[Blog 20] Don’t Wait For The Sun to Rise From The West: The Role of HR In Innovation

As more and more organisations scurry in the rat race to be at the forefront of today’s dynamic business landscape, a growing number of companies are responding with ideas-turned-meaningful-innovations in an effort to sustain performance and growth. Nevertheless, a recent study by PageUp found that entities in Asia tend be lagging behind their global counterparts with regards to spurring creativity at the workplace. The HR department serves an important force in the formation of an innovation-driven culture within the company. When it comes to imparting corporate values among employees, equal efforts should also be put into instilling habits like interdisciplinary collaboration and idea sharing. It is especially helpful if the emphasis on innovation is conveyed right from the beginning at the point of recruitment, so more opportunities will rise for creativity and employees will feel safer to take risks when necessary.

Here are different steps you can take to unlock the doors for innovative HR practices and amplify your success:

Reimagine Office Structure
Innovation stems from the connection of individuals across different teams and department lines. It’s time to look beyond the traditional organisational hierarchies and give employees the liberty to think out of the box, without stringent boundaries that prevent recognition and support for innovation. Doing away with such rigidness fosters a more united and cohesive team of employees. Additionally, a conducive office set-up also pays a crucial role. It’s good to consider abolishing private offices and replace them with workstations in close proximity so as to spur more communication and not stifle connectivity.

Embrace Technology
As the digital world is rapidly evolving, it is vital to stay atop of new technological innovations that can drive engagement as well as expedite collaborations. Cutting edge tools can be used as avenues for communication to gather and consolidate diverse viewpoints from different employees, making knowledge-sharing more accessible than ever before.

Increase Retention With Personal Development
Forget bonuses and insurance benefits—these are basic perks that should already come with the job. It’s time to develop fresh and creative ways to uphold the welfare and well-being of your employees and show them that you care. Consider placing more focus on work-life integration and provide some schedule flexibility like taking time off or working from home to make your employees feel valued.

Innovation emerges not from waiting for our competitors to take action and analysing how it works out for them, but from taking our own initiative to spawn creative minds from our very own workplace. To remain relevant, business must learn to take the leap in order to overcome challenges in an ever-changing economy.

If your company is deliberating on implementing innovative HR practices, contact HRguru today for expert HR advice that fits your company’s needs perfectly.