Encourage debate
Employees need to believe that it’s OK to disagree and express countering opinions if your company is going to advance.
“This is a natural outgrowth of the fact that everyone is going to have a different thought,” Koen says. “Guess what, big headline: My thoughts might not be the same as yours. So how do you create an environment where disagreement and conflict is in a positive and constructive manner and doesn’t get channeled into destructive behavior?”
You need to foster an environment that encourages healthy debate.
“Let the organization know it’s OK to discuss various ways and approaches and solutions,” Koen says. “I’ve tried to say over and over again that I want to create an environment where the best idea can surface, regardless of where it came from.”
Employees need to trust that if they are open and honest with their ideas, they will be received positively, even if their idea is counter to what others think.
“It’s giving permission to individuals to come forth with their best thinking,” Koen says. “You have to come around and reward that. You have to walk the talk. You celebrate those great ideas that become successes.”
SAVVIS hosts quarterly all-hands meetings in which employees from around the world are brought together electronically. Koen schedules a time in which employees are allowed to ask any questions on their mind.
The value from this practice does not come by simply creating the opportunity. For it to work, you need employees to take advantage of it and offer their honest opinions.
“You don’t just do it once,” Koen says. “You have to keep coming back and doing it again. What happens is the word-of-mouth in the organization either works for you or against you, depending on how effective you are. Over time, it’s that consistency that you are constantly reaching out and saying, ‘Hey, give me your thoughts.’ You develop that sense of trust.”
If you just aren’t having any luck getting your employees to speak up, perhaps it’s because they don’t understand where the company is headed.
“Maybe it’s because people aren’t clear with what you’re trying to achieve,” Koen says. “You have to start doing the prescriptive analysis around that to figure out how to change that and get the company in a new trajectory.”
By asking over and over again for input and feedback, Koen says at least one employee is likely to offer an opinion.
“There is going to be someone, that one brave soul, who might raise their hand and say, ‘I’m really concerned about this,’” Koen says. “Then what happens is you get the pile-on effect. It’s kind of like the dam has been burst.”
