Activating Mechanisms Through Employee-Driven Innovation; Comment on “Employee-Driven Innovation in Health Organizations: Insights From a Scoping Review”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

1 Science of Care Institute & Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health, Toronto, ON, Canada

2 Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

3 Canada Research Chairs Program, Toronto, ON, Canada

Abstract

Caddedu and colleagues’ paper “Employee-Driven Innovation in Health Organizations: Insights From a Scoping Review,” presents findings regarding the state of the literature around employee-driven innovation (EDI). In uncovering the who, what, and how of EDI in healthcare organizations the authors suggest that embracing EDI at an organizational level may be a key to supporting larger system transformation efforts. This commentary builds on this contention suggesting that to help realize that broader vision, attention should be paid to the overlapping implementation mechanisms around empowerment, adaptability, learning, and meaning and value that drive both processes. Finally, it is suggested that what may be most powerful about EDI is its ability to bring joy and vitality back to a healthcare workforce that is currently in crisis.

Keywords


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