Engaging your staff to improve operations is one of today's hot trends and one way to do it is by suggestion box. It is a method widely used in both the public sector and companies. Painfully often the activity which was launched years ago has been let to fade. In situations like these, the relaunch of suggestion box to staff is needed.
Good planning is the cornerstone of kicking off any activity. Successful kick-off and the benefits of active participation are secured by following these tips. These tips are based on research conducted by Lappeenranta University of Technology and the best practices of Orchidea Innovations.
The steps of a successful launch of a suggestion box are
Piece of cake, right? Now, let's get deeper into each one of the steps.
Managers at all levels of the organization have a huge effect on how your staff participates. According to a study published in Harvard Business Review the companies that involved mid-level managers two or more levels below the CEO were most successful in their change efforts. Assure management commitment by making sure that they are aware of why you have decided to invest in the suggestion scheme. Best practice is to give examples of how they can help make the launch successful. It is also recommended to tell which behaviors might be harmful.
Collect inputs from the managers on the launch plan, suggestion management, and rules. When they get to influence the implementation, they become more committed to it. Therefore, it is important to involve key managers in the planning process.
By researching the creative process of innovation, it has been found that an idea improves when other people can develop it with their comments. Therefore, it is important to welcome other people to develop the suggestion with their thoughts. Orchidea Innovations has developed a modern, transparent suggestion box approach together with its customers. The approach combines the traditional suggestion scheme with the best practices of modern innovation research.
Things to consider when defining the suggestion box process flow are
Properly set key performance indicators (KPIs) that meet the SMART criteria helps organizations to reach their business goals. Examples of typical KPIs for suggestion box are
The KPIs should be communicated so that everybody knows them. This sets expectations for participation and the speed of decision-making. The KPIs should be easy to follow with a dashboard of the online suggestion box.
Based on a research the most important reasons for submitting suggestions are
Based on this research it feels like there is too much focus on external motivators like money. Based on our experiences the recognition of active participants and good suggestion is at least as important as financial rewarding.
If you are planning to have monetary rewards, we suggest that the rewarding should be based on the actual financial benefits gained by the organization. Case research conducted by the Lappeenranta University of Technology demonstrated that public recognition and the transparency of the rewarding are in a key role. The research also suggests that the righteousness of the rewarding is important.
By planning the activity 12 months forward it is more likely that there is a steady flow of activities which creates active participation. Typical elements included in the annual plan are
The kick-off should not be before the holiday season. Otherwise, there is a risk of low participation rates because everyone is concentrated on getting their tasks done before the holidays. People also tend to forget new things launched just before the holidays.
Big organizations should avoid launching the activity for the whole organization at once. Starting with a smaller, motivated, pilot group is often the best way to kick off. After a successful pilot, the members of the group can be used as references when the program is expanded to larger audiences. It is also easier for new participants to join when there are already users and content in the suggestion system.
Successful kick-off is more than one all-staff email and a post on the intranet. The reality is that employees are busy it requires more to get employees' attention. Here are some examples of successful launch tactics
The goal in the long run is to integrate the suggestion scheme into the existing processes of the organization. It is important to maintain high activity levels with active communication and regular campaigns. As important is to track the suggestion box process flow lead times and react to slow processing. The best way to keep employees excited is to implement the best suggestions fast and communicate the results regularly.
Examples of ways to integrate with existing processes are
Launching a suggestion box is not hard but it should be done systematically. For the first couple of years, it is most important to follow both the participation of employees and the lead times of the process. Corrective actions should be done if needed. In the long run, the objective is to integrate the process into the day-to-day processes of the organization. When this is achieved the need for suggestion scheme-specific staff activation and communication decreases.