job satisfaction provide the best starting point for increased innovative ability human beings constitute the most important resource in our effort to achieve
adaptation of working life, as well as by working to bring about a culture that encourages creativity and entrepreneurship in society
government believes that it also concerns issues such as employees trust and participation as well as low wage dispersion.
to innovation at their workplaces and to start their own enterprises the quality of the education system must be strengthened
manpower with sound and relevant competency. Private research investments must be strengthened in order to safeguard long-term knowledge development in industry. at
further through work experience, learning and knowledge sharing the demand for competent personnel provides challenges for the education system
between education and working life has been strengthened, but there are still major gaps both in scope and intensity.
Both work tasks and production processes are becoming increasingly complex, and therefore the need for continuous competence development
between education and working life, as well as invest in lifelong learning through on the job training today†s pupils and students are the ones who will be creating the job opportunities and
review how the education sector and working life are working together, and consider various strategies to strengthen this field
social responsibility and the environment to play a role throughout the work of the admi
focus on the employees, and consider new measures for promoting staff-driven innovation in collaboration with the norwegian Confederation of trade unions
and the Confederation of norwegian Business and industry i n n o vat i v e u N d e r ta K i n g S
13 it is the government†s goal that norwegian enterprises shall grow And develop, And
importance. as the employer of approximately 30 percent of the country†s workforce with a volume of procurements amounting to approximately nok 249 billion, the public
the promotion of innovation in the social care sector aim at strengthening clinical testing units for trial of new medicines
Human resources management policies to support innovation 11. Innovation Networks 12. Other tools for business innovation support
experienced R&d experts but staff in SMES (managers, employees and trainees) who have to develop innovative products
consultants might wish to use it as an additional tool to support their clients or to give their
learning of the processes in the workplace First, the material informs you of what a certain technique
usefulness of a certain innovation tool for your purposes and your working environment This way, we hope to encourage the user of this guide to reflect on the question â€oewhat else
Human resources management policies to support innovation...207 10.1. Human resources competence requirements for innovations...207 10.1.0.
Introduction...208 10.2. Identifying training needs for Innovation in SMES...215 10.3. Creating a company culture for continuous innovation...
employment, community and training related actions such as the European Social Fund and related programmes such as Equal and also Leonardo Da vinci
and academics or researchers that work together on commercially and strategically important devel -opment projects that are vital to a company†s future
ï Physical Work Environment The recent report for the European commission Innovation Management and the Knowledge-Driven
4. Human resources management techniques 5. Interface management techniques 6. Creativity development techniques 7. Process improvement techniques
â€oefirst, there is a need to prepare European citizens better for entering the labour market, thereby re
-tise through academic staff and graduates with the aim to facilitate innovation South East Development Agency:
-nesses and strengths on both human resources and infrastructure. The Technology Audit is a tech -nique, which identifies the management†s view of how the company performs as well as strong indica
External and Internal environment of the company and identifies the human resources relation to company†s performance
and stimulate the staff Whoever is interested in the organisation, in terms of contracting, funding, VC investment, or acquisi
diagnosis, an external specialised consultant is proposed Example Questionnaire for Technology Audit (at the end of the article http://www. adi. pt/docs/innoregio techn audits. pdf
help desk and staff development areas. Finally, the district wanted a forward-looking plan that pro -vided solid goals and added focus and direction to future technology implementation.
-works and some of the violations were fire stopping, fire suppression and physical security related. At
this point, the participation of experts for recommendations and solutions was necessary. So the dis
Second, the audit report uncovered a number of redundancies and organisational inefficiencies Wright & Hunter recommended a streamlined organisational structure that eliminated the overlaps and
staff development departments. The new budget realities were met with the least amount of employee disruption and service level degradation as possible.
