Why fostering employee engagement also promotes the long-term innovative capacity of your company

Highly engaged employees feel that they make a real contribution to the success of the company, feel challenged and feel that their voice is heard. Because they see themselves as a valuable team member, they are willing to do more than what is necessary. That is employee engagement!

Employee engagement: Engaged people are more innovative

Having engaged employees is a wonderful thing. Engaged employees not only get things done with a good attitude, they also look for ways to make things even better. High levels of employee engagement make people more productive and willing to perform. In contrast, an office full of unmotivated employees who have no emotional attachment to the company can be dull and dreary. The call of duty. These people are more likely to withdraw from work, put in less effort and have their eyes on the door half an hour before closing time. Not surprisingly, engaged employees and the managers who encourage and nurture them are more likely to innovate.

Data from TalentMap's database indicates a correlation between strong employee engagement and support for innovation strategies. The top 10 per cent of organisations with high employee engagement also had high scores for innovation statements. In addition, a higher percentage of employees in workplaces with high employee engagement believed that their employer had a 'culture of innovation', as you can see in the table below:

Improving employee engagement is an effective way for companies to create a culture that values innovative thinking. But simply saying that innovation is important is obviously not enough here.

Environments that destroy employee engagement and innovation

What types of work environments inhibit engagement (and thus innovation)? Cultures that are quick to blame and cultures that overprotect the status quo are among the worst offenders.
The "blame" culture is one in which people do not want to take responsibility or initiative. When people make mistakes, they tend to hide them for fear of the consequences. Such organisations can become enormously burdened by too much careful review and consideration or outright micromanagement. Incidentally, a "blame" culture is the tendency to look for a person or department to blame for a bad state of affairs. Companies that rely too much on "the way we've always done it" are also quick to stifle innovation. This may be because the company is moderately successful, wants to keep it that way and has an aversion to change. Such companies tend to fill the workforce with "yes men" who are inherently unwilling to make waves. Employee engagement is hard to find here. Consequently, innovation is less likely. That sounds harsh, but it is the reality. And: In most cases, motivated and committed employees only become yes-men because of the prevailing "blame" culture of the company!

Employee engagement has a positive impact on the culture of continuous improvement

Employee engagement has a huge impact on fostering a culture of continuous improvement in your organisation. Employees who can see how their motivation fits into the bigger picture are able to engage innovatively with the company's goals and are more motivated to make improvements to streamline tasks and achieve better results in general. In short, people who are interested in the success of your business and have an emotional attachment to it will look for ways to improve it. Below are some ways you can create a more innovative company culture by encouraging employee engagement.

Don’t “suffocate” your employees

Precise procedures for each task may discourage staff from looking for a better way and may give the impression that you do not trust your staff's judgement. This will discourage them from suggesting new ideas or improvements. So try to avoid a company culture that is too protective of your tools and procedures. Your staff should be able to suggest changes to your tools and procedures without meeting resistance just because it is not the way you have always done things. As a result, your staff's problem-solving skills and understanding of their roles will be undervalued and they will be less committed to the success of your organisation if they are expected to blindly follow procedures.

Assigning "non-departmental" work and handing over responsibility

This not only makes your employees more productive, but also leaves them more time for challenging, interesting tasks. According to the Accessperks blog, 97% of employees say they are happier and more efficient when they can handle new, challenging and, above all, more varied tasks. Greater ownership of their work motivates employees to improve. Employees who are given responsibility for their tasks are more likely to innovate. Efforts to streamline tasks and improve the efficiency of your business should be recognised and respected, even if you decide not to adopt the changes.

There is a clear link between employee engagement and support for innovative strategies. If you want your team to adapt and your business to grow, employee engagement is an important factor to consider.

Promoting interdepartmental communication and collaboration

It is much harder to innovate if employees cannot easily share ideas outside their own department. An important first step in fostering collaboration is to use an innovation management community like QuestionPro to share and evaluate new ideas. Not only do you need to give your teams the autonomy to improve their processes, methods and tools themselves, but you also need to allow them to share ideas and employee feedback. This not only makes it easier for your organisation to adapt to improvements, but also allows employees to collaborate on updates and benefit from ideas from other departments. This greatly boosts employee engagement and you will quickly generate new ideas and innovations. Get your employees involved in your innovation programme.

Respond also to "small" suggestions for improvement

The contribution of employee engagement to your culture of continuous improvement is not limited to changing the way employees do their daily tasks. One of the best ways to engage all employees in improving your business is to give them more control over their own workplace. Listening to suggestions on how to improve the little things in your employees' working lives will have a big impact on making them feel that their opinions are valued and taken seriously. Employees who have no say in even the most insignificant rules will not find it worthwhile to contribute their ideas to more important matters. Increased employee engagement and job satisfaction can have a huge impact on the customer experience.

Give your employees more authority

Employee engagement not only affects your company's ability to innovate, but also has a positive impact on your customers. Satisfied, engaged employees are more pleasant for customers to deal with and can also make decisions without constant consultation in order to achieve customer-oriented goals. Customers who constantly hear on the phone that they need to speak with their supervisor for a moment are not taken seriously by your customers. The US supermarket chain Trader Joe's focuses on creating a positive and rewarding workplace and is therefore known for its friendly and helpful employees.

Allow for honest feedback

The first step to improving your business is to realise that there is always room for improvement. Give your employees the opportunity to provide honest feedback and criticism on your internal and customer-facing policies. Asking for this kind of feedback and taking action based on employee concerns will give employees a greater stake in how their work impacts the company as a whole. Listening to feedback is a key factor in improving employee engagement. People who feel their input is important are more motivated to identify and respond to potential problems. If someone identifies a problem but does not have the opportunity to raise the issue and be taken seriously, they are far less likely to put their time and effort into solving the problem. Employee engagement and the culture of continuous improvement are very closely linked. Show that you value and care about your employees' contributions by listening to their feedback and giving them the responsibility to change the way they work, as well as giving them the opportunity to share ideas and work on them together.

Make employee engagement part of your innovation strategy

The core of any organisation is the people who belong to it. This also applies to the workplace: whoever works for your company also defines it. All employees are part of the overall organisation and thus have a significant influence on it. However, a surprising number of employees feel neither engaged nor interested in their workplace. It is estimated that 70% of the workforce does little more than is absolutely necessary. Employee engagement and enthusiasm can make the difference between an industry leader and an average competitor, and often a transparent innovation strategy is the key to inspiring your employees and increasing employee engagement.

An innovation strategy that is open to all your employees provides more opportunities to have a say in the direction of the company by sharing and coordinating ideas and showing progress as an idea moves through the different stages. It can even give employees the opportunity to constructively vent their frustrations by suggesting changes to the way your company does things. Having different perspectives and ideas from staff across the organisation will improve your innovation strategy by anticipating potential problems with ideas before they become costly work, and by gathering ideas from outside. Often it is the idea from someone who sees the forest that proves to be the most valuable.

At its best, an innovation strategy gives your entire workforce a voice and the opportunity to contribute to the company's success. The feeling of being heard, that one's opinion counts and is needed is very important for people, and the innovation strategy will ensure that everyone in your company has this feeling in the long run.

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