International Journal of Human Resource Management and Research (IJHRMR) ISSN: 2249-6874 Vol.

3, Issue 1, Mar 2013, 57-62 TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

EMPLOYEE AS A SOURCE OF INNOVATION AND CREATION A SMART TALENT MANAGEMENT PRACTICE..

MAMTA SALUJA & BHAVNA BHARADWAJ I.T.S, The Education Group, Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT
You never know where the next idea will come from. It could be from yourself or it could be from the guy sitting next to you, who serve the customers, explore new market, taking eye on competitors. Now days, companies are mining their employees. Suddenly different whims have been ripened like Employee ideas are a good source of innovation, if companies will listen, innovation as precious commodity, employees are an inexpensive and efficient source of innovation, everyone innovates everyday, etc . In this new trend or so called pull based approach, firms are seeking ideas from their own employees on everything from cost-cutting strategies to new product design. To encourage participation, many businesses set aside time and conduct group brainstorming' sessions, idea box programs to encourage the creativity and the generation of new ideas that can an organization investigate and pursue further. As Ted Levitt has rightly said Just as energy is the basis of life itself, and ideas the source of innovation, so is innovation the vital spark of all human change, improvement and progress Based on above adage, this paper is exploring the ways to stimulate cross-pollination of ideas by motivating and recognizing employees to participate and contribute.

KEYWORDS: Innovative Employees, Creative Capital, Enhancing Creativity, Innovative Engines, Idea CrossPollination

INTRODUCTION
Are you Tapping into your Creative Capital? In difficult times, business often focuses primarily on the hard assets (inventory, cash, equipment, tools & vehicles) of the company. These are all tightly-knitted & viewed as the revenue generating assets of the company. The soft assets (employees) are generally left to themselves. To be a competitive player in todays marketplace, you need great human workforce. In the context of the current economic crisis and pressing social challenges, organizational capacity to innovate and improve productivity is becoming an imperative. Organizations are finding that, as markets become saturated and competition gets stronger, it is increasingly necessary to find novel or innovative approaches to business problems and issues. However, a recent report by the Confederation of British Industry found that not enough firms are fully exploiting the business ideas of their employees and are not making the most of their skills; they actually arent tapping into, or nurturing the elusive talents they have.

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Another survey shows that while nearly 80% of the workers believe, their role is critical to their firms strategy, only 55% believe their organization feels the same. To resolve this disconnect, Organization is required to Listen Up, so that its employees Will Step Up!! Listening to your employees is not only a smart talent management practice, but also harnesses the collective wisdom of the entire organization for the greater good of the company. And thats all good. If employees feel valued, theyre likely to be more satisfied and productive. Employee feedback may also help you to avoid costly mistakes. The end result? Youll save time, money and increase ROI.

UPSHOT OF CREATIVITY
The concept of creativity is an illusive one. How can one hope to magnify creativity if it is not first defined? 'Creativity is the ability to generate novel and useful ideas and solutions to everyday problems and challenges' Creative thought can be divided into two types of thinking: Divergent thinking: is a thought process to think of many original, diverse, and elaborate ideas. Convergent thinking: is a thought process to logically evaluate, critique and choose the best idea from a selection of ideas. Both abilities are required for creative output. Divergent thinking is essential to the novelty of creative products whereas convergent thinking is fundamental to the appropriateness. The Top SIX Traits for Innovative Employees Finding the right employee is the first step, perhaps the most important to developing better enterprise productivity. Generally, the workers that seek consistent personal improvement are always upgrading skills and are the most productive. a) They are Intelligent-It is a necessary but not sufficient condition for innovation. Although cognitive ability is related to innovation, it does not account for a large amount of the variance observed in employee innovation. b) They are Open to Experience-The most common personality trait associated with innovation is openness to experience. Conscientiousness is found to be a negative predictor of innovation, notably in the case of being dutiful and methodical. c) They are Motivated-It is one of the most important predictors of innovative working. Management style significantly influences employee motivation to innovate. Innovative people are intrinsically motivated by change such that extrinsic rewards do not necessarily enhance innovative working. d) They Ignore Job Descriptions. The smaller the company, the more important it is that employees can think on their feet, adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and do whatever it takes, regardless of role or position, to get things done. e) Theyre Eccentric The best employees are often a little different: quirky, sometimes irreverent, even delighted to be unusual. They seem slightly odd, but in a really good way. Unusual personalities shake things up, make work more fun, and transform a plain-vanilla group into a team with flair and flavor. People who arent afraid to be different naturally stretch boundaries and challenge the status quo, and they often come up with the best ideas.

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f) Theyre Always Fiddling. Some people are rarely satisfied and are constantly tinkering with something. Great employees follow processes. Remarkable employees find ways to make those processes even better, not only because they are expected to but because they just cant help it.