The Wright & Hunter recom -mendations for improvements in the physical plant were implemented and the probability of
ï Gross, Clifford M.,The right fit †The power of ergonomics as a competitive strategy, Produc
ï Loss of key staff ï Sustainable financial backing ï Economy-home, abroad ï Seasonality, weather effects
ï The staff lack of motivation ï The building was really small ï The facility was old
ï There was a lot of paper work and bureaucracy "Innosupport: Supporting Innovation in SMES "-2. 2. SWOT Analysis
The manager of the health centre encouraged all the members of staff to freely express their
ï Willingness of staff to change ï Good location of the health centre ï Perception of quality services
ï Staff lack of motivation ï Building was really small ï Paper work and bureaucracy
ï Cultural differences with users Opportunities ï Support of local government ï High felt need of users
ï training of the staff in interactive techniques of quality improvement ï coordination with other providers to cover all user needs
ï payment of incentives to staff based on performance ï review of procedures for decreasing costs and waiting times and increasing perceived quality
ï 20%increase of staff performance ï remodelling of the facility 2. 2. 6. Resources
a fault whilst minimising the redundancy amongst the other cases 3. 1. 3. 1. Equivalence Testing and Boundary Value Analysis
If the product works correctly for any one test case in the range 1 to 16,383, then it will probably work for any other test
an eye-opener in innovation work ï http://www. hi. is/joner/eaps/y3 16047. htm "Innosupport:
identify interrelationships of major tasks, work phases, and opportunities for improvements through the use of feedback loops at the organisation and the customer levels
own employees than asking for consultancy elsewhere ï it improves the mood and the relations between the employees of an organisation (for exam
-ple, creating a relaxed open to communication atmosphere, employers can discover potential problems of the organisation †no matter the level of their occurrence †before the situation
gets out of control "Innosupport: Supporting Innovation in SMES "-4. 1. Foundations of generating ideas
this is not in our plan"it doesn†t work "2. We cannot do this without taking into account the regulations;
I†m sure it will not work; it is absolutely absurd 4. We will not be taken seriously;
employees We have to make an important statement: the managing styles do not exist in a pure state.
it is a public company founded in 1930 with over 28,000 employees worldwide Context: the company fights its capacity to serve its clients,
and repeating old inefficient work habits ï this behavior limits individuasl, groups, and organisational performance having an impact on
the staff of the firm will work together, in a brainstorming session the communication will increase,
4. an expert called facilitator, which can acts as a leader to maintain the order and the focus of
1. Selection of a facilitator (she/he has to have good communication skills, hold a certain level of
2-should be solved with the actual employers; 3 -speed of implementation; 4-implementation difficulty 7. Marking ideas
if experts in different fields of knowledge and levels of qualification participate in the session
be used (experts in different fields of knowledge ï All participants are active (not necessarily achieved by a brainstorming session
Suitable analogies can be found in different fields of work or disciplines which seem to be
Therefore, for the composition of a work group, experts from different fields are useful (technicians, doctors, biologists etc
In looking for analogies from â€oedistantâ€oe fields of work, solution concepts can be developed that are
-ence, technical expertise, medicineâ€) †group work with experts from â€oedistant†fields can be very useful
not all will work but some of them will lead to completely new products, services and structures
ï finally, we discuss their feasibility (with staff and clients Good luck! If you would like to get to know more about this method
creative every day for both employers and clients, he has gained a rich resource of examples to help
We train our employees †but we don†t let them use their knowledge We learn mostly in projects â€
We have an expert for every question †but few people know how to locate him/her
built after many years of work it is mainly personal knowledge and difficult to be expressed with
and the participation of each employee to the firm cognitive capital is also rec -ognized
know-how or experts) or missing technology or a combination of the two. Knowledge gaps must be filled in with several policies such us
to recognise knowledge redundancy in some departments as well A well-described tool in the literature for implementing A k. M audit is the Knowledge management
In today†s very competitive work environment many employees don†t feel safe in their work position
mistakes or ask other employees if they don†t know something. People at work also shouldn†t be
Specific knowledge might exist in every employee due to his/her past experience, first degree, etc
pressure is intense and much of the work is routine and re -petitive. In this environment, best practice working procedures are business-critical-information
and accurately communicated to employees Solution To help the company maintain and improve the quality of their working methods, Information Transfer
which all staff should use The 2 consulting companies then developed a comprehensive set of Work Instructions to communi
-cate this information to groups of warehousemen, drivers and office staff The drivers'work instructions, for example, covered starting a run, delivery to the store, collecting
goods from warehouses, changing trailers and ending a run. Clear step-by-step procedures in -cluded health and safety information, instructions on what to look out for,
To help build staff knowledge, work instructions were accompanied by Training Mod -ules and Assessments, used by the trainers to train staff
and validate the training. These provided "Innosupport: Supporting Innovation in SMES "-4. 6. Knowledge management page 75 of 271
easy it is for organisations to improve their effectiveness by harnessing the knowledge held by a work
-force that is often doing very routine work 4. 6. 6. Obstacles to develop Knowledge management (The cultural chal
-cussion, publications, teaming, job rotation Lack of time and meeting places, narrow idea of productive work Establish times and places fro knowledge trans
-fers: talk rooms, conference reports Status and rewards go to knowledge owners Evaluate performance and provide incentives
Lack of absorptive capacity in recipients Educate employees for flexibility, provide time for learning, hire for openness to ideas
Individual work bias Promote and reward work in teams and commu -nities, and show how this gives better results
No time to share Capturing and sharing knowledge needs to be seen as part of the job, not an add-on
-works within your organisation. For example the chat room software"msn messenger"(free from Mi -crosoft) can be very powerful in allowing people in remote sites to have online conversations
-mation Officers) and other information executives. Free newsletters are offered ï http://www. kmpro. org /This portal provides member access to the KMPRO Knowledge Center (KC), where members
Has any worker on the assembly line the au -thority to make changes that he thinks will improve its efficiency?
