The document proposes a concept called "Innovating from Within" (IFW) to close performance gaps by engaging employees in problem solving and innovation. It describes IFW as insourcing innovation by tapping into employees' diverse backgrounds, experiences and potential ideas. The process involves creating an innovation register of performance gaps, launching it to employees to submit ideas, assessing ideas, developing initiatives, and rewarding successful ideas. Key stakeholders to manage the process are the Office of Strategy, HR, Project Management and IT. Benefits of IFW include engaging employees, increasing productivity and reducing costs through insourcing innovation. Sustainability requires leadership buy-in, stakeholder engagement and effective communication.

1. Innovating from Within
Insourcing your innovation process to close your
performance gap
Ahmed Benrekia
Senior Consultant at The Palladium Group EMEA
IFW

2.  2
IFW
Innovating from Within (IFW)
Introduction1
AhmedBenrekia// ahmed.benrekia@hotmail.co.uk
Innovating from within concept focuses on closing
the performance gap through engaging the
employees at all levels in the process of problem
solving and recommendations. Basically insourcing
your innovation process and becoming your own
incubator .
In a Nutshell
Outside the closed doors of the C-level meeting
rooms which all performance reviews and decisions
are being made, are employees from different
educational backgrounds, age groups, experiences,
passion and potential entrepreneurs by nature which
are under-utilized and in most cases bored from the
day to day routine. Imagine tapping into those assets
that you already have and jump starting it to
innovate for your organization. To graphically
visualize the concept more ------------------------------
Imagine!
!?
C-levelEmployeesIFW

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IFW
Innovating from Within (IFW)
How?2
AhmedBenrekia// ahmed.benrekia@hotmail.co.uk
Create Innovation
Register
Asses &
Qualify
Launch
&
Engage
Build a
Case
Idea
Box
Igniting Graduating
Launch as an
Initiative Evaluate
Monitor
Reward
Report
The IFW consists of two major functions, the first being igniting the innovation process to create a register
that includes all the performance gaps within the organization then launching it to the employees and start
receiving ideas and recommendations later assessing those ideas based on a specific criteria and building a
case for those that do qualify. The second is graduating those ideas into initiatives and ensuring that they
are meeting their deadlines then evaluating the completed initiatives and analyzing whether they have
achieved the original goal (closing the performance gap) if so, reward the idea owner based on that.

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IFW
Innovating from Within (IFW)
Who?3
AhmedBenrekia// ahmed.benrekia@hotmail.co.uk
The following are the main stakeholders required in launching and sustaining the process of IFW:
Office of Strategy
Management
• Creating the
Innovation Register
• Assessing &
Qualifying
• Evaluating
HR & Internal
Communication
• Launch & Engaging
• Rewards
Project
Management
Office
• Building a case
• Monitoring
IT
• Creating Work
Flows
• Archiving
• Reports

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IFW
Innovating from Within (IFW)
Why?4
AhmedBenrekia// ahmed.benrekia@hotmail.co.uk
 Engaging the employees
 Increasing productivity
 Closing performance gaps
 Unleashing creativity
 Reducing cost through insourcing
 Creating synergies between stakeholders
 Results!
Pros
ͯ The process is not sustainable if there is no
leadership buy in
ͯ The process is not sustainable if the
stakeholders are disengaged and it is not a
priority
ͯ The process is not sustainable if it is not
branded and communicated to all
Cons

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IFW
Innovating from Within (IFW)
Biography5
AhmedBenrekia// ahmed.benrekia@hotmail.co.uk
Biography
Ahmed Benrekia has been working for Palladium since January 2012 and is Balanced Scorecard
Certified since July 2012. He has worked in different sectors such as Government, Utilities, Non-Profit
and Banking in the Middle East. Ahmed’s experience includes several implementations of Palladium’s
Execution Premium Process, Office of Strategy Management, Change Management, Initiative
Management and is the Executive Strategy Manager “Performance Management Systems” Expert in
Palladium EMEA. In addition to that, Ahmed has experience in facilitating and presenting Palladium’s
Strategy Execution Bootcamps, client’s engagement sessions and training on the ESM for C level
management and superusers.
Prior to joining Palladium, Ahmed gathered experience in the IT Consultancy industry mainly focusing
on Performance Management Systems. He worked as a Performance Architect on a BI module called
Actuate and mainly had implementations in the Government Sector. Ahmed holds a Bachelor’s
degree in Management Information Systems from American University of Cyprus and has obtained a
Masters degree in Management Information Systems from the same educational institute.
Currently, Ahmed is a Senior Consultant helping organizations link strategy to operations, operate the
Office of Strategy Management and ultimately achieving effective strategy execution.
Had the pleasure to meet Dr.
Kaplan the co-author of the
BSC and XPP

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IFW
Thank You
AhmedBenrekia// ahmed.benrekia@hotmail.co.uk
For any questions or comments you can contact me on the following:
Ahmed Benrekia
ahmed.Benrekia@Hotmail.co.uk
@ahmedbenrekia