April 17, 2013
Can Democracy Work At Retail?
At Zappos, "Skip Meetings" are held twice a year in which everyone has the opportunity to interact with their manager’s manager. Such efforts helped the online giant land on WorldBlu’s sixth annual "List of Most Democratic Workplaces."
According to a press release from WorldBlu, described as a global network of organizations committed to workplace democracy, the Zappos meetings enable employees and their boss’s boss to "share ideas, feedback and solutions, providing a direct voice-of-the-people perspective on how to drive positive change in their departments."
There are a number of other current examples of democracy in action within business:
- Achievers, the maker of social employee recognition software based in San Francisco and Toronto, has its "MasterPlan" vision document reviewed and updated annually by employees, the board of directors, and even clients. It is posted in part on its giant MasterPlan board. An internal committee of old and new employees called "Culture Up The Office" was formed recently to spearhead scaling up the culture.
- NixonMcInnes, a social media firm based in Brighton, England, has monthly "Church of Fail" meetings where all employees are invited to "share their failures — in a non-threatening and fun way and ultimately to resounding applause." An employee-elected rewards team scrutinizes and approves all pay rises, including the CEOs.
- At Valtech’s offices in Copenhagen, Demark, the global digital marketing agency invites employees to pick their own manager.
- At Menlo Innovations, the software company based in Ann Arbor, MI, rather than working alone, each team member shares a computer with another team member and rotates partners weekly, increasing collective intelligence and team cohesion.
- At SAYS.com, a social media company based in Malaysia, employees are given the choice of writing their own job descriptions with team members and testing it out, resulting in "micro- innovations" and "opportunities for new talents to emerge."
The 47 organizations making the WorldBlu list ranged in size from five to 90,000 employees representing over $17 billion in combined annual revenue. The results were said to show that "giving power to the people … is a smart business strategy that directly impacts the bottom line."
WorldBlu Founder and CEO Traci Fenton pointed to a Gallup Organization’s report that found nearly two-thirds of U.S. workers are disengaged at work. The internet and the demands of generations X and Y are also said to be causing businesses to rethink their management models.
"People want freedom rather than fear in the workplace," stated Ms. Fenton.
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
How much more or less effective would retailers be, on the whole, if they allowed for a more democratic organizational structure? If wanted, how would a currently top-down organization go about achieving a more participatory culture?
Poll
This is one of those topics that seeks a simple answer. Unfortunately, there isn’t one. “Become more democratic” will have amazing success in some organizations and be a dismal failure in others based purely on the authenticity of the effort.
What works? A senior team, led by the CEO, that has a clear vision of their culture and then ensures that they hire talent who love that particular culture and have the strengths to excel in their roles in that culture. Remove anyone who doesn’t. Finally, they ensure an ongoing practice of listening, involving everyone who wants to be involved in evolving the organization.
Then, reward, reward, reward.
By all means, be more democratic. But only if you mean it.
This topic begs more than a simple response, even though I do not have it. Zappos is a good example of a retailer having the right approach to all aspects of its hierarchy, from hiring to training to management. Can they make this work? Yes, because of the aforementioned reasons.
Can a typical large retailer located around the country make this work? I doubt it mainly because the existing culture will not allow it to happen. Is this something that can be implemented? Yes, but only if top management is behind it in more ways than simply talking the talk. They have to set the example by walking the walk.
Mike is right — there isn’t a single, simple answer to this one. In business, as in life, democracy is great some of the time and not so efficient at others. This may be the ticket for the high-tech, so-hip-it-hurts set, but I don’t see it playing out at A&P.
Love this quote that sums it all up: “Some time the smartest person in the room is not the smartest person in the room.”
If you want to find out how to do a job better, ask the person doing the job and challenge them to think about how to do it better.
More participation by employees needs to be paired with recognition for good ideas and elimination of fear associated with any criticism direct or indirect. Employees need the freedom to make suggestions and to know someone will not steal their idea and take credit for it. Like any other organizational change, it needs to be prepared for and managed well.
I prefer the democratic system based on true leadership guiding the original foundation, principles with a forward-looking and progressive vision.
As reality television like Survivor demonstrates, voting will eventually turn into the “mediocre majority” of people who “just like each other” or don’t appear as a threat towards each other. This same “mediocre majority” will collude together and get rid of the best talent to preserve their “mediocre majority” within an organization.
As others point out, strong leadership, well-defined vision, code of conduct and making sure everybody is on the same team is the best tried and true method.
This could be a great way of increasing employee engagement, a crucial point of differentiation in such a people-intensive business as food retail. A good start would be to consult Ricardo Semler, CEO of Brazilian company Semco, who wrote the book on employee empowerment — literally. It’s called “Maverick”.
It’s not so much that its a democratic structure as much as an open communication structure. Companies like Zappos.com pride themselves on listening and responding positively to all suggestions and ideas. That doesn’t mean they are implemented. However, they are all considered and feedback is shared. That’s why Zappos.com (and similar companies) are considered some of the best places to work. It’s more than just pay. It’s their culture.
We live in a democratic society so the idea of connecting with people doing the work is actually a great idea for corporations. By allowing employees to feel as though they are involved in the process, you achieve the “participatory culture” described at Zappos. The ultimate goal would be to incorporate company messaging in this meeting, because that is sometimes not communicated effectively and people feel as though they’re doing something “just because.”
