Inform and consult your employees

Here's how asking employees for ideas improved our business

Escrick Park Estate near York is a family-owned country house estate dating back to 1668. The Estate is run as a business, comprising commercial and residential property services, leisure facilities, land management and architectural consultancy. Accounts manager and administrator Jane Whetstone describes how staff are actively encouraged to contribute ideas.

What I did

Make consultation part of the business

"About six years ago we underwent major diversification and restructuring, which included working towards the Investors in People Standard. Investors in People really got us focussed on teamwork and communication and helped us move away from the traditional 'command' style of estate management.

"Among many changes, we introduced weekly strategy meetings with staff. Each meeting includes a session where we ask for ideas and feedback. Sometimes it's a general round-table discussion, sometimes we'll have a more in-depth brainstorming session to get ideas on a specific project or issue."

Act on good suggestions

"A good example of how our consultation process reaps benefits is our new luxury holiday home park, The Hollicarrs. It was a huge investment and we needed to generate sales leads quickly.

"We brainstormed ideas with staff and decided to attend a leading holiday home show. Staff came up with the idea of promoting the holiday homes themselves. Not only did this save money it also gave our employees the chance of inspiring visitors with their genuine enthusiasm for The Hollicarrs. The idea was added to and developed over several meetings."

"When the show arrived, we generated over 1,500 qualified sales leads, which translated into 25 homes being sold before The Hollicarrs was even opened."

Give staff ownership

"A different employee chairs each staff meeting, so we focus on a different area of the business each week, although anyone can contribute ideas at any time. We've found that staff are more motivated to follow ideas through if they're given responsibility, so we let them run with the idea wherever practical.

"The consultation process has also encouraged better delegation. For example, staff feedback showed that people were discouraged from making suggestions because they weren't in control of budgets. They felt that an idea that wasn't in the budget was unlikely to be considered. Since then, the Estate proprietor has delegated budgets to myself and I in turn consult in detail with each department. Staff now feel that anything's possible, within reason!"

What I'd do differently

Manage expectations

"When you're starting out, it's easy to give the impression that all ideas will be acted upon, which can lead to disappointment. As time goes on, we've got better at deciding which staff ideas are workable and which aren't, then communicating the decision internally."

Download this case study and 20 like it in our free book, "Here's how I changed my business for the better" (PDF)

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Why good communications are important
• Legal requirements for communications
• Consulting your employees
• Communicating and consulting - ways and means
• The art of good communication
• Examples of good practice
• The role of training
• Here's how asking employees for ideas improved our business

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