As the April 15 tax deadline approaches each year, many accountants aren’t allowed a full night’s sleep, let alone time for a weekender with the family.
At Alpern, Rosenthal & Co., a Downtown accounting firm, workers understand this reality. But that doesn’t mean they don’t look for an oasis in the desert.
“It gets old,” said David Charnock, chief operating officer. So, on an employee suggestion, the firm reserves one weekend each tax season and closes shop — no work allowed.
“We set aside a specific weekend in March, where we shut down the office Friday afternoon,” Mr. Charnock said. “You know you’re going to be off. It gives you a chance to make a date with your wife.”
The idea came about through the company’s organized system for taking and implementing suggestions and airing complaints. Mr. Charnock started the Quality of Life Committee in 1997. It meets every two months and is made up of Mr. Charnock and six others at various levels in the 170-employee firm.
“We wanted to hear from our employees how we can improve their quality of life,” Mr. Charnock said. “We’ve tried suggestion boxes and said we have an open door policy, but a lot of times people are afraid.”
George Borowsky, president of the Sewickley consulting firm InSight 3, said the old-fashioned suggestion box rarely leads to anything useful. The same can be said for electronic versions, in which people can send anonymous e-mails.
“It sounds interesting, but it takes the form of what I call graffiti, which isn’t always helpful,” Mr. Borowsky said. “People start airing pet peeves and talking about so-and-so’s body odor.”
So while suggestion boxes can be black holes where ideas go to die, organized suggestion strategies, such as the Quality of Life Committee, can be quite effective, Mr. Borowsky said. Often, Mr. Borowsky works with firms as a third party, a sort of catalyst to entice people to listen to one another. He can also serve as a filter for suggestions and complaints, presenting them without ruffling too many feathers or injuring someone’s feelings.
Mr. Charnock said that once his workers saw results, enthusiasm for the system grew. “A lot of times, if (the system’s) not explained right, people will gripe,” he said. “But if you show them the big picture, people say `I understand that.’ ”
Debbie Ferlic, vice president and general manager of Carnegie-based Ciber Enterprise Application Solutions Group, said the company has tried to encourage employee input since she co-founded it as Paragon Solutions in 1993.
Early on, the company worked with Lou Musante, managing partner of Echo Strategies, a consulting firm based in Ross Township. Mr. Musante introduced the company to surveying as a way of obtaining feedback.
“We felt we needed another vehicle to communicate with our employees so they could be anonymous with their suggestions and be very open,” Ms. Ferlic said. The company now surveys annually, then, if necessary, follows up with subsequent surveys for clarification.
“After we got the results, we were committed to come back with an action plan,” Ms. Ferlic said.
Mr. Musante said acting upon suggestions is vital.
“There’s no use in doing measurements like these unless you’re going to take action on them,” Mr. Musante said.
This principle is part of the company’s slogan — “action through listening.” Echo also has trademarks on the terms “employee listening” and “customer listening.” Mr. Musante said listening should start before a suggestion process is initiated. “The employees need to be involved in the design of the process,” Mr. Musante said. “In many cases, we don’t really act like consultants, we act like coaches.”
Ms. Ferlic said she strives to go beyond collecting ideas. “We always push for a suggestion,” she said. “You can always tell me what’s wrong, but you need to be part of the solution.”
Having a system in place that solicits feedback creates a self-perpetuating situation, Ms. Ferlic said.
“I got an e-mail the other day and someone was questioning a policy saying `Deb, we know you care, here’s my gripe,’ ” she said. “You’ve got to take it good or bad. If you don’t do that it just bottles up and then they’re gone. One of the keys to keeping good employees is that they feel an ownership in what they’re doing.”
Companies are looking within for ideas for a simple reason, the consultants said. It’s good business.
“More and more enlightened companies are realizing that employees are customer number one,” Mr. Borowsky said.
Mr. Musante said companies must understand their workplace culture.
“How do you define the culture of a company?” Mr. Musante asks. “If you can’t accurately define your culture then you can’t measure it. And if you can’t measure it then you can’t manage it.”
And once listening to employees becomes part of that culture, the benefits show up on the bottom line.
“A lot of good research shows that there are clear correlations between employee happiness and business performance,” Mr. Musante said. “It’s very difficult to have happy customers if you don’t have happy employees.”
Original Post by Ethan Lott via the Pittsburgh Business Times