Engaging Employees

At the recent board of directors meeting of the Employee Involvement Association, there was discussion about the evolution of programs. Initially, companies had suggestion programs, where the emphasis was on the "suggestion box".

As these programs have grown to be more sophisticated, collecting data electronically and working towards including a large number of employees, there was a change in thinking. This change was mirrored when the National Association of Suggestion Systems (NASS) changed its name to the Employee Involvement Association (EIA).

The next stage of evolution is towards employee engagement. There is growing understanding that an employee that is actively engaged in a business is more likely to be successful, actively contribute - not just suggestions in a formal sense, but also to the daily efforts to improve the wellbeing of the organization.

This change is reflected on the front page of the EIA Website:

EIA members are leaders who are dedicated to building organizations that engage their employees, encouraging them to contribute to their organizations at many levels and many ways.

Employee Involvement is the keystone of organization development, nurturing the engagement and empowerment of people.

EIA is committed to increasing organization effectiveness through the imagination of employees.

Does your company reflect the evolution of employee involvement, striving for ways to engage and empower their employees? If so, let us know by your comments and by completing the survey to the right.

We're Looking for some Great Ideas!

Employee Involvement is the keystone of organizational development, nurturing the engagement and empowerment of people.

EIA is committed to increasing organizational effectiveness through the imagination of employees. There are a broad range of companies who understand that their employees have the skills and ideas to help make their companies more productive and profitable.

EIA's annual Awards Program specifically recognizes the creativity of employees and offers awards that honor outstanding Ideas of the Year as well as recognizing the role leadership plays in promoting employeeinvolvement.

The Employee Involvement Association is opening up its prestigious idea of the year program to non-member companies. By participating in this program, an organization can:
· Garner international recognition for employees who are engaged in developing award-winning ideas that help their organizations increase productivity, and improve productivity
· Provide a showcase for employee innovation
· Benchmark your organization's efforts in a way to provide important information to further improve your employee involvement program

This program is a useful way to reward your company's suggesters on a national scale. Gold finalists are invited to attend the EIA Conference in Orlando, 17 - 19 September, 2008. While there, they have the opportunity to showcase their award-winning suggestion to the conference participants with a table-top display and to make a brief presentation to the judges. The top Ideas of the Year will be recognized at the Awards Event on Thursday evening, 18 September.

Entry deadline is 30 April 2008. Click here to access the Awards packet, including entry descriptions and requirements, forms and instructions. Click here for the entry form (included in the Awards packet.)

Where do Good Ideas Come From?

This topic was explored at the EIA Annual Conference last month in Nashville by Larry Truax, Grote Industries. Successful Employee involvement programs include employees who are

•Involved
•On the Scene
•Doing the Work
•Working Hands-on
•Trained to Use Analytical Tools
•Experienced in the Process

And who have

•Been Asked
•Been Empowered
•Been Coached
•Been Engaged in the Process
•Used Analytical Tools
•Are Provided Incentives

Here are three ways that employees can look at your company's current procedures and processes to generate good ideas:

Competitive Benchmarking
•Examine the product
•Dissect the product
•Examine Materials
•Look at product features
•Determine production methods

Price or Cost Targeting
•Examine Bill of Materials
•Look at Alternative Materials
•Look at Alternative Processes
•Automate

Problem Solving
•Customer Complaint
•Warranty Issue
•Product Quality Issue
•Scrap Reports
•Product Rework
•Process Improvement

For more information about employee involvement, go to www.eianet.org.

The best ideas...

Competing businesses often run on a level playing field: they can grow their companies by borrowing capital, hiring from the same experienced personnel pool, and expanding their locations. Where the advantage lies is ideas generated from within. As rubber giant Harvey Firestone said: "If you have ideas…there isn’t any limit to what you can do with your business and your life."

The internationally recognized, non-profit Employee Involvement Association (EIA) values employees and ideas and each year recognizes the originators of the most significant ideas implemented in the previous calendar year. A rigorous competition has brought these individuals, organizations and ideas into the spotlight:
The Overall Idea of the Year Winner was a glass sealer tip submitted by Anthony Blamer, Steven Augenstein, and John Ayer of Honda of America. The group looked at the problem of water leaks around window openings at the start/stop point of the sealer bead, then redesigned the sealer application tip. The result was an 85% reduction in leaks and downtime and 100% reduction in failures at the dealer.

The Individual Idea of the Year Award was earned by Edward W. Sitarski, PE, MS of Grote Industries, LLC. His vision replaces manual terminal connector LED production with automation production that provides plug-and-play hardware interchange, graphical system monitoring and interfacing, quick-change capability, broad product adaptability, and enhanced quality control. It will increase efficiency, and reduce part cost, inventory and time to ship.

The Team Idea of the Year Award went to a group at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control – Dallas for an idea that reduced costs by 95.5%. Prior to this idea, employees in the stockroom individually counted and kitted fasteners into ESD bags. Now, assembly kits are released to the floor without hardware. Operators use their bench top bins to install hardware and then replenish their bins when empty from a conveniently close "hardware wall."

Other finalists recognized in the Idea of the Year competition included Dubai Aluminium Company Ltd / A.S. Jamshed, O.C. Thomas Jacob, J.G. Rocaberte, F.O. Boyles and P.P Silvosa; Dubai World / Jifry Cottage Pareethu Kutty Jifry, Pulukool Premavalsalan and Romeo T. Dacanay; Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control/ Mario De La Cruz; Satyam Computer Services, Ltd./ Chandra Sekhar Dasaka; Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control – Ocala/ Tom Martin; and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control – Orlando/ Technical Services Team.

EIA also presented these awards for 2007: Advocate of the Year: Susan Giliberti, Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, Owego, NY; Evaluator of the Year: Chandra Sekhar Dasaka, Satyam Computer Services, Ltd., FL; Executive Leadership Award: Tom Moser, Micro Motion, Inc.; Program Administrator of the Year: Brigadier Satish Bahuguna, Satyam Computer Services, Ltd.; and Communication Excellence Award: Performance Management Team Office, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

Sponsors for the event included BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, MetroParks of the Toledo Area, Dubai Aluminium, General Motors and the Social Security Administration.

The Employee Involvement Association serves professional managers and administrators of employee involvement and suggestion programs and has been in operation for 65 years. It is estimated that its member organizations receive more than 250,000 suggestions per year.