A recent Gallup Poll shows that 52 percent of full-time workers in the United States aren’t involved in, enthusiastic about, or committed to their work. What’s more, 18 percent are “actively disengaged” on the job. There are many reasons for this disconnect, but none, I would argue, as devastating as an organizations’ ignorance to their own greatest asset—the ideas, knowledge, and experience-based know-how of their frontline employees.
While often overlooked in the decision-making process, frontline employees hold a wealth of knowledge that executives and middle managers simply do not possess. Depending on their position, a frontline employee may gather knowledge from hundreds of client interactions each day, seeing problems—and opportunities—arise in real time.
For organizations looking to remain competitive in today’s brutal and fast-moving business environment, executives must be able to tap this wellspring of information by engaging employees on their day-to-day experiences, understanding the trouble spots, and making adjustments through the actions of those same employees.
Tapping Your Organizational IQ
Consider that companies with high-performing idea systems report that roughly 80 percent of overall performance improvements come from frontline employees throughout the organization. However, only 20 percent of improvements come from management-initiated projects.
Yet, there is a glaring disconnect. Too often, strategy, ideation, and decision making are left exclusively to senior management—the result of the widespread, deeply entrenched belief that ideas from the rank and file don’t matter. This notion is reinforced in many organizations, where ideas from the frontline simply aren’t encouraged, considered, or rewarded.
Creating an infrastructure that reverses this mindset and values the Organizational IQ is essential for success in today’s business landscape. To gain the competitive edge from this oft-untapped potential, executives must cultivate a culture in which staff at all levels of the organization can easily share solutions for improving the business.
More important, organization must address these barriers to leveraging Organizational IQ:
Employees guard their territories. Employees may feel the need to protect their ideas. This can be solved by creating a culture of trust among employees and with the senior team. Place emphasis and praise on transparent communications and the open exchange of ideas.
Team size is too large. When teams are too large, great ideas can be stifled or pushed out by other great ideas. Smaller teams are best for collaboration, with the ideal number being between five to seven people.
Employees don’t know each other. When employees don’t know each other, building trust is next to impossible. Remove this barrier by creating meaningful ways for employees—who are often from very different backgrounds—to socialize at work and outside of the office.
Departments don’t interact. Innovation is often stifled by silos. Correct this by promoting meetings between department managers and inviting people from other departments to sit in on meetings and provide an outside perspective.
Idea generation lacks incentive. Incentive is a powerful motivator. To encourage innovation and collaboration among employees, tie bonuses and raises to real standards.
Executive management fails to set a good example. When executives are unable to collaborate in a safe, trust-enforced environment, employees may consider it an impossible—or a pointless—endeavor. Executives must correct this by modeling successful collaboration themselves.
Removing these barriers will not only lead to better ideas and solutions, it will also increase employee engagement. As frontline employees see strategies and initiatives resulting from their own astute input, they become more inclined to see that the initiatives are successful.
Beyond that, engaged employees are more likely to suggest helpful solutions. Madison Performance Group reports that 70 percent of employees who feel actively engaged by management deeply understand how to meet customer needs, whereas only 13 percent of employees who feel disengaged understand how to meet customer needs.
In today’s challenging business environment, the ability to constantly improve and innovate cannot be understated. Companies simply cannot afford to ignore the ideas of frontline employees. Tap your Organizational IQ by carefully examining your organization, removing barriers, and letting the ideas flow from every corner of the organization. You may be surprised what ideas come to surface—and from whom.