Page 168 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

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Partnering

the guys who actually make the flooring get to speak directly
with the customers. It also shows a lot of respect for the hourly
guys.”
• “I work for a family-owned business of about 250 employ-
ees. Once a quarter we all meet, and the president goes
through all the numbers with us and lets us know exactly how
the company is doing and asks us how we can do better. He
treats us like business partners and not just employees.”
• “We used to get sales and commission reports from
accounting that we just couldn’t understand. We used to
complain to our boss, but she never did anything. We got a
new boss, and as soon as we brought it up he had someone
from accounting come to our team meeting to talk with us.
We ended up making several suggestions and improving the
report both for us and for accounting.”
• “We consider our vendors and customers our business part-
ners. Each year we hold a big one-day event where we invite
them to participate in various meetings, get their feedback,
and brainstorm about new products and services.”
• “Our organization has a cross-department team that meets
monthly to brainstorm on how we can better support and
collaborate with one another. This process has led to numerous
improvements and opportunities, as well as a much increased
sense of partnership across the organization.”