Optimising the soft management issues

Optimising the ˜soft management issues

So how does an enterprise increase its speed of innovation? Well, first it learns how to innovate, and then it gets better at it. So perhaps we need to answer the more basic question, how do enterprises become innovative?

For many organisations, the answer is to consider a three-stage process. There is increasing evidence that organisations that are consistently innovative have an innovation strategy which primarily focuses on:

1. structuring the organisation to maximise innovation

2. developing systems for generating and capturing new ideas

3. optimising the culture of the organisation so as to predispose it towards innovation.

We have already touched on the first two points. This section will deal with the third point, which in many ways is the most difficult for managers: developing a culture of innovation and dealing with the so-called ˜soft management issues that accompany it.

Culture

Creating an innovative enterprise is, above all else, a cultural issue. An innovative attitude is not something management can demand from staff. Demanding an innovative attitude reminds me of the old saying, ˜ The beatings will continue until morale improves . It must be given willingly, and therefore staff must be favourably predisposed towards the organisation. Consequently, all of the so-called soft management or people management issues must be optimised.

Creating the right culture and cultural change are probably the most significant issues facing todays progressive organisation. Why? Because if it cannot create a culture that predisposes staff to actively embrace change, the organisation will fall behind its competitors .

The difficulty with effectively implementing cultural change is that although the issues are often similar, the implementation is different in every organisation. However, it is achievablevery achievable if its done correctly.

Leadership

Without doubt, leadership is the single most important issue in developing an innovative corporate culture.

Every organisation has limited resources, whether they are financial, human, intellectual or operational. Consequently, to optimise the use of those resources, the enterprise must prioritise. The person with the most influence in setting priorities is the leader of the organisation. By virtue of the level of their power and authority, the leader will effectively decide which projects get priority and which dont.

Given that numerous volumes have been written on the subject of leadership and management, it is not appropriate to delve into the theories and propositions on this subject. The key issue, however, is this: if the person at the most senior level of the enterprise fails to support the concept of building an innovative culture, the project will fail. In fact, it would be wiser not even to start such a project without support from the top because it would be simply a waste of time and effort.

People management

Staff selection criteria should include attitude and personality. Although not all staff will be equally innovative, there is no point selecting staff who obviously have a negative attitude. It is difficult to make a silk purse from a sows ear; so proper staff selection is paramount.

Rewarding staff appropriately is also important. The majority of Fortune 500 companies have some form of profit sharing for staff. If you expect staff to contribute innovative ideas that could dramatically improve the organisations profit, shouldnt they share the gains?

Managers often complain that their staff do not have the same attitude or commitment they have. For the shareholders and senior management, profit is one of their major goals. It is now recognised that to achieve goal congruence throughout the organisation it is important to allow all staff to participate in profit sharing. Perhaps if staff shared the same rewards they would view the company the way the owners do.

Everyone who studies organisation theory, especially staff motivation, has been bombarded with the proposition that not all staff are motivated by money (that is, staff want job satisfaction, good leadership, a safe and happy workplace, and so forth). Maslows hierarchy of needs applies very well to the work environment. The primary needs must be met first, and that includes earning enough money to survive. A higher level of need is the concept of fairness. If staff put in the effort, they deserve to be rewarded. Hence, performance-based remuneration is much more acceptable to staff who see profit sharing as an issue relating to fairness.