Taking Innovation Training to the Next Level: Integration With Employee Networks

In this installment we will address an important topic that is often missing from innovation management training / online learning education programs: ow to !uild effective employee networks that support employees who have !een trained around with new innovation skills" To read the first two articles in this series please refer to: Why bother? The Value of Training Your Employees Around Innovation and an Innovation ne learnt? As companies loo! to develop new and sustained revenue streams they are e"panding the resources and activities associated with their innovation programs to form fully developed corporate ecosystems that support and drive innovation# $owever% these new activities are often not positioned or e"ecuted in a way that generates ma"imum value to the organi&ation# 'rogram leaders are often (udged on the activities that they underta!e% rather than the actual value being generated to the organi&ation# While the level of activity can form a decent pro"y for success in the early stages of an innovation program% the focus needs to )uic!ly shift towards more substantive metrics in order to ensure continued leadership support and investment# Program leaders are often judged on the activities that they undertake, rather than the actual value being generated to the organization. An e"ample of this is when companies train their employees around innovation% and then send them out to practice their new s!ills within the organi&ation# *uccess is often measured by the number of employees trained# +nfortunately% what often happens is that the learnings and education from the training are )uic!ly lost% as those employees get bogged down in the daily grind of their e"isting roles# In addition% the cultural environment that they return to might not be supportive of innovative thin!ing% so attempts at innovative thin!ing are )uic!ly s)uashed# When this happens% at best employees demonstrate marginal improvements in their e"isting roles% and at worst they get frustrated and disenfranchised% often choosing to leave their organi&ation# To counter this situation% it is important that employees who have been through any innovation training efforts continue to be engaged and supported by other activities within the corporate innovation ecosystem once their sessions are completed# The goal is for participants to retain their new !nowledge and be encouraged to utili&e their s!ills both within their e"isting role% and also in helping build new areas of thin!ing across the organi&ation#

A network of innovation program catalysts super!users, should become an important element in any training program. This is where the development and support of employee networ!s% specifically a networ! of innovation program catalysts , super-users% should become an important element in any training program# This networ! should aim to support trained participants% and importantly% direct them towards the e"ecution of ideas that will drive value to the organi&ation# *everal companies such as .ordstrom% Intuit% and /ualcomm already manage successful innovation networ!s% driving value to their programs% participants and the broader organi&ation# With these networ!s% the organi&ation is loo!ing to effectively move the crowdsourcing of innovative ideas from the front% to the bac! end% ie more focused towards the development and e"ecution of ideas# Employee networ!s can benefit innovation programs in the following way: *upport and encourage employees who have demonstrated a connection to the innovation program Increase flow of e"ecuted ideas% generating a greater organi&ational impact Increase the level of innovation s!ills% and access to supporting resources 0everage impact of relatively small innovation program teams and build on the success of the range of activities that they direct towards employees 1uild the basis for enhancing a culture of innovation across the organi&ation

1esides innovation catalysts , super users% other employee networ!s that an organi&ation might support include: 2overnance ommittee 3 To provide strategic support for an innovation program 1usiness +nit hampions 3 +seful for centrali&ed 4corporate5 innovation programs to provide a visible and regular connection into business units 6egional .etwor!s 3 *pecific geographic regions might choose to run their own employee innovation networ!s% as a way to replicate e"isting organi&ational structures

"ithout a strategic framework the resources needed to support a network can result in an effort that either fades away or backfires. 1efore developing any of these networ!s it is important to build a strategic framewor! that helps direct and ma"imi&e the benefit generated by the networ! over time# Any employee networ! ta!es time and resources to manage% and without this framewor! the level of resources could be une"pectedly ta"ing% resulting in an effort that either fades away or bac!fires#

Where networ!s are designed to further engage employees in your innovation program% including participants from online learning innovation training programs% the following activities from across the corporate innovation ecosystem might be considered as tools to further engage networ! members: E"clusive access to additional training E"clusive challenges, contests .etwor!ing groups and forums 4such as an annual conference5 ommunicate to them directly E"clusive access to materials% reports and information 6ecognition through pla)ues% notification in publications 4online and offline5% avatars% etc# E"clusive access to leadership planning and development sessions 4networ! participants could be invited to attend leadership meetings5 Access to industry conferences and events 'riority access to wor! on ideas in development% through an ideas mar!etplace feature% with a goal of increasing the flow of activity redit for time spent wor!ing on the development of innovative ideas Access to funding pool for new idea development 'osition them as moderators , facilitators for future training sessions 1usiness boo! distribution and boo! club sessions E"clusive opportunities to meet with leadership and discuss issues relevant to the organi&ation

The above list is far-reaching and an assessment against your company culture and resources should be made on each activity to determine which are the most appropriate for your networ! and will drive the most value# The catalysts , super-users employee networ! should aim to generate the following benefits to your organi&ation: reate a base for broader cultural change across the organi&ation Increase the flow of ideas and !nowledge being developed by the program% contributing to a larger organi&ational impact Increase the empowerment of individual employees by connecting them with others who can support their growth or initiatives Improve levels of company and innovation program engagement Increase understanding of and alignment to leadership priorities 7ore efficient use of training efforts investment

#ver time the focus of the employee network should shift toward the development of additional innovative ideas.

With these benefits in mind% it is worth noting that these networ!s often start with a goal of further engaging participants in the innovation program and the company overall# $owever over time the focus should shift toward the development of additional innovative ideas% with a goal of enhancing the financial impact to the organi&ation# This can be achieved through formal or informal ideas mar!etplaces% where specific needs for an idea to move forward are highlighted and networ! members are encouraged to fulfill these roles% for a limited or full time period of time# In summary% it is insufficient to train employees on how to innovate without a plan to support them in ta!ing their learnings bac! and apply them in their day-to-day roles# In order to drive the ma"imum value to the organi&ation training programs should connect participants through an employee networ! that can ensure that s!ills and !nowledge from training are applied and retained over time# The ne"t and final paper in this series will focus on a case study of Intuit% where many of the employee-focused approaches outlined within this series have been carried out#