This piece appeared in The Newcastle Herald, Saturday 6th October
In July 2005 articles and footage
on YouTube started appearing about Brazilian manufacturer Semco. Semco was
described as a “most radical workplace”. Seven years on, the company’s operating
principles are still considered rare: not knowing which receptionist will be on
at what time because it is up to the receptionists to work out their hours; 3,000
employees setting their own work schedules; early workplace departures when
there is not much to do; employees giving themselves days off; changing work stations
so colleagues can’t track your every move; reviewing your own salary every 6
months; and firing colleagues who aren’t performing. But this type of freedom
comes with “pressure to perform”.
Rather than adhering to routine
and micro management techniques, Ricardo Semler, CEO at Semco, is more
concerned with the productivity in any given month and a concern around the gratification
employees will receive from their work? Semler subscribes to a Thrive not Survive ethic. And this
philosophy means treating employees like grown ups. Employees get a share of the
profit and what accompanies that is an increase in motivation. While Semler
remains concerned with basic free market issues, he is also about “respecting
anthropological issues instead of political ideas”. And his philosophy has worked. He took a
company that was worth $4m US in 1980 to $160m US by 2005.
It is hard to envisage many local
or national companies installing hammocks so employees can rest and think in comfort but it’s exactly what
Semco did. And Semco isn’t the only company encouraging thinking time. Beth Comstock, Senior Vice President at GE, states that
the company introduced a Time To Think
opportunity for their employees decades ago.
Employees were encouraged to put time on their calendars to allow the
“mental and physical space to do this”.
Comstock added “people can’t innovate or create on demand. You have to
give teams time to think, to bounce things off each other”.
And most companies and
organisations have heard of Google’s 20 % Time, where employees are given time
to work on projects they choose to
work on. The yellow sticky note evolved out of 3M’s work practice that allows
15% on an employee’s time to be spent on innovation. 3M have been doing this for
decades – Google weren’t the first.
These and other forward thinking
companies invest in innovation simply because if they don’t innovation doesn’t
happen. Dan Pink, author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates
Us, believes it’s motivational practices in business like these that have
become the new reward, the new “carrot” to keep employees stimulated and
fulfilled. More money alone just doesn’t do it anymore.
When times get tough, innovation
is not usually considered as a first option for making improvements and moving
forward.
At the present time, things are
tough, so we need to think differently. We need to create space for problem
solving, for outside the square thinking, for innovation and evolution. We need
to empower the workforce; give employees some input into the operations of the
organisation, input into their future.
Organisational energies should be
directed into projects that could potentially generate income or increase
productivity. Energies could be directed into developing a new or improved
product or service, or a new means of collaborating with other like or ‘unlike’
organisations.
In order to make this work, a
number of factors need to come to together. Management need to buy into the
process. Create and Innovate recently facilitated the introduction of
innovative practices into a local business. Management agreed to allow a
certain group of employees one hour per month to meet and discuss project
ideas. Six months later, there is evidence that the practice has been
productive.
Involvement in innovation should
also be on a voluntary basis. Everyone
is not good at everything. In his
book The Tipping Point, Malcom Gladwell writes about innovators, connectors,
early adopters and salesmen. All are equally important in the innovation
process, but not all need to take on an innovative or creative role.
Each project will need structure
and will rarely take off unless there is some form of collaboration. Each project will need to be tracked and each
organisation will have to develop it’s own reward system.
Innovation is hard work. It requires passion and belief,
persistence, collaboration and leadership to make it effective. It requires
execution to see it through. Innovation requires structure. It requires
management. An innovative atmosphere has the potential to increase productivity
and that’s got to be more beneficial to any organisation in the long term.
Create
and Innovate facilitates workshops. With an emphasis on brain science,
collaboration, empowerment and putting plans into action. Create and Innovate
encourages and facilitates processes that lead to improvement and change.
The one-day, fast tracked workshop expos are ideal for those working in
companies and organisations, for small business owners, and for individuals who
are time poor yet want to be inspired into new ways of thinking.
On
October 23, Create and Innovate will present an insightful and cutting edge
workshop on how to profit from changing your thinking in tough times. Visit
createandinnovate.com.au for details.
