KPMG recently released a new report, “HR as a driver for organizational innovation.”
The report is an interesting read and focuses on the role of HR in driving creativity and innovation in the workplace in place of traditional drivers of innovation such as R&D.
Main findings:
The most successful corporate innovation strategies are the ones that predominantly focus on people and human capital. Companies must:
- Find, engage and incentivise talent for innovation
- Create a culture of innovation by promoting and rewarding entrepreneurship and risk taking
- Use training and learning to help employees develop innovation skills
The most innovative companies are those where innovation is seen as everyone's responsibility. Companies must:
- Realise that risk-taking is essential for innovation and that failure is a natural part of this process
- See honest failure as a learning experience
- Recognise the value in internal and external networks
- Understand that collaboration is a key process that leads to better innovation outcomes
What should HR be doing to encourage innovation cultures?
- Encourage cross-departmental communication through technology
- Identify crucial roles that drive innovation value and put the right people in these roles
- Reinforce the importance of innovation throughout the organisation
- Provide talent management for individuals, teams and leaders
Ultimately, the report says that HR is in a great place to drive innovation cultures due to the fact important processes necessary for developing innovation cultures – such as reward and talent management – are under HR's remit. Therefore HR can become the driving force behind innovation in the workplace.
Lot of insight in here. You can download the full report here. [PDF, 1.45MB]
