Just because you’re a C-suite executive doesn’t mean you alone can/should be driving innovation…empowering employees to drive innovation is crucial for creating a foundational culture of innovation within an organization. When employees are given the autonomy and resources to explore new ideas and experiment with new approaches, they can become a powerful force for innovation. In this section of my series on design thinking, I will explore the importance of empowering employees and provide tips and best practices for leaders who want to create an environment encouraging employee-driven innovation. This mindset is crucial for your company/organization to weather disruptions, strengthen innovation and remain competitive, and let’s face it, an innovative workplace usually means a happier workplace.

Positive examples of companies driving innovation include the likes of Tesla, Amazon, and Lego. The latter navigated choppy business waters in the late 90s and early 2000s. Management triggered by Jorgen Vig Knudstorp’s (Economist not Designer!) report, gave everyone from sales teams to office staff the capability to create and suggest new avenues of growth, with their ideas being vetted through Legos mantra/brand; to be recognized as the best company for family products. They call this ‘controlled innovation’.

The Benefits of Empowering Employees

Empowering your employees can have numerous benefits for an organization, including but not limited to:

• Increased innovation: When employees are empowered to explore new ideas and experiment with new approaches, they can drive innovation and help the organization stay ahead of the curve.
• Improved engagement and motivation: Empowering employees can increase their sense of ownership and investment in the organization’s success, leading to improved engagement and motivation.
• Increased agility: Empowered employees can adapt quickly to changing circumstances and take advantage of new opportunities, leading to increased agility and resilience.
• Improved retention: Employees who feel empowered and valued are likelier to stay with the organization, leading to improved retention and reduced turnover costs.
• Improved bottom line: Staying ahead of the curve, meaning your competitors, usually equates to improved profits and margins, as your company/organization has a competitive advantage.

Tips for Empowering Employees

To empower employees to drive innovation, companies/organizations can take the following steps:

• Think like software designers/engineers: What is the first thing you expect your new software to do once released into the world…for it to fail at some level, unlike the hardware folks who spend 1000s of hours making their product/item fail-safe. Be more fluid and expect things to fail to speed up the pace of innovation.
• Provide autonomy: Employees need the freedom to explore new ideas and experiment with new approaches. Leaders should give them the autonomy to make decisions and take calculated risks.
• Foster a culture of learning: Encourage employees to learn from their failures and successes. Provide opportunities for training and development and celebrate employees who take risks and learn from their experiences (fail fast).
• Encourage collaboration: Encourage employees to work together to solve problems and share ideas. Create opportunities for cross-functional collaboration and team building.
• Provide resources: Empowering employees requires providing them with the resources they need to be successful. This may include access to technology, funding, or mentorship.
• Create a supportive environment: Leaders should create a supportive environment that encourages employees to take risks and try new things. This may involve providing emotional support and recognition and opportunities for feedback and recognition.
• Encourage creativity: Leaders should encourage employees to think creatively and outside the box. This may involve providing time and resources for brainstorming, ideation, and opportunities to share and refine ideas.
• Encourage experimentation: Leaders should encourage employees to experiment with new approaches and take calculated risks. This may involve creating a safe space for employees to fail and reframing failure as a learning opportunity.

Best Practices for Empowering Employees

To effectively empower employees, companies/organizations should follow these best practices (no particular order):

• Set goals: Set clear goals for employees aligning with the organization’s objectives. This will help them understand how their work contributes to the organization’s success.
• Communicate regularly: Regular communication is essential for keeping employees engaged and informed. Leaders should provide regular updates on the organization’s progress and encourage employees to share their ideas and feedback.
• Recognize and reward success: Celebrate the successes of employees who drive innovation and contribute to the organization’s success. This will help build a culture of recognition and appreciation.
• Lead by example: It’s a cultural shift in both mindsets and physical outcomes. You have to have written the playbook on design thinking in order to lead by example, otherwise…move out of the way!