Good practice:

Integrating staff for innovative solutions

During planning processes, one cannot anticipate every possible obstacle. Sometimes unexpected issues might hinder e-bus operations. In this example, an e-bus was operating in a narrow quarter with sharp turns. Due to the lack of overview, the drivers wanted to honk when they were coming around corners, to warn other traffic participants. On the other hand, the drivers were concerned to disturb the residents with the regular honking. Therefore, they suggested to implement another less disturbing electric bell, for the purpose of warning road users.
Due to the good communication with the project managers, the drivers could suggest their solution and an additional electric bell was installed in the respective e-buses. This example shows that it is beneficial to listen to your staff and get them involved in finding solutions. It is a win-win situation when you solve a problem and give your staff the feeling of being important.
This is even more important with regard to change management.
In Hamburg, VHH has gained good experience with get-togethers at depots including representatives from the management team, a regular chat hour with the CEOs for accessible for everyone in the organisation as well as feedback opportunities in the employee app.

Involving your staff and listening to them when it comes to identifying problems and finding solutions does not cost a lot of money, but has an enormous added value, i.e empowering your staff, valuing their input and receiving suggestions for solutions for free.

The above example shows that the practice can lead to good solutions for problems.

The practice is simply to listen to your staff, value their expert knowledge in identifying problems in daily operation and receive their suggestions for solutions free of charge. This can easily be transferred to any other region. The modus operandi can be versatile.