Workplace innovations and practice futures

In both academic and workplace settings, there is a shared recognition of the need to prepare a workforce for future work environments. Stephen Lehmkuhle, founding Chancellor of the University of Minnesota-Rochester (an exemplar of innovation in undergraduate higher education) argued that work in the future will increasingly involve our graduates in working with knowledge, using knowledge practices and work in roles that all don’t exist yet (in Zemsky, 2013). Similarly, from a workplace perspective, a leader in one of our local companies (Quan, 2018) has emphasised that while we don’t know specifically what skills will be needed in future work, we do know that we’ll need a high degree of adaptability and the capacity to navigate new territory and that ongoing worker development is essential. Amidst this uncertainty about future workplaces and work practices, the one thing we can count on is a growing focus on innovation and change in the workplace. Preparing learners for this future world in both higher education and workplace contexts will require us to focus explicitly on developing capability for workplace innovation which we regard as a meta capability (along with other cross-curricular graduate attributes) for adapting, shaping and leading future practices for the common good.WORKPLACE INNOVATION AS A SOCIAL PROCESS Workplace innovation goes beyond the notion of an innovation as a new product. It can involve changes in work practices across human, organisational and technological areas (Totterdill, Dhondt, & Boermans, 2016). In our institutions, our current workplace innovations focus on the social process of creating lasting value by mobilising new ideas in the workplace. We emphasise with our learners that innovation capability applies just as well beyond the workplace, in their other roles as community members and global citizens. The European Union Guide to Workplace Innovation notes that this social process “leads to significant and sustainable improvements both in organisational performance and in employee engagement and well-being” (Totterdill et al., 2016, p. 4). These dual goals for workplace innovation align with the theme Practice Futures for the Common Good. ALL GRADUATES SHOULD ADD TO WORKPLACE INNOVATION Our academic institutions are already engaged in developing innovation capability through programs in entrepreneurship and in social innovation leadership. However, these efforts engage few of our students. In our discussions with workplace innovation leaders – regional small and medium-sized enterprises and large nationalrequire us to focus explicitly on developing capability for workplace innovation which we regard as a meta capability (along with other cross-curricular graduate attributes) for adapting, shaping and leading future practices for the common good.