How Does Your Company Foster Innovation?
Imagine a garden where each plant represents a unique idea, carefully nurtured and given room to grow. In this article, learn from a VP of Market Operations and a CEO how their companies cultivate an environment ripe for innovation. This carefully curated collection presents fourteen insights from industry leaders, starting with a perspective on innovation's role in reducing growth costs, and concluding with a strategic approach towards continuous improvement. Get ready to explore the various ways companies foster creativity within their ranks.
- Reduce Growth Costs Through Flexibility
- Future Fund Fuels Productivity Software
- Free Environment Cultivates New Ideas
- Employee-Led Learning Drives Innovation
- Mentorship Program Transforms Industry
- Hire for Innovation and Creativity
- Cross-Pollination Yields Breakthroughs
- Data Analysis Optimizes Marketing
- Fail-Fast Approach Improves SEO
- Encourage Experimentation and Autonomy
- Bottom-Up Approach Fuels Success
- Listen to Customer Feedback
- Leverage Cutting-Edge Tools
- Culture of Continuous Improvement
Reduce Growth Costs Through Flexibility
One area where we encourage innovation, in particular, is finding ways to reduce our growth costs. Our goal is to expand into new markets at a sustainable, consistent pace in order to leverage experience and keep costs low. The cheaper it is to break into a new market, the more growth opportunities we have. By encouraging employees to constantly search for better options, we've stumbled upon a variety of outsourcing and financing schemes that give us the flexibility to grow into markets that would otherwise be out-of-reach.
Future Fund Fuels Productivity Software
Our company maintains a “Future Fund” where a portion of our budget is set aside specifically for experimental projects pitched by our team. This financial backing empowers our employees to take risks on high-reward projects, leading to groundbreaking features and tools that continue to set us apart in the productivity software market.
From our innovation fund, we developed a new integration feature for our tool—Toggl Hire—that connects directly with LinkedIn, allowing users to streamline the recruitment process. This has not only improved the functionality of our tool but also increased its market competitiveness.
Free Environment Cultivates New Ideas
I stimulate innovation by creating a free space for brainstorming. A whiteboard left blank is often enough to invite brainstorming. In our space, white butcher paper is spread across tables in break rooms, with markers to invite people to write down their ideas whenever inspiration strikes. That can result in some of the best 'improv' brainstorming sessions too—spanning departments.
It is important to create this kind of loose, pressure-free environment because it is in this type of environment where the seeds of new ideas can grow. It is incredible when people can think out loud and have the freedom to say anything, without any rules. When you enable this type of social interaction, you find that very different ideas collide and a real solution can emerge that can bind an entire business together.
Employee-Led Learning Drives Innovation
We foster innovation by creating an environment that encourages it, not only among leadership, but at all levels of the organization. One approach we use to enable this is through our L&D offerings. Instead of offering a set package of available trainings and certifications, we allow our employees to decide what skills they need to develop in order to improve their work, and we give them access to a set budget to do so. For this, each employee needs to present a use case of how the newly-acquired skill will be utilized and how it will impact the company. Why I feel that this has been a great effort with some notable results is that it taps into the talent of each individual and encourages them to find creative ways to develop and apply it in their workflow. Also, by tying this effort toward innovation with an opportunity for personal growth, employees are more incentivized as the gain is both collective and individual.
Mentorship Program Transforms Industry
Southern Hills Home Buyers fosters innovation through our mentorship program, pairing experienced investors with up-and-coming property managers. This initiative has led to some incredible outcomes, including a revolutionary approach to eco-friendly renovations that's cut our energy costs by 40%. We've also seen a significant increase in tenant satisfaction and retention rates. It's amazing to see how fresh perspectives can transform our industry and create win-win situations for everyone involved.
Hire for Innovation and Creativity
Our company fosters innovation by hiring for innovation. One of the skills that we look for in all our employees, regardless of the department they are joining, is the ability to solve problems. Innovation stems from creativity, from having a type of thinking that knows how to identify gaps and utilize existing resources to fill them. The outcome has been that we have created a team that's apt at looking at workflows through a creative lens, and instead of trying to stimulate innovation, we have created a situation in which we try to guide it.
Cross-Pollination Yields Breakthroughs
We don't just "brainstorm" next-generation ideas at Webineering; we hold Cross-Pollination Workshops. During these workshops, we gather team members from our engineers, designers, and operators who would never normally work together on a regular basis. We mix multidisciplinary teams to build a kind of melting pot of different experiences and knowledge. The act of combining forces allows us to get out of our normal routines and attack problems from new angles.
In this way, a specific outcome of this experience was an automatized quality-control system with a machine-learning system to predict and detect manufacturing defects. The idea came from a software engineer who took part in a workshop with manufacturing personnel who talked about common defect problems in manufacturing. Together with the engineers, he understood the issues with defect detection and incorporated cutting-edge machine-learning technology to develop a system with higher accuracy of defect detection that also reduced the time to perform quality checking. This system has been integrated into our production lines, leading to improved product quality and customer satisfaction. Thus, the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration is demonstrated by the efficacy of engineering and manufacturing breakthroughs.
