Ideas in the Workplace

It was the fast food giant McDonalds which has popularly embraced the mantra of openness and transparency in the workplace.  They created a system that resembles a corporate democracy, where people can express their ideas and question practices without fear of reprisal. Not one of us is better than all of us, says its management dictum. This is perhaps the reason why the American corporation has become one of the world’s most recognizable brands and one of the most enduring companies.

The McDonalds model encourages open communication in all levels of the company. They give lower rung employees the opportunity to see the problems that they are encountering, suggest solutions to management and when it is found to be working and effective, the solution is carried out to all McDonald branches. It is simple yet novel. Because of an open communication line, employees become part of the system. It elicits their loyalty and in the long run, improves productivity, which eventually is a gain on the bottom line.

Such practice of open communication is being adopted by the biggest companies, like Google. Recognized for years as the best company to work for, Google adopts a monthly no-holds barred forum between all employees and their big bosses, facilitated by the chief executives themselves. Concerns from traffic signs, to hospitalization benefits, even to their free meals in the office are discussed and solved, immediately.

The result speaks for itself. The company is breaking revenue record year-after-year and could be the biggest technological innovator in the past decade. And they continue to produce spectacular applications that keep competition eating their dust.

Communication is very important in companies. Managers and executives must not hole themselves in their corner offices and hope their every decision will create better days for their companies. It is important for them to listen to the people in the ground. They must listen to their employees facing the customers for they know how their products and their services are being accepted. They must talk to people in the production and development sides, as they will understand how their products work and how it could fail.

Only by then will they fully understand the concepts of their operation, educating them to make sound and effective policy and judgment on the direction of the company.

When we come to think of it, that is the basic concepts behind the management board – they are representatives of the owners and various interests in the company – coming together, gather the best ideas and decide. That is also the idea behind bulletin boards, message by executives during programs and even company magazines. In most companies, however, it is only the executives and the managers talking with employees just listening and implementing the orders.

In an open company, employees are encouraged to give ideas making them feel part of the decision-making process and part of the company. This way, they become stakeholders. This is also a great way to discover talent and future company leaders from the rank-and-file.