Employee-driven innovation - an organisational ...

Employee-driven innovation - an organisational challenge ISA - World Sociology Congress, Yokohama. 13. – 19. July 2014. Anthony Kallevig, LO Norway Tone Merethe Berg Aasen, NTNU Trondheim

Employee-driven innovation Based on traditions

• Based on the social partners cooperation traditions and mutual trust - Top Management - Shop stewards. • DUI - Learning by Doing, Using and Interacting. • Increased creativity and shared responsibility enhances the innovation capability of the work place. • Increasing Norway's innovation power and competitiveness, through competence development and broad involvement. • Organizing existing competencies in new ways leads to new opportunities and innovations. • Not just continuous improvements. A.Kallevig, LO Norway

ISA - Congress in Yokohama July 2014

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Historical background – EDI in Norway - An effect of Industrial democracy and the Nordic work life model

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1960s Thorsrud and Emery –The Cooperation project. 1966 The Cooperation act - Social partners Basic agreement 1973 The Company act - Employee representation on the Board 1977 The new labour law - focus on psychosocial matters (STS) 1982 The Social partners joint enterprise development initiative 90’ -2000 Enterprise Development 2000 and Value Creation 2010 2006 LO takes a leading initiative in promoting EDI in Norway 2008 EDI becomes part of the Governments Innovation Policy 2012 On going Norwegian and Nordic EDI - research initiatives.

A.Kallevig, LO Norway


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Employee-driven innovation – a target area in the Norwegian innovation strategy 

Employee driven innovation is the systematic use of employees’ ideas, knowledge and experience to improve innovation capacity in the organization, resulting in new products, processes or services, developed in an open and including innovation processes. Anthony Kallevig, LO

The challenge is how this idea can be successfully implemented in practice! A.Kallevig, LO Norway


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EDI-research – conditions and effects 1. Conditions

Internal conditions: -Cooperation -Leadership - Autonomy -Innovation focus -Tasks

2. Effects – direct and indirect

Productivity Operational costs Product quality

EDI

Employee satisfaction Motivation Change attitude Sickness absence

External relationships

Impact on business sustainability

Labour turnover

Impact on socio-economic factors

Number of employees



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The Norwegian EDI project 2010-2011



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Strategic and purposeful design

industries enterprises

persons A.Kallevig, LO Norway


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What do we know about EDI? – experiences from Norway

• There are many – not one - best practices for EDI. • Most companies use tools to capture and manage ideas, but there are companies lacking such structures which are equally good at EDI. • Companies succeeding with EDI share certain cultural characteristics, such as trust and openness. • The role of employee representatives and the working managers appears to be of particular importance to succeed with EDI.



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Conditions for successful EDI practices Professional roles

Use & influence

Means and tools

Leader Employee Representative

Encourage & strengthen

Influence

Cultural characteristics



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Tools and measures supportive of EDI Arenas for communication

Idea selection Tools for prioritizing of ideas, for further development and realization

Tools for widespread sharing of information and discussion about challenges and opportunities

Innovation culture and innovation focus

Idea capture Tools for registration and refinement of ideas

EDI - Ideas and suggestions

Tools to motivate engagement and participation

- Idea realization - Effect and profit



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important factors



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‘Leaders should be very conscious that there are persons in every organization who have bright minds, clear ideas, clear meanings.’ ‘I think the key is participation, - and to avoid «Yes, but» questions.’

1.Leadership A.Kallevig, LO Norway


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‘I feel that we don’t really have a hierarchy here. I think everybody feels a great responsibility, and think that we have equal opportunities to contribute. Everybody realizes that it is us who create the company.’

2.Employee autonomy A.Kallevig, LO Norway


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‘We know that the work we do is the basis for making this company a good workplace today and in the future, and we do it because we think that it is of value. It is of value for us who work here, but also for society, and for the owners.’

3. Cooperation A.Kallevig, LO Norway


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‘If somebody is excited about an idea which is of a certain scope, it is reasonable that they also take an active part in the job to conceptualize the idea, and participate to see if it is actually valuable, or not.’

4.Development orientation A.Kallevig, LO Norway


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Profiting from EDI – involves bridging internal and external knowledge sources • … widespread cooperative and creative skills… • … general interest in improvement … • … increased engagement in innovation … • … reduced opposition to change … • … improved coherence …

… changing roles of leaders … … mobilization of middle management … A.Kallevig, LO Norway


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