Innovation Starts with Employees

Lo Kien Foh, Managing Director, Continental Automotive Singapore

Lo Kien Foh, Managing Director, Continental Automotive Singapore

Digital transformation poses multiple challenges even for established, technology-focused organizations, as familiar structures change at an unprecedented pace. Innovation processes are becoming faster, and product cycles are becoming shorter. Companies, therefore, have to be agile and flexible to adapt quickly to new customer requirements and new business models.

Human Relations and Future Work Initiatives

With the process of digital transformation in full swing, it is now even more important to recognize the significance of employees in moving an organisation forward in the right direction, to keep ahead of the competition.

To this end, companies must take the well-being of its employees very seriously, and this can be achieved with the right policies and direction from HR. Firstly, companies ought to be committed to creating diversity and equal opportunities for all their employees regardless of age, gender, race, nationality, religion or sexual orientation. It is the abilities and potential of each individual that counts.

Secondly, companies should recognize that in offering flexible working conditions to employees, both the organization and its employees will benefit in equal measure. Some practices of flexible working conditions include mobile working, part-time and flexi-time hours, and extended professional leave (sabbaticals). At Continental, these flexible working condition sultimately empower every employee to act out our four core values – Freedom to Act, Trust, For One Another, and Passion to Win.

Thirdly, companies should have the frameworks in place to facilitate knowledge exchange and to encourage continuous professional training and development, all in the spirit of lifelong learning.

Lastly, companies should strive to cultivate cutting-edge management and corporate culture. To put it simply, senior managers cannot just rely on words alone; they need to walk the talk too.

When all these factors are in place, an organisation can be confident that it has put itself in a better position to succeed amidst digital transformation, thus sustaining success for the long run.

Engaging Employees

In keeping up with the digital revolution, every company must value their people, and therefore, invest both time and resources in engaging every employee. Constant change characterizes digitalization of the working world. As such, companies that can communicate and collaborate faster than others and be flexible in adapting to situations will have a competitive advantage in the future.

At Continental Singapore, Employees Are Given Space And Freedom To Discover And Research To Boost Their Innovation, Solidify Future Business Opportunities And Be At The Frontier Of Their Industry

Employees at Continental Singapore are engaged on the ConNext platform, an internal knowledge and networking tool that functions as a global platform to engage employees at all levels.

The introduction of this internal social network was a pivotal cornerstone to pave the way to quicker and more direct communication around offices, globally. In a nutshell, it allows the transparent transfer of knowledge through the publication of wikis, sharing in forums, and global networking - where knowledge and experience are available in a sustainable format. Training in the use of ConNext is also of paramount importance at Continental. All employees undergo a detailed training orientation in the use of ConNext and are actively encouraged to use the platform.

Beyond these online engagements, there are regular meetings in the form of quarterly reviews for management employees and annual town hall meetings for all employees, live webcasts and skip-level meetings. These allow employees to get up to speed with the latest company news and share information, network directly with their management, and hear first-hand from senior management and members of the executive board.

Inspiration for Innovation

To be future-ready, companies should not be afraid to allow their employees space and freedom to discover and research. Recognitions, awards and incentives are effective and straightforward programs that can be implemented to encourage employees to contribute their creative ideas. These schemes are great ways for companies to boost their innovation, solidify future business opportunities and be at the frontier of their industry.

At Continental Singapore, employees are actively encouraged to form teams and participate in internal innovation competitions and entrepreneurship challenge programs. These programs serve as opportunities for employees to showcase their creative ideas and entrepreneurial spirit to the entire organization. These interactive programs are very well-received as they allow the efforts of employees to be recognized by both local management and their counterparts around the world.

Future-Ready Concept

Beyond internal collaboration, companies should also recognize that knowledge sharing and partnerships with other like-minded organizations can improve future-readiness. Acquisitions of companies, their teams and their knowledge are also worthwhile investments to gain complementary technology and solutions and to grow exponentially.

Continental Singapore works with various organizations to grow its innovative reach. One such collaboration is Park&Go @SG, an app that provides real-time parking information in Singapore, that was developed in a tripartite partnership among Continental Singapore, A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research and TUM CREATE.

Continental Singapore also recognizes strength in numbers; we recently acquired Quantum Inventions (QI) to add to our growing intelligent transportation systems portfolio. Amidst this rapid growth, Continental Singapore will also be launching the third Research & Development (R&D) building in mid-2018 with a “Future Ready” concept in mind.

In conclusion, a company that recognizes its empowered employees as the most valuable asset will not just move ahead with times but also effortlessly face and overcome the unpredictability of the digital age to be a leader in its industry.