Product Innovation: Building Products that Matter (Part 7)

As the VP, Professional and Client Services, I champion a very specific mandate: ensure that every customer is delighted with Prophix’s software implementation and ongoing service. To accomplish that goal, I lead a large and growing team of dedicated professionals who have a rare combination of technical abilities, business and financial acumen, and customer management skills. For me, product innovation is a key tool for attracting and retaining the most talented, energetic, and conscientious people for the Professional and Client Services team.

Product Innovation: A Recruiting Magnet
When a company commits to investing in product innovation it serves as a powerful means to attract exceptional people because it sends very specific messages to potential team members – including:

• Your company is determined to grow. For potential team members, this translates into being able to constantly leverage the newest technologies and processes to build progressively more remarkable solutions; and
• Your company is determined to make an impact. This means management is serious about harnessing every team member’s skills and acknowledging their unique contributions.

Product Innovation: A Retention Tool
Living and breathing product innovation does more than attract talented people, it also ensures that outstanding people actually want to stay and grow within your organization. That’s because by consistently placing a high value on product innovation, you reinforce messages that are compelling to ambitious people, among them:

• Your company would rather be a leader than a follower. In other words, management always stays attuned to industry trends and customers’ needs. Furthermore, management provides team members with inspiration and real opportunities to build their skills to tackle the evolving landscape; and
• Your company accepts experimentation. In practical terms, that means that management regularly acknowledges and rewards non-conventional ways of thinking. At the same time, management recognizes that failure is a necessary stage in pioneering exciting new ideas and is therefore comfortable taking chances.

Regardless of the size, age, or type of business you manage, attracting and retaining extraordinary people are your organization’s most time consuming and expensive activities. Truly adopting a commitment to building innovative products is the fastest and most cost-effective way to ensure that you have the people that are committed to your company’s success.