After reading the article Workers of the World, Innovate, I am happy to hear that companies are finally putting to use valuable employee feedback. Pitney Bowes Inc. was looking for a way to sort callers without transferring them through different lines. Instead of hiring a consultant or looking to upper management for solutions, Pitney Bowes called on its employees. Within days employees came up with a worthwhile idea!
Another example is a video game company asked their gamers to predict which games would be big sellers and which ones flops. The employees came up with a better forecast than the company!
While the systems used to collect the data from the employees may be costly, the results are well worth it! Also, as employees feel connected and valued at work, their loyalty and morale may rise which will lead to better work performance. This is a win, win, win!
I agree with you Katy, the insight and benefits that current employees can offer to their firm are priceless in terms of cost. In many ways a firm’s most important asset is knowledge. This knowledge stems from the direct result of their employees abilities, work ethic, and ideas.
ReplyDeleteEmployees have good ideas too!!!
Firm’s employees are usually involved in the day to day operations of the business. So why not ask for their opinions on certain issues related to the firm? Not only are their ideas free and unlimited but raises their morale by involving them on decisions within the company. Overall, as Katy alluded to it's a win win situation for the firm.
As the World of World, Innovate article states, "It goes far beyond management deciding to change and to innovate, and there are so many good ideas that could be acted on that are with the people who are right there every day, dealing with customers."
As a future entrepreneur and manager, I can assure you that I will place a strong emphasis on employee involvement and interaction when brainstorming for new solutions or ideas to business issues.
I agree too, Katy, that the benefits of these systems are greater than the costs.
ReplyDeleteThis is kind of what we were talking about today when we were talking about the Zara case. This is why we suggested that store managers should continue to have some decision-making power. Because they are the ones that directly interact with the customer, their input should definitely be taken into consideration in order to better serve the customer.