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If your organization is not collecting employee suggestions, you are missing out. Employee suggestions can lead to many direct and indirect benefits including 1) increased employee engagement levels; 2) increased profits and profit margins; 3) efficiency improvements; 4) productivity improvements; and 5) increased morale. You are probably wondering how you might start collecting suggestions from employees… here are the steps to follow:

Setting up a suggestion scheme/program – what needs to be done

1. Note down the aims of the scheme. Record the current state of play, are ideas being suggested? Is there any way to received them? Note that all down. You need to create a benchmark to judge the success of the scheme.
2. Figure out how you are going to get the ideas from employees. Will it be through an online suggestion box system like Vetter? Or are you going to go the paper suggestion form route? I guess you’ve decided to go with the paper method, as you’ve arrived on this page. Either way, we can help!
3. After preparing a method to receive the suggestions, you should then work on how you’ll communicate the launch of the scheme. It has to be done right, you need to set the tone correctly, right from the start. You want employees to know that management are eager to hear their suggestions; they want to improve how they run the operations of the organization. Establishing up front and then communicating how suggestions will be reviewed, for example, will greatly reduce any confusion later on, when review time starts.
4. Launch the scheme, ideally with a little publicity (either internal or external). One great way to do this is to get the CEO or Managing Director involved, perhaps having him/her submit the first suggestion.
5. Celebrate and reward the winners. The shipping company Famalco does a good job with this (see picture below), making shore to publicize and publicly praise a winning suggestion. Remember to note down the staff member’s overall suggestion count and include it during their annual performance review.

What types of organizations/companies can use this form?

• Public bodies such as government departments
• Semi-governmental organizations such as trade organizations
• Tech companies
• Industrial companies
• Colleges, universities and other educational institutes.
• Telecoms
• Healthcare providers
• Insurance companies

Here is a quote to inspire you to get a scheme or program going today:

You cannot improve one thing by 1000% but you can improve 1000 little things by 1% – management guru Tom Peters

Finally here are some a big money example of the type of success that can occur:

Deutsche Post saves millions of Euro by buying oil in Bulk

A staff member in one of Deutsche Post's Distribution Centers noticed that it was overpaying for engine oil for its trucks. The staff member observed that drivers were purchasing oil at roadside gas stations, paying around $8.50 a liter. After a little research, the employee then submitted a suggestion form with the idea that Deutsche Post buy oil in bulk, where they'd get it for around 25% of the price. As it has thousands of trucks, the suggestion box idea saved millions for Deutsche Post after implementation.

Written by Duncan Murtagh March 10, 2014

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