Antwerp Management School

In episode 3, host Frédérique Van der Heyden discussed the topics of Entrepreneurship and Innovation with expert Gunter Loos, practitioner Peter Daels and student Toon Chaerle. In this podcast, the guests discussed the role of both the employee and the organization in driving innovation. It was highlighted that HR has a significant role in facilitating innovation and entrepreneurship by creating an organizational culture that encourages and supports employees to develop and implement their ideas.

However, the guests concluded that it was eventually up to individuals to keep innovation alive within the organization. In terms of innovation, every organization must have a long-term vision and should be prepared to continuously innovate their processes, services, and products to remain competitive.

The importance of entrepreneurship, which is a human quality, was also pointed out as being equally important as innovation in exploring new opportunities and developing new products or services. As a result, the guests came to the agreement that HR plays an essential role in innovation and that HR practitioners within organizations should be able to identify individuals with innovative talents, for instance people with a strong entrepreneurial mindset or skills and develop them to drive innovation within the organization.

Finally, the impact of age on innovation was also discussed, highlighting that the younger generation may have an advantage with their knowledge and experience of digital tools. However, this does not mean that older generations are not capable of innovation, but it is up to the organization to create an optimal environment in which innovation is nurtured amongst all members of every generation.

In episode 2, host Yasmine El Alji invited expert Geert Vercaeren, practitioner Edwin Schenck and student Nobonita Chowdhury to shift the focus to values and strategy. In this episode, the guests discuss research that indicates that the differences and expectations between different generations are relatively minimal and that these are influenced by other factors such as an individual’s personality, education, work experiences, and geographic position. This means that stereotyping the values of many generations can be risky and harmful for organizations and it does not facilitate cross-generational collaboration on the work floor.

Therefore, it is important for organizations to recognize the differences that are present and leverage them to achieve innovative solutions, increase performance, and deliver better products and services. However, these differences can often lead to challenges in collaboration due to unconscious dynamics. As a result, it’s crucial for organizations to create an optimal environment and culture that values diversity and develops leaders who can serve as role models in empathy, open dialogue, and building trust. This will help to minimize the negative impact that generational differences can bring.

On top of this, organizations that focus on a single generation or that are single value-based, will not achieve the same outcomes as those that welcome diversity and find methods to bring people together for a common purpose. Thus, it is essential to foster an inclusive environment that stimulates collaboration between different generations, enabling them to work together effectively towards a shared goal.