work and stress, some firms will neglect this aspect. This is a mistake. A mistake will also be to expect
ï They will not waste the innovative potential of their employees (practically the most valuable asset of a company
ï They will create among employees the sentiment of participation, the sentiment that their ideas are taken into account.
employees, which is in itself beneficial 4. 7. 1. Why and where is used it?..79
employees and a proper way to motivate them in terms of per -formance and com-New organizational culture
employee, teamwork, good communication, awareness of the innovation importance for the company†s performance excellent work relations
Proper capitalization of innovative potential of em -ployees, adequate reward for each important innovative proposal, and in this respect
ï Nurturing an environment that encourage the creativity of employees (blue sky thinking that use toys to stimulate creativity are to be considered-see links
the creative potential of the employees. Details on that subject will be given later in the module Risk taking
belongings at the work place Openness to learn from others Ask more questions about other peo
A quality circle is a group of persons that work in the same workshop or office, that meet once or twice
they use, the environment they work in. Basically, the success of the quality circles is based on the
feeling the employees get, that they are taken into account, that their opinion counts. When imple
/The method implies the creation of a number of boxes where the employees deposited ideas, sugges
Mexican cement company, regularly uses all its employees and its customers for ideas. These firms
include mentoring of innovators by senior management, seeking advice and resources outside estab -lished channels, celebration of successes and learning from failures
-ency †management and employees may see, at a glance, for instance, what kind of innovations are
Innovation is hard work. Most managers make the mistake of as -suming it will just happen.
For example, at Kraft Foods, a small dedicated staff skilled in networking with the business divisions is driving innovation.
-pointment to fellow does not change an employee†s work function or business unit. But, in exchange
And, finally, reward your executives as entrepre -neurs-not simply as stewards of the corporate legacy
workers, under the supervision of a foreman. They met one hour every week. After one year
One has to mention that every employee has the right to participate to the program.
ï The Art of Work http://www. accenture. com ï Innovation and SME Programme http://www. cordis. lu/innovation-smes/home. html
5. 2. 1. How the rating system works...96 5. 2. 2. Example...97 5. 2. 3. Resources...
5. 2. 1. How the rating system works The rating system works by setting a scale and using it to assign points to categories.
Each evaluation uses the assigned points in order to determine a score. The score has to be predetermined within a
and have staff constraints, in terms of staff numbers, skills, qualifications, etc Often companies are not in a position where new strategies can just be developed, implemented and
If you belong to a trade union or other kind of associa -tion, then this may be a useful way of searching for benchmarking partners.
a project plan, specifying the objectives, potential partners and the members of staff involved in the project.