Data Analysis Optimizes Marketing
We foster innovation through experimentation and data analysis at Rocket. For example, I had the team build 10 different landing pages at launch to determine which keywords and messages resonated most with our target customers. We optimized based on open rates and conversions, increasing sales 30% in the first year.
I also survey customers regularly to gain insights into pain points and areas for improvement. Their feedback led us to build interactive demos, allowing schools to experience our software firsthand. This strategy resulted in a 40% increase in demo-to-client conversion rates.
Our most successful campaign involved social media, email marketing, and influencer partnerships to streamline messaging across channels. This multi-tiered approach led to a 45% increase in engagement and 25% higher conversion rates. By tracking key metrics like cost-per-click and revenue, we achieved a 300% ROI.
We've found that innovation comes from understanding customers and a willingness to try new approaches. Whether through social media partnerships, landing page tests, or feedback surveys, we gain insights that help optimize our marketing and build a product schools genuinely want. Success comes from crafting an experience that supports our customers' goals.
Fail-Fast Approach Improves SEO
Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at Kixely. We've implemented a 'fail-fast, learn-faster' approach, encouraging our team to take calculated risks and learn from both successes and failures. This mindset led to the development of our Predictive SEO Platform, which has revolutionized how businesses approach search engine optimization. By leveraging AI and machine learning, we've seen clients achieve an average 40% increase in organic traffic within just three months of implementation.
Encourage Experimentation and Autonomy
At FusionAuth, we foster innovation by encouraging experimentation and autonomy. For example, when we were building our API, one engineer had the idea to make it "schema-less" so customers could add any field they wanted to a user object. This flexibility has been key to our growth as it allows customers to model their data however they need.
We also innovate through hack weeks, where engineers are given a week to build anything they want using our platform. This resulted in one of our most popular features, custom workflows, which allow customers to model complex business processes around user registrations and updates.
Finally, we crowd-source innovation through our community. Customers often request new features, and we build the most popular requests. For example, a customer needed SCIM support, so we added it, and now many enterprise customers use that integration. Constantly improving based on feedback is how we stay ahead of competitors. Our bottom-up innovation process has allowed us to thrive without relying on VC funding.
Bottom-Up Approach Fuels Success
While focusing on our business insurance offerings, Strange Insurance Agency encourages innovation in the way we structure policies and provide value-added services to our clients. For example, when many restaurants were struggling during COVID-19 lockdowns, we worked with clients to adjust their business interruption insurance coverage so they could still receive payment, even when forced to temporarily close or scale down operations.
We also encourage our team to explore new partnerships and find ways we can integrate additional services to benefit our clients. Recently, we partnered with a payroll and HR management company to provide their services bundled with our insurance policies at a discount. Many clients have taken advantage of this partnership, and the bundled services have become a lead generator for new business.
Within our internal team, we set aside time each month for brainstorming new strategies, partnerships, and ways to improve our operations. One outcome was the development of an online client portal to provide policy documents, payment receipts, and the ability to update personal information digitally, rather than filling out and mailing paperwork. The portal has streamlined our processes and provided convenience for clients, strengthening our relationships.
We find that by giving our team the freedom to explore innovative solutions, brainstorm new ideas, and test partnerships or services, we are able to stay ahead of industry changes and better serve our clients. Our bottom-up approach to innovation has fueled our growth and success.
Listen to Customer Feedback
At Eco-Friendly Printer, we foster innovation through experimentation and listening to customer feedback. For example, early on, a client wanted us to use only recycled materials. This inspired me to source soy-based inks and 100% post-consumer recycled paper. These experiments fueled our commitment to sustainability and shaped our company.
I often visit paper mills to ensure we use the most eco-friendly materials. Our hands-on approach has earned us recognition as sustainable printing leaders. For example, we created compostable packaging from renewable resources. Now many clients choose our compostable mailers and boxes.
We also innovate through employee initiatives. For instance, an employee suggested donating excess paper and inks to schools. We now donate to local schools, and students create their own stationery, cards, and art. This program boosts employee morale and community goodwill. Constantly improving our sustainable practices and services is key to our success. Our innovations come from listening, experimenting, and encouraging employees to contribute ideas.
Leverage Cutting-Edge Tools
At Top Fox Marketing, fostering innovation is central to our approach. We continuously stay ahead of industry trends by leveraging cutting-edge tools, collaborating with creative professionals, and engaging in ongoing education. This allows us to implement new strategies that drive results for our clients. For example, we recently helped a client in the tech sector develop a LinkedIn marketing strategy that led to a significant increase in engagement and new business opportunities. By integrating automation and thought-leadership content, we expanded their network and improved their lead-generation pipeline, showcasing the tangible impact of our innovative mindset.
Culture of Continuous Improvement
Fostering innovation at Bouma Corp. revolves around creating a culture of exploration, continuous learning, and collaboration. We constantly encourage continuous-improvement ideas to be submitted through online platforms within Bouma. The outcomes include improved productivity and better decision-making, mirroring our approach to innovation by merging cutting-edge tools, like Leica BLK360 and Dusty robots, for enhanced precision and efficiency.