Heidrick & Struggles: Harnessing an Organization's Collective Intelligence

In this article from Brian Klapper, a principal at Heidrick & Struggles, the case is made for utilizing the knowledge that already exists within an organization’s employees to help the business produce lasting change. Klapper points out that the best ideas and most knowledge about a company doesn’t always come from the top leaders, but often from the frontline employees. These staff members often engage with the services of the organization and its customers on a daily basis and may have a clearer picture of beneficial changes that can be implemented.

With this in mind, Klapper has created an approach called Idea Quest to help organizations harness the collective intelligence from all employees within the company. The five steps of an effective Idea Quest are:

• Focus employees on a specific mandate
• Engage employees in meaningful ways
• Create an easy and transparent way to share ideas
• Require that ideas be turned into a project plan
• Evaluate each idea and respond promptly

To read the full article, click here.