{"id":9015,"date":"2016-03-08T10:00:19","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T09:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/?p=9015"},"modified":"2022-07-26T16:23:57","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T14:23:57","slug":"10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"10 ways to get employees to take initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1658845428275{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]\n

Every new success starts with a creative idea and the implementation of it. It\u2019s all about the combination between thinking creatively and doing things differently. Knowing that you can make a difference isn’t necessarily the same thing as acting upon it. Employees often know that they have to change or do something else, yet they refuse or are terrified to do so. Having employees with creative ideas is great, yet how do you get them to take initiative? How do you get them from the thinking phase into the doing phase? Below you can find 10 ways to stimulate people to get out of their comfort zone and into a creative, constructive and proactive attitude.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. Set an exciting goal<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It gives energy to work on an ambitious challenge. Working towards a point on the horizon helps to stay motivated. Explain why you want employees to do things differently. It’s great to have a vision, yet it\u2019s equally important to make things concrete and tangible. If you’re working in a hospital environment, for instance, don’t talk about creating a better service or making fewer mistakes. Instead, talk about saving lives or making sure that patients will be able to come home sooner to rejoin their families.<\/p>\n

2. Make it personal\u2028<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Make sure your employees care. Let people identify with your vision. Why is it important for them? Why should they care? All change starts with intrinsic motivation. Your organisation\u2019s objective is not enough. You will have to address people’s inner values. What do your employees\u00a0find important? What do they care about? It’s those personal core values and beliefs that will motivate them to go the extra mile.<\/p>\n

3. Create room for experimentation<\/strong><\/h4>\n

If you want people to do new stuff, give them the space to do so. Provide\u00a0employees with the freedom to start their own projects. Make sure that they have the capacity to work on new ideas. Use Google’s famous ‘20% time’ policy or develop\u00a0your own strategy. Employees should be able to develop\u00a0their own\u00a0initiatives besides their daily affairs.<\/p>\n

4. Communicate your expectations<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Tell people that having ideas and acting upon them is not an extra activity. Continuous improvement and innovation is not a department, it\u2019s everybody’s job.\u00a0It should be clear to all\u00a0employees that it’s expected of them to have an\u00a0opinion and creative ideas. …and\u00a0that they should act upon them.<\/p>\n

5. Facilitate change<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Provide your employees with the tools and techniques to make a difference in their work. Stimulate collaboration.\u00a0People will often be more motivated if they are working together on something new. Furthermore, employees should have the freedom to make their own choices. This will boost their self-esteem and will make them more proactive.\u00a0After all, they can not complain and blame someone else. The American\u00a0software company Adobe took this even a step further by giving its employees an innovation tool-kit called the Adobe Kickbox<\/span><\/a>. Besides instructions\u00a0and tools, the box also contains a\u00a0$1,000 prepaid Citi card that employees can use for their ideas without having to ask for permission.<\/p>\n

6. Create a safe environment<\/strong><\/h4>\n

If you want employees to take action, you will have to deal with failure<\/a><\/span>. Lots of it. The road to success is paved with the corpses of unsuccessful initiatives. Be brave. Over the hills of failed attempts, victory awaits. It\u2019s your job to lead and to convince people to keep going until they succeed. There are only results, and if those are not what you’ve been looking for you\u00a0can always quote Thomas A. Edison; “I didn’t fail. I\u00a0just found 1,000 ways that didn’t work.”<\/p>\n

7. Reward changemakers<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Showing your\u00a0appreciation is\u00a0very important to keep people going.\u00a0<\/strong>Reward those who are showing the behaviour that you want. You can reward these employees\u00a0with an extra bonus or by putting\u00a0them and their initiatives in the spotlight. This way they will stay motivated to keep going and the other employees will be\u00a0led the way by example.<\/p>\n

8. Make it fun<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Don’t be too serious about it. Doing new things should be\u00a0fun. Make it\u00a0a game,\u00a0develop a contest or start a hackathon. By making things\u00a0more playful people will lose their tension and will be more open towards new approaches.<\/p>\n

9. Keep it easy<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It should be easy for anyone to contribute\u00a0and\u00a0it shouldn’t\u00a0take a lot of time. The more effort it takes, the fewer responses you will get. Keep it light and simple. You could, for example, introduce small objectives<\/a><\/span>. How can you\u00a0save \u20ac5,- this week? How can you\u00a0earn \u00a0\u20ac1,- extra today? These tiny challenges often lead to surprising insights.<\/p>\n

10. Be the example<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As a manager, you play an exemplary role. Show your employees how it should be done. Share how you are trying out new approaches yourself. Make sure that the entire hierarchy is joining. From the CEO to middle management the desired behaviour must be shown.<\/p>\n

