Staff must be encouraged to push parameters a leading business director has said.

Alan Heap, director of training company Purple Monster, said that staff performance should be measured in terms of ability to innovate and challenge senior wisdom.

“Employees who are empowered – given a clear brief, but encouraged and trusted to apply some thought as to how to achieve the desired results – will perform better and bring more to the organisaton that they work for, than those who are given no flexibility for thought and innovation.”

Heap has warned against encouraging staff to obediently follow instructions. By removing any need for them to think for themselves, individuals become unmotivated because they do not feel valued and trusted in the company.

“Ultimately, employees who are treated like children will start to behave like children. They will do what they have to do and no more.

“No one will challenge existing thinking and as a result the organisation will stagnate. And once that culture starts to spread, it’s very difficult to stop.”

Heap claimed that a company’s future leaders are those employees who push boundaries and think independently, despite what some bosses may believe.

“Employees who simply do as they are told appear to be doing a better job than those who seek to innovate – and yet ironically it’s the latter who are more likely to thrive in more senior positions in the organisation.”