Suggestion Box

Until 2008 we had a typical suggestion box program.  There was a single little box screwed to the wall near the large bathrooms in the center of the building, just above the water fountain.  People were encouraged to write their suggestions, and drop them in the box. We may have averaged about 4 or 5 suggestion submittals a year, so whoever was responsible for checking the box wasn't very diligent about looking for new submissions.  As the years went by, and staff members and/or their responsibities changed, we weren't even really sure whose responsibility it was to check it. Also, many of the suggestions were submitted anonymously - so if we did or didn't use a suggestion, we couldn't really communicate it. During one of our quarterly Town Hall meetings, where we meet with the entire staff of The Beryl Companies as a sort of State of the Union with the CEO and COO, one of our employees asked if "anyone ever checked the suggestion box?"  Then we all just kind of looked around at each other trying to determine if anyone had an answer - nobody did.  Our CEO, ...

They Say You Cannot Create Engagement. We Agree!

Last month, I read an article in Chief Learning Officer titled “Creating an Engagement Culture”.  It introduced 3 reasons why engagement initiatives fail.  The one that really stood out to me was you cannot create engagement.  As part of a training company that is focused on developing a culture of engagement, I agree. As with all worthwhile things, employee engagement must be developed over time.  While you cannot create engagement, leaders in an organization can create and maintain the environment that allows engagement to flourish. I remember a couple of years ago when my daughter really wanted to plant watermelons in our backyard during her Spring Break.  We went to the store, bought the seeds, dug a hole, planted the seeds, watered the seeds, waited, waited and waited. Nothing happened…and I suspected nothing would happen before we even bought the seeds. The reason I knew the watermelons would not grow was written on the bag of seeds.  The instructions stated that the best time to plant the seeds in Texas is after April.  It was an unseasonably cold March when we planted the seeds.  The environment was not ready for the seeds.  The watermelons were set up to fail from the start. This is how ...