Innovation is one of the most popular and widely used terms in the current market environment, but what meaning and impact does it have on the labor market?
Defining the term innovation is certainly complex since it is a term that needs to be declined into different meanings in reference to the different areas with which it can be associated, however, it was in 1934 that the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter’s far-sighted definition was made, stating, “[I]t is not the entrepreneur […] who performs economic operations, intending to profit from them, but he who introduces innovative acts.” This statement fits into the dynamism and evolution that characterizes change and requires succeeding indoing something new although this is not necessarily related to actual invention.
Nearly 90 years after that statement observing the current VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) we realize that the combination of innovation and technology plays a fundamental role that cannot, however, be separated from the substantial contribution made by people.
How, then, can people be part of change in innovative ways?
It is now well known from the World Economic Forum’s “The Future of Jobs 2018” report that within 3 years 54% of the workforce will require re and up- skilling, 42% of jobs will have a shift toward digital skills, there will be an increasing need to develop soft skills (innovation, creativity, negotiation, resilience, emotional intelligence, leadership), and that within 5 years there will be the emergence of new skills and professions professions not yet available today. The answer lies, therefore, for both People and Organizations, in the development of soft skills to facilitate innovation, with concrete impact not only on innovation of organizational processes, products and services, but also and above all on culture and soft skills, stimulating continuous improvement processes based on disruptive innovation, in order to integrate Digital Business Strategy and People Strategy.
These key competencies are closely linked to the figure of the Innovation Manager, who plays a key role in sectoral transformation and innovation processes thanks to transversal skills linked to a strategic and contextual vision aimed at breaking down the ideological barriers related to the change itself. It is, therefore, indispensable for Organizations to invest in a figure who knows how to grasp the fundamental elements that will influence the new context; to intuit or choose the trends that will have a decisive impact on the markets in which the organization operates or will be able to operate; to insert the organization itself in this evolution and motivate, as it will have to do with its team, to pursue a common goal. A figure who does not lack creativity, curiosity and an open-minded orientation: basic characteristics to promote and stimulate the search for new opportunities.
