Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/522141
36 PalletCentral • May-June 2015 palletcentral.com background tells you there is a better way. That's a tension we have to manage. What eases the tension is when you feel free to speak up about better ways to do a task. We need leaders that will listen, that will try new things. Talk to staff about skills not being used, or what they desire to learn to move ahead. Leaders who encourage an open discourse will win. The more "open" the environment, the more ideas get generated. The more "open" the environment, the greater our collective intelligence. Employee Engagement: Novel Idea to Pass the Shoe A novel idea for employee engagement came from one Minnesota manufacturing company who stumbled onto a unique peer-to-peer employee recognition program. The initiative was referred to as "Passing the Shoe." Here's the story of how they came up with the shoe. This company's facility is located adjacent to a city park area that frequently hosts summer outdoor concerts. One work day, an office employee got a phone call from a woman who had lost her shoes at a recent event held in the park. The caller inquired if by chance someone had found the shoes and dropped them off at the manufacturing facility offices. On her own time, that office employee took it upon herself to walk over to the park, and looked for the shoes. She eventually found them, and returned the shoes to the grateful owner. The company's finance department staff learned what their colleague had done, and brought in a shoe embellished with glitter and rhinestones, and dubbed it the "Above and Beyond Award." The company then began to present the shoe to an employee whose work exceeded expectations. The last person to receive the shoe in turn selects another colleague worthy of recognition to be the next recipient of "The Shoe Award." This is one example of a powerful recognition program to engage employees for several reasons. • The engagement initiative is highly visible and fun. • Everyone in the organization knows about the award. They publish a feature article in their digital newspaper each week with a photo and short write-up of each new awardee and why they were selected. HR "People love jobs where they get to do what they do best, and have more control over what they do." – Howe Wallace, PalletOne