From my own experience, colleges and universities are often late adopters to new ways. That is because these are fundamentally conservative institutions whose job is to transmit the wisdom of previous ages. Additionally, most higher education institutions are non-profits operating outside of the competitive economy.
All that is now changing as many higher educational institutions are under tremendous financial pressure from shrinking state and federal budgets and exploding college debt of American students. These institutions now seek ways to control costs while maintaining service to students.
Our college has taken a page from the industrial sector by instituting an idea system - called Great Ideas at STCC - designed to mobilize employees to suggest and implement improvements in how work is done. We are using as our mentor University of Massachusetts/Amherst Professor Alan Robinson co-author of the important book Ideas are Free. We are as far as we know the only higher education institution in the United States implementing such a system.
Robinson claims and our experience shows that 80% of all the potential savings of time and money are located at the bottom of organization. The genius of a well-designed idea system is that the intelligence and creativity of the majority of employees are listened to and acted upon. The organization improves and with it employee morale. This is, to be sure, a different approach to managing an organization but one with great opportunities.
To learn how we are doing at STCC, you can visit our Great Ideas webpage at www.stcc.edu/greatideas
No comments:
Post a Comment