Retain Top Performers in a Tough Economy

By Emma Johnson |

March, 2012

Company

Shoplet, online office supply retailer

Source

Tony Ellison, CEO

Tactic

Empower workers to be part of the success.

Proof it works

Since 2009 revenue is up 40 percent, and headcount is up 45 percent to 65 people.

We believe that no idea is a bad idea. We encourage each employee to submit three ideas each week for improving business; this can be a tiny change or a major one. Everyone gets together and analyzes all the ideas and chooses one idea of the week and one of the month. The winners get movie tickets, restaurant gift cards or monetary awards. But I've noticed that the recognition is more important than the prize. It makes people feel listened to, that they have an impact on their work. As a result they are more creative and help us to be innovative. One idea came from an employee who realized that most office products were purchased for a company by one person at that company—the same person who bought break room and restroom supplies. As a result, we started offering break room and bathroom goods, which has been hugely successful for us.

We also include our employees in all of our goals—be they financial, strategic or long-term. Each employee has profit-sharing, but they are also encouraged to take part in our vision for the company. We share our goals at weekly and monthly departmental meetings, as well as quarterly town hall meetings. There are concrete steps that each employee can take toward the goal, and management opens up to employee suggestions for meeting that vision. For example, one of our goals is to grow the sales of environmentally friendly products. One of our employee-generated ideas was a clock on our homepage that counts how much our customers have helped reduce their carbon footprint by buying our green items. Innovative ideas like these help small businesses thrive despite pressure from major competitors and a down economy.