Looking at replacing expensive consultants?

Mukti Shah

Have you hired expensive business consultants to help you improve turnaround time, only to discover that their solutions don’t work for you? Have you tried brainstorming about cutting costs with your directors? As a business owner, you’re always looking for the next big idea to improve your bottom line. Under Your Very Nose! Chances are you’re looking in the wrong place. There is an untapped source of free ideas right under your nose that you have probably not considered – your frontline employees. However, this section of employees is usually considered the bottom of the pyramid and associated with the grunt work. The truth is they are a gold mine of information about the ground realities of your business. Frontline employees have an intimate knowledge of real-time problems and their solutions since they deal with your products, services, customers and vendors on a daily basis. Their knowledge is not based on theory but on experience. By encouraging a free flow of ideas, you can bring about a profound transformation in your organisation, one that could not only boost overall performance but also liberate the people who work in it. Summon Your Frontline Troops Here are some things to keep in mind before you approach your frontline employees for ideas. 1. Go beyond the ‘suggestion box’: If you are serious about leveraging frontliners, you need to go beyond the suggestion box to get their views. Many organisations have TQM or Kaizen forums, where employees are encouraged to suggest areas of continuous improvement on a monthly basis. Before inviting suggestions, ensure that you have established a Standard Operating Procedure for the suggestion system. This should ideally educate the employee about the process, from obtaining suggestion forms, to implementation criteria, to reward and recognition schemes for implemented ideas. Next, a committee needs to be created (preferably cross-functional) to ensure timely review and feedback on each suggestion. 2. Make idea-generation everyone’s job: Employees are more likely to start thinking about continuous improvement if it becomes a formal, measurable process. One way to do this is to set targets such as each employee must submit at least two ideas for improvement each month. The idea could be as basic as switching off boardroom lights when no one is using them, to more elaborate ideas such as a new product design. This can ultimately be part of the Key Result Area of all employees. 3. Train managers to nurture, not push back employee ideas: Managers need to be trained to ensure that they promote ideas in their area, and make sure the necessary resources are available to evaluate, test and implement ideas. They need to create an environment that encourages ideas. They can do this by coaching and mentoring employees so that they develop their knowledge and improve their problem-solving skills, to increase the quality and impact of their ideas 4. Focus on specific areas: What could Kingfisher have learnt if the troubled airline had asked its employees for suggestions on cutting costs and running a leaner operation? We will never know because, like most organisations, it did not involve its frontline employees to solve a major crisis. If you notice that a particular area of your business is in trouble, ask frontline employees for ideas on managing that particular problem. This will also give you a cross-functional perspective and ensure that employees start focusing on improving that area. When managers let employees know what the critical issues are and make them understand why these issues are important, and then solicit their ideas, it increases the alignment between the employees’ concerns and the company’s need. 5. Ask if the idea can be applied elsewhere in the organisation: A really good idea need not remain confined to a particular area. A small idea that has worked miracles in a particular area might just work elsewhere. As the improvements brought about by small ideas accumulate over time, they can add up to considerable savings, productivity and a competitive advantage. It is important to review existing implemented ideas periodically to assess their worth. Idea schemes have the power to change the very culture of an organisation, by bringing about more trust, respect, openness, commitment and harmony among the staff. When employees see that their ideas are valued, their attitudes change, from one of detachment and frustration to involvement and fulfilment. This not only uplifts the quality of their lives but also brings about real growth in an organisation. Mukti Shah is a clinical psychologist, corporate consultant and an accredited entrepreneurial motivation trainer You can send your feedback on smementor@moneycontrol.com or simply post comments below