Employers
could do more to inspire innovation according to a new report.
The
report is based on a survey by the CBI and 3M in partnership with the Design
Council. It concludes that ideas are going to waste because of poor follow-up
procedures. The result is an "innovation gap"
Less
than 40 per cent of employers have formal processes for monitoring innovation
and only 56 per cent of firms review old ideas to spot opportunities. Just 15
per cent of companies use information technology to keep track of ideas. Most
have not considered selling or trading ideas.
Only
55 per cent of employers offer financial or other rewards to encourage staff
innovation.
Digby
Jones, CBI director general, said, “The UK is something of a design goldmine
and companies need to be tapping into that more often. They need to do more to
boost innovation not just by encouraging creativity but also by fully
exploiting the ideas they have.”
By
Ben Willmott
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