Employee suggestion programs have reached new heights. While many still think of employee suggestion
programs as a boring annual survey or an old-fashioned suggestion box hanging on the wall, they have
become much more robust. Certain organizations, like Toyota, have thrived using such programs for many
decades. This misconception regarding the lack of value in fielding suggestions from your employees is
not only wrong but hinders your organization. From the perspective of engagement, innovation, and
efficiency, employee suggestion programs allow any organization to recognize huge returns on investment
(ROI).
Organizations that have replaced the old-fashioned suggestion box with tools like DirectSuggest
have a few clear focuses. These are to remain competitive, reduce waste, increase efficiency,
improve engagement, foster innovation, and more. They are far from fuzzy, outdated, or ineffective
concepts. These are operational and analytical outlooks that make a difference to the bottom-line
with direct benefits to corporate strategy. Such tools and strategies enhance the employee
suggestion program using proven techniques.
Getting suggestions from employee hands-on experience provides immense value. Those who work daily
on specific aspects of your organization often have a far better understanding and insights than
removed decision-makers disconnected from that portion of the company. Regardless of the employee’s
role, they have experience and ideas that can lead to pivotal changes in your organization. Employees
must be sought out, respected, and heard to reap these rewards. When employees are provided with quality
employee suggestion programs, it has been clearly shown to provide positive ROI when it comes to both
the budget and morale. With how affordable and easy to set-up employee suggestion programs like
DirectSuggest, it is an incredible investment because the insights provided cost next to nothing.
Proof That Implementing An Employee Suggestion Program Is A No-Brainer
Some clear studies and examples show employee suggestion programs are a worthwhile investment that
have an substantial return on investment. Organizations of all sizes throughout any industry can find
enormous benefits from fielding suggestions from their employees. Here are some examples and studies
of companies that have had clear successes.
Toyota may be the best examples of an organization that has utilized the power of employee
suggestion programs. Over the past half century, Toyota has fielded tens of millions of suggestions
from their employees. In one given year, they fielded about 700,000 suggestions and implemented
over ninety-nine percent of them. On average, each employee made at least ten suggestions throughout
the year. To put this in perspective, if each of these suggestions were to create $100.00 in savings,
that would be an annual total of $70,000,000 in savings.
Amazon has used an electronic employee suggestion box for decades, and it has provided incredible
value allowing them to transition into different markets. There is one clear success story from Amazon’s
employee suggestion program. A software developer by the name of Charlie Ward submitted a suggestion
that would eventually turn into what we know as Amazon Prime. Ward came up with the idea for free
shipping on product orders. Another employee then suggested the name Amazon Prime. From there, CEO
Jeff Bezos and other Amazon decision-makers concluded that a free two-day shipping service was the
right idea. Once customers subscribed to Amazon Prime, their average purchases increased by about 150%.
At one time Amazon.com was known for selling books. Now, most people know Amazon.com for their
subscription-driven free two-day shipping, music streaming, video streaming, and much more called
Amazon Prime. It is a membership many people cannot live without and has turned Amazon into one of
the most valuable organizations in the world. This success would not be without an employee suggestion.
In 2003, the Employee Involvement Association conducted a study of forty-seven companies and almost
450,000 employees. The association based in Dayton, Ohio found that employee suggestions saved more
than $624,000,000. The employees submitted 253,240 suggestions with 93,034 adopted. About four of every
ten suggestions made had enough value worth implementing. Around one in three employees submitted at
least one suggestion. The average incentive the company provided the employee in return was around
$235.00, and the company received around ten times that in value.
How DirectSuggest Enables Any Organization To Affordably & Easily Field Employee Suggestions
Getting suggestions from the employees of your business has been found invaluable.
DirectSuggest is providing a solution that is affordable and easy-to-use so employees of
organizations of all sizes in any industry can be more engaged and provide value towards the
mission of their organizations by making suggestions with the assurance they arrive to the proper
decision maker. Additionally, DirectSuggest allows for collaboration on ideas through voting and
commenting on others’ suggestions.
DirectSuggest is a fully international platform with over 100 sign-ups in many different countries
and several continents. Most companies who sign up, get set up and have suggestions and votes made
in less than one business day. Amazingly, we have found that less than one percent of suggestions
made have been complaint based without value or solution.
DirectSuggest has three roles for your employees’ staff, gatekeepers, and administrators.
Administrators set up and maintain the DirectSuggest settings. These settings include categories, locations or regions, and employees and their roles. We have CSV import files to
assist in mass uploading and tutorials to help with every step. Gatekeepers are assigned to categories
and locations acting as the evaluators of suggestions for their designated areas. Administrators and
Gatekeepers also have Reports which can be viewed and sorted or exported in Excel format for further
analysis. All employees can make suggestions regardless of their role. These suggestions are directed
to responsible decision makers in an organized manner by custom regions or locations and categories.
DirectSuggest makes submitting a suggestion fast and straightforward on any computer or mobile device.
When someone makes a suggestion in DirectSuggest, they enter a subject that is meaningful to the
gatekeeper. They will select the appropriate category from the company defined drop-down
list. Finally, they provide a detailed description of their suggestion that allows the gatekeepers to
evaluate the suggestion’s merit and in turn forward it to the proper decision maker. Companies also have
the option of allowing for anonymous suggestions.
As suggestions are submitted, they appear on the gatekeepers list. The gatekeeper can then reply to the
suggestion’s author, forward good suggestions to the proper decision maker, or archive suggestions.
Upon acting on the suggestion, the status of the suggestion is updated.
DirectSuggest allows all employees to vote and comment on suggestions. This is done anonymously to
avoid all forms of bias. This allows for better employee engagement and assists with efficiency when
it comes to determining which suggestions to implement.
DirectSuggest is never more than fifty cents per
employee per month. The monthly max charge for organizations with a company size above 40,000 is
$10,000. The value provided from the insights gained, and engagement around the mission of an
organization will exponentially outweigh any cost or time using DirectSuggest.
Riley Moore (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rileyrm4tech)
Riley Moore, the 25-year old CEO at RM4Tech, the one and only completely family-owned family-run
software company, has used his mix of technical and business influences to bring his creative vision
to life. With the development of RM4Tech’s first solution, DirectSuggest 'The Suggestion Box Reimagined'
, he has become a fresh face in the world of engagement and innovation. Their second solution
CrowdQuestion was released in early 2019. CrowdQuestion is focused on connecting crowds through
'Q&A The Right Way' to bring everyone closer to their community. His passion to empower individuals
to use their creativity and voice to make a difference in the world is what drives him.
Riley's love for podcasting, mixed with his unrelenting drive to inspire individuals to change
the world through passion and hard-work, encouraged the creation of The Moore You Know
Podcast. He hopes to impact the world through entrepreneurship and podcasting like those
who inspired him.
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