ProductiveAnd innovative businesses have a competitive advantage, the CBI explained, which?we’ll need to boost overseas investment once the UK leaves the EU. But it means having a team capable of “changing the game” the reason why CEOs plan on recruiting”for innovation.
The importance of recruiting for innovation has been a matter of great discussion since 2015, upon the release of poor productivity statistics. Even back then the CBI was calling for an adaptive and inventive workforce, with Neil?Carberry, director for employment and skills, telling the Financial Times😕?Progress for?productivity has yet to be made. The focus now must be on spurring businesses to innovate.
Part of the problem has been”finding talent and the recruitment or reassignment of those often wrong for the job. We’ve long heard stories of CEOs unable to discover suitable candidates. But if they can find skill potential in someone then they can always be further trained a revelation courtesy of Happen.
The company unveiled that the majority of CEOs among those it surveyed plan on hiring staff with certain skills over the next ten years.
“There’s a catch when recruiting for innovation,”?Soren Kaplan, managing principle at InnovationPoint, famously said in 2015. “If you hire people with great technical skills but who don’t have the more subtle qualities needed for helping you truly break-through, then you’ve just taken a big step backward rather than forward.
It’s no wonder then that 59 per centclaimed it would be a challenge. But they’ve made up their minds and there are four specific skills they believe will help their companies thrive.
(1) Being?technology savvy 64 per cent
(2) Understanding artificial intelligence 61 per cent
(3) Commercial expertise 54 per cent
(4)?Digital marketing skills 53 per cent
(5) Basics of consumer psychology 42 per cent
Technology was always going to be at the front of CEOs’ minds, explained Happen co-founder?Costas Papaikonomou.
“Technology advances are inevitable and businesses are starting to experiment with new tools and programmes in the work place. Of course it’s going to be a highly desired skill for employees to understand, but there are twocrucial skills bosses are forgetting.”
So when you’re similarly looking for hires, keep an eye out for the following skills:
(6)?A grasp on?market needs
(7) Understanding?production assets
Papaikonomou added:??Over the last ten years there are undeniable proof points that understanding market needs and production facilities are key drivers for launching successful innovations to market. That’s where we ve spotted gaps, and believe there needs to be a greater businesses understanding.
“It’s about time people took more responsibility for assets and don’t throw money at the latest machinery, without considering their own. In fact, asA result of those not considering their own production capabilities, manufacturing is one of the biggest causes of innovations failing. Yet it appears bosses do not consider it an area of interest forthe future.”
