Freedom as Retention Currency

"choose to work for our company, and the word "freedom" comes up often. "We're the company. We control its destiny more than the senior managers do, in my opinion," says Bobby Hanna, a safety manager in Hickman who started out as an hourly employee. "It's never a mark against you for trying to do something different if you think it will make things work better," he adds. "It's a mark against you if you don't try.""

"People generally love the chance to seize initiative, tive, to shape their own lives and to command their own destinies. So we try to provide those opportunities ties to the people who work in our office environments, ments, as well."

"If you invite your employees to really speak their minds, make critically important decisions, sions, and take on crucial responsibilities, where might it lead? But this time, make a conscious effort to block anxiety from rushing in with visions of chaos. Turn the question over to your curiosity, to the "blue sky" thinker within you. Picture your employees ees pursuing goals-the goals you have set-with a fervor that goes beyond what you would dare ask of them. Envision them doing wonderful things that will make you look very smart. Focus on the upside. Wouldn't you like to know just how good things could really be?"