Hint: It’s simple and it’s not that hard to do. Any ideas?
A Gallup Poll shows that companies with engaged employees experience 147% higher earnings than their competition. Companies with disengaged employees earn 2% lower than the competition.
The bad news is that in the USA only 3 in 10 employees feel engaged. The good news is that you can engage them. (The new movie “The Internship” illustrates how Google does it in extreme, and Google is rated the #1 company to work for.)
I was invited to a brainstorming session that lasted two days. At the 2/3 mark, the leaders of the organization announced their new plan. It had nothing to do with what we had been brainstorming. In fact, they had created the plan weeks earlier. They didn’t care a whit about our ideas. Afterwards, many of the people in the room disengaged from one of the best nonprofit organizations, including some long-long-time supporters.
If you survey your supporters or your employees, or ask for suggestions, be willing to take action based on their recommendations. If you ask people for their opinions, they expect some kind of action to follow. You don’t have to do exactly what they suggest, but if you want to increase earnings, you do have to honor their contributions.
By Shar McBee, author of “To Lead is to Serve“