By Allison Reynolds
Performing businesses thrive on two-way communication. The best ideas for improvement frequently come from the ‘shop floor’ or ‘open office’ where the workers know the issues and opportunities. The biggest problems can often be avoided if these issues are raised when they are first discovered. Harnessing these opinions and improvement ideas is very difficult for many managers.
Most people accept that employees will not speak up if they perceive a threat of punishment for doing so. However, a recent article in The Harvard Business Review highlights the much more common issue of employees keeping their ideas and opinions to themselves due to a sense of futility, rather than fear of personal consequences. If they perceive that nothing will happen anyway, why would they bother? It’s just not worth the effort. Speaking up is all too often unintentionally put on extinction by managers who are too busy or simply don’t recognise the importance of encouraging opinion from the workers.
“If you send signals that you’re already overwhelmed or conversely completely satisfied with the status quo, then it shouldn’t be a surprise if your employees doubt you want to hear about their ideas”.
The key to increasing the behaviour of employees sharing their opinions and ideas with you is to make sure that you reinforce all attempts. Booking time in your diary to solicit their feedback will increase the likelihood that you will do it. When you do get the feedback, make sure you reinforce the employee. Whilst you may not be able to implement every idea, saying thank you is often not enough. Consider other ways in which you might reinforce contribution, perhaps by letting them know that you received their idea and are considering it or talking about it at the next meeting. Do nothing and pretty soon, you’ll be on your way to getting nothing.....or perhaps that’s where you’re starting from today.
http://blogs.hbr.org/research/2010/05/do-your-employees-think-speaki.html
