From Susan M. Heathfield,
Your Guide to Human Resources.
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In the first part of this article, the efforts of several companies to encourage employee involvement and employee engagement were explored. Here the efforts of several more organizations to encourage employee involvement and employee engagement are described.

• Petzinger quotes Herb Kelleher, founder and Executive Chairman of the Board of Southwest Airlines, a company known for its profitability, its dedication to people, and a fun and energized work environment. "I've never had control and I never wanted it," says Kelleher...

  "If you create an environment where people truly participate, you don't need control. They know what needs to be done and they do it. I sought out the source and added more from Kelleher.

  He continued, "We're not looking for blind obedience. We're looking for people who on their own initiative want to be doing what they're doing because they consider it to be a worthy objective. I have always believed that the best leader is the best server. And if you're a servant, by definition you're not controlling."

More Examples of Employee Involvement and Employee Engagement

• Great Harvest Bread Company owners realize that franchise owners learn the most from each other. Others can learn from Pete and Laura Wakeman's philosophy of rewarding knowledge and innovation sharing.

  They pay half the cost of a franchise owner or employee’s travel to any other franchise in the country to pick up new ideas. This reimbursement is deducted from franchise fees, so the people that travel the most for ideas, pay the least royalties.

• Bill Armstrong founded Armstrong Ambulance which had grown to 300 employees serving 350 patients a day. Armstrong recruited and retained the most experienced and loyal paramedics by providing the best tools, the best vehicles, and the best training in his industry in the region.

  According to Petzinger, an employee, using different words, but conveying the same thought, "described the rewards of working at Armstrong as belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization, all in one." Employees were proud to work for Anderson and to know that when they showed up at an emergency room, the staff respected their experience.

• Dupont Manager, Richard Knowles, when leading a manufacturing plant in a more participatory manner, decided to stop setting goals for people, because he always set them too low. He discovered that when people found meaning in their work, he could count on them donating their "discretionary energy."

  This is the energy, enthusiasm, and hard work available, beyond the minimum required to keep a job, when people work in conditions that allow them to find meaning at work. This is the energy organizations want to tap to fully utilize employee involvement and employee engagement for organization and personal success.

While I have focused on several of the people aspects of Petzinger’s findings, Petzinger talks about the actions of groundbreaking pioneers in other areas as well. He discusses their devotion to customer service, as in give the customer exactly what they want when they want it.

In Everyone a Middleman, he emphasizes connections and dependencies that result in the alliances companies make as small businesses to serve larger customers. (Think outsourcing HR functions.) He points out that almost every business is a "family business," to one degree or another. He is excited that business concerns and social concerns are blending in this new economy.

For a uniquely satisfying, even uplifting experience, read The New Pioneers: The Men and Women Who are Transforming the Workplace and the Marketplace (compare prices). Petzinger cites company after company, building profitable businesses, that are people and customer-oriented dreams. You won't want to miss Petzinger's beautiful writing and visionary thinking. You may want to think about changing organizations.

These companies described are successful because their employees thrive. Here are more companies that thrive because of successful employee involvement and engagement.