Globalization has led to creating an international and unified economic system leading to a rapid increase in global competitiveness. Introducing innovation to businesses is a good way to make them more competitive and increase their market share.

The competitiveness of a business is not only a result of its economic efficiency but rather a result of more complex processes inside them. An equally important role also play the level of innovation that each company possess.

These innovations relate to technology, such as creating and developing a new product, but they can also take the form of non-technological innovations. Non-technological innovations can make a business more competitive through innovations in marketing and the methods and processes within a company.

The European funded project INNovaSouth, under the European Financial Framework of “Horizon 2020“, is interested in the latter.  

Throughout the project’s implementation, introducing innovation to businesses in Thessaly, Greece, proved to be significant. For this reason, this article wants to highlight the impact of the European project INNovaSouth and the provided support to entrepreneurs in Thessaly that helped them increase their productivity and, at the same time, the competitiveness of their services and products.

Description of INNovaSouth Project and the Need that Covers

The Partners and the Geographical Selection

First, it is essential to mention that two partners undertook the project implementation of INNovaSouth. On the one hand is the consulting company JO Consulting SRL specializing in implementing European Projects and European Structural Funds based in Catania, Sicily. On the other hand, the Institute of Entrepreneurship Development (iED), which is a certified leading Center of Excellence in European entrepreneurship and a fast-growing Digital Innovation Hub, designed to promote innovation and enhance the entrepreneurial spirit, with an action of more than 16 years in support of local and Pan-European entrepreneurship.

The selection of the organizations that make up the project consortium was by no means accidental. Both Greece and Italy rank in the lower positions of the innovation index, which is only worse when we focus on Sicily and Thessaly, where innovations in the workplace seem problematic.

What is the Focus of INNovaSouth, and what Need does it Cover?

INNovaSouth focused on micro, small and medium enterprises to introduce innovations to both businesses in Thessaly and Sicily. Generally, southern Europe lags in the integration of a culture of innovation in the workplace, while at the same time, high unemployment makes the situation worse.

High labour supply due to unemployment has reduced the workers’ demands, who are now accepting to work in conditions that meet a minimum standard. In combination with the unfavourable economic conditions, these small businesses do not have the necessary financial resources to invest and improve the needs of their working environment.

The Aim of the Project

INNovaSouth project wants to improve the business culture in Southern Europe, specifically in the regions of Thessaly and Sicily, and to increase the competitiveness of local businesses. To achieve this, INNovaSouth offered various services and financial support of 8.000 € to each company selected, in the form of vouchers, to implement innovations at their workplace.

Specifically, the objectives of the project were:

• The participation of 24 SMEs (12 from Thessaly and 12 from Sicily)
• The development of online training material (WPI System) to educate employees and managers of local businesses to develop their skills and increase the competitiveness of their business
• To increase employee job satisfaction by 30% through applied innovations at their workplace
• To promote the importance of innovation in the workplace to at least 1000 SMEs and wider disseminate awareness about the strategic advantages that innovation has to offer.

The Impact of INNovaSouth on Business Innovation in Thessaly

As mentioned above, after a strict selection process from the open invitation made public, the selected businesses from Thessaly were each given vouchers of a total value of 8.000 € for implementing innovations in their workplace.

The Companies

The companies that participated in and benefited from the INNovaSouth project are the Biomechanical Solutions company operating in the field of R&D, Halatsis O.E in the field of medical and protective equipment, fire prevention and alarm systems, the furniture manufacturer business Eleftheroglou, the Koin.S.Ep. Exadas, which provides tutoring to students, Gounelas SA operating in the professional equipment business, Kechagia, which produces and processes olive pomaces, the travel agency Visit Meteora, Lefkaditis GTC, a retailer of tools, paints and hardware, the architectural firm Aether:Arch, Ludens the youth centre for creative learning, the Koin.S.Ep. for the collective and social benefit Poreia Ygeias for the psychosomatic empowerment, and finally, the topographic office of Valaris.

Due to the small economic size of the above companies, the resources for investments in workplace innovations are scarce. Therefore, the benefit of these businesses with the INNovaSouth vouchers helped them significantly upgrade their workplace and introduce innovations based on INNovaSouth’s model, which allowed them to increase their innovative outputs in their workplace of employee productivity and employee motivation.  

The process

For the final selection of the appropriate innovation practices to be implemented to the companies of Thessaly, the participating companies used a Manual of Good Practices on Workplace Innovation, together with an interactive self-assessment questionnaire, which allowed them to identify their individual needs and to proceed with the implementation of the best workplace innovation solution for their problem.

In addition to the coupons, the provided business support included open access to the online training program “WPI System”, where managers and employees improved their knowledge and skills. The online interactive training courses covered topics such as workplace innovation, English language, efficient management and skills development.

The impact

Generally, all companies’ problems were similar, mainly due to their small size and the new conditions created by the pandemic. The innovative model of good, non-technological and innovative practices of INNovaSouth allowed the Thessalian SMEs to integrate simple, immediate and innovative solutions that allowed them to motive employees and increase their productivity, thus supporting local entrepreneurship.  

The most significant change observed in all participating companies was establishing a creative space dedicated to brainstorming sessions. Brainstorming is an essential and creative process in which the team members actively participate to find new ideas for the solutions of currently existing problems or find ideas for the strategic development of a business.

In addition, the majority of businesses renewed their work environment. These renewals concerned changes in the decoration of their workplaces with the purchase of new furniture and modern equipment. These changes improve the businesses’ image to their customers or business partners and increase employee productivity. They now work in a friendlier and more creative space where they have everything they need to carry out their work efficiently.

Many businesses using the vouchers chose to invest in lifelong learning of their employees and their training through seminars. Lifelong learning is essential for developing human resources. It makes employees and the company itself more competitive as it expands the company’s knowledge in key and relevant areas in its market.

Furthermore, there was a particular interest in introducing a reward system with employee benefits and vouchers in return for good employee performance. Such benefits enhance the motivation of employees to be more productive, as they feel that their efforts do not go unnoticed but instead are rewarded.

Finally, many also invested in upgrading their internal management and communication processes with their employees and customers. They invested in solutions that enable remote working as was required by the new pandemic conditions and in customer management systems and other commercial software that facilitate the day-to-day operations of a business, thus increasing its productivity, competitiveness, and efficiency.

The above is only a part of the total outputs from the implementation of the INNovaSouth project and its benefits to businesses in Thessaly.

If you are interested in finding out more about INNovaSouth and its results, you can visit the official project website.