-mented within your organisation and you have to ensure that the members of staff involved
The initial transitional phase was rather laborious as the staff had to be trained and adapted to the
the development and each gate is a decision point where senior management can continue or stop
customers'service and support staff, and procurement managers 6. 1. 3. How NPD is applied One of the most widespread and well-accepted conceptual descriptions of the NPD process is that of
ï At the beginning of a project, the outcome and the work that will have to be undertaken are of
According to a business consultant helped ENERGEX, "We were ini -tially surprised by the call from ENERGEX-energy retailing is a long way from our usual customers in
According to business consultant the results of the ENERGEX Retail review were positive.""We found high-energy teams passionate about their industry, their business and the need to move at lightning
With the help of the business consultant we have tailored the Stage Gate product development system to suit our managerial needsâ€
ENERGEX chose business consultants to help them develop its new process and tackle the short
real decisions as well as the personal backing of the senior management team. Good senior man -agement support speeds process acceptance and early success
and communicated to all staff. It was a relatively easy process to express this strategy as a series of
-cal hands-on training for users and gatekeepers (senior management), accurate and concise process documentation, a process brochure for those who need to be aware of
New employees should also be trained in the process The Results During the implementation of RAPID, existing projects were mapped to the process and a number of
-work during the hectic pre-launch stages. This is a direct result of better pre-development homework
But it also works the opposite way and catalyser manufacturers often buy our com -ponents and then sell the complete unit as their own product
-chased, whether overtime or extra shifts are necessary, and what the sequence of production will be
Because the work of many departments is related, production managers work closely with heads of other departments such as sales, procurement,
For example, the production manager works with the procurement department to ensure that plant inventories are maintained at their optimal level.
attitude of top managers toward these issues and we need to be prepared to patiently work to estab
responsibility Direct Labour Varies QC specialists Process control Production in -formation requi -rements High Varies Moderate Low
Labour Labour & mate -rial Material & labour Capital 6. 3. 3. How decisions in a production context should be made
In this section a unified framework for production decision-making is provided. The framework applies across a variety of processes,
materials, energy and labour skills Tactical planning Tactical (medium-range) plans, with a planning horizon from six
the size of the work force, the amount of overtime worked, the number of shifts worked
labour skills needed, nature of production planning and inventory man -agement decision systems Operation hours pf
The tyre company with the help of external consultants built a solution to monitor and manage the
The engine manufacturer with the help of external consultants designed a solution with a multi-tiered
and plan work. The engineering quality group is using information collected by the system to optimise and improve production processes.
so the need for the employment of recycling strategies has become of great importance for many in
addition there are many technologies available for recycling purposes as well as expert consultants in several recycling areas.
ï Labour cost (â/hour ï Dependent on level of skills required and location ï Equipment investment cost (â
Copyright is concerned with new (original) literary, musical or artistic works. The creators of such works automatically acquire rights,
which mean that they can control their further use. Copyright has become particularly important because of the wide range of works that are seen now to be covered by
it. These include computer software; any drawing, map, chart or plan; photographs and films; architec
-tural works; sculptures; sound recordings; tv and radio broadcasts etc. Rights are related not just to the originators of the works themselves but apply also to people performing the works
DESIGNS Designs are concerned with the appearance of a product †features of e g. shape, configuration
that their works can be disseminated without fear of unauthorized copying or piracy. This in turn helps increase access to
Copyright notice should be placed on all published works for the following reasons ï It informs the public that the work is protected by copyright
(and thereby helps to scare aware potential infringers ï It prevents a party from claiming the status of"innocent infringer,
who to contact to request a license to the work DESIGNS Protecting industrial designs helps economic development, by encouraging creativity in the industrial
or exploit the works or creations of others with the authorisation of the author or right holder on fair and reasonable terms
b. Protect your own works or creations and make sure you make best use of your right and get
Novelty implies that the details of how the invention works are secret. If such details have been pub
-licly disseminated or the invention used in public where people could see how it works or if an identical
-tion with your immediate fellow researchers, business partners and professional advisers would nor -mally be regarded as implicitly confidential
works to control their subsequent versions What is covered by Copyright Definitions of what is covered can be very broad.
artistic works include any drawing, map, chart or plan. The only absolute requirement is that the work
is new, i e. not copied from somewhere else and has required original intellectual effort by the author
Basically the act of creating the work also creates the copyright, which then subsists in the physical
expression of the work. There is no formal registration process in most countries. However if one goes
Works can therefore be dated, signed, witnessed and marked with the internationally recognised copyright symbol Â
but there can be situations e g. employment contracts etc which affect this It is important also to recognise that copyright is not a monopoly.
hold copyright in their respective works Obtaining Protection †Copyright protection is automatic and there is no registration system-so
Once a work is created copyright subsists in it. It is important however that the originator be able to show subsequently when the work and the conse
-quential copyright were created. One way of doing this is deposit a copy of the work with a bank or
"Innosupport: Supporting Innovation in SMES "-7. 1. Intellectual Property Protection tools page 154 of 271
a copy of the work to oneself by registered post (which gives a clear date stamp on the envelope
thus establishing that the work existed at this Claiming Protection †It is essential that it is clear that copyright is claimed in a work.
