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10 Steps to a Successful Employee Ideas Scheme

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10 Steps to a Successful Employee Ideas Scheme

Creating a culture of innovation and ideation is a top priority for so many organisations.

Many companies run employee ideas schemes and as a result, they’ve reduced costs, driven innovation, enhanced morale, increased customer satisfaction and improved processes.

But how do they do it? How come, more often than not, such schemes simply crash and burn? What’s the secret to success?

There are three crucial factors in managing a successful scheme – plan, listen and action. 

Without a proper plan in place, you’ll be setting your scheme up for a fall by missing major steps and neglecting elements of the process. Creating a clear process and setting defined goals is crucial. And the absolute worst thing you can do is request ideas and then fail to listen when they come in. It’s vital to demonstrate the value you place in employee participation through the actions you take.

Where do you start?

Most idea programmes fail due to lack of planning and the wrong approach. So start with the right mindset.

Focus your campaign around a specific topic or opportunity for improvement. Seek early, impactful wins to create momentum. Start off on the right foot by speaking to managers, team leaders, innovation champions and supporters to obtain early buy-in and encourage promotion and support.

Get people talking. Share key messages about your campaign and its objectives. Develop a powerful army of advocates from the outset.

Your approach will need to be tailored to your organisation – factors such as size, structure and corporate culture can all make a difference. Arm yourself with the facts and adapt accordingly. Consider implementing these 10 steps for maximum impact and a super successful outcome:

  1. START SMALL. Start with a pilot scheme so you can test assumptions and identify innovation leaders. Link your pilot to a goal that you know the organisation is already working towards to capitalise on momentum and motivation. Limit the number of participants to begin with, only inviting a cross-section of employees to take part. Ensure you represent the different voices of your organisation but don’t feel compelled to turn it into a free-for-all. Remember to cast your net wide. Gather perspectives from diverse areas of the business, people with different expertise and experiences.
  2. POSE A DIRECT QUESTION ABOUT A SPECIFIC TOPIC. Set concentrated, targeted objectives and pick top of mind challenges that matter to the business. Build confidence and trust in the process by considering topics that link to specific benefits to your customers or employee job performance – safety, quality, productivity, etc. – things that will make employees’ jobs easier, safer or faster.
  3. AGREE A LIMITED TIME FRAME. Run the scheme for a set period, one month, for example. This will help to maintain momentum whilst keeping things manageable. Set different phases for the activity: ideation, refinement and voting for example.
  4. ADOPT A MARGINAL GAINS MINDSET. Take a ‘small steps’ approach rather than striving for huge leaps in innovation. Set realistic expectations and be open to suggestions that support incremental improvements. We love this example, when a chef at Pizza Express made a seemingly small-scale suggestion, the business was able to make a significant saving. Read about it here.
  5. USE IDEA MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE. Crowdsourcing based ideation platforms are simple to use and can be accessed by any device. They provide you with a way to track participation, collate, filter and evaluate submissions, identify trends and then score the winning ideas. Note – you may need to also offer a manual scheme alongside this for those without access.
  6. TIMING. Know what else is going on in the business. What busy periods should you avoid? What other campaigns could you end up competing with for attention? Use your knowledge and experience to launch the programme at the best possible time.
  7. INVOLVE AN EXECUTIVE SPONSOR. Demonstrate high-level buy in. They can rally the troops to get involved, help with securing budget and influence others when it comes to pushing chosen ideas through. Make sure they’re present throughout, not just at the start.
  8. PROMOTE INTERNALLY. Create excitement, enthusiasm and a sense of anticipation in advance. Give the scheme a memorable name. Develop a launch plan to create that initial buzz. Make the benefits clear –for individuals and the business. Consider the right channels to use – a short video or animation featuring your executive sponsor to share on the intranet, a series of emails to mark the countdown to launch, a feature in the employee magazine and creative use of the office environment. Find ways to maintain momentum and celebrate subsequent successes.
  9. INVITE ‘THE CROWD’ TO CO-JUDGE IDEAS. Public voting can play a powerful role in determining the success of your scheme. Demonstrate transparent, inclusive decision-making. When participants are involved from start to finish they will take ownership of the programme and be much more inclined to get involved in future schemes.
  10. PROVIDE RAPID FEEDBACK AND RECOGNITION. Be sure to publish next steps. Create a circle of continuous communication and feedback. Even if an idea is not approved, let people know why it’s not moving forward and encourage them to keep coming up with new ideas. Demonstrate how successful ideas have been implemented and publicly recognise star participants who’ve taken the time to get involved.

