Anna, our wonderful Account Coordinator, recently had to make a relatively expensive purchase that we all begrudge but have to deal with at some point: new tires. Which got me to thinking that a new set of tires might be the single most unfulfilling purchase that one could ever make in their lives. I, for one, have never heard of anyone making an impulse buy on a set of Goodyears. Let’s review…
For the most part, tires are tires. Sure there are good tires and there are bad tires but when was the last time you were rolling down the street, glancing at a fellow commuter’s ride and thinking to yourself “damn, look at those tires.” Even the whitest of whitewalls or most pristine tread is not going to have anyone doing a double take.
If you’re anything like me, when you make a big purchase you want to enjoy it for all it’s worth, especially when you first get it. Unfortunately this yearning subsides rather quickly when dealing with something designed solely to connect your car to the road. Unless you’re driving the Autobahn, the feeling you get driving your car for the first time with a new set is pretty much going to be the same as before. Our Writer Alan Dixon disagrees citing that he “really enjoys the feeling of driving around on a new set of tires” but Alan doesn’t get out much (I kid, I kid).
But alas, purchasing new tires is always a good thing, even if it’s not exactly the most exciting acquisition around. The fun in the purchase is the piece of mind that you’re riding around in a safe vehicle and more importantly, that you don’t have to do that again for a very long time.
How can internal communications make a real and lasting impact on employee engagement? Find the answer to this question by checking out Tribe’s latest one-pager describing four ways internal communications can connect your employees with your company.
Innovation is often considered the domain of engineers. And of course it’s true: a new technological innovation can be the catalyst that allows one company to gain dominance over the competition.
Yet innovation can come from anywhere in the company, particularly the frontline. The frontline workers — those people who are making the beds in your hotels or running the drive-thru at your quick service restaurants or standing on the sales floor in your retail operations — can be a gold mine of innovative ideas.
Because that’s who has a finger on the pulse of the consumer. While the engineers are sitting in front of the computer or messing around in the lab, the frontline employees are interacting with your customers. They see what works about your product or service — and even more importantly, what doesn’t.
Unfortunately, many companies operate with very little input from frontline employees. That’s not necessarily because management discounts the value of their ideas. More often, it’s merely because it can be so difficult to communicate with non-desk employees.
But it’s not impossible. When companies do find ways to reach non-desk workers, not just through their direct managers but through direct channels to corporate, they’re able to harness the ideas of those with a unique understanding of the customer.
Those companies also enjoy higher employee engagement. In Tribe’s research with frontline and field employees, our respondents consistently noted that they felt out of the loop — and often that made them feel they weren’t respected or valued by the company.
Want to promote innovation on your frontline? Tribe can help.
