• Every employee wants to grow in their organization and make more money.
• Every organization wants to do even better and be more productive, gaining a larger market share.

One can’t be done without the other.  The organization needs employees to win and the employee, to enjoy security and make more money, needs a winning organization.

Intel’s commitment to employees does not involve lifetime employment.  Instead they commit to absolute openness, so people can make intelligent career choices.  Although they don’t provide the direct training their people need in order to grow, they do provide a clear picture of where the future opportunities within the company lie.  What they are actually doing is training people to think for themselves.

At quarterly business update meetings, Intel points out where businesses both growing and shrinking.  It’s then up to the employee to maintain their employability by getting whatever direct training they need to be part of the growth sector.

Intel’s CEO Andy Groves once said, “We communicate and communicate at every level, in every form.  Anyone can ask anybody any question.  Although this could be confrontational, it’s the only way to remove barriers to good and innovative ideas.” The person doing the work often knows how to do it even better.

• Organizational cultures frequently insist on “doing it their way” and thus discourage innovation and creativity from their people.
• Unfortunately, this attitude of “do it right the first time, or don’t do it at all” stifles employee creativity and their willingness to take risks and contribute to the organization’s success.

By definition, innovation is doing something in a new and creative way that has never been done before.

Think about when you first road a two wheeled bicycle or the first time you watched a baby beginning to walk.  Both of these tasks are, for the child, innovative (never been done before) experiences, Do any children do this right the first time?

Chrysler Corporation, after the bail out of 1979-1980, enjoyed success by destroying the old “command-and-control hierarchy” and opening up clear lines of communication while working in teams.  The result had been a lineup of automobiles, trucks and SUVs that had mass appeal across a broad spectrum of buyers.

At Chrysler, they recognize that the people doing the work, the teams, can identify and solve problems and meet customer demands if given became the information and flexibility to do so.  Management role had become communicating with the teams and allowing them to make decisions on how to best solve customer problems.

At one particular Holiday Inn, a dismal occupancy rate of 67% was increased to 85%.  How?

• Management simply communicated the occupancy rate to employees, and the implications were obvious.
• The staff started to promptly greet guests, carry their bags, and they were generally helpful and friendly.

The employees knew there was a problem because they were given critical information.  Isn’t every problem, in the final analysis, a people problem?

GE Chairman Jack Welch said, “We’re going to win on our ideas, not by using whips and chains but by taking out the boss element.”  When Polo’s Ralph Lauren distributing center in Greensboro, N. C. let employees decide when to take their breaks and lunch hours, productivity shot up by 20%. When people are empowered, even in small ways, productivity usually increases.

Finally, to energize employees and the organization, a mutual sense of trust must be dealt.  Even Intel, who communicates clearly that they don’t believe in lifetime employment, has tremendous trust in its entire organization. Why? Intel has come to realize that every employee wants to grow in their organization, and to do so they need to know how to be successful.

Intel also realizes that to build real trust and employee loyalty, communication has to acknowledge problems and even failures.  Why?  Because employees realize that to enjoy the job security they want, they need to be working for a winning organization.

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