Building An Innovation Community

OVERVIEW:Companies are increasingly using social media and other technologies to broaden the approach to idea generation and innovation both within and outside the walls of the organization. However, managers can tend to focus on installing the technology, rather than on designing a socio-technical system that can meet the organization's goals and foster authentic participation. In 2008, Pitney Bowes, a $5.4 billion provider of technology and services for mail and digital communications, initiated an effort to build an employee innovation community aimed at driving organic growth and fostering a culture of innovation among its 30,000 employees around the globe. The Pitney Bowes Employee Innovation Program team took a human-centered approach and used primary research and co-creation with individuals across all levels of the organizational hierarchy to design a program that both met company objectives and satisfied a value proposition for managers and employees. The resulting program delivered measurable value inside of two years, as well as providing intangible benefits such as employee engagement, improved internal processes, and increased customer satisfaction. The outcomes illustrate the types of results managers can expect from a thoughtfully designed and implemented innovation community, and the design principles and key success factors provide guidance to managers looking to initiate a similar approach.