Driving innovation

“The best organisations are those that combine the three elements of people, workplace, and technology in equal measure,” states Scott Dodds, general manager for marketing and operations in Microsoft UK, in an article entitled People, places and technology: A hybrid future.

This could not be truer, with an increasing number of companies adopting a more flexible structure and using innovative methods to engage and retain their employees. For instance, some organisations are utilising telecommuting to provide a flexible working environment while others are providing various platforms for their employees to voice new ideas or feedback. With technology acting as an enabler, many of these innovative moves are possible.

Platform for ideas

Employers say that they want to promote an innovative culture, where employees can do out-of-the box thinking that will benefit the organisation as a whole. Moreover, they explain that HR has a big part to play when it comes to implementing innovative workplace practices on a daily basis.

Sarah Robb, head of People Ops for G&A in JAPAC, Google, says that Google’s philosophy is to “launch and iterate” and this transcends into the work that employees do. She says that the organisation allows its people to make mistakes and learn from them. “In an industry such as ours, waiting for perfection takes too long so it’s important to be innovative, try new things, learn from those mistakes, and apply those ‘learnings’ to one’s next project.”

In order to foster an environment of ideas and open discussion, Google has communal ‘workplace huddle rooms’. “A lot of innovative ideas came from this type of casual gathering and discussion.” The organisation also ensures that teams are small – around four to five people – in order to keep it engaging, she explains.

One of the more innovative methods that needs highlighting is the 20% project time. Google employees are allowed this time to work on new projects that are outside of their usual work responsibilities, and Robb says that this has been effective. “Google News (a central place to find news) and Gmail came from this 20% project time,” she notes.

Several other companies are also providing platforms for employees to share their ideas, and this is especially so for organisations that thrive on innovation. Michael-Joerg Ivan, general manager for HR Policies, Processes and Projects AAP in Daimler SEA, states that the company has an intranet portal known as ‘My Idea’ for employees to share their ideas. It is a global employee portal and the Business Innovation Unit (a team based in Germany whose job is to only think about innovation, from car batteries to mobility concepts in big cities) manages it.

“Employees whose ideas have been chosen get rewarded. However, there are some criteria such as how big the innovation is and whether the proposal helps to cut costs,” explains Ivan.

Ai Sim Tan, Director of HR, ASEAN, Lenovo Singapore, says HR has an essential role to play as “HR must be a key contributor of the corporate agenda, from both a culture as well as an agenda-setting perspective.”

In Lenovo, HR has implemented a framework called ‘The Lenovo Way’, which incorporates the company's strategy and values in a working system. The company has an ongoing practice that encourages its employees, whether at regional or country levels, to provide suggestions to improve on work processes.

Citing an example, Tan says that the company’s Talent Acquisition Team is gradually eliminating the use of hard copy employment contracts. Instead, contracts are drawn up electronically, and stored on Thinkpad Tablets. This way, new hires can sign and receive a soft copy on their gadget instantly. “The suggestion to do this came from the Talent Acquisition specialist who wants to do his part for the environment and showcase Lenovo’s latest technology,” she explains.

Also, for the company to encourage as well as continue this process, HR organises a ‘4P culture ambassador’ (the 4Ps are part of the Lenovo values) nomination competition, where employees can select a colleague as an “ambassador” depending on the “strength and frequency of contributions and ideas.”

Another technology company that promotes innovative ideas is Alcatel-Lucent. Tina Yap, VP of HR, North and South East Asia, Alcatel-Lucent, says that HR leaders in the company are mandated with the responsibility of transforming the way the organisation works. One of the HR initiatives is the “Innovative Boot Camp” with its research arm, Bell Labs. “Groups of employees bring innovative ideas such as a new way of doing business or new technology inventions to the table. If selected, the company will sponsor these ideas and help to bring them to market,” she says.

Pushing for flexibility

More and more companies are also finding that allowing employees more flexibility in terms of work hours is beneficial, especially knowing that with technology, they will be able to work whenever and wherever. This helps with their work-life balance, say employers.

Robb explains that Google’s culture encourages flexibility, especially in terms of work-life balance, and it is HR’s role to facilitate this. “It doesn’t matter that you aren’t at your desk all day as long as you get the job done. You decide how to structure your work day.”

Moreover, she adds that Google has a PTO (People Technology Operations) team that helps to automate information. As the organisation’s systems are web-based, employees are able to access them from anywhere. “Information is not connected to a desktop or a file folder in an office; it’s all ‘in the cloud’ so we can access large amounts of data securely whenever and wherever we need to.”

Daimler also provides flexi-work hours and time-working modules for the convenience of their employees. Employees can choose from a number of contracts, all with various conditions such as the ability to work for 20 hours. In addition, the organisation has a global sabbatical leave policy which employees can access for personal reasons or when they are pursuing executive education such as an MBA.

Companies such as Lenovo and Alcatel-Lucent also offer flexible working hours in order to accommodate their employees. Lenovo has a ‘Work from Home’ (WSH) policy where staff can address their personal needs by working from home whenever necessary and are also given notebooks to work with.

Pravina Jit, Director Manpower, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), says that since the majority of ICA employees are working around the clock at checkpoints or at service centres, the use of work-life initiatives help to mitigate work stress. “We have identified high-risk or high-pressure jobs in the organisation. In addition to close monitoring of operational fatigue in the various work units, our supervisors are also trained to detect early signs of stress and instability.” Other options available to ICA employees include working part-time hours or the ability to apply for no pay-leave; study leave is also given to those who are pursuing further studies.

Effective retention

With the war for the best and the brightest, employers know that effective retention strategies are essential for keeping such employees.

Robb says that Google hires people who are smart generalists who can move internally throughout the company as there is flexibility of international mobility, thus retaining talent within. “If you’re analytical in your approach to problem solving then your abilities can transcend the specific role into which you’re hired.”

Ivan says Daimler uses a preventative approach to retain key employees, especially in Asia where the war for talent is strong. The company uses an IT system known as ERT or Engagement and Retention Tool to help retain employees, especially high-potentials. After line managers have identified the high-potential employee, “the HR has a check-up in four fields and it will analyse the situation. The IT system will give a solution and this is offered to the line managers. In this way, employees feel that the company is doing something for them,” explains Ivan.

The ability to grow in the company is important to employees and organisations understand this. Alcatel-Lucent practises an internal ‘full open market’ for job opportunities – jobs are made available to all employees in all 130 countries.

Besides fostering career development, organisations also understand the importance of giving employees a platform or outlet for their feedback and HR has helped facilitate this through various ways such as undertaking annual employee surveys or even company portals to air employee opinions.

Robb explains that the organisation conducts two reviews each year – a mid-year and an annual one. Employees have their career development conversation with their managers. The organisation also conducts an upward feedback survey globally, on which employees can rate their managers. She says that it is anonymous and “managers get to know the areas that they need improvement.”