Manufacturing and production organisations are under unprecedented pressure to innovate. Rapid advances in automation, AI and robotics are reshaping how work gets done, while ongoing supply chain disruption and cost pressures demand ever-greater efficiency.
At the same time, these changes can create significant workforce challenges – from skills gaps and fears around technological displacement, to the need for continuous upskilling and digital transformation.
Organisations with high-trust cultures, like Kia, are significantly more likely to sustain innovation and outperform their peers.
Data from the Great Place To Work Effect shows that trust is a powerful driver of innovation. In high‑trust cultures, 76% of employees are classified as innovators, compared to just 34% in low‑trust workplaces. Overall, organisations with high‑trust cultures are 5.3 times more innovative than their low‑trust counterparts.
When employees feel psychologically safe, trusted to experiment, and confident that their ideas will be heard, they are far more willing to challenge the status quo and contribute fresh thinking.
By contrast, low‑trust environments suppress innovation by encouraging caution and disengagement – ultimately limiting both employee development and business progress.
This is why innovation strategies that focus purely on technology, without investing in people, can lead to disengagement, resistance to change, and lost momentum.
Kia UK's leaders recognise that sustaining innovation at pace needs more than new tools or processes – it requires a workplace culture where employees feel trusted, supported and empowered to try new ways of working.
Kia’s Trust Index survey results show clear progress in the behaviours that underpin an innovative culture:
By focusing on trust, empowerment and learning, Kia UK has positioned innovation as a shared responsibility across the organisation – not something confined to R&D teams or leadership roles.
The impact of this approach goes beyond engagement scores. With innovation embedded into the employee experience, teams are better equipped to respond to operational challenges, improve processes and deliver value in a fast-moving market.
“Compared to other motor manufacturers, Kia UK encourages ideas and flexibility to try different business improvement activities. Teams are given great autonomy. As a result, we have led the way with service plans, accessory packs and capacity improvement techniques.”
- Kia UK employee
As The Great Place To Work Effect shows, a high-trust culture that fuels innovation also drives business performance – and Kia's story proves this. Alongside boosting their Trust Index scores for innovation, the company grew revenue by 14% to over £56 million from 2023 to 2025.
How Kia fosters innovation daily
At Kia UK, innovation is embedded in everyday ways of working – through open idea‑sharing, continuous learning and career mobility that encourages people to think differently and collaborate across boundaries.
Kia actively encourages employees to contribute to the future of the business through initiatives such as their “Trends That Inspire” Innovation Challenge, which brings together colleagues from across teams to tackle real business challenges.1 These programmes promote experimentation and confident idea‑sharing, underpinned by Kia’s ‘dare to push boundaries’ company value, which encourages curiosity, calculated risk‑taking and learning from failure.2
Innovation also extends beyond the organisation. Through ZER01NE Ventures, Hyundai Motor and Kia’s creative talent platform, Kia identifies and collaborates with visionary start-ups to develop innovative solutions that address real societal challenges.3
Kia’s approach to innovation is reinforced by a strong commitment to learning and development. While UK employees received an average of just 3.6 training days (approximately 27 hours) per year in 20244, Kia's employees benefited from 53.8 hours — nearly double the national average.2
Structured programmes, such as the Mobility Academy and Skill‑up Academy, cultivate cross-functional talent, whilst leadership development pathways build the next generation of innovative, entrepreneurial leaders.2
Together, Kia's L&D programmes equip employees with the technical, strategic and entrepreneurial skills needed to adapt in a fast‑changing manufacturing and production environment. From onboarding onwards, colleagues are encouraged to learn, experiment and continuously improve.
Internal mobility plays a key role in sustaining innovation. Kia’s Career Move programme enables employees to design personalised career paths and gain experience across roles, functions and emerging business areas.
Through the Global Open Experience Market (OXM) and Open Job Market (OJM), employees can access internships, short‑term opportunities and internal roles that broaden perspectives and reduce silos.5 This free movement across boundaries supports creative problem‑solving, faster collaboration and more agile innovation.
At Kia, a great employee experience is the engine that drives innovation. By cultivating trust and embedding learning and development into their culture, Kia shows how organisations in manufacturing and production can turn their people into a powerful competitive advantage.
Sources:
4. Department for Education, Employer Skills Survey, 2024