One should mark the work clearly to show who the copyright owner is and the date from which the copyright is
claimed. The internationally recognised symbol  is used normally Transfer of Ownership †Remember a transfer of ownership may cover all or only some of the rights
others to use their works whilst retaining ownership themselves Using Material already covered by Copyright †Your work may be a development of the works of
others. You may need to obtain permission therefore to use copyright material. This is normally done
A performing rights society is a collective that deals with musical works, collecting royalties on behalf of composers, lyricists, songwriters and music publishers for the public perform
Almost any form of unauthorised copying of a work will constitute infringement. The law does however
is allowed automatically to reproduce the work in question or to permit anyone else to do so Related Rights
grew up around copyrighted works. They provide similar, although often more limited rights and of
This new fabric came to life out of the instinct, research and hard work of Mrs. Anna Grindi, founder of
-tection of Literary and Artistic Works The main reasons for protecting IP in export markets are outlined below
for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works or member of the World trade organization (WTO bound by the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement,
or if you have published your work for the first time or at least simultaneously in one of the above countries, your copyright will be protected automatically
-land, IP experts initiated proceedings in South korea for infringement of their South korean design registration and succeeded immedi
Many businesses often need to reveal some of their confidential information to new employees, inde -pendent contractors, venture capitalists or bankers.
employees to potential partners, every business needs a Non-Disclosure Agreement to protect itself Once you have your own Non-Disclosure Agreement at your disposal,
Current and former employees are responsible for most breaches of confidentiality. Employees are under an implied duty not to use trade secrets in a manner that will harm your business.
But it is best to get this in writing and to specify to the employee exactly what is confidential,
and to make provi -sions for when the employee leaves your business They can be used to
ï share intellectual property ï share commercial or trading information ï formalise a relationship, eg between an employer and employee
7. 3. 2. What are the main types of NDAS and where they are used A precedent confidentiality agreement is used for mergers and acquisitions.
from employees, principals or agents of theirs who will come into contact with the information 2) Second, there must be a recitation of confidential relationship between the disclosing party (the one
the field of accounting, logistics, process tracking, communication, human resources and CRM. Enter -prise S. also offers web solutions including application provider, web hosting, web and application
them, by consulting IP experts As some IP protection tools require financial resources that a start-up company may not necessarily
employees, clients and partners before any information is exchanged. He also ensures that all the company's documents have a confidential notice.
by seeking help from IP experts Planning to diversify his business activities, the company owner plans to develop a new innovative
growth of the national economy through employment creation, investments and exports. Despite the importance of SMES for the vitality of the economy and the potential offered by the IP system for en
known for filing patent applications to achieve recognition of their research work. A small company may also seek patent coverage to impress potential investors
ï http://www. kse. or. kr/webeng/work/ksem/st/wr ksem st mn df. jsp-This site provides an
In many cases, business angels will be retired executives or people who have built successful busi -nesses and then sold them.
Business plan should also introduce the main staff that will be involved in the project The information on the personnel should include the roles of each involved member of staff and the
experience and key skills that each will bring into the project Further, it is important to introduce the management team
a recruitment and training plan should be provided Market and competition First of all, the market should be defined,
This plan should lay out the various stages of the project, the involvement of the staff throughout the
ï Reference others †by referencing experts in the area of your project, studies/forecasts from
Product, Price, Place and Promotion, by examining each carefully and adapting them to your customer's needs,
and this can become indistinguishable from personal product/process promotion. Attention focuses on the following aspects of contacting companies
promotion (rather than to cut the price The major marketing management decisions can be classified in the following categories
ï Promotion This includes advertising, personal selling (eg attending exhibitions), sales promo -tions (e g. special offers),
) Public relations is included within Promotion by many marketing people though PR people tend to see it as a separate discipline
-ing the learning environment within the workplace is a key element in the facilitation and management
In the new online evolving collaborative learning and work -ing environment creative thinking may emerge
-ture created to promote self learning among employees of the car manufacturer. The first of its kind in
ï Combine online marketing with conventional promotion such as direct mail, advertising and in -clude your web site address on all business correspondence
too much white space leaves the eye nothing to go by Hicks and Company (www. hicks. co. uk
arranged information, leaves you with a feeling of trust. Needs to bring more information for
Human resources competence requirements for innovations page 207 of 271 10. Human resources management policies to support
innovation 10.1. Human resources competence requirements for innovations 10.1.1. What: what constitutes the requirements for the qualification of the employees
209 10.1.2. Why: The role of human resources in the company†s ability for innovation...209
10.1.3. How: Systematic training management training concept...209 10.1.3.1. Checklist: Typical questions related to further training concepts...
