By: Sathishkumar Kulanthaivelu, Senior Manager - Product Delivery, LTIMindtree Canada

Automation is no more a buzz word in the industry, as it was ten years ago. The mindset of the employees took a paradigm shift in their way of thinking as the automation mindset evolved into an ‘Innovation’ mindset, and now ‘Innovation’ is emerging as ‘Business as Usual’.

To trigger the innovation mindset among the employees, organizations must start with workforce transformation, and workplace transformation and then start applying them for client-centric innovation.

Workforce Transformation

Cultivating the seed of ‘Innovative thinking’ within the mindset of employees, rather than teaching them about automation or process efficiencies should be the starting point. Invite volunteers within the organization or application streams, interested in getting certified with industry-leading automation tools. In two to three months, approximately 10% of your workforce would show interest in training themselves or getting certified. In addition to that, launch an “Idea portal’ to facilitate the employees within the organization to log their ideas for innovation. A governance model and process should be created to vet these ideas on a regular basis, assess the return on investment in implementing those ideas and prioritize the logged items for implementation. You would be surprised to receive ideas from multiple streams within your organization.

Workplace Transformation

When I went grocery shopping at Walmart last year on Black Friday, I was surprised to see all the shopping carts filled with gadgets and items on sale. I did notintend to buyanything, other than groceries that day, however the sight of overflowing shopping carts and the long line-ups at cashiers caused me to panic and feel like I  was missing    on something ‘big’,  it forced me to buy a smart TV on sale, even though I did not want to purchase one. The analogy here is  for the work environment and ambience that should be created in the workplace, to kindle the mindset of employees on Innovativ Thinking, which would unintentionally yield them to the innovative thought process and make them believe they are missing something if they are not part of this transformation journey.

One real-time example that clicked  here is when our organization launched ‘Digital receptionist’ using Google Home It was placed at  our front office to register visitors, handle parcel delivery, and send notifications to the receiver. This was one of our first interventions into the Artificial Intelligence space by customizing the Google DialogFlow. Every staff member who entered the office had to cross this receptionist each day, which would slowly inject the idea of digitalism in their mindset. Interestingly, no one would have anticipated in mid-2019 that a situation like COVID-19 would make ‘contactless receptionist’ as the new normal, and we already had a solution for this unprecedented situation.

The next suggestion is to launch an ‘Innovation Lab’. This doesn’t require a sophisticated closed room. A cubicl near your employees  on the same working floor can be selected for this. Utilize this space to launch demos of applications focused on innovation using cutting-edge technologies. Setup kiosks to spread awareness  of these innovative tools and facilitate nurturing the innovative mindset on the floor.

Client-centric Innovation

Driving innovation would not be serveits full purpose if it isnt  applied to our clients. Using the transformed workforce, engage in discovery sessions with your clients. Offering a discovery session with the client’s workforce (either free of cost or for a minimal cost) for a week or two, and identifying process inefficiencies, bottlenecks in their day-to-day operations, and areas of streamlining can help them realize operational issues faster.

This should not be limited to only discovery sessions,  it should also extend the offerings on proof of concepts to help them identify and appreciate the value of automation and innovation in their world.

To conclude, innovation is a journey without any destination, and it requires pit stops to refuel your thought process on what is needed for the hour. What was innovative a year ago would be obsolete now, especially with the disruptions due toCOVID-19  and its impact on everyone’s lives. Hence, the best way to propel innovation is to germinate the ‘Innovative’ mindset within our employees, especially those at the ground level as they understand the customer better and can cascade the insights to the managers and executives, to get direction on the strategy to structure it, and making it a success for our clients and also for our own organization. Start socializing the concept of innovation within your team and change your mindset to apply innovation in your day-to-day work.