Get your employees involved with transparency
Lately, as I am sure you all know, things in Greece are not booming. Families are finding it difficult to reach the end of the month and businesses are struggling too.
A friend of mine, working for a catering company, here in Greece, was telling me how their main competitor had recently closed down the business. His company (where he works) is having difficulties also, as corporate clients are cutting down on events and private parties as going for less expensive options. They are struggling to the point where the company is letting people go, causing various employees to start leaving in search of a more “in theory” secure job. Imagine being the business owner watching your people abandon in times when jobs are scarce. What have I done wrong? he must be asking himself…..
Answer: your employees are just not engaged and they do not feel part of the same project.
Transparency is essential. I believe numbers should be shared openly with all employees if you want them to be engaged. Shared during bouyant times and shared when the company is going through a low in sales. Everyone needs to understand the costs involved in running the business and what is the company’s net profit at the end of the day. The better understanding they all have, the easier they will understand when you ask them for a sacrifice, when you ask them to hang in there. They know the numbers and they can see this extra effort is needed.
Transparency is essential. And you need to get everyone involved, absolutely all of them, from the administrative staff to middle management all they way to the top. Everyone has to feel that they have a common objective. You shouldn’t create class structures within a company if you want the right culture to grow.
The same way as you will ask for that extra commitment during hard times, you will compensate in times of growth, all of them. Not only management or sales teams, they all need to feel it.
Going back to the example of my friend’s catering company, a small company around 50/60 employees, do you think the situation would be different in you had all of them engaged since day one?
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