Resources 7 Paths Blog At work, my opinion seems to count
At work, my opinion seems to count
I often think of opinions and suggestions as seeds.
In the fall, nature casts out a wide variety of seeds from trees and plants. The seeds travel hither and yon by wind, birds and animals. Many of the seeds will not take root but next spring some will.
That’s how forests and meadows regenerate themselves.
Does your nonprofit have a suggestion box? If so, does your suggestion box give the message to staff that their opinions do not count?
Suggestion boxes are a great idea. They are an opportunity for anyone in an organization to make suggestions. People love it when they can make their workplace better by making a suggestion.
By the way, this is another in the series of posts on the 12 questions that the Gallup Organization discovered are powerful measures of how engaged employees are in a particular workplace.
Unfortunately, a suggestion box can have the opposite effect. I have a friend who began putting signed suggestions in the suggestion box at her place of work and then she never heard from management. When she did not get any response to her suggestions, she felt her opinion didn’t count.
She found out quite by accident that the management group did read and discuss the suggestions but they seldom responded directly to the people who made the suggestions.
Here are three things managers can do to make sure staff members know that their opinion counts.
First, thank every person who makes a suggestion. Even if there are valid reasons for not accepting a suggestion, thank the person and ask them to continue to make suggestions.
Second, tell every person who makes a suggestion what happened as a result of their suggestion. If you made a change as a result of an employee suggestion, celebrate with them. The news will get out that opinions count in your workplace.
Three, if management cannot adopt a suggestion, explain to the person who made the suggestion why it won’t work. It shows respect. And then ask the person to keep making suggestions because their next idea might be a great contribution to the workplace.
Wisdom for the week. Encourage opinions and suggestions because they are a natural way to regenerate your organization.
Tags: Gallup Organization, opinions, Q12, suggestion boxes