3 Ways Companies Innovate Through Corporate Culture

By Diana Zelikman, Fueled 

Companies need to innovate in order to survive. Fostering that innovation can be easy at the top levels of management, but it also needs to spread throughout a company's culture for any real growth to occur. 

Many of today's businesses are transforming how they work to help drive creativity, innovation and increase the value they provide to their customers. 

By going against the grain, with less regulated management and unconventional approaches to how they operate, the entirety of corporate culture is slowly transforming into something truly innovative.  

Manage Less

Nobody likes to be managed, and we don't think anybody would argue that no one likes to manage others either. Companies are now turning the concept of management upside down by minimizing the restrictions placed on their staff. 

By managing less, team members become free to create new ideas. They can utilize new processes that streamline their workflow and generate new products and technologies for the entire organization.  

Companies such as Google and Atlassian have been recognized for the free time they provide their employees. This time is used to work on creating solutions to any problem that team members want to address. 

By managing less, companies are seeing better results. New ideas come to life, and employees feel a greater sense of ownership within the company that further fuels their productivity. 

Challenge Convention

Rather than try to maintain a constant team of employees, many companies now actively encourage workers to grow beyond their current jobs. HubSpot has taken this approach in its corporate culture. 

The goal is to put more decision making power in the hands of the team members who understand customers best. Employees are encouraged to offer ideas, and are given the support to begin working on them without the need for permission or any administrative regulation. If the idea is good enough, they're given three months time and resources to make it work.

The result is a corporate culture that develops new entrepreneurs within the organization that take the initiative to drive the growth of the company at a much higher rate. 

Value the Team

These examples of innovative corporate cultures have one thing in common: an increased value of the entire team. Companies are now recognizing that its team members work best when they are given the opportunity to contribute freely. 

Virgin has made this a foundation in its culture. They have emphasized the importance of choosing the right employees to build an innovative company. They value attitude first and skills second. 

Virgin focuses more on training the right people with the skills they need, rather than finding skilled people first. The company emphasizes communication to get the most from its members, allowing employees to feel like a valuable component in the success of the company. 

The ways in which these, and many other companies operate, is a sign of the future of corporate culture. Companies now understand that in order to meet the needs of customers they must first meet the needs of their own employees. By allowing more freedom and less structure, and by valuing team members in a way that encourages innovation, these companies have established the foundations for success at every level. 

Diana Zelikman is an editor at Fueled, the leading iPhone app builder in New York City, renowned for its award winning mobile design and strategy.