Empowering leadership to build a culture of innovation

Innovation is at the heart of a successful business. 

Competition is unavoidable, and the ability to rise above and differentiate your company from the rest hinges on harnessing new strategies and technologies. But the capacity to innovate stems from more than just the technology in front of you. It’s a mindset that must come from leaders and filters through the whole organisation.

Technological solutions need to be backed by an understanding of the importance of customer engagement and transformative leadership, and this is an approach employed by Optus. With 5G-enabled technology transforming Australia’s digital landscape, we have the opportunity to build on the focus on connectivity and evolve it to encompass capability. It puts renewed power in the hands of businesses to rapidly innovate and provide new experiences for customers. 

Crucial to achieving this innovation is strong, strategic leadership backed by data analysis. Data is power, and advancements in data collection and analysis technology allow for companies to continue gaining more pointed insights into their operations. 

Optus is demonstrating the importance of rapid, up-to-the-minute analytics through its partnership with MicroStrategy, delivering a versatile and accessible platform for businesses that provides comprehensive data and analytics. By enabling businesses to build scalable custom solutions that monitor key data points such as workflows and transactions, we’re giving businesses the tools to innovate and grow.  

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In addition to gathering vital numerical analytics, sometimes the most useful data is qualitative. When it comes to leading a successful team, understanding the goals and needs of the people around you is crucial. 

Research from Gallup has shown that employees who are either partially or completely emotionally disengaged from their work cost the global economy $13.6 trillion in lost productivity, roughly 9% of global GDP. When workers feel unable to express their dissatisfaction, the whole team can suffer. 

As companies attempt to entice workers back to the office, they will face this issue with regard to the technology on offer. Being saddled with outdated devices and worn-out meeting rooms is a common drain on employee satisfaction that is crucial to address.

In recent years, increasing diversity within companies has become a major aim. This is particularly important for cultivating a greater breadth of expertise. Often the best ideas and solutions come when people whose knowledge is outside the technical field engage with the innovation and leadership process. This is only possible when there is a supportive culture enabling people to speak up, take risks and challenge the status quo. 

Key to successfully pushing for innovation is prioritising the alignment of aims at every level. A study of B2B firms by CMOE found that those which prioritised organisational alignment saw 24-27% faster revenue growth. The strategic intent of every team should always aim back to the values and strategic pillars of the whole company. 

For instance, while revenue and market share growth is often the main goal for an organisation overall, it is not always the strongest motivator at a team level. Instead, letting your team know that the quality of their work is an important metric both for measuring their individual performance and cementing the reputation of the whole company is an opportunity to build cohesion. 

The people within the organisation need to understand the company they work for in order to share in its success. They may know their immediate line of business in detail, but being aware of the corporate values and aims at a macro level helps focus each component of the organisation towards a common goal. As I have written about previously, identifying and maintaining a North Star helps employees to connect with the organisation’s purpose. 

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Building a culture of innovation within an organisation benefits not just those within, it helps create better experiences for your customers. In our case, unlocking the power of innovation to benefit customers is at the heart of our operations. What matters when doing so is focusing on purposeful innovation. If customers are searching for a particular product or solution that lies beyond their current capabilities, find out why. Communicating openly and working with them produces better outcomes than dictating to customers what their needs are.

At a B2C level, Optus exemplified this approach with the launch of Optus Pause. Using the capabilities of our mobile network to enable devices to be made inactive may seem counterintuitive for a telco, but it spoke to a desire within our customer base for the ability to be mindful and intentional about device usage. The Australian-first innovation built on Optus’ IoT network to deliver a sleek device management interface that changes how customers approach connectivity.

Promoting a culture of innovation internally helped us to deliver innovation directly to consumers, and continues to shape the company’s relationship with businesses. In establishing FutureNow, Optus is connecting businesses with experts in leadership and innovation to design future-proof solutions. It encourages businesses to invest not just in tech solutions, but in the right skill sets, the right talents, and crucially the right people. 

The ability to innovate and help others to do so is not innate. If it were, everyone would be doing it. Innovation is cultivated at every level of an organisation, needing strong strategic leadership from the top down. It can, however, be learned. Helping your company learn how to innovate begins with an environment in which people are empowered to take calculated risks in pursuit of new ideas. It is reinforced by the ability to continually gain insights from data, feedback, and clear communication. 

Further information

If you would like to continue this conversation further, please reach out to your Optus Account Manager or request a call back here.