Creating Employee Equity Without Investing Any Capital
Many senior level managers are becoming increasingly frustrated over the perceived lack of ownership that many of their Generation X employees and managers are taking in the growth of the company. While many managers are quickly realizing that by slightly modifying their management techniques, they can turn this “independence” into a tremendous asset.
Successful managers are bringing Gen Xers into the process, and giving them equity (ownership) in the ideas as well as the implementation. Employee Equity is the involvement in the development of the decision process, rather than just the responsibility for the implementation.
Where does it state in the traditional management handbook that managers can’t give their employees more of a serious stake in the future performance of the organization? One simple solution may be to simply put vehicles in place to gather this type of data and provide employee equity at the same time. All without a significant investment.
Rather than an antiquated Suggestion Box approach, you might try a simple Weekly Observation Sheet. The Weekly Observation Sheet is a simple three or four line form that asks each employee to report on either one good they observed in the company over the last week, or one area that requires improvement. The observations may be as simple as removing trash from the parking area, or commenting on a positive response from a satisfied customer.
The rules for making this type of program a success are simple.
First, give the employees an option of reporting one or the other on the observations, playing to their independence and ability to make decisions. Secondly, there must be 100% participation to insure no overtones of favoritism, and positive reinforcement from management to encourage employees to contribute and take the program seriously. Finally, make sure you implement some of the suggestions to demonstrate your commitment. This concept will at the very least, establish employee equity in the company, and quite possibly result in new ideas that will make your organization stronger, and position you above your competitors.
Michael Muetzel
Management Consultant,
Author of They’re Not Aloof…Just Generation X, Unlock the Mysteries to Today’s Human Capital Management
www.mxmuetzel.com
770-486-1416