Coffee Shop Questions - Employees Making Policies
Here we go with another installment of Coffee Shop Questions. This time the question was---
There's been a lot of interest in the fact that Intelligent Shift lets employees shape employment policies and even health care choices. It was a different approach than most of industry. What positives did you see? What challenges? ---
Alissa-- It was really exciting to have the team involved. Our approach is always to leverage the entire team for ideas and suggestions. It has been fascinating to be a part of these discussions. They're so collaborative. Specifically I was closely involved as one of our employees led the shaping of a key employment policy and then reached out to colleagues across the company to gather input. The end product is truly employee owned. It's evident in the quality and care employees take when investing time into these type of activities. The energy surrounding each task and true commitment is there with every employee. It is amazing to be a part of this. The challenge is keeping up. There are three of us and many more employees who are all eager and excited to make this a truly great place for a long career.
Matthews-- The coolest part about serving up these initiatives for the workforce to craft: it was something we always talked about doing in previous roles, but seemed to run into roadblocks. The pace at which we were able to move when these impediments were removed is exhilarating. Our workforce feels it as well. A positive: the pride that was felt by the employees; not only when they finally delivered these polices to us, but when it they were formally rolled out to the workforce- they now are responsible for one of the cultural building blocks of Intelligent Shift. A challenge: me keeping up with their pace. An iteration that required my review was turned around in days and I felt responsible to put in the extra time at night to review and get a response back……only to get the next iteration sometimes hours later.
DeFede-- I am not sure I have much to add. Mike and Alissa both nailed it. I was by far the biggest skeptic of this approach among the three of us. But I really wanted to try it. Here's the truth- the team has been faster and more comprehensive than I could be. The amount of research that comes back is astounding. I'm really thankful how serious they take it. That's why it works.
For good measure- We asked the team how they felt about Intelligent Shift letting them define the company. Here's a few quotes on the positives and challenges to shaping the company:
Positives:
"It's been a great way to get to know some of the hidden strengths and talents from other employees within the company."
"You don't normally get the opportunity to shape the structure and operations of the company you work for. It's really cool."
"This is the most employee-centric company I've worked for."
Challenges:
"Believing that we were really able to do this our way, and not necessarily the way the Founders wanted."
"One challenge early on is that it seemed the group was hesitant to be too daring or bold because we weren't sure "Leadership" would approve. We didn't realize how empowered we were."
Send your questions for us to contact@intelligentshift.com.