ALLOW PEOPLE TO INVENT NEW IDEAS: ENHANCING CREATIVITY

"Creative ideas are good, but they need to be utilized to get the full benefits. If a company doesnt utilize them, they may suffer in terms of the bottom line." Utilizing those means, firstly, providing motivation. Research has found that without sufficient motivation, employee creativity potential may not necessarily equate with a better firm performance. "Intrinsic motivation is important for creativity. If you simply pay people more money, perhaps your productivity will be higher but not necessarily creativity. "If employees have intrinsic motivation, they will really enjoy what they are doing and they will be more creative. But where does that motivation come from, apart from the employees own self-beliefs, companies also have a role to play in enhancing employee creativity. Managers, for example, can motivate employees through transformational leadership that inspires them and puts a premium on creativity. An example is Steve Jobs, who has enhanced his employees creativity by developing an inspiring vision. Managers can also create a psychologically safe environment where employees feel safe to experiment. At the organizational level, firms can create an innovation culture where cross-pollination of ideas from individual to individual & from group to group can lead to emergence of surprising creativity. How can you Ignite Creative Sparks within your Organization? Here are few jump start strategies: 1. Brainstorming: Brainstorming combines a relaxed, informal approach to problem-solving with lateral thinking. It asks that people come up with ideas and thoughts that can at first seem to be a bit crazy. The idea here is that some of these ideas can be crafted into original, creative solutions to the problem you're trying to solve, while others can spark still more ideas. This approach aims to get people unstuck, by "jolting" them out of their normal ways of thinking. This practice is based on two key principles: Deferment of Judgement - resisting any kind of comment or criticism of ideas until the end of the session no matter how strongly you may feel. The aim is to get as many suggestions 'out' as possible before judging or trying to refine them. Quantity Breeds Quality - encourage individuals to say whatever comes in to their mind no matter how silly or absurd they think the idea is. Again, the aim is to get as many ideas as possible. Four rules which must be adhered to when conducting a brainstorming session: Criticism is ruled out - no matter how strange the idea is. Freewheeling is welcomed - let imagination run as free as possible. Quantity is wanted - generate as many ideas as possible. Combination & improvement sought - building on ideas of other members.

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2.

Dialogue Circles: are shared explorations towards greater understanding and meaning. They are conversations in which participants make a conscious attempt to suspend their assumptions, refrain from debate, and instead focus on both individual and group learning. Participants speak from experience and release the need for specific outcome. This process builds a learning environment in which conversations can take on a sacred quality and in which change can be readily occur.

3.

Scenario Planning: is an analytical tool that can help transportation professionals prepare for what lies ahead. Scenario planning provides a framework for developing a shared vision for the future by analyzing various forces (e.g., health, transportation, economic, environmental, land use, etc.) that affect growth. Navigating Through Today's Uncertain World

4.

Appreciative Inquiry: (sometimes shortened to "AI") is primarily an organizational development method which focuses on increasing what an organization does well rather than on eliminating what it does badly. Appreciative Inquiry takes an alternative approach. As a self defined "asset-based approach" it starts with the belief that every organization, and every person in that organization, has positive aspects that can be built upon. It asks questions like Whats working well?, Whats good about what you are currently doing?[3]

5.

Experiential Learning: As Confucius once said, I hear and I forgot, I see and I remember, I do and I understand. This Aha! Moment referred to experiential learning.A true experiential learning program should take learners through four distinct phases: learners gain conceptual & theoretical knowledge, take part in a behavioral simulation, analyze the activity and connect the theory and activity with prior on-the-job or life situations.

6.

Online Tools: There are many websites on the internet offering idea generation tools to help guide the mind through a particular problem. These tools may be entirely web-based, or may be in the form of downloadable software.

7.

Critique: Critique refers to receiving input on current design ideas. This could be collaborative such as receiving a design critique from a colleague or individuals critiquing their own ideas (either systematically or intrinsically). This technique often spurs new thought by finding solutions to design flaws within current concepts.

8.

Forced Analogy: Forced analogy involves comparing the current problem with something else that has little or nothing in common in order to gain new insights and results. This technique often generates ideas for new areas of research.

9.

Socializing: Socializing refers to talking with others about topics unrelated to the current project.

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KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
To drive innovation, organizations need to make culture a top priority. Senior executives and HR professionals need to purposefully shape and sustain a culture that supports creativity & risk-taking. Once in place, they need to provide structure, tools, and training to keep their innovation engines running smoothly. To encourage innovative thinking in all corners of the workplace, individual managers need to: Listen, as Every employee is a potential designer of a new idea and just needs the opportunity to be heard. Ask lots of questions. What if? Why? Why not? Imagine if? Allow people to imagine new possibilities Bring together great ideas use cloud-based software that allows sharing and development to occur anytime, anywhere. Provide opportunities for reflection, retreat and problem solving so that good ideas will emerge. Encourage risk-taking. Failure is part of all innovation. People need to feel safe to try and fail and then try again. Host a scholarship program to incentivise innovation within the organisation and also to attract new talent from outside Reward brilliant ideas for example, with tickets to innovation conferences, holidays, shares and equity where appropriate Bring together the most diverse teams possible to solve your biggest challenges as Innovation occurs from diversity. Swim, in some cases, against the cultural tide.

CONCLUSIONS-HELP WORKERS BE GREAT

As we have explored in this paper, that the most valuable asset found in any business lies in the quality of its employees. Whether its a corner grocery store, bakery shop, real estate service or Fortune 500 company, a business organizations success is predicated upon the resourceful, continuous innovations as a result of employee productivity. A business cannot survive in todays competitive market environment without the ability to consistently generate innovative cost efficient products and services. This is the essence of growing a business, by fostering structured policies that thrive off experimentation of new ideas and procedures. The successful organization must be able to motivate workers that dedicate themselves to innovative goals, always aggressively pursuing new market opportunities. Building a business requires a shared dream. In order to increase productivity, entrepreneurs must provide the positive reinforcement necessary to develop and nurture innovative employees. Remember, people are ultimately the most valuable business assets, whether a secretary, nurse, landscaper or cookeveryone wins by motivating them to take ownership towards achieving the dream. Do what you can to keep them intellectually engaged and clear petty obstacles out of their way, and theyll shine for you.

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REFERENCES
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