Page 166 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

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Partnering

Successful organizations also seek to develop collaborative
relationships with their customers, vendors, and other external
organizations. Care should be taken to regularly reach out and
meet with external partners to identify additional opportunities
and benefits. Many organizations fail to consider the importance
of engaging their vendors and customers as business partners
who, just like engaged employees, will help solve problems, cre-
ate new products and services, ask insightful questions, and
provide input that leads to improvements. As I examine my own
business relationships both as a vendor and as a customer, I
realize how much more committed and engaged I am to those
individuals and organizations who treat me as a valued business
partner.
Supervisors and organizations have innumerable avenues
to foster internal and external partnerships. Below are various
real-world examples that I hope will prove useful in furthering
your own partnerships.

Examples of Partnering

• “Sometimes we are shorthanded. Instead of shutting the
whole line down for breaks, our supervisor fills in. I appreciate a
boss who is willing to roll up his sleeves up and get dirty.”
• “Once a quarter, we have what is called ‘Trading Places’ at
our company. For half the day we work with someone else
from another department, and then for the other half day they
work with us. It is our favorite day of the month, and it has had

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