A winning example

We worked with a client where innovation is a driving force, influencing every aspect of the business. They needed to spread the word about a new scheme. IdeaLab is a fresh online innovation space for employees to connect, share ideas and co-create solutions. We helped to create a feeling of excitement and anticipation in advance of the campaign. Then we drove engagement and involvement throughout the five week period. Engagement with IdeaLab went way beyond initial expectations. As a result, the campaign generated 199 ideas, 1200 idea views and over 18,000 votes leading to two winning ideas that directly addressed the initial challenges posed. You can see the full case study here.

In summary

Of course, success will be determined by the goals you decide on and the expectations you set. So be sure to set out with realistic objectives and know how you will measure and evaluate. Note the successful elements of your campaign, the moments where things didn’t go quite to plan and the lessons you’ve learned. What were the biggest challenges you faced? What was it that got people racing to submit their ideas and vote on others? Did certain participants stand out from the crowd?

Crucially, close the loop. Follow the stories through and publish posts or videos about how ideas have been successfully implemented. Attribute successes to individual participants and demonstrate the value you hold in employees’ opinions. Think about developing a reward scheme to encourage further activity.

Ultimately, be clear about WHY you’re running the programme and what you need to achieve. By following the steps above, you should be able to create an ideas scheme that drives your people to take part and delivers real commercial results.

“I feel like they own and care for the project as much as we do! I would not use anyone else for my creative work and think Alive is ahead of the game.”

Jo Hobbs — Communications Manager

“Thanks for all your help. We are delighted with the campaign, both in terms of the creativity and messaging but also the thought taken over the rollout of the materials. All looks absolutely fabulous!”

Sarah Crowdy — Campaign and Media Officer Communications, South East Water

“We went to ‘Alive’ for ideas on how to run a specific employee program in Europe. Alan and his team were brilliant in coming up with fresh, creative and practical approaches. The team took charge and executed brilliantly. We are pleased with the progress made so far and hope to have the same level of partnership and commitment going forward.”

Sobha Varghese — Tata Consultancy Services

“Alive helped us create a video of our response to the floods of winter 2019. Our Chief Officer received messages from all round the country praising us for it and was really pleased with both the video and the response to it.”

Alexander Mills, Communications Manager — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“We had the privilege to work with the Alive team. It was our first time to be involved in creating an animation for our patients within paediatrics. The team were approachable, friendly, creative and very accommodating. Your vision for what you want to create, is at all times acknowledged, appreciated and accommodated by the team. They worked effectively and with great passion towards our project and worked not only alongside health professionals but also our patients who really enjoyed the experience of working with the Alive team. It has given our team the confidence and inspiration to do further projects in the future. We highly recommend Alive and their exceptional team.”

DR ELENI ATHANASAKOS, Lead Paediatric Clinical Scientist — NHS Barts Health

“‘The short animation developed in co-production with clinicians and young people is outstanding! Informative, developmentally appropriate, vitally fun and engaging. We are really grateful for the expertise of the Alive with Ideas team for their innovative approach in building children’s health literacy.'”

Kath Evans — Director of Children’s Nursing at Barts Health

“Our mission was to update our brand visuals to better reflect our innovative and forward-thinking organisation. After receiving numerous pitches from different branding agencies, Alive stood out with their clear passion and understanding of our identity and goals. We thoroughly enjoyed working with the Alive Team to create an engaging new brand that we are immensely proud of.”

Lianne Springer — Communications and Engagement Lead

“Alive wowed us during the pitch process and they didn’t stop wowing us throughout the whole project. Every person we worked with at Alive were so friendly, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about what they do. They have worked with us to really understand what we do and have created a new brand and website that really stands out from our competitors. Thank you!”

Louise Burnard, Head of Marketing and Communications UK — Be | Shaping the Future

“I think the team have done such a brilliant job, particularly with responding to our requests. It's one of the best mental health videos I've ever seen. Very proud to be associated with your exemplary work. Thank you so much.”

