A recent issue of HR Wire indicates that one of the best ways to boost your profit margin is to boost your employee morale.  One of the best ways to do this, according to Earnest W. Deavenport Jr. of Eastman Chemical Co., is to learn to trust your employees.  Mr. Deavenport apparently knows whereof he speaks, because Eastman Chemical has recently been named one of the best-managed firms in the country.

Increase your expectations Companies need to rely more on the “lower organizations” for making decisions that affect the company.  “Employees want to be a member of the work community, to be a part of the mission of the company, rather than just another cog in the machinery.”

Remember what it was like to be an employee.  The best managers make it their goal to maximize their employees’ opportunities to make important decisions, influence company policy, and boost the bottom line.

Link compensation to company performance.  Over time, Eastman Chemical’s employees will come to own up to 20% of the company.  Because they are shareholders, Deavenport hopes employees will be more likely to make decisions that will boost the productivity and profitability of the company.

As a PEO, HR Outsourcing, Inc. offers periodic management training seminars.  Call for a schedule.  As a manager, you undoubtedly have things yet to learn.  More training, more education, and lifelong learning experiences for both managers and employees are part of Eastman Chemical’s recipe for success.  Your company may find the same ideas would work for you.

“…We’re not, as individual companies or as a country, achieving what I think we’re capable of achieving.  The growth rate can be higher, exports can be higher, and we can do it while giving employees more,” Earnest W.Deavenport, Eastman Chemical

Source:  HR Wire