‘A few years ago,’ said one cleaner, ‘we were the lowest in this company. People hardly saw us because we came in after hours. We are full-time employees, which is great – some other bosses use contractors, but Naturally Baking has always been good that way. Still, we often felt that our ideas weren’t worth anything.
‘Then they brought in this new system, and suddenly we had input into a lot of decisions,’ she said.
‘Last year, they wanted to buy a new machine for one of the baking rooms. We were asked what we thought about it – they actually asked us! Anyway, we got together and talked about it, and decided that we’d make some comments. They wanted to put the machine in an awkward place for us – we couldn’t get round it properly to do the cleaning.
‘They actually listened. One of the executives came over to talk to our group, and we all discussed what we thought was a better way.
‘When they bought the machine, they followed our advice about the installation. We also got a special award from the company for making useful suggestions. Lots of other people are now getting involved in the decision making, and the whole culture round here has changed – everyone is important in making Naturally Baking the best provider of baking goods in the South Pacific.’
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