January 23, 2023 What You Can Learn From Your Employees

Your Best Solutions to your business challenges may come from your own staff. Involve them.

By Paul K. Steck

While managers and business owners are familiar with being in charge of all day-to-day operations, there are moments when we all need to take a step back, pause, stop speaking, and start listening—in a different way.  We may find the solutions to daily complications among our own team, which can be a surprising source of information.

Every day that they spend time in the trenches, your team is micro-focused on the intricacies of processing both your internal and external work product, while you are concentrating on the bigger picture with the explicit goal of growing your business.  There is no more valuable resource for solutions than those within the innerworkings of the daily process.

The conventional techniques of managing a company may no longer be applicable as the corporate world becomes more complex due to the introduction of new technologies, additional regulatory issues, and an intergenerational workforce. Since it is impossible for business owners and managers to know everything, let’s use what might be the best resource we have available to us – our own workforce.  How then should this be approached?

Consider establishing a regular internal forum where employees from all levels of the company are invited to talk about challenges they are facing. It could be a digital, remote event or live, in-person. Pay attention as team members offer their input to developing solutions. During the session, you can share exhibits and utilize a collaborative platform.  Best of all, between sessions you may set up a “virtual suggestion box” to gather information for the subsequent session. We have found success using a one page “one-0n-one” meeting agenda.

This goes beyond the conventional feedback loop to create a work atmosphere that values and encourages employees’ contributions. You might even entertain the idea of creating a bonus or incentive program for employees who find an answer to a problem that saves the business money.  After all, why not reward positive, creative thinking and get the most out of staff members? We try to send the message that everyone matters in our company.

In an article published by Entrepreneur Magazine, Andre Lavoie says that “…it’s always good practice for leaders to teach those working under them, there are things management can learn from their employees, as well.”  He notes five important lessons to be learned from the workforce:

Generate new ideas for the organization.  It is crucial for leaders to foster an environment that encourages dialogue and idea sharing.  Employees can offer a unique viewpoint and be a wealth of inspiration. For instance, younger employees will contribute something fresh because they haven’t had as much time to become accustomed to “the way things are.”

Improve the hiring and onboarding process. Although the employer is participating in the process, it’s likely that they haven’t gone through it themselves in a while. The hiring and onboarding process are an employee’s first engagement with your company. To make sure that these procedures are being followed in a way that is advantageous to your new hire as well as efficient for the firm, it is crucial to regularly assess and adjust them. Employees who have recently completed the hiring and onboarding process are most likely to provide an accurate account of what transpired, and businesses can use them to enhance their hiring and onboarding procedures. Ask for input from staff members regarding the hiring and onboarding process and make this process ongoing.

Be a better leader.  It can be challenging for leaders to assess their own performance. Employers can become better managers by soliciting input from their workforce. Use performance-review software or anonymous surveys to collect feedback to make staff feel more at ease. To achieve the most beneficial outcomes, ask straightforward questions.

Create a sense of community.  It’s easy for leaders to become distant from the daily activities and work of their teams. Because employees don’t always feel at ease around their boss, there are clear boundaries between the two. However, coworkers who are on the same level and working on projects together or simply being in the same vicinity every day frequently develop friendships and partnerships. Leaders can take a look at these connections, draw lessons from them, and use them to help create a sense of community and promote workplace culture.

Learn to trust.  Few workers perform at their best when their employer is constantly watching them. The consequences of subpar labor and low production, however, can be severe for those in control. Good bosses strike a balance between being firm and allowing their team members some breathing room. Excellent workers can encourage their managers to relinquish control and have faith in their abilities to complete tasks. This can be particularly challenging for business owners accustomed to taking on every facet of a project. However, focusing on broader overarching issues can be achieved by letting go and having faith in the team to get the job done.

Let’s look at a real-world situation that occurred in our shop where letting go and trusting the team yielded a great achievement. Our communication with employees encourages suggestions for helping solve business problems. The facility change a team of employees presented along with staffing and training recommendations resulted in a daily increase in throughput by 20%.  (Improved workspace layout allowed for more workers in an area along with “buddy system workforce training” method led to 20% more shipments – which was remarkable!) Give your team members enough leeway to effectively complete the action, and they will.

Conventional wisdom says you should model your operation after the most successful companies. Today, those are often the most innovative and highly valued companies with the greatest out-of-the-box approach to business. Technological developments like those coming out of Apple®, Microsoft®, Google®, etc. did not happen in a vacuum. They result from a culture of extreme collaboration. Market researchers have proven that focus groups and consumer surveys often result in design modifications to the end product that make them more user friendly—and save time and the expense associated with retooling an unsuccessful design. The same results can be achieved internally when we proactively solicit employee input.

Finally, consider also the cultural and generational lessons we can learn from our staff. Perhaps your workforce may include people from various age groups, linguistic groupings, and ethnic origins. Our company has exactly such a mix. If we make the effort, we can learn what is necessary to effectively communicate with that employee and how to interact with them. They may increase their output, commitment, and excitement, if we only take the time to listen.

Engage your workers, and you might find that you have access to a wealth of expertise.

Paul K. Steck is the president of Exothermic Molding, Inc, a third generation, family-owned specialty plastics fabricator serving a variety of verticals including healthcare, laboratory sciences, and defense. Visit: www.exothermic.com

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