Employee Involvement: A New Blueprint for Success (2010)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * Employee involvement programs delegate authority to employees across all levels of a firm by involving them in strategic initiatives. Employees are encouraged to generate ideas, create beneficial initiatives and put plans into action, * Employee involvement programs can be initiated by anyone in the firm, but support and involvement from the firm's leadership is critical to success. * An effective employee involvement program must be developed with the participation of employees and an understanding of their needs. Success largely depends on empowering employees as they take a stepped-up role in shaping the firm's culture. * Identify the initiatives on which your firm will focus. Recruiting, mentoring and training are examples of areas where employees can become engaged and are usually tied to a firm's strategic plan and objectives. * Program initiatives can be implemented through small task forces consisting of representatives from different levels and functional areas. Delegating authority spreads out the decision-making process, encourages input from people closest to the problems, and fosters a collaborative environment. * Track the progress of each initiative and regularly communicate the results to the rest of the firm. When teams produce tangible results that benefit the firm, those responsible deserve recognition. This also helps weave employee involvement into the culture. ********** [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When it comes to improving employee retention and increasing profitability, my firm, San Francisco-based Eichstaedt & Devereaux, believes that investing in and developing our future leaders builds the foundation for success. Instead of top-down firm management, we use a grass-roots employee involvement program to engage employees in the firm's business. To involve employees, we identified several strategic firm initiatives and delegated authority to employees across all levels of the firm through task forces to develop those initiatives. This ongoing process encourages our employees to generate ideas, put plans into action, and create further beneficial initiatives for the firm. Our firm's mission is to offer the highest quality service to clients and be the best technical experts around. As a partner you can offer those services, but you also have to teach your employees to do the same thing for your clients. You need people who are highly motivated, engaged and excited about what they're doing. We believe that the idea of employee involvement, getting them involved in the firm's business, plus technical training, is what drives a high billing rate and ultimately profitability. Since we started the program in May 2007, our employee-driven teams have created formal recruiting, mentoring and training programs. They've also created a mission statement and an employee recognition program. Collaboration and accountability has increased across all levels of the firm, and employee feedback indicates an appreciation of the leadership development opportunities. Employees tell me that they like participating in some of the nonclient, nontechnical aspects of building the firm and shaping their own futures. This article explains some aspects of our employee involvement program and offers tips for starting an employee involvement plan within your firm. IDENTIFY PROGRAM INITIATIVES Based on informal employee feedback, our firm identified several areas to work on as our main program initiatives. These areas were also aligned with our firm's strategic plan and objectives. Recruiting, mentoring, training, communication, and generational issues were some of the main areas we chose as our plan initiatives. CREATE TASK FORCES Each initiative is implemented through small pods, or task forces. The purpose of the pods is to delegate authority by spreading out the decision-making process and encourage input from people closest to the problems. …