Entrepreneurs are an independent lot. That's why they took the risk of going into business for themselves. Along with that fiercely independent nature is a reluctance to ask advice from others. That reluctance is often especially true of seeking new business ideas from members of the company staff. This can be a very dangerous policy for business owners, especially when the company is poised for growth and expansion.
Asking the staff for ideas is one of the most powerful business growth techniques available. After all, who better to know your suppliers, your customers and clients, the media, and the day to day operations, than the people doing the work. The organization's own staff work in the business on a daily basis. They know where money can be saved, where sales can be expanded, and where a better image of the company can be built. All the business owner has to do is ask.
Of course, seeking the advice of the employees is often easier said than done. Asking for help is often viewed by business owners as weakness and a threat to their position. Fortunately for those entrepreneurs, there are some ways to request ideas without needless worries about losing control or authority. In fact, working with the members of the staff will go far toward increasing their level of respect for the company owner. People will give respect when it's offered to them in return.
A good place to start is to hold a series of individual staff meetings. Don't worry about time being wasted here. The results will make up any work shortfalls many times over. During the meeting, ask each employee what they do each day. Don't let them quote the job description. What you want is a list of daily activities. Find out which activities can be removed and which ones could expanded to be more effective.
After the activities have been covered and discussed, ask where the person believes changes could be made that would make their job more productive. Be careful that the ideas presented aren't about reducing the workload. What you are seeking are time and money savers that make the employee more effective. You may find that many of the daily tasks are indeed redundant or wasteful. If so, those duties can be removed, and replaced with ideas from the staff person. If the discussion has been conducted openly and honestly on the part of the owner, the employee will respond in kind.
Once the individual job duties are discussed and streamlined into greater efficiency of time management, it's time to move on to larger meetings. The purpose of these discussions is for everyone to brainstorm new ideas and creative solutions to the problems of growth and expansion. After all, you are seeking cost effective and productive ideas. Avoiding the obvious and expensive fallback routes of hiring more staff or spending more money than necessary are two of the goals. Getting your existing organization onboard with the new growth direction is another.
As ideas are formulated and discussed, the staff displays a number of other traits as well. Along with generating new ways of doing things and increasing revenue, the employees bond closer together as a unit. Sharing thoughts together in an open forum, where everyone is treated equally, and where their input is given equal weight, is empowering. Empowered employees will work harder to achieving the company goals because they had a hand in formulating them. They take ownership of the idea and run with it.
At the same time, mutual respect is built between the employer and the employee. Instead of the initial fears of loss of respect, the opposite is the end result. People receiving respect and recognition for their efforts will return it. Morale goes up. So do revenues.
Ask your employees for their ideas and input. They will appreciate the gesture and be more effective and happier people as well. Instead of being considered as expendable workers, they will consider themselves partners in the company's success. As such, they will do everything possible to achieve the goals that are set. After all, they helped to create them.
Morale goes up. Company revenues rise as well.
Talk about a win win situation for everyone involved.
