MGT 2321: Strategies for Enhancing Employee Creativity & Innovation

This essay examines the importance of innovation for organizational growth and success, focusing on strategies to enhance employee creativity and overcome barriers to innovation. It discusses various tools, policies, and techniques, such as open communication, brainstorming sessions, and job role switching, that can foster a creative and innovative business environment. The essay also identifies factors that inhibit or prevent creativity, including lack of direction, inadequate resources, fear of failure, and missed connections with customers. Using Tesco as a case study, the essay highlights the impact of these factors on the organization's ability to innovate and maintain a competitive edge, emphasizing the need for leaders and managers to address these challenges to promote long-term profitability and survival.

Mgt 2321

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
Books and Journals:....................................................................................................................8
Online:.........................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
In present times, organisations grow and succeed in business environment for a myriad of
several causes. Some of them are famous for their goods, others for their services, while others
still for less easily defined factors such as captivating marketing campaigns and strong brand
loyalty. Innovation is a significant source of growth and a major determinant of competitive
benefits for most of the business firms. Attaining innovation needs the coordinated efforts by
employees and the combination of various activities across specialised domains, functions and
contexts of application (Belair-Gagnon and Steinke, 2020). Thence, organisational creation is
imperative to the innovation process. The organisational ability to innovate is a pre-condition for
the booming exploitation of inventive resources, along with new technologies. Conversely, the
launching of new technology perhaps shows complex challenges, together with opportunities for
the business organisations, leading to modifications in the managerial practices and the growth of
new organisational forms. Technological and organisational innovations are twined.
Innovation can be denoted as a concept or defines the process that an individual or a
business firm undertakes to conceptualization brand new products, services, ideas or processes or
even to approach current goods, ideas or processes in a new manner. In the business world, there
are range of innovation forms that an organisation pursues. These are oft-times tied to single
goods, workflows, internal processes or business models. Some of the organisations even grasp
all the three in an exertion to leading growth while conforming to the ever-changing market.
Innovation in company is aimed at boosting the performance of business by limiting the
transaction or administrative costs, enhancing the workplace satisfaction and employees'
efficiency and productivity (Bröring, Laibach and Wustmans, 2020). It also helps in limiting the
supplying costs. Presently, organisations world-wide espouse business solutions powered by AI
with an intent to mitigate the costs while rising productivity. The employees is profoundly
impacted by all this change, and smart companies are taking steps to implement advanced
technologies and to hire and retrain human for qualified roles, redesign jobs and tasks while
using AI as an enabler of innovation in goods, processes, together with business models.
Tesco Company is taken into consideration to prepare complete this assignment. In 1919,
Tesco was discovered by Jack Cohen. The headquarters is in Welwyn Garden City, United
Kingdom. It is a British global retail organisation which has diversified its business in all around
the world. It is operating its business in 11 countries in the universe. This organisation retails in

clothing, toys, books, petrol, electronics, telecoms, financial services, furniture as well as internet
services. In this essay, different tools, policies or techniques will be evaluated that help
employees and workers to be more creative (Fukuda, 2020). Also, it will outline the factors that
might prevent or inhibit employees' creativity and the impact that would have on the business
company.
MAIN BODY
Workforce are more influenced and inspired to be creative and innovative when they are
indulged with a stirring ambiance and a different group of colleagues. These kind of employees
can assist in growing and developing the business by coming up with better ideas and solutions
to issues, distinguishing goods and services from competitors and increasing sales opportunities.
With an intent to foster a creative and innovative business ambience, the senior manager have to
first support glint creative thinking in the staff members (Nambisan, Lyytinen and Yoo, 2020).
There are many ways to encourage creativity or innovation among employees at Tesco
Company. Cultivate open communication, it is one of the great ways to encourage human to
voice out their ideas or perceptions. Employees require to know that voicing out are actually
valued by their seniors or leaders in the company. As a senior manager in the company, there is a
necessity to create an environment where employees feel comfortable to share their thoughts. In
order to generate creative ideas or solutions for the business, they should be involved in the
discussions. Being a manager, it is also essential to listen carefully to the ideas of employees,
whether it is one on one meeting or group meetings. Therefore, gaining a diverse viewpoint can
be the first step towards creation or innovation. Hold guided brainstorming sessions, when
staff members have a wide open whiteboard to work with, one never understand what
perceptions or solution might come up. When they have a blank slate, with range of markers,
together with opportunities to brainstorm, the organisation can collect the rewards. It will help
workforce to scribble down their thoughts and ideas through such sessions. For managers, they
should create a pressure-free brainstorming session which is calming and relaxing to generate
fresh ideas (Olimov, 2021). Let problem-solving happen across functions and teams, it is also
impactful to allow collaborative working between different functions and departments that may
have some sort of synergy to get the task finished. Ensure that the information is available and
streaming about what the other is working so that there is increased transparency. Create
networks in order to involve them in the team. Get buy in and sell a thought to next person to

