Empowering employees to speak up and feel confident enough to have their voices heard is important for companies. New research has shown that creating a company culture that emphazises choice can be a method to do this, the Harvard Business Review reported Oct. 13.
Employees speaking out helps encourage innovation and reveals company shortcomings that can then be remedied. A good example of this is when Virgin Trains front-line worker Bethan Patfield noticed a renowned chef had become a regular customer. She suggested that Virgin and the chef partner to redo the menus. The chef and Virgin did indeed strike up a deal and developed a new menu that turned out to be a success with customers.
However, research shows that 85 percent of employees stay silent on important matters for fear of being viewed negatively. One way to get around this and to access the voices of employees is to build choice into company culture. Choices allow people to feel in control of their environment and is key to greater ownership and belonging at work. Organizations then should foster participation by emphasizing choice and valuing employee feedback.