Employee Engagement Saves Time, Money
You need more productivity from your staff. Every minute counts in a down economy, and it’s imperative that all employees are on board. A “Make it Better Team” is the fastest way to get employee input, transform negative employee feedback into useful solutions, and create buy-in for the changes needed to keep your company competitive and successful.
Put your complainers to work to make things better!
Remember, sometimes a ‘difficult employee’ is the only one telling the truth — or the only one who cares. Too many Managers brush off the noisy complainers and diminish their contributions. Instead, put them to work.
I run workshops called “Make it Better.” We separate the group into logical teams by department or function. We ask them to look at a key process and ask three questions:
- What is our ideal path for this process?
- What are all possible missteps, challenges, and problems?
- What are possible solutions to each of these challenges?
By breaking the process down and asking for potential problems you are training the employees to think critically about each step. When you ask them to brainstorm possible solutions, you are teaching them to be pro-active.
This next step is vital, and must be managed carefully by a competent facilitator to avoid politics, hurt feelings, or accusations. But, when it is done properly, your team will be on board and your company well on it’s way to higher productivity and greater efficiency …
Once each team has completed their process, have them present their findings to the group. You will be amazed at the responses. Each team will have processes, difficulties, and responsibilities that the others never suspected. Teams will see how they interact with each other, and how their behaviors might be slowing down another team.
And, if the right context of fun and camaraderie is set up in the beginning, teams will jump in and help solve each other’s problems.
As a manager / facilitator it is your turn to listen to each of the solutions and have someone keep track of them. With the help of your teams, determine:
- which solutions can be handled immediately
- which can be implemented within 3 months, 6 months
- which will require board approval
- which simply can’t be implemented (for whatever reason)
Give your team a time table for accomplishing the ‘do-able’ solutions presented. Some you will already have in place, some you need to re-start, and some solutions will simply require that you stop doing something.
Once the timetable is in place, create a system of rewards for each of the small steps along the way. It doesn’t have to be much. Pizza delivered to the whole company, or to the department that finishes first. Microwave popcorn on their desks for reaching a milestone. Paid half day off for reaching the 50% mark (let them choose which half day over the next 3 months.)
When you’ve reached 100% of your goals, throw a party, give each of them a small gift card to their favorite store, or determine how much money you’ve saved and reward them accordingly.
One of my Hawaii clients, City Mill, not only went through this team processes, they also used the exercise to identify leaders from each department to be part of ongoing “Make it Better” meetings. The CEO, Steven Ai, invited his new “Make it Better Team” to meet with him on a regular basis and give him feedback about his 8 Oahu Stores. Since then, City Mill has consistently been voted one of the Top Places to Work in Hawaii, and has also been awarded “Best in Business” in Hawaii.
Including your employees does work. If you want to motivate your people, rewards work better than warnings, write-ups, and disciplinary action. If the company recognizes and supports employees for being winners, the winners won’t let other employees drag the company down.
The economy is crazy. When it picks up, competition will be stiff for good employees. Don’t turn your employees into adversaries! Encourage them to be partners with you by creating a “Make it Better Team!”
To Your Company’s success!
Contact me if I can help!
Beth Terry
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Beth Terry, CSP, is an Employee Engagement Expert, Resilience & Communication Expert, Certified Speaking Professional, and Author.
© 2001-2010 Beth Terry Seminars, Inc. All Rights Reserved
I like your advice to, “Put your complainers to work to make things better!” I couldn’t agree more!
Thanks Lara – It seems so much better to at least give them a shot at making it better. “Put your money where your mouth is.” If nothing else, they may have some good ideas, and if they are just complaining to complain, it will make them think.
Beth