Still curious?<\/span><\/em>
\nLooking for more ways to motivate people to take initiative? Contact us. We’d love to help you to get people out of their comfort zone and into a creative, constructive and proactive attitude. Shoot us an email at hello@hatrabbits.com<\/a><\/span>\u00a0or call us on\u00a0+ 31 10 30 70 534<\/p>\n

You can also join one of our workshops<\/a><\/span> and see for yourself how creative thinking can make a difference.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every success story starts with a creative idea and the implementation of it. It\u2019s all about getting people to take initiative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[197],"tags":[717,719,718],"class_list":["post-9015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-innovation","tag-initiative","tag-kickbox","tag-take-initiative"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n10 ways to get employees to take initiative - HatRabbits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every success story starts with a creative idea and the implementation of it. It\u2019s all about taking initiative.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 ways to get employees to take initiative - HatRabbits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every success story starts with a creative idea and the implementation of it. It\u2019s all about taking initiative.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HatRabbits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-08T09:00:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-26T14:23:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/initiative.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"789\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"451\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeroen de Ruijter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeroen de Ruijter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeroen de Ruijter\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a55cd8a266ce24eaa5a4952002057fce\"},\"headline\":\"10 ways to get employees to take initiative\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-08T09:00:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-26T14:23:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":925,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/initiative.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"initiative\",\"kickbox\",\"take initiative\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Innovation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/\",\"name\":\"10 ways to get employees to take initiative - HatRabbits\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/initiative.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-08T09:00:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-26T14:23:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a55cd8a266ce24eaa5a4952002057fce\"},\"description\":\"Every success story starts with a creative idea and the implementation of it. It\u2019s all about taking initiative.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/initiative.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/03\\\/initiative.jpg\",\"width\":789,\"height\":451,\"caption\":\"How to make people take initiative\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"10 ways to get employees to take initiative\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"HatRabbits\",\"description\":\"The magic of getting ideas\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a55cd8a266ce24eaa5a4952002057fce\",\"name\":\"Jeroen de Ruijter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5123d269247d92b910097b452325db7eb8bb9eb14f1821aac0147872163aa4b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5123d269247d92b910097b452325db7eb8bb9eb14f1821aac0147872163aa4b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/5123d269247d92b910097b452325db7eb8bb9eb14f1821aac0147872163aa4b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeroen de Ruijter\"},\"description\":\"Jeroen is one of the founders of HatRabbits, creative all-rounder and internationally awarded concept developer. Jeroen is specialised in UX design, concept development and creative strategy.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hatrabbits.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/jeroen\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 ways to get employees to take initiative - HatRabbits","description":"Every success story starts with a creative idea and the implementation of it. It\u2019s all about taking initiative.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 ways to get employees to take initiative - HatRabbits","og_description":"Every success story starts with a creative idea and the implementation of it. It\u2019s all about taking initiative.","og_url":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/","og_site_name":"HatRabbits","article_published_time":"2016-03-08T09:00:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-26T14:23:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":789,"height":451,"url":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/initiative.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeroen de Ruijter","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeroen de Ruijter","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeroen de Ruijter","@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a55cd8a266ce24eaa5a4952002057fce"},"headline":"10 ways to get employees to take initiative","datePublished":"2016-03-08T09:00:19+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-26T14:23:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/"},"wordCount":925,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/initiative.jpg","keywords":["initiative","kickbox","take initiative"],"articleSection":["Innovation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/","url":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/","name":"10 ways to get employees to take initiative - HatRabbits","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/initiative.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-08T09:00:19+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-26T14:23:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a55cd8a266ce24eaa5a4952002057fce"},"description":"Every success story starts with a creative idea and the implementation of it. It\u2019s all about taking initiative.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/initiative.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/initiative.jpg","width":789,"height":451,"caption":"How to make people take initiative"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/10-ways-to-get-employees-to-take-initiative\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 ways to get employees to take initiative"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/","name":"HatRabbits","description":"The magic of getting ideas","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a55cd8a266ce24eaa5a4952002057fce","name":"Jeroen de Ruijter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5123d269247d92b910097b452325db7eb8bb9eb14f1821aac0147872163aa4b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5123d269247d92b910097b452325db7eb8bb9eb14f1821aac0147872163aa4b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5123d269247d92b910097b452325db7eb8bb9eb14f1821aac0147872163aa4b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeroen de Ruijter"},"description":"Jeroen is one of the founders of HatRabbits, creative all-rounder and internationally awarded concept developer. Jeroen is specialised in UX design, concept development and creative strategy.","url":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/author\/jeroen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hatrabbits.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}