Dr Anna Batho — Clinical Psychologist – Critical Care, UCLH

“We have worked with Alan, Caroline and the wider Alive With Ideas team for many years. In that time, they have provided a dedicated service that is second to none. We appreciate their attention to detail and creative approach to bringing our brand, communications and stories to life. And would recommend them to anyone looking for creative communications support.”

Georgia Beech — Internal Communications Specialist, Ocado Group

“This is brilliant. I wanted to give my heartfelt thanks to all of the team who worked on this. You all understood exactly what we wanted to communicate and why, and then managed to do it in a way that was far better than anything I could have imagined. I’m a bit choked up to be honest!”

Sarah Wright, Head of Communications and Campaigns — NEA

“Each time I work with the team, I am always stunned at the effort and creativity that goes into each detail and am always eager for the end result. The team is extremely accommodating and always provide a fresh approach to our projects that elevates our communications materials!”

Alana Khaytin, Communications Specialist — Braskem America

“What I really appreciate about Alive is that they work with us as partners, and care as much about getting it right for our patients as we do.”

Sara Langston, Patient Engagement & Marketing Manager — italk

“Alive are unique in how much they deeply listen and invest in you and your ideas. I have not come across a company that listens as much as they do to ensure your needs are understood and met (actually - they always exceed my needs and expectations). Everyone I recommend Alive to has an equally brilliant experience. When you work with Alive, you are not only getting some genius creativity brought into your life, you are also hanging out with some of the best examples of human beings I’ve ever known.”

Steph Tranter, Hybrid Exec Coach & Psychologist — StephTranter.com

“The (Alive) team were able to creatively pull together and document (in just over 2minutes) everything our service has achieved over the last few months, from thousands of prescriptions deliveries to hundreds of phone calls made to the vulnerable. The final product was so powerful and reflective of what our service has and continues to achieve. It couldn’t have been better received within the service – thanks Alive for once again helping us to communicate our vision!’”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire & Rescue

“We worked with the team at Alive to create our staff recognition video.
At a time like this, its never been more important to share the amazing work that our staff have done and continue to do on a daily basis under very difficult circumstances. We wanted to shout about this and recognise that when the time came, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue stepped up to the plate. We didn’t want an ordinary thank you post on social media or a basic email sent out internally, we wanted something special. Enter Alive. ”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“Our company is fun, we have great brands, but most importantly we’re all about our people – and I wanted an agency who would understand that and help us bring it to life through our website and other comms. Straight away I felt that Alive ‘got’ us and provided the creative inspiration exactly where we needed it, as well as the technical expertise to deliver a well-functioning website.”

Keren McCarron, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications — KP Snacks

“Boom!
Thank you so much. Incredible work done at incredible speed by incredible people.
Outstanding work as ever and what a turnaround. As for the concepts – wow. These are that good it would be an insult to describe them as just good. It’s a joke, quite frankly. This is exactly the Alive effect I was after. Right now I feel like I am living in an Alive With Ideas wonderland. Thank you!”

Jack Grasby, Campaigns Manager — SYFR

“If you are looking to improve creativity and build teamwork, I highly recommend a session like this for your team. No matter where you are in your creativity journey, a workshop like this can give your team a boost of energy and ideas to invigorate their creative thinking.”

Amy Lilja, IC Manager — Hennepin Healthcare

“Alive were there to help when we were working every hour to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. They gave us the creativity, ideas and support we needed to deliver campaigns which empowered our residents in the most difficult time most of us have ever seen, personally and professionally. The team understood what we needed, worked closely with us and delivered fast without any compromise on quality. Working with Alive has been a joy in the darkest of times and I have no doubt will have helped to save lives. Thanks team x”

Julie Odams, Assistant Director of Communications & Customers — Derbyshire County Council

“We got 'Alive' involved to help us shift mindsets across our organisation and they delivered! Using simple, clear and creative ideas the team have delivered us a campaign which has seen a dramatic increase in idea sharing and development. They’ve also played a significant role in creating a culture of shared success. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with again, in fact, we already are!”

Gavin Buckle — B&Q
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