Innovation describes the process of changing or creating more effective processes, products or ideas which can increase the likelihood of the business succeeding. Agility is the capacity of the business to identify and capture opportunities more quickly than rivals do. Resilience is the organisational capability to anticipate key events from emerging trends, constantly adapt to change, and rapidly bounce back from disaster (for more information see research from Cranfield University and McKinsey).

 

Common measures

Innovation activity: this is a measure of the introduction of new improved products or processes (see here for more details). 

N new processes implemented.

£ spending on innovation

Percentage of sales from new/innovated products: ratio of sales against total sales which have resulted from recent innovation activity on new product lines, or established products (see here for more details). 

Sales of recently innovated product or services in the period/ total sales in the period * 100%

Intellectual property statistics – these are measures of developed on new intellectual property for the organisation (see here for more details).

Number of patents

Number of trade mark applications (successful and failed)

Successful trade marks (N of successful trade mark applications/Total N trade mark applications)

Total amount of research grants successfully awarded to the organisation (£ of grants successfully awarded to organisation)

Cybersecurity KPIs: these are measures of cybersecurity risk that illustrate the compliance of an organisation to protect knowledge and intellectual capital. Measures here can include those which point to numbers of incidence, as well as type and frequency of cyber espionage activity.

Critical IT update lapse time: this measures the time between an IT provider supplying a critical security update and the organisations full IT system installing it.

 

Further research

In Agility: it rhymes with stability McKinsey suggest that organisational agility is a combination of speed to act and stability of organisational structures and belief systems. It goes on to cite research by Columbia University that found that agile companies increased their net income by 5% annually. Find more information here:

Agility: it rhymes with stability

Resources description

In today’s business environment, innovation, agility and resilience are essential for organisations to retain their competitive advantage. Collecting and analysing workforce data can provide organisations with the information they need to increase or develop capability in these areas.

For more information and practical guidance on developing resilience at an individual, team or organisational level, read the CIPD research report and guide below.

Developing resilience 

Developing resilience: an evidence-based guide for practitioners 

 

For information and practical tips on planning for and managing business continuity, download the CMI research survey and checklist below.

Business continuity management: Planning for the worst 

Business continuity planning for major disruptions

Resources

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