Employee engagement: Best practices in action at Duke Energy

Earlier this spring, I wrote an opinion piece for Computerworld regarding preparation for the talent wars that are likely to sprout up as the economy continues to recover. One suggestion I made was to include employees at all levels in discussions about budget and cost savings measures.

This Tuesday, I stumbled across a piece in The Wall Street Journal that demonstrates a real-world instance of this principle in action. Duke Energy has done exactly this - incentivized employees to find cost savings in their organization. In 2009, employees helped the corporation save $150 million in operating expenses, and were subsequently rewarded for their efforts.

All this was done in the most difficult economy since at least the early 1970s, and perhaps since the Great Depression.

Kudos to Duke Energy, and thank you Dana Mattioli for publishing a piece that has validated something we recently recommended to our readers.