examine it out. Switch job roles, managers or leaders should plan a day where their staff
members get an opportunity to step into the roles or position of other employees in diverse
functions. Give them a chance to see the organisational challenges from an unknown position.
This supports to show them to new thinking and ideas (8 Powerful Ways to Make Your
Employees Super Creative, 2022).
The better one become identifying innovative solution to resolve the unavoidable
problems of regular life and work, the more successful one will be. Employees have amazing
talent and skills, but they do not know how to unlock their competencies and abilities. In case of
Tesco, there are many reasons to creative or innovative thinking that could inhibiting or
preventing one from learning to enhance their problem-solving skills or innovation skills for the
success of business. Lack of direction from ownself or others, it is one of common barrier in
creative or innovative thinking is that lack of clear aims and goals, written down, written action
plans, accompanied by detailed. When employers become crystal clear about what they want
from their staff, or help them in finding out the ways to attain them, helps in creative mind
springs to practical life (Common Barriers to Creativity in Business, 2019). Employees
immediately start to sparkle with insights and ideas that help managers to step ahead and
enhance the innovative skills. Inadequate resources, is one of the major factor that lacks the
creation or innovation. The limitation of human power required to attain a task in a certain time-
frame. The requirement of modern tools and software that can make or break an assignment. A
facility that is not meant for collaboration, alternative workspaces or spaces for multiple
meetings. Hence, inadequate resources can give as one of the obstacles to creativity that can be
rectified by the organisation leadership. Not listening to new ideas, is another biggest
innovative limits in organisation. Absence of creativity is the issue but listening not the creative
ideas is more bigger problem. Employees might be coming up with clever, cool and creative
ideas, but if they do not feel comfortable to bringing upfront those ideas to the surface is more
bigger problem that prevent innovation in the respective business. Fear of failure, too perhaps,
employees give up at the prior sign of not succeeding (Stilgoe, 2020). As per the survey, many
employees get frustrated that they give up and realising the fact that the process is filled with
trail and error. It is vital to consider this barrier in order to grab the innovative ideas.
Environments that stifle creativity, when the environment is uncomfortable and distracting
may result in uninspired and distracted work. It is significant to foster an ambience that

encourages employee’s creativity, instead stifles it. Current product offerings are successful,
most of the companies believes that their existing goods and services have reached and attained
the desired success which stops them to innovate something new into them. The fear of pulling
resources, investment and customer attention from present offerings can be one of the major
hindrances to future innovation. Nonetheless, constant innovation refers as the key to sustained
and survive in the long run (Terstriep, Rehfeld, and Kleverbeck, 2020). Missed connections
with customers, intense customer empathy is the primal to acknowledging changes in need,
demand as well as staying abreast of upcoming trends, it given the company with a roadmap for
what issues to resolve further. Exploiting customer reviews and feedback on regular basis can
assist the company tuned in to the customer needs and wants. Therefore, all these factors inhibit
and prevent innovation in the chosen business (Yu and et.al., 2019). If these factors are not
considered in a right way, then it may snatch various competitive benefits and growth
opportunities in the market. If innovation lacks in the company, then it may affect the long term
profitability and survival in the place of market. Overall, it is said that innovation is necessary for
growth and survival of business.
CONCLUSION
From the above stated essay, this can be concluded that innovation is important in every
small, medium or large firms. As the world is evolving day by day, organisations must consider
the innovation aspect on a serious note to survive in the market. Innovation denotes as something
that puts value in the current goods, services, processes, business models and so forth. Leaders
and managers are responsible to create an environment which appreciates creativity and
innovation that leads to success and growth. In this assignment, there are various tools,
techniques or policies are considered that helps in fostering the ambience which encourage
innovation in the business. Some of these are brainstorming sessions, open communication,
switching roles and many more. These are beneficial in promoting innovative work culture in
which the skills, knowledge and abilities of employees can be exploited to create something new
for the business. When business exploits these competencies or ideas also supports in grabbing
competitive benefits and opportunities as well. To survive in the market, these are very necessary
for the companies in the similar industry. Also, as the ways of using resources or technologies or
software tools are also changing day by day, organisations should be ready to face changes or
modifications in their regular way of working. It helps in long run survival. Furthermore, there

are various factors are discussed in this assessment that hinders or limits the innovation in the
organisation. Some of these factors are fear of failure, inadequate resources, current product
offerings are successful and much more. As a manager, these factors should be assessed to find
out the possible measures to overcome such kind of obstacles or barriers as it also affects the
business productivity and profitability, together with long term survival. Hence, innovation is
something that can be put in existing goods, services or even business models.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Belair-Gagnon, V. and Steinke, A.J., 2020. Capturing digital news innovation research in
organizations, 1990–2018. Journalism studies, 21(12), pp.1724-1743.
Bröring, S., Laibach, N. and Wustmans, M., 2020. Innovation types in the bioeconomy. Journal
of Cleaner Production, 266, p.121939.
Fukuda, K., 2020. Science, technology and innovation ecosystem transformation toward society
5.0. International journal of production economics, 220, p.107460.
Nambisan, S., Lyytinen, K. and Yoo, Y. eds., 2020. Handbook of digital innovation. Edward
Elgar Publishing.
Olimov, S.S., 2021. The innovation process is a priority in the development of pedagogical
sciences.
Stilgoe, J., 2020. Who’s driving innovation. New Technologies and the Collaborative State.
Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Terstriep, J., Rehfeld, D. and Kleverbeck, M., 2020. Favourable social innovation ecosystem
(s)?–An explorative approach. European Planning Studies, 28(5), pp.881-905.
Yu, L. and et.al., 2019. Technology imports and self-innovation in the context of innovation
quality. International Journal of Production Economics, 214, pp.44-52.
Online:
8 Powerful Ways to Make Your Employees Super Creative, 2022. [Online] Available Through:
<https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/8-powerful-ways-to-make-your-employees-
super-creative.html>
Common Barriers to Creativity in Business, 2019. [Online] Available Through:
<https://truscribe.com/business-creativity-barriers/>