The insights and opinions of your staff might make a real difference to your business. The risk is that there may exist such an atmosphere at the workplace that they give up in advance and never say a word to anybody about their suggestions for improvement.
If, for example, someone on the front line has an idea, what happens to it? An article on the management-issues.com website asks which of the following environments would best describe your company – and whether you would not like to change it.
1) Apathy fuelled by negative experiences
Thinking is not welcome. No attempt to propose new idea has ever been rewarded. The way things are done at the moment is generally acknowledged as the best way. So any new idea is perceived only as a potential problem.
2) Not worth the effort
Managers see ideas as something simple which they don't need to think about too much. They regard creativity as something that goes against productivity. The result of this is that new ideas are scrutinised so severely that very little of them remains and they don’t have a chance of being accepted. Simply, the processing of employees' suggestions does not work.
3) New ideas welcomed
New ideas? Excellent: everyone knows how valuable they are. Leaders want to try and examine new ideas. There is a well-functioning process of dealing with new proposals and thoughts. Managers often support and push good ideas through; they know how important these ideas are.
Curiosity and questioning of assumptions is often promoted. Employees use their expertise as a starting point for making contributions, not as a defense mechanism for keeping everything the way it is now. People and teams are encouraged to challenge boundaries.
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