Global researchers are focused on two aspects of optimization of the innovation in the workforce. One is the technical aspect, which refers to the process of innovation itself by developing and implementing the newest technology for strategic business objectives. The other aspect is focused on the optimization in the process of introducing and using this new technology for optimal results. With regard to this, managers should take several guidelines into consideration when implementing new technologies in the work force for optimal results. Some guidelines refer to demographic characteristics (age, gender), while others refer to the traits, attitudes, skills, abilities, behaviours and inter-social processes:
- There are age differences in technology adoption. Younger workers are more influenced by the attitude towards using technology and by their motivation, while older workers are led by the perception of the social pressure to perform, and at their confidence level. Thus, when implementing new technology for the younger workers, trainers and managers may wish to emphasize how the new technology will assist them in increasing productivity or achieving more effective results. For the older workers, trainers may wish to emphasize the new technology’s ease of use in order to encourage those who may be inherently sceptical about applying new technology in the workplace. Given the importance of social factors for older workers, especially in the crucial initial stages of adoption, it may be important for managers to cultivate positive reactions about the new technology from opinion leaders within the organization. In so doing, managers may find that these leaders maybe a tremendous help in shaping “public opinion” about the new system, thus increasing the likelihood of widespread acceptance across the organization.
- In the individual technology adaptation there are also gender differences. In the research by Venkatesh et al. (2000), while men were more focused on their decision-making process regarding technology adoption and usage, women were more balanced. In implementing new technologies, trainers and managers should be cognizant of the need to emphasize productivity-enhancement factors (e.g. usefulness), which are more important to men. They should also take care to ensure this emphasis does not come at the expense of other factors that may be more salient to women (e.g. claims by peers or other referents and availability of adequate support). Similarly, marketing professionals may also capitalize on these findings by designing advertising campaigns which appeal to both women and men, thereby giving each group something to like about a new technology product.
- Competition for talent is fierce in today’s global economy, so companies need to have plans in place to recruit, develop, and retrain a diverse workforce. If one person has high intellectual capability to understand the new technology, the chances that his/her co-workers will adapt to it are bigger than if no one in the work group or department understands it.
- Positive attitudes and motivators in companies are of great importance, since they create a simulative and energizing atmosphere.
- Innovation should be focused on routine tasks, so that employees can be involved in more complex tasks, and contribute beyond the technology in the organization.
- People learn from, and adjust more quickly to, familiar experiences. Importing innovation “served” in a way that is close to what the employees had experienced before, can have better results in the implementation than just letting them be with the completely new and unknown technology.
- Finally, science and technology education can be seen as essential to achieving the desired workforce competencies, which include critical thinking, complex communications skills, and the ability to solve semi-structured problems. These sound much like the abilities that students could acquire after instructional activities designed to give them practice in the processes of scientific inquiry and technological design.
In general, even when these guidelines are taken into consideration, the optimization of the innovation in the workforce requires complex coordination among many people in multiple business functions within an organization, as well as external collaboration with different participants in the global supply network.
Sonja Vos Ralevska