Everyday Business Tips: Encourage Employees to Innovate

Before you listen to what I got to say, you definitely would like to know who I am. I understand the idea behind your concern. You are a busy person, very busy and do not really have the time to listen to anyone who is not important. I am exactly that side of a perspective - the side that you do not care to listen to. I am an employee. It does not really matter, where I work or whom I work for. What matters is that I am one of the billions of employees out there who is working hard to make you successful. If you care to listen, it will be for your own good. You are welcome to comment on what I have got to say - I will definitely hear your side and respond what I feel about that. I also welcome others like me to express their thought here so that we can make some creative and interactive use of this online space.

How many companies actually promote innovation and discovery?

One of the most common management thought that we hear when our boss addresses a general gathering at a company meeting is that the company encourages the powers of innovation and discovery among its employees. It is indeed amusing to see how many companies actually use this 'freedom of innovation' approach when they recruit employees. As they interview new candidates, companies present themselves as providing the most innovation friendly environment for employees. They seek to assure new prospective employees that their work cultural encourages entrepreneurial growth and creativity. It is important to note that employees are typically drawn by these promises.

However, do organizations actually provide employees with an environment that encourages innovation and discovery? Rarely so! A few that do, have employees that love to work there. Why is it so? What is the harm if employers are to encourage free thought within organizations? After all some of the best theorists in business management seek to promote the idea. But the fact is that business in theory and practice are poles apart. Organization, particularly business owners are very skeptical of giving employees the freedom to think beyond the horizon. This is particularly so for smaller owner driven organizations.

What is it that stops organizations from providing employees with the freedom to innovate and discover. The problem lies in the level of understanding what the employees want. Rarely do owners and business manager actually spend time with employees to understand their perspectives. Order in modern day organizations continues to take the top to bottom approach. The boss or owner of the company decides the companies' course of action in consultation with his cohorts. I idea is then filtered down to employees who prefer to blindly follow their masters voice. In such an environment the spirit of innovations takes a back seat. Employees are more interested in 'doing what is assigned to them' rather than whacking their brain about what more they can do to contribute to the organizations growth.

Organizations that encourage the spirit of enterprise among its employees is identifiable different from the ones who do not encourage freedom of thought. Power of thought is what makes the employees feel one with the mission and vision of the organization.