With nearly two-thirds of U.S. workers “disengaged” in the workplace, a culture of openness and understanding helps people take more pride in their jobs and their organizations, which filters across their work and its quality.
What some of these companies are doing is clearly great and one can easily see why they would yield positive results. The key here is finding what will work within the brand. Any retailer who can figure out how to remove the walls from the top floor all the way down to the stores, is bound to be more effective, IMHO.
It is all about the right culture, which of course takes time and leadership to implement. This could work well in some organizations, while in others the prevailing culture will make it difficult. However, having a collaborative organization that values openness, clear communication, and engages associates is a good start!
I think there’s a big difference between having a “participatory culture” where communications are open and ideas are shared, and a workplace “democracy” where the inmates run the asylum (so to speak). To the the former, I say fine; to the latter, “uhm…wait a minute.”
There are all kinds of cultures and people — and hence work environments — in the world, and probably any scheme that can be imagined will find success somewhere…but not everywhere. If one peruses WorldBlu’s list, one finds a preponderance of small and (surprise!) social media companies. That’s fine, but the hint of selection bias hardly fills me with confidence about their quest to bring the Commune to the workplace.
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This is one of those topics that seeks a simple answer. Unfortunately, there isn’t one. “Become more democratic” will have amazing success in some organizations and be a dismal failure in others based purely on the authenticity of the effort.
What works? A senior team, led by the CEO, that has a clear vision of their culture and then ensures that they hire talent who love that particular culture and have the strengths to excel in their roles in that culture. Remove anyone who doesn’t. Finally, they ensure an ongoing practice of listening, involving everyone who wants to be involved in evolving the organization.
Then, reward, reward, reward.
By all means, be more democratic. But only if you mean it.
This topic begs more than a simple response, even though I do not have it. Zappos is a good example of a retailer having the right approach to all aspects of its hierarchy, from hiring to training to management. Can they make this work? Yes, because of the aforementioned reasons.
Can a typical large retailer located around the country make this work? I doubt it mainly because the existing culture will not allow it to happen. Is this something that can be implemented? Yes, but only if top management is behind it in more ways than simply talking the talk. They have to set the example by walking the walk.
Mike is right — there isn’t a single, simple answer to this one. In business, as in life, democracy is great some of the time and not so efficient at others. This may be the ticket for the high-tech, so-hip-it-hurts set, but I don’t see it playing out at A&P.
Love this quote that sums it all up: “Some time the smartest person in the room is not the smartest person in the room.”
If you want to find out how to do a job better, ask the person doing the job and challenge them to think about how to do it better.
More participation by employees needs to be paired with recognition for good ideas and elimination of fear associated with any criticism direct or indirect. Employees need the freedom to make suggestions and to know someone will not steal their idea and take credit for it. Like any other organizational change, it needs to be prepared for and managed well.
I prefer the democratic system based on true leadership guiding the original foundation, principles with a forward-looking and progressive vision.
As reality television like Survivor demonstrates, voting will eventually turn into the “mediocre majority” of people who “just like each other” or don’t appear as a threat towards each other. This same “mediocre majority” will collude together and get rid of the best talent to preserve their “mediocre majority” within an organization.
As others point out, strong leadership, well-defined vision, code of conduct and making sure everybody is on the same team is the best tried and true method.
This could be a great way of increasing employee engagement, a crucial point of differentiation in such a people-intensive business as food retail. A good start would be to consult Ricardo Semler, CEO of Brazilian company Semco, who wrote the book on employee empowerment — literally. It’s called “Maverick”.
It’s not so much that its a democratic structure as much as an open communication structure. Companies like Zappos.com pride themselves on listening and responding positively to all suggestions and ideas. That doesn’t mean they are implemented. However, they are all considered and feedback is shared. That’s why Zappos.com (and similar companies) are considered some of the best places to work. It’s more than just pay. It’s their culture.
We live in a democratic society so the idea of connecting with people doing the work is actually a great idea for corporations. By allowing employees to feel as though they are involved in the process, you achieve the “participatory culture” described at Zappos. The ultimate goal would be to incorporate company messaging in this meeting, because that is sometimes not communicated effectively and people feel as though they’re doing something “just because.”
With nearly two-thirds of U.S. workers “disengaged” in the workplace, a culture of openness and understanding helps people take more pride in their jobs and their organizations, which filters across their work and its quality.
What some of these companies are doing is clearly great and one can easily see why they would yield positive results. The key here is finding what will work within the brand. Any retailer who can figure out how to remove the walls from the top floor all the way down to the stores, is bound to be more effective, IMHO.
It is all about the right culture, which of course takes time and leadership to implement. This could work well in some organizations, while in others the prevailing culture will make it difficult. However, having a collaborative organization that values openness, clear communication, and engages associates is a good start!
I think there’s a big difference between having a “participatory culture” where communications are open and ideas are shared, and a workplace “democracy” where the inmates run the asylum (so to speak). To the the former, I say fine; to the latter, “uhm…wait a minute.”
There are all kinds of cultures and people — and hence work environments — in the world, and probably any scheme that can be imagined will find success somewhere…but not everywhere. If one peruses WorldBlu’s list, one finds a preponderance of small and (surprise!) social media companies. That’s fine, but the hint of selection bias hardly fills me with confidence about their quest to bring the Commune to the workplace.