There is a link between innovation and collaboration. It’s essentially through collaboration that innovation is driven. Some individuals alone will come up with Eureka moments but in most cases, it’s through collaboration where a number of bodies in the organisation are working together to solve problems or foresee future problems which they attempt to pre-empt with solutions today.
The Future Foundation recently did a survey for Google Enterprise exploring how new technologies will alter work practices and the report found there was an 81% correlation between collaboration and innovation and yet, only 12% of employees expressed satisfaction about the technology available to them. Clearly many organisations are not using technology to bring about collaboration. Google predicts that the next decade will see elements of the HR and IT functions integrating. HR will be more responsible for ensuring employees are motivated to collaborate and innovate.
The new competitive advantage of fast moving organisations will be their ability to motivate their employees to collaborate and innovate and accelerate the process so that they are bringing ideas and innovation to the market in days and weeks, instead of months and years. This is line with the Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Report done by Deloitte in June.
The study confirms that the competitive landscape for manufacturing is undergoing a transformational shift and that the key factor driving competitiveness is access to talented workers capable of supporting innovation. That’s the area that has the greatest potential for increased productivity and financial performance. This is the new imperative globally. In manufacturing enterprises, it’s about the ability to leverage your talent. This explains the AMCRC’s focus on developing an innovation management training program.
