From the Wall Street Journal, October 1, 2007:
“The Wall Street Journal teamed up with Winning Workplaces, an Evanston, Ill., nonprofit that helps small and midsize companies create better work environments, to spotlight 15 Top Small Workplaces. While each company is very different, we encountered some common themes: These small businesses tend to let employees at all levels make key decisions, and they groom their future leaders from within. They offer generous traditional and untraditional benefits (how about a six-week sabbatical?). And they constantly hunt for new ways to improve the employee experience or engage employees. . . And many share a sizable slice of their profits with employees, teaching them to read company financial statements so they grasp how their job is connected to the success of the organization.”
Letting go: I noticed as I read this piece that each of these winning characteristics requires organizations to let up on the management stranglehold so often seen in small businesses. Small business owners have a dream. They work, breathe and sweat every day to bring that dream to life. And yet, as this research shows, a business only grows when management:
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Allows and encourages fresh and creative thinking by all
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Rewards risk, not just success
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Puts every employee on the frontline of success
