Create Employee Evangelists
My friend Zane Safrit, offers up Zane’s 10 Rules for Creating EMPLOYEE Evangelists. Riffing a bit off of Guy Kawasaki’s 10 Rules for Creating Customer Evangelists, Zane offers these gems (I’d like to rip off all of them here, but go read Zane’s post):
* Niche Your Employee. Find the unique quality, the unique resource each employee brings. Then position them where they can utilize those talents making meaning for their colleagues and your customers. Each employee provides a niche of talent, perspective, wisdom and advice. Discover those resources. Use those resources for the employees' development, the company's development and the customers' satisfying experience.
You can't create a niche product serving a niche market while you ignore your employees' niche skills.
* Tell Your Story, Tell Your Whole Story. ("Open up the Kimono") Open up and share the mission, the path, the successes and failures with the employees. Seek their advice. Seek their solutions. It's ok to not have all the answers.
I gotta admit that's a tough one. It has to do with the whole command and control, vulnerability, "am I a strong leader if I'm asking for solutions, ie, help?"
Let's put it on the positive. The more solutions' providers you create in your company, from those that provide great big conceptual solutions to those that provide a line of html that's missing, you'll have a smarter and more responsive company with a group of people who are excited and engaged in the process of fulfilling its mission providing meaning to their lives and the lives of your customers. And in this economy you need as many solutions sources as you can find, especially the ones who have your best interest at heart.
* Test-drive their ideas. Your employees are asked to test your ideas out every day. And to answer for them. Why not test their ideas?
Everyone contributes to your shared mission. Everyone does whether you recognize it or not. So, you want their full and POSITIVE contribution. Let them contribute. Give them room to try a few of their own ideas. Respect them in the same manner and try theirs.
A few will fail just like with yours. But a few will win. And a few more next month. And next month. Before long you've got a buzz going on, a conversation taking place, within your company like you want to take place in the market about your company.