The traditional practice of hiring individuals with super-exclusive CVs and fancy GPAs showing a myriad of extracurricular activities has to be thrown out of the window. Rather than hiring ‘people’, one needs to hire ‘minds’. You need to see the desire in the candidate to bring something new to the fore, and desire does not always show on the CV. In order to actually create innovation, you need the upper hierarchies of the organization to step in. Innovation cannot be forced through via lower levels of management. To start with, eliminate group culture and bring in team culture. Share victory and failure together. Put your workforce in the right frame of mind, make them feel at home and things should pan out well on the journey to discovering innovation.
Flexibility and Relaxation-the stepping stones
Let us elaborate our point of making employees feel at home. Jobs are a necessity everywhere because they pay, and a man has to eat. But what if we can somehow make the workers’ monetary needs secondary? What if we can create an environment where they start loving what they do, rather than working aimlessly for the end of the month to arrive? The point is to remove the fear of termination. Assign ‘tasks’ to your subordinates, not ‘jobs’-make them do what they’re good at and love doing. Make sure their focus is on the work and not the time period. Socialize with them, have lunch or coffee together. Develop a bond and create friendships.
Hiring the Right ‘Minds’
The right mind isn’t someone showing off him/herself through a piece of writing or an extravagant marksheet. The right mind is a fan of your brand. More than what you pay them, they’re interested in working for you just because they love who you are and idolize you. For example, everyone aims for Microsoft, but they love Android. People need leverage. They need to break the shackles and be given a free hand. You pay them, you fund them, but let them create. Inform them of your expectations but don’t tell what to do.
Diversity-the Savior
If your firm is dying due to lack of creativity, then introducing diversity can be your only messiah. Bring in people from different cultural, religious, traditional and even educational backgrounds. In fact, the apps on our smart phones are built by pretty diverse teams, teams that have engineers, developers and businessmen all under one roof. Diversity brings versatility and versatility leads to innovation. Encourage the importance of each individual member to the team and help them blend in.
The Modular Approach and Taking Time Off
Breaking a large project into small modules of few hours can really help motivate. They give the individuals of a team something to aim at for the day. No matter how much time it takes, if today’s target is achieved, then you can leave as early as lunch, or you can sit back till midnight to strike out the task. Also, your mind needs rest and so do your employees’. Schedule time-offs and vacations to create a healthy work-life balance.
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