Stephanie Fan's Blog

What’s the most creative excuse you’ve heard for skipping out on work?  Have you tried “my mother was being chased by a crazed chicken“? Or “a cow broke into my house so now I have to wait for the insurance man“?  These employees are making up these ridiculous to avoid having to go to work.  Why?  Because their job does not satisfy them!

More and more companies are beginning to realize that the traditional centralized business structure is no longer useful in increasing productivity.  Businesses now are becoming more decentralized meaning that they empower their employees so that they have more flexibility and are given the opportunity to make decisions. With more freedom to handle their own situations, employees become more interested in the creativity and flexibility their job provides, which then increases overall job satisfaction.

For example, the online shoe company Zappos has their office decorated with bright, artistic images, giving the company a very vibrant and lively work atmosphere.  The customer service employees at Zappos are not as restricted as typical call centers are as well.  They do not need to follow a set rule of guidelines as to what information needs to be obtained before proceeding to help the customer, but rather, their goal is to remain cheerful and helpful in order to provide excellent customer satisfaction.

Will Andrew, the new president of Trimark Sportswear Group, notices the connection and thus hosts various morale-boosting events from Halloween party to a “biggest loser” boot camp.  As well as giving his employees more decision-making power, he is trying to improve communication from top down as well as bottom up so that the company will be more decentralized.

However, this strategy will vary depending on whether your company focuses on production (e.g. assembly line) where innovation (e.g. software company) is not needed.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/managing/on-the-job/employees-get-creative-when-calling-in-sick/article1787970/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/your-business/business-categories/human-resources/capitalizing-on-culture/a-new-company-culture-from-the-top-down-and-the-bottom-up/article1790572/