Empowering Voices: The Cross-Functional Shadow Board
Empowering Voices: The Cross-Functional Shadow Board
Tags: Culture Transformation, Employee Experience, Communication, Change Management
The Challenge
In a third-generation family-owned supply chain company with 50-100 employees and $50-$100M in revenue, silos, finger-pointing, and low morale had taken hold. Front-line employees felt their voices didn’t matter, and their real frustrations were dying at the manager level, leaving them feeling unheard and undervalued.
Uncovering the Root
As we dug deeper, it became clear that the company’s culture had discouraged employees from raising legitimate concerns. Front-line staff had valuable insights into day-to-day operations and customer experience, but their ideas for improvement were getting lost in the shuffle.
The Transformative Approach
To address these challenges head-on, we created a cross-functional shadow board comprised of nominated employees from each department. The purpose was clear: work together to identify problems and collaborate on potential solutions. We established ground rules for all meetings and interactions, fostering a safe space for open communication, assuming positive intent, and focusing on the problems, not the people.
The steering committee encouraged non-judgmental problem-sharing and voted as a team on the issues they believed would have the most significant positive business impact. They then dove into a discovery phase, conducting interviews, surveys, and collecting data to inform their recommendations. Through several sessions, they discussed potential solutions from various angles, weighing the pros and cons before presenting a good/better/best proposal for management’s consideration. Every six months, the steering committee would tackle a new issue, present their findings, and close the loop.
Driving Real Results
One notable success story involved reinventing after-hours support. When inadequate information sharing, poor hand-offs, unclear expectations, and undocumented processes led to problems, the steering committee stepped in. They thoroughly examined the root causes and developed a targeted solution that streamlined the process, resulting in a better experience for both customers and the employees who tracked shipments and provided customer service.
Beyond solving specific problems, the steering committee’s work had far-reaching effects on the company culture:
- An engaged group of employees actively identified and prioritized critical organizational issues
- Employee-generated insights and proposed solutions drove meaningful change
- Transparency and action demonstrated that employee input was valued
- Participants gained valuable leadership development opportunities
As a result, employees began thinking more critically, presenting potential solutions alongside problems, and having faith that their concerns would be addressed. Engagement and enthusiasm soared as front-line staff felt their contributions were making a real difference.
By giving employees a seat at the table and empowering them to drive change, this supply chain company transformed its culture, unlocked the wealth of knowledge within its workforce, and positioned itself for continued success in an increasingly competitive industry.