211 10.1.4. Examples...212 10.1.5. Resource...213 "Innosupport: Supporting Innovation in SMES "-10.1.0. Introduction page 208 of 271
high degree on their employees, their competence and knowledge The great importance of training, further training, learning, human resource development etc. should
Often they are lacking basic building blocks of Human resources Management In this connection, the various sub-components of component 10 â€oemeasures in the framework of Hu
users to gain the basic principles needed for a professional Human resources Management in their individual SMES
Links to further topics such as human resources management, human resources development etc can be found in the link collection at the end of this component
the employees Changing market conditions such as ï Increasing internationalisation and globalisation of the markets, high competition pressure
qualification requirements of the employees ï Faster decline of the knowledge and the need for lifelong learning
of the employees ï communicative and language competence ï need for more responsibility and self-control etc
The role of human resources in the company†s ability for innovation The qualification of the employees are, on the one hand, a prerequisite for innovation,
because it is indispensable for the start and the permanent further development of innovation. On the other hand
-tion changes in the qualification profile are taking place among the employees Lacking qualification can turn out to be a bottleneck in the innovation process in an enterprise
preparing their human resources in a suitable way A foresighted and systematic human resources development and qualification plan can set the
prerequisite for an enterprise to actively carry out its process of changes, and thus remain at the
A training needs assessment (analysing the current work situation) usually is the starting point of any demand-oriented training management.
-lems and requirements of the work situation are collected, making goal-oriented training measures possible On the basis of needs assessment, training objectives are to be defined (preferably together.
Within the concrete learning situation the participant is confronted actually with the teaching staff as well as with the contents and activities.
ï increased application of on-the-job training and project-work ï intensification of internal know-how transfer
acquired knowledge into the work situation, the applicability of training results to the work place
coaching, quality circle, self-study material, trainee-pools and programmes, seminars, work -shops, etc. is offered
use in practice to make a professional job of their training and the human resources development Example:
The CEO of Eloxal Heuberger (an anodising institution with 22 employees) has an interview with the
the enterprise and the employee from this training measure are made clear before the event After attending the seminar a follow-up interview takes place where the participants jointly find out how
-rectly, and which supporting measures the employees would need to apply them. In addition, a sum
If required, the company Winkelbauer (engineering enterprise with 46 employees) organises events under the title â€oeedp:
possibility to talk for two hours with an EDP expert about his EDP questions on the basis of a cata
The Gosch Consulting company (Consulting enterprise with 30 employees) has compiled a database with the title â€oemarket place of experienceâ€oe.
Here any problems and their solutions that crop up during the work are entered by the employees.
If there is a problem during their daily work they then can access the â€oemarket place
ï Training and Qualification-Handbook for Consultants Karl-Franzens-Universitã¤t Graz, Institut fã r Organisations-und Personalmanagement †GRAZ
Employees are the basis of social organisations. For workers to comply with their tasks the
company has to plan the volume of need for employees and their qualification level and com
-petence. Furthermore, labour conditions have to be organised in such a way that the employ -ees become motivated
ï http://www. hrtoday. ch/Artikel detail de. cfm? Msgid=464 Thanks to Employability fit for dynamic markets:
A flexible human resources development grants the employees labour market ability, and opens up new business fields for the enter
-prise ï http://www. innovation-aktuell. de/kv0409. htm Systematic and continuous human resources development safeguards the innovation ability
and the compatibility of the enterprise. However, whereas big companies have their own de -partments for preparing their employees for future requirements, professional human re
-sources development is looked often vainly for in medium-sized and small enterprises. In this paper you will learn where cooperation makes sense for an SME,
have, what an enterprise striving for a joint staff development unit has to do, and what the ex
†Innovative employer":"Catalogue of criteria and evaluation concept for The swiss HR-cata -logue 2002
Innovation in a business is very much dependent on the appropriate skills of its staff. It is therefore
This section builds on the outcomes of another Leonardo project called Learn & Work that specifically
of both staff and organisational performance improvement. Key in an TNA is to gain comprehensive
More often than not, staff performance is being challenged within an ever-changing market environ -ment, keeping up-to-date with the latest technology advancements, customer demands, new product
