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Ideas Count

Simple Ideas Big Impact !

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Cycle of Respect Almost every

manager agrees that the person who knows the job best is usually the one doing it

Yet surprisingly few organizations sincerely ask their employees how to do the job better

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Cycle of Respect

When Supervisors and Managers neglect to ask for and implement improvement ideas they lose the opportunity to empower their workforce.

“An empty suggestion box or ineffective employee involvement program is a sign of a toxic culture. “

CEO Refresher

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Employee Involvement Asking Employees for

their ideas makes so much sense that it’s amazing how few organizations make a real attempt to do it.

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A Dismal Failure? Many if not most organizations

have tried a suggestion program. Despite the fact most

organizations recognize the huge potential of such an idea…

Most have been complete failures. Empty and dusty “suggestion boxes” dot the corporate landscape.

• Suggestions drop to trash can

• Fire Extinguisher to douse ideas

• Chair to wait for answers !

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An Idea Revolution !

Yet some organizations have made employee ideas one of their greatest sources of performance improvement.

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Some Successes - 2007Company Employees Participation # of ideas

AdoptedNet Savings

$ Per Idea

Grote Ind. Vehicle Safety SystemsMadison, Indiana

700 52% 236 $2,500,436 $10,595

LockheedMartinBethesda, Md

101 100% 136 $6,208,200 $45,648

GMLordstown, Ohio.

5000 87% 4224 $7,571,403 $1792

DubaiAluminumDubai, United Arab Emirates

2200 99% 8105 $1,557,000 $192

Statistics from EIA Employee Involvement Association

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The Value of Success A survey taken by the Employee

Involvement Association last year itemized these benefits reported by their member companies: Employee Engagement Safety and Quality improvements Cost Savings

The 2006 benefit ratio was almost 15 to 1

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Why isn’t everybody doing this?

Why do so few organizations actively seek their employee’s ideas?

Why are some organizations successful when most abandon the effort after only a few months?

The principles of a successful idea program are counter-intuitive

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The 12 counterintuitive principles of managing ideas

1)People are eager to contribute ideas – If someone will finally listen and act.

2)Small ideas beat “home runs” every time.3)Big rewards lead to big problems.4)Never link rewards with an idea’s savings.5)Don’t create a committee to evaluate every idea.6)Involve the Supervisor as idea evaluator and idea coach7)Employees ideas should focus on their own work – not other

departments & areas8)Invite others to “steal” good ideas9)Office areas offer fertile ground for improvement ideas10)The more complex the operation the greater the importance

of an idea system11)Excellence depends on small ideas and wide participation12)Emphasize participation and implementation over $ saved.

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Eager Participants

Employees are eager to offer their ideas Employees do not need to be coerced to offer

ideas Employees are eager to share their ideas and

are frustrated when organizations won’t listen Large cash rewards are not needed to get

employees on board Large cash rewards have often been the reason

programs have failed

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Small Ideas vs. Home RunsLooking only for big “home run” ideas is a mistake

The impact of many small ideas quickly exceeds the impact of the few big ideas.

Focusing on only big ideas limits widespread participation and therefore the positive impact on a company’s culture

Big ideas often require big changes with long approval cycles and big budget impacts

Employees should be rewarded for participation, innovation and most importantly implementation

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The Pitfalls of Rewards

Traditional reward systems reward employee’s for having ideas

Ideas have no real value unless they are implemented

Implementing an improvement often takes the efforts of many employees

Employees should be recognized and rewarded based upon their ability to identify problems, develop solutions and implement improvements

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“Can” The Committee

Evaluation committees generally lead to a programs untimely death.

Making decisions about ideas at the lowest possible level in the organization leads to better decisions and faster implementation.

Involving the Supervisor is critical to the success of an idea program

The best ideas can be nominated for further recognition and reward to a small program committee.

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Making Ideas Everyone’s Work

Employees need to be coached to identify problems, look for solutions and implement changes

Organizations that effectively solicit and implement employee ideas undergo a dramatic and deep transformation

Employees feel a part of the organization

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The Need For Speed

Ideas need quick feedback by Supervisor “coaches”

Supervisors work with the submitter to improve their problem solving skills and help implement the proposed solution

Quick action helps to encourage wider participation which results in more ideas and greater and greater involvement setting up a “virtuous cycle”

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Cycle of Respect1) Ideas are encouraged and implemented2) Employees see their ideas adopted and feel

valued.3) Employees become more involved in

helping to make improvements4) Managers and employees work together to

implement ideas4) Managers gain more and more respect for

value of employees5) Employees consulted more and generate

more and better ideas

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Implementing an idea system

Web based Configurable to your needs Provides tracking and reporting Low cost Ideas can be submitted on line or in

hard copy

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Common sign-on page for all participants

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Idea submission form

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Supervisor ideas for review listing

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Supervisor idea evaluation questionnaire - pg 1

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Supervisor idea evaluation questionnaire - pg 2

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All participants have an account page

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Detailed reporting is available to the administrator

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Monthly System Costs Basic Rate Rate Per User Storage Costs

For example, an organization with between 50 & 100 employees would have the following charges:

Monthly Base Rate = $75.00 Monthly per user = 1.65

Monthly Storage Included, no charge = 1 GB

Workgroup Monthly Rate Per UserStorage

freeExtra Storage

per MBCost per

usermin max

0 - 50 $60.00 $1.85 500MB $0.02 $61.85 $152.50 $3.0551 -100 $75.00 $1.65 1 GB $0.02 $159.15 $240.00 $2.40101 -200 $100.00 $1.40 3 GB $0.02 $241.40 $380.00 $1.90201 -500 $125.00 $1.30 5 GB $0.02 $386.30 $775.00 $1.55

Monthly Cost Range

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Conservative Cost / Benefit

75 implemented ideas with average annual savings of $200 each(100 person organization)

Total annual savings = $15,000 1 year Web based software = $2880 Payback = 2.3 months Benefit ratio = 5:1