Page 169 - Build a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles

140 Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work

Best Practices and

Turnkey Strategies to

Foster Partnering

Fostering a culture of partnering in your organization requires
communication and creativity. The following list describes sev-
eral ways to make your employees feel like valuable partners.

1. Benefits. If you’re going to treat your employees like
partners, then everyone should have the same benefits. For
example, the CEO and janitors at Nucor Steel have the same
benefits package, and the executives don’t have perks such
as company cars or preferred parking spaces. If you have
preferred parking spaces for upper management, get rid of
them—they are daily reminders to employees and visitors of
a culture that devalues its employees.
2. Department representative. Each month choose a team
member to represent your department at a monthly meeting
of all departments. During the meeting, representatives from
each department provide a monthly update, share best prac-
tices, and look for opportunities to share resources and part-
ner with one another.
3. Finance meeting. Every quarter provide employees with
full financial disclosure. Make sure the information is presented
in a manner that allows those less familiar with accounting
practices to understand the numbers; offer interested employ-
ees basic training in reading financial statements.
4. Employee owned. If possible, employees should be stock-
holders of the company. Ideally, compensation should be tied
directly to individual, team, and corporate performance.