with these challenges by engaging support services such as consultants, lawyers, bank or government sponsored business advisors in order to tackle any perceived gaps
preventing conflict with staff through communication and documenting the project. You will need to answer questions such as:
and explained to staff. You will need to think about staff briefings for example and how to keep staff informed during the process as a
TNA may take several weeks to complete and analyse You will need also to think how the TNA project will be documented,
for example justifying the solu -tions chosen to address skill gaps. Confidentiality may also be an issue to be aware of
If you company does not have an HR department or an HR expert, you will most likely work with an
external consultant or advisor "Innosupport: Supporting Innovation in SMES "-10.2. Identifying training needs for Innovation in SMES
It must always be supported by the analysis of work processes and be oriented to the imple
training, recruitment, processing "Innosupport: Supporting Innovation in SMES "-10.2. Identifying training needs for Innovation in SMES
-ager of the enterprise through successive layers of management to the individual worker who touches
because the employees of the different areas are the ones that will be involved in the training later on
Management, Marketing, Sales, Financial, Administrative Services, Human resources Production, Quality assurance, Logistics, etc. In smaller businesses several of these functional areas
by talking to the key staff responsible for these key areas Identify also the main opportunities foreseen for your business.
-ing needs of your employees; we give you a few examples ï Introducing new technologies ï Entering a new market
ï Hiring employees from specific target groups (e g. immigrants or the mix of some of these factors
If necessary, ask for the support of an external expert to help you structure the measures
Employee Proposed Solution Solution De -tails Bad quality control Production Quality Control Production Quality 95%pro
employees Delivery wor -kers Defining and moni -toring of perform -ance indi -cators for delivery
employees about this new system Bad cash-flow management Budgeting Financial Existence of enough cash in
workers Negotiation and pur -chasing training for purchasers Negotiation and purchasing training for purchasers Working ses
ï The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) provides research in the employment market and publishes various reports on employment related issues.
The report Skills Pay-The Con -tribution of Skills to Business Success, although not published by IES provides an analysis
www. employment-studies. co. uk/pubs/report. php? id=ssda0804 ï The Investors in People Standard is a straightforward,
ï Learn & Work is a Leonardo project that specifically addressed the issue of analysing training
ï Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) is responsible for supporting employers in the development of appropriate skills in the labour market disseminates skills related research
findings. Research sponsored by the SSDA will be published in a dedicated research series and made available in both hard copy and electronically on the website below
environment, focusing on Contractors, Specialist Subcontractors, Consultants, and Local Au -thorities, where the departments work as SMES.
The site also provides some case studies http://www. cicsc. org. uk/tvcbec. htm ï training reference. co. uk provides an overview of some of training providers that offer a TNA
Once embraced by employees, innovation becomes a way of life. It ensures that all the human capital is in step
-ployees are motivated and confident enough to continually try new things Out to this end, employees would be equipped with the right types of knowledge,
shared values and practices of the company's employees This tool can help companies in creating a culture in
which every employee has the opportunity to learn and grow in order to improve themselves and their business.
This includes a work environment striving to meet the needs of all employees Why and where creating a company culture for continuous innovation is applied
Today's leading organisations are knowledge creating companies that thrive on continuous innovation It's a big competitive edge.
ï Use knowledge of employees and data to make decisions in a timely manner ï Tolerate mistakes of employees in pursuit of continuous improvement
ï Act with swift resolve to maintain the highest customer satisfaction ï Never rest with the customer†s status
about modified employee behavior, leading from the top. But once a company sets out on the innova
employees a set of rights, responsibilities and rewards that make them accountable for their own actions
2. Encourage Employee Innovations, and Reward Them Accordingly Companies are often fast to turn to outside help,
4. Challenge Employees to Compete When challenged by external (or sometimes internal) organisations, groups are kept on their
-ity to all employees, with rewards both for uncovering unsafe conditions, and for discovering new ways
A team of company employees decided that they could do the job themselves better and
The two employees are in charge of corporate strategy, network expan -sion and product development. Everything else, including product branding, product design, marketing
-pany itself work consider the elegant analogy below. An innovative culture is like a jazz band.
processes), played by good jazz musicians (employees), playing high quality instruments (technology in the right way, so that the audience (customer) enjoys the performance.
