During a staff meeting with everyone, I handed out 100 Grand Candy Bars and notecards. I asked the employees to write on a card what they would do if it was real money and they owned the King Home. I collected the note cards and we shared all the ideas, big or small. I explained the launch of "Bright Ideas".
To further promote our initiative of engaging our team members in solving the day-to-day challenges we all face, Ken and I have been writing personalized thank you cards to the staff member who contribute ideas. Within the card we will include a note on how the employee's idea is working, how it has effected resident satisfaction or an update on our plan to implement the idea. These "Thank You" cards seem to be appreciated and have encouraged the team to continue contributing their suggestions.
Whether big or small, employees engage better when it's their idea. Engaging our employees builds our Morrison teams and makes them a strong force for positive change. Some of the ideas generated so far are listed below:
It was unanimous that they all wanted the Dining Room to be remodeled. New paint, new carpeting, new tables and chairs. They also would like new kitchen equipment and remodel the kitchen to have more prep space.
- dry storage upstairs vs. downstairs
- new uniforms
- different napking fold at least once a week
- replace the paper placemats on the 6th floor with durable vinyl ones
- have a jar of instant coffee available just in case a pot is not made
- revamp the Sunday 5:00 menu and procedures
- need better communication from the morning staff to let management know when we are low on items for breakfast before regular order/delivery day
- add the special salads that we use for parties and replace them with the ones that don't sell on Sundays