Winning Workplaces

When I wrote my post yesterday profiling the physical workspace at three of our 15 Top Small Workplaces for 2008, I was waiting to hear back from Resource Interactive, the Ohio-based advertising agency that is known chiefly for two things, beyond consistently overperforming for their clients: being female founded, owned and operated; and giving all their employees shares of stock in all publicly traded firms that are part of their client base (a rare benefit indeed).

I knew from their Top Small Workplaces application that they engaged their employees in designing their unique workspace that I discussed yesterday, but I didn't know when that took place.  I also wanted a little more info on how they designed their headquarters to fit their needs.

Mike called me back yesterday with some details:

• The company, which was founded in 1981, moved into their current space in 1990.
• In 2000, they redesigned the space and called on employees to help make it their own.
• The space included a series of support columns, which employees incorporated into the design of desks that rotate around them to fit a variety of team building functions. The desks can be configured so that people face each other, or they can be offset to huddle around a team leader.
• No one has a traditional office; everyone is exposed to the whole environment.
• Employees got down to the micro level, deciding the texture and color of almost all surfaces.
• "Everything is mobile," Mike says, so that no one needs to box everything up when they move around within the firm or prepare for a client meeting.

I just wanted to share that with you so you can take note for your own employee engagement best practices.

Speaking of employee engagement, I got an answer to a question I posed in a group I belong to on LinkedIn (Networlding).  I asked that group if any members' firms would adopt the practice of the "leaving bonus" that e-tailer Zappos uses, which I blogged about in September.

V. Ryan from Chicago-based consultancy SwiftKick Growth Inc. responded as follows:

This is brilliant!  It takes all the emotion and pressure out of the process and the situation.

When I worked for Michael Alter, who is a brilliant leader and great boss, he did something along the same lines.  He ran a contest for "My Best New Mistake."  He did it once a year, after the busy season.  People self nominated and then the finalists all presented their mistake at a company meeting.  The top 3 finalists all got cash and recognition.

Michael created an environment where it was OK to make mistakes (as long as you learned from them and didn't continually make the same mistake).  The people were more than engaged.  They created a lot of teachable moments.  Michael is a brilliant guy and his results show that.  And, his process kept employees on staff and cost a lot less!

His answer segues from the orientation phase that engenders Zappos' practice to employee development for the long haul.  It reminds me of a common theme among our winning workplaces, as illustrated by Paul Silvis, the Founder and former Head Coach at Pennsylvania-based manufacturer Restek, in a video interview we did with him last year.  He said:

I think innovation is spurred by getting people to take a risk, make a mistake, and learn from that mistake quickly.  I can see that individuals who are afraid to take risks will hamper the growth of the organization.

It might seem counterintuitive to encourage employees to take risks and make mistakes, especially given our economy right now and the credit crunch that is having a devastating effect on R&D budgets of firms of all sizes.  Yet, we are seeing more and more that this leadership trait, when used in tandem with other smart practices, is a boon for small firms when it comes to meeting and exceeding market demands, establishing new markets, and satisfying all stakeholders.

Do you have any thoughts on either of these issues, or anything else I've blogged about recently?  Let me know by commenting below.