by Robert Half, 35% of chief financial officers identified more innovative ideas as their primary roadblock to organizational breakthroughs. Innovation keeps your business relevant, puts you ahead of the competition, and helps your business survive in these ever-changing times. Many companies don’t think to foster a culture of creativity until it’s too late.

Creative thinking can very quickly take your business to the next level. The key is to stimulate innovation at all levels of your organization, starting with leadership.

Ways to Stimulate Innovation in Your Business

If your employees aren’t accustomed to using creative thinking, it may take some time to shift the company culture in that direction. You can start by having an honest talk with your team about what new behaviors you’d like to see from them. Could you let them know that you’d like to stimulate innovation company-wide?

Many of your associates have good ideas but never share them for fear of being ridiculed or sounding silly. If you emphasize that you value brainstorming and that no idea is too out there to mention, they’ll feel more comfortable coming up with new ideas and trying them out.

Giving your teammates agency over their projects and responsibilities is crucial for this approach to be practical. If your staff is invested in the outcome of a particular project or goal, they’re more likely to generate as many ideas as possible to ensure its success.

You should also examine the structure of your business to identify any obstacles that hinder innovative thinking. For example, if an idea needs to pass through several strict committees or teams before it’s implemented, employees might feel it could be a better use of time to make suggestions. Make it easier for your workers to implement their ideas—it’s almost always better to try a new approach and see it fail than remain stagnant and stuck in your processes.

When you doubt, please be the example you want to see. Your associates are much more likely to make an attempt and risk failure if they see you’re not afraid to do the same.

Ultimately, it’s a worthwhile investment to hold workshops on creativity and innovation, or to send your employees to seminars so that they can gain more knowledge. Many employees want to be more creative, but need to be used to being asked for this type of input. It might take some learning and unlearning for your team to find the right balance.

Are you ready to take the first step in creating a culture that fosters innovation? Please fill out my contact form, and let’s have a video call to discuss how to get started.

Coach Dave