The employees ï are competent and confident in their jobs ï are aware of their strengths and weaknesses
ï are motivated both by job satisfaction and by financial reward ï have shared a vision that facilitates decision and action
Academy of Management Executive, 16:42-53 ï Jelinek, M. & Schoonhaven, C. 1990. The innovation marathon:
The implementation of the following points is a basic requirement for successful work in innovation
Promotion and coordination sys -tems Protection and Patent offices The innovating enterprise "Innosupport: Supporting Innovation in SMES
Innovative yields of the joint work of the innovation teams, such as pilot plants or innovative ap
ï Apart from business management effects there are manifold labour market political and political-economic effects 11.7.
Designing the frame conditions for innovation (promotion instruments, lobbying, environ -ment processing, know-how transfer, etc.
ï Public consciousness of the importance of innovation for wealth, employment and competi -tiveness for a highly innovative climate
ï Sufficient potential of highly qualified employees ï Attractive frame conditions for scientists and researchers from home and abroad
-work for SMES http://www. insme. org ï http://www. forfas. ie/publications/forfas040624/webopt
use a technical reference or will contact directly some expert in the field; nevertheless, the Internet
-vided by an expert in the field Depending on the type of the required information or specificity of data,
â€oe=it doesn†t work There are a lot of similar examples and special efforts are made often to check if the proposed name
experts Finding and using interna -tional sources for financing Marketing and sales (ads website ecommerce) in
1. Employing people who are professional experts and speak foreign languages e g. because they come from
2. Getting the company†s staff trained. The author of this component has taught and learnt foreign
Learning in the workplace and in-house is very useful. In practice though, if a course is organised in
the company, employees sometimes arrive late or leave during the course due to work commitments â€oemrs Y, there is a phone call for you †â€.
A manufacturing company realised that they needed to develop the language skills of their employees
company is to enable their staff to feel at ease: If, during a dinner a staff member can only speak
It is therefore necessary for staff to be proficient in general language as well as the specific purpose language relating to their jobâ€
The employee can assess skill and needs him or herself. The results speak for themselves and help both the management and the employees
Key Capabilities Needs 1 Fully competent 1 Essential 2 Can get by 2 Useful 3 No knowledge 3 Irrelevant
Negotiation skills Technical skills for searching for information /patents, regulations etc *0042/UK published in LINGUA, Language Audits and Needs Analyses, Documentation of the Sym
what level of intercultural competency relevant staff are At a basic level staff may be perceptive and open to other cultures
At a more proficient level staff can draw on experiences and apply these to new situations, understand some of the conceptual issues of intercultural communication and
Also, learning in the work place has increasingly to take into account the cultural diversity of its workforce, reflecting the multicultural social environments businesses are situated in
Company employees: It is important to know the cultural characteristics of your employees, so if you
have a workforce comprising members of different cultural backgrounds, then it is important that you
know to what extend this will influence the way that they work, communicate, socialise Trading internationally:
ï Request for qualified workers increases, higher education becomes a decisive factor in com -petition ï Technical based professional skills lose against qualifications to adapt activities permanently
â€oein a radio discussion on the on petrol prices an employer introduced the innovative idea to raise pri
prices for the payment of employers†social contributions for the employees The answer which was given was that international competition in a globalized market makes the im
the idea of cheap, cheaper, cheapest still works but more and more customers are asking how prod
*1. Establish with your staff an intercultural action plan and review on a regular basis 2. Assess the intercultural competencies of you and your staff
3. Assess your product, processes and services in relation to the cultural aspect of the mar -kets
shared set of core values in the areas of labour standards, human rights and environmental practices between the UN and the business community http://www. unglobalcompact. org
5. 2. 1. How the rating system works 96 5. 2. 2. Example 5. 2. 3. Resources
Human resources management policies to support ï¿innovation 10.1. Human resources competence requirements for innovations 10.1.0. Introduction
10.1.1. What: what constitutes the requirements for the qualification of the employees 10.1.2. Why: The role of human resources in the company†s ability for innovation
10.1.3. How: Systematic training management training concept 10.1.3.1. Checklist: Typical questions related to further training concepts 10.1.4.
Examples 10.1.5. Resource 10.2. Identifying training needs for Innovation in SMES 10.2.1. Where in business are undertaken TNAS
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