How to Create a Culture of Innovation During Covid

Company culture is not a ‘one size fits all’ attribute. In fact, a company’s culture is as uniquely tied to it as a human is to their personality. It is cultivated slowly, tied to unique goals, and is built with the contributions of others. Company culture is something that accumulates regardless of whether its growth is guided or not – although, it’s always better if it’s driven to be a positive, productive, and progressive attribute of a business.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, companies – their operations, workforce, and cultures – were shaken to the core. Worldwide, people were challenged in ways they never thought they would be, and businesses were scrambling to organize, salvage, and support all aspects of their operations. While this past year has been a challenge for everyone, some saw the silver lining.

There were some who saw this as an opportunity to innovate.

Leadership & Culture

We are all human. We’ve all had – and probably still have – “what do we do?” moments this past year. But true leaders thought quickly on their feet. While trying to organize and support their teams and operations, they’ve also taken this as an opportunity to examine and re-shape their company culture.

It’s time like these – times of uncertainty and, for many, times of fear – that people look to those who they trust for guidance, strength, and positivity. While people are looking to leadership and management teams for these attributes, now is the time for empowerment. While providing guidance and positivity will undoubtedly contribute strongly to a desirable workplace culture, so will employee empowerment.

Leaders, employees, companies, and their cultures will all benefit when employees feel empowered to take charge of the projects that they’re working on, complete tasks with a comfortable level of autonomy, and receive guidance – rather than dictation – from leaders. Giving employees the space to take ownership of their projects and tasks will also establish or reinforce trust, an essential attribute of a positive workplace culture.

COVID-19 & Culture

Sure, free snacks, coffee and tea, rec tables with ping pong and foosball might have been great perks pre-pandemic, but those features (while fun) do not build the basis for a strong company culture. In a health crisis, a company’s culture becomes apparent very quickly.

Now, in these times of stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, and decreased face-to-face interactions, it’s easy for teams to feel fragmented. Despite all of the technology at our fingertips – ultra-efficient project management tools, high-quality video conferencing, and instant messaging tools – we still crave in-person interaction. Many of us enjoy those watercooler catch-ups and light lunchbreak chats. These informal interactions contribute to team bonding and a sense of comradery in the collective workplace and in our individual lives.

Undoubtedly, how companies handle and care for the mental health of their employees has been a topic that has been thrust into the spotlight throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The first step that employers can take to ensure that their employees are being supported is self assessment. Looking honestly at how they are set up to manage and support their employees is one of the biggest ways for employers to identify gaps and opportunities to care for the mental health of their workforce.

Once a self assessment has been done, company leaders can:

• Encourage open conversation and educate or remind employees of the health benefits that are available to support their mental health.
• Create reoccurring virtual team bonding
• Clearly communicate to employees that they can come to their leadership team with any issues they’re experiencing, including unmanageable workloads, or interactions with co-workers.
• Allow flexibility in work schedules, if possible. If starting an hour later or finishing an hour earlier is something that your employees need, allow them some autonomy with their schedules.

Having a company culture that supports its employees, provides them with a trusting environment, and encourages virtual social bonding with coworkers will ultimately contribute to a stronger, more positive atmosphere. While this makes your company a more attractive place to work, it can also be a boon to your finances. Increasingly, research is showing that a positive company culture also correlates to higher profitability.

Innovation & Culture

The Coronavirus pandemic threw us all for a loop. We witnessed businesses falter and fall apart, scramble to figure things out enough to keep themselves afloat, and even some who looked at the events unfolding and asked: “how can we grow from this?”

Now, when the term ‘stress test’ sounds like an understatement, it takes a strong team to regroup quickly and get themselves set up for stability and success. Throughout this pandemic, companies have looked for ways to innovate, to support front line workers and society in general, and to help build resiliency in their organizations. Businesses – big and small – looked for ways to band together, pivot the thinking of their workforces, and use their equipment and plants beyond the purposes for which they were originally intended. They are embracing open innovation. Auto industry companies are manufacturing much-needed ventilators, transport companies are providing their vehicles for mobile testing stations and – on a darker note – trailers for mobile morgues, clothing, shoe and sporting goods brands are making PPE such as masks and face shields, some IT companies have even built temperature-checking robots.

These are the companies who outpace their competitors. They are the ones who get noticed by investors, career-aspiring professionals, and by consumers. Cultivating a culture in which innovation is encouraged, invested in, and praised can seem like a daunting task. But innovation isn’t reserved for big tech companies with millions of dollars in funding either. Businesses of any size can apply innovative thinking in their operations, encourage it in the mindset of their workforce, and embrace it in their company culture. If you’re looking for a great venue to learn how to do this, take a look at our upcoming virtual event Fresh Thinking. Shared.: The Culture Imperative.

At Fresh Thinking. Shared. 2021, we have a series of speakers who have led the way in educating companies and businesses of all sizes about how they can re-examine their business strategy and operations, products and services, and the engagement of their people to work together to create a culture that runs on and values innovative thinking.

To take a look at our event page and browse the engaging topics that we will be discussing, click here! We hope to see you at Fresh Thinking. Shared. The Culture Imperative.

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Innovators Alliance is a peer-to-peer networking group of CEOs committed to driving business growth through innovation. Join us for an upcoming event to see what it’s all about!

Is your company innovative? Try our NEW Innovation Self-Assessment. It takes less than 5 minutes!

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