"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country!" This famous quote by John F. Kennedy can be applied - nowadays more than ever - to every company. In today's fast-changing business environment, constant innovation is the key to succeed. A company's long-term viability and prosperity depends on its capacity to innovate. Or as the John Kennedy of our times stated:

"The United States led the world's economies in the 20th century because we led the world in innovation. Today, the competition is keener; the challenge is tougher; and that is why innovation is more important than ever. It is the key to good, new jobs for the 21st century." - President Barack Obama, August 2009

Who is in charge of the innovation process?

Leaders are faced with many different tasks such as managing people, monitoring cost-effectiveness, overviewing processes, representing the company and last but not least, leading the corporation into the next decade. Not an easy task. That is why innovation depends to a great deal on every employee. Instead of asking the company to take care of oneself, why not taking care of the company, by contributing evolutionary and revolutionary ideas?! An associate knows his job very well, he is well aware of the work-flow in his surrounding and he has a clear vision about his clients - who they are and the problems they are dealing with. Further more, the world is changing constantly: new technologies, different competitors, other customers, new employees, unexpected markets, new materials - everything is changing! The faster an organization can spot and act on change, the more successful it will be. Employees are the very source to spot opportunities for change.

Maybe the truth lies in-between: combining the knowledge of employees and consumers. This combination is well done by Apple. The world's most innovative company, according to BusinessWeek (April 2010), develops devices like the iPhone or the iPad. The customers are expanding the possibilities of the use by inventing millions of Apps.

Crowdsourcing versus employee innovation

What crowdsourcing and employee innovation do have in common is that people love to engage! That is why encouraging the staff to innovate is a win/win deal. Nowadays employees are much more self-determined and willing to take an active part in the organization. They want to raise their voice and they want to be heard. That is why it is crucial for the management to listen, to acknowledge every idea and to explain why it was or was not further developed. People do not like to suggest something and not get a response. People want to contribute and they want to see the results of the contribution.

How to start the employee engaging process

According to the IQudo Idea Generation survey (April, 2010), one reason for not being creative on the job was simply because creativity was not requested by the management. This fact has been stated by 14.5 percent. Even worse 9.3 percent of the people interviewed said that they were devastated with work, saying work kills creativity. The first step towards a more creative culture is a statement by the top mangement - "being innovative is a desirable goal!" This goal could be mentioned in the company's guiding principle. Another idea to start employees to engage is to announce a monthly award for the best idea. Another way is to change the job description - employees are requested to contribute new ideas.

In an inspiring keynote Robert Gerlach points out:

• How to motivate people to contribute to the future success of the organization. [Bottom-Up]
• What top-management can do to facilitate the innovation process. [Top-down]
• How every employee can effectively present and sell an idea.
• How to spark enthusiasm for change.