Company culture determines the relationships and actions of its employees within the company and shapes its external appearance. It is not openly visible, but it is shown indirectly through the values, norms, attitudes, and paradigms that employees share collectively.
On the other hand, innovation culture describes a specific form of corporate culture that is primarily intended to promote the development of innovation within the company. The culture of innovation functions as a kind of intersection of cultures, whose standards and values are shaped and supported by all participants in the process. A positive innovation culture creates incentives for employees and leads to an increase in the innovative power of the company.
Characteristics of a culture of innovation
1. Strong leadership
One of the main characteristics of a good work culture is strong leadership. The key here is for leaders to inspire their employees. In addition, skills in oral and written communication and active listening are also of great importance. Under strong leadership we can also classify skills such as transparency that encourages employee trust in leadership, but also good delegation and goal setting. In a culture of innovation, it is important to show curiosity and a positive attitude so that employees will emulate these qualities.
2. Trusting environment
If you want more innovation in the workplace, building a trusting environment is key. This can help employees feel comfortable sharing their ideas. Trust can be developed through frequent communication, building relationships, and promoting transparency.
3. Innovative strategy
Another characteristic of a positive and creative work culture is having an innovative strategy. As you build such a work environment, it’s important to create a strategy that you can follow. To create a unified strategy, meet with key stakeholders, including employees, customers, and investors, to get different perspectives and create a strategy that fits your organization.
4. Creativity
We have already talked about creativity in previous blogs, but here we are again! It is essential in order to incorporate innovation into the workplace. We can encourage it in various ways. Only some of them are creative tasks and giving freedom to our employees to express it – either through projects or specific tasks. Trust us, creativity leads to innovation!
5. Embracing failure
Another thing is to embrace a positive attitude towards failure. As leaders, we need to empower our employees to experiment with new ideas, even if the ideas will not be successful. In addition, mistakes can serve as an opportunity to learn. Only if we embrace a positive attitude towards failure, we can help our employees not be afraid of it, which will consequently help them to be more creative.
Steps to creating a culture of innovation
1. Empowering employees to generate new ideas
To create a culture of innovation, we need to give employees the freedom and resources to generate new ideas. In order to empower our employees, we need to build a culture of open communication, encourage collaboration between different departments, celebrate and recognize employees who create and implement innovative ideas, and encourage them to take risks.
2. Transparency is key
We have already said that the transparency of the leader encourages trust in the leadership. Trust will, therefore, encourage engagement and personal connections. Together, this will encourage creative thinking and the confidence to share ideas and collaborate with colleagues. One of the ways you can promote transparency is to use tools that allow access and visibility of information to everyone in the company. Instead of posting strategies on bulletin boards, how about online tools and software that will be available to everyone?
3. Foster a psychologically safe workplace
Psychological safety refers to the feeling of being able to speak up, take risks, and make mistakes without fear of negative consequences. Psychological safety is necessary for a company to operate. Without it, employees do not trust the leader/employer, and without it the business can suffer. Also, if we do not cultivate a culture of openness and a safe space, employees may be afraid to share new ideas and thoughts because they fear that they will encounter harsh criticism.
4. Remove unnecessary bureaucracy
Bureaucracy can create long waiting times, resulting in missed opportunities for innovation. This is especially evident in large organizations. In them, the processes and procedures have been established for a long time, and thus they can hardly be changed. In addition, bureaucracy can also result in a lack of ownership of innovation. This means that decision-making and implementation are often spread across multiple departments and teams, making it difficult to take risks and experiment with new ideas.
5. Empowering every individual
If you think investing in high-potential employees is the only right thing to do for your company, we’re going to have to prove you wrong. If you invest in only a few employees, you ignore the potential of others, and this can have unintended consequences. These are often feelings of frustration and favoritism. The best leaders recognize the value of maximizing all human potential and developing each employee.
A culture of innovation brings numerous benefits to companies. Not only can they develop better than their competitors, but they also offer a better experience to users with innovative products and services. In addition, employees feel more engaged and invested in their work, and by encouraging a culture of innovation, you attract and retain top talent. Are you ready to create a culture that values innovation?
