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Fostering Innovation in the Workplace
As the Internet has grown, today's organisations are seeking ways to remain competitive and stay ahead of the rapid change through the use of technology in the workplace. Is your organisation leveraging technology to foster workplace innovation that optimises organisational performance?
| Using live webcast technology, "Infusion" meetings are held annually with more than 800 staff from around the world in attendance. |
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| Ms. Pearl Tong, Human Resources Business Partner, Asia, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide and Ms. Winnie Lai, Vice President, Greater China Region, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide. |
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Innovation can be critical to the continued success of an organisation. To enable staff to be creative and innovative, it is of utmost importance that organisations nurture a workplace culture that fosters high levels of creativity and innovation.
Culture for Innovation
"I think a favourable corporate culture is one of the top prerequisites for building an innovation workplace. The company should offer a platform where a wide range of tools are available for its staff to innovate and perform, whilst we, as the senior management, should make every endeavour to ensure that everybody is happy in the workplace," says Ms. Winnie Lai, Vice President, Greater China Region, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide.
At Waggener Edstrom, a series of policies have been implemented to achieve a healthy work/life balance and enhance productivity. All these contribute to an open corporate culture that encourages innovative thinking.
Ms. Pearl Tong, Human Resources Business Partner, Asia, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide says, "For example, our meeting room is actually a sofa room, so people feel more relaxed and comfortable to brainstorm and think of creative and innovative ideas.
"PR is a hectic industry. Although we work hard, it's still important to strike a balance between work and life. Every six or seven weeks, we hold activities for our staff to relax. And every year, we organise a number of company events for the entire staff to gather and socialise. We also participate in charitable activities so we can give something back to society. We hope our people all find their lives happy and meaningful," she continues.
Work from Home
In accordance with the company's support of a healthy work/life balance, Waggener Edstrom has implemented a "Work from Home" policy that allows staff flexibility in arranging their personal schedules. Every employee is entitled to work from home two days per month.
"This arrangement gives our colleagues an easy and effective way to allocate their time to manage both their work and private matters more efficiently. Most of our colleagues appreciate this policy," says Ms. Lai.
It sounds great to have such a flexible arrangement, but is it really feasible? Can employees' work efficiency be maintained? "To work from home doesn't mean that they are on holiday. They still have to connect with the office, and we provide a wide range of tools to link them up with other colleagues in the office. For example, every staff member is provided with a laptop so they can work from home and communicate with staff at the office using a number of ways, including IP phone, email, instant messenger and webcam," she explains.
| The company's "WE Life" policy encourages staff to maintain wellness by joining in various activities. |
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WE Life
The company also carries out "WE Life" policy to encourage staff to maintain wellness by doing exercise and joining various activities. In addition, massage is arranged at the office for the sake of employee wellness.
Ms. Tong says, "We think that we should have fun besides workinga comfortable, inviting space, so we aim to make it more enjoyable and less stressful to be there. Massages relieve fatigue and promote a sense of wellbeing, which are also good for innovative thinking."
Innovation Workplace
| To facilitate the "Innovation Workplace" concept, various tools, resources and training is provided for employee development. |
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| Real time and interactive online training is provided monthly for busy PR professionals who often work irregular hours to learn in a flexible way. |
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According to Ms. Lai, as a knowledge-based public relations consultancy, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide takes the phrase "People are our most valuable resource" seriously and strives to establish a comfortable work environment in which employees can fully unleash their potential—what the company calls an "Innovation Workplace".
"We believe that our employees drive influence and innovation for our clients around the world. Therefore, we are committed to offering them the technology needed to create a true ‘Innovation Workplace'. This enables them to deliver excellent service to our clients using our Innovation Communications methodology, with which we excel at giving innovative ideas and products a powerful voice in the market" she adds.
Ms. Lai points out that the birth of the Innovation Workplace concept is driven by the company's vision of "Innovation Communications" and its clients' needs. "Most of our clients are leading innovators in various sectors including technology, healthcare, consumer and F&B. To meet their technological requirements, we need to keep up with the latest tech trends."
"Our passion for technology enables us to put ‘Innovation Communications' into practice and by adopting more innovative ideas, our workforce productivity is enhanced. The Innovation Workplace concept has also contributed to our high retention rate," says Ms. Lai.
Support for Innovation
Besides creating a culture and an environment favourable for growing innovative ideas, putting the right tools and resources in place is also essential for supporting innovation in the workplace.
"We provide tools, resources and support for our employees that enable them to meet their challenges and deliver excellent results. As mentioned, every staff has a laptop for the convenience of working from different places. Moreover, various digital platforms have been adopted to enhance work efficiency," says. Ms. Tong.
To thrive in the industry, PR professionals need to constantly improve their creativity and innovation abilities. Hence, the company also offers various training sessions to develop its people's creative and innovative thinking skills.
Ms. Tong explains, "Annually, our employees set up their goals for personal development according to their own aspirations and career plans. Then, based on those goals, different forms of training are arranged for them, for example, classroom training, on-the-job training and offsite training."
Ms. Tong adds that real time and interactive online training is provided monthly. Different topics, covering both soft skills and technical skills, are available for staff to choose from based on their needs, whilst actual training on innovative technology, which is held both locally and regionally, is also provided.
"Since PR professionals often work irregular hours, we think that online training is more suitable as it allows a higher degree of flexibility. We strongly encourage our staff to attend 20 hours of training per year."
In addition, the company has organised an exchange programme for employees to work at its other offices around the world, to gain new work experience and a fresh perspective. Upon completion of the programme, they will return to their home office and hold sharing sessions to discuss what they have learned.
"As a global company with 17 offices across the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa, we always encourage interaction with other regional offices to strive for excellence," she reveals.
Infusion
Despite having offices spread across four continents, the company, which values interaction and sharing, is still able to complete its pioneering undertaking – "Infusion" – annually.
"We recognise and reward individual potential. To make our company a great place to work and to grow, we encourage everyone to share new ideas and express their views, and thus we hold the annual agency day – ‘Infusion'," says Ms. Lai.
Every year, company founder and CEO Melissa Waggener travels to one of the regions to hold the Infusion meeting, a meeting for staff of the whole region. At the meeting, via video webcast, Melissa gives her thoughts on the company's direction as well as a global business review to all staff around the world, and everyone is provided the opportunity to voice their opinions and ask questions during the Q&A session.
"Thanks to the live webcast, more than 800 staff globally can attend the meeting and everyone is able to participate in the dialogue with our CEO. This is an amazing experience and is also a good opportunity to strengthen communication between offices worldwide," Ms. Lai says.
Time to Go Digital
With the increasing popularity of the Internet, it seems to have become a trend for workplaces to go "digital", especially in the United States. Ms. Lai points out that even though Asia lags behind somewhat, the application of information technology is more common today.
"The use of technology in the workplace really helps improve efficiency, and more importantly, save costs. For example, we now use Microsoft Office Communicator (MOC) for calls and meetings, and it has saved us over 60 percent on our telephone bills. All you need is access to the Internet. It is a convenient and cost-effective way to communicate, and also makes it convenient for our employees to work from home," Ms. Lai says. "Workplaces going digital is a significant trend in the business world, and it is happening right now." |
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