THE MANAGEMENT of ideas is, in many organisations, large and small, a huge untapped or poorly underutilised resource. Yet ideas are the prime source of improvement and innovation. Moreover, good idea management brings with it a change in the culture of an organisation.

Employees see problems and opportunities every day in their immediate work areas that their managers do not. When employees are not given the opportunity to be heard and the time to implement their ideas, they lose faith in management and are thus not fully engaged in their work.

The foundation of a good idea system is based on the realisation that there is far more capability/capacity in our people than is actually being harnessed. The essence of the Lean philosophy is developing within each employee an improvement-seeking and waste-elimination mindset. If everyone even improved their job 0.1 per cent everyday, that adds up to a 24 per cent improvement per employee year on year. That equates to a colossal competitive advantage over time and competitors cannot copy these compounded small improvements.

Operational waste can take many forms, including waiting, excess walking, unnecessary services, rework and defects, energy, excess inventory, etc. There is no end to improvement opportunities if we become sensitised to waste, as this thought provoking quote from Shigeo Shingo reveals: “If the nut has 15 threads on it, it cannot be tightened unless it is turned 15 times. In reality, though, it is that last turn that tightens the bolt and the first one that loosens it. The remaining 14 turns are waste.”

Idea management’s purpose is to deliver continuous incremental innovation, employee involvement and up-skilling to the workplace. Employees are coached to put forward ideas that make their job easier, can be implemented quickly, eliminate the cause of problems, save money, and don’t cost much to implement.

Using this system, Technicolor with 1,800 employees generated 20,000 ideas, implemented more than 12,000 of them, and saved the company more than $10 million within a year. We commonly hear: “That’s already happening here, we just don’t write the ideas down.”

However, is there anything else important like, for example, an expense system, that you don’t have a process for? Ideas are too important to be left to chance and in the absence of a defined process they will be pushed to the back burner.

Traditional methods such as suggestion boxes don’t work. Employees feel they would be better off dropping their ideas into a paper shredder if they never hear about previously submitted ideas. Suggestion systems also get stuck in their own bureaucracy. There are long implementation times, low participation rates (typically less than 5 per cent of the workforce) and high rejection rates. Most traditional suggestion systems fall prey to ideas for other people to do something about, rather than the originator of the idea. If all you have to do is suggest an idea for someone else to implement, you can say whatever you like.

One way to improve it is to use the Kaizen approach to idea management where emphasis is placed on total workforce participation and idea activity is an expected part of the job. There are high participation levels, typically more than 50 per cent of the workforce.

This is because roles and responsibilities for the idea system are outlined at all levels. Ideas are visually displayed on boards, implemented fast, and recognised. New skills are learned by employees through interacting with support functions when implementing their ideas. People are coached to recognise “hidden” waste and the idea system is integrated into daily problem solving. Idea activity is also measured. The employee’s direct manager mentors and supports the idea originator during implementation. Small ideas don’t take enormous time and resources to implement and are not a burden on management, the opposite in fact.

There are also very high approval rates for ideas put forward. Employees are coached as to what constitutes a good idea. “Bad ideas” are viewed as training opportunities; the intent behind the idea is teased out and put forward again. Peer accountability is expressed through employees posting their ideas in the work area. Ideas are often tested and implemented prior to putting forward into the idea system.

Well run idea management systems are realising substantial returns. Subaru’s employees save more than $5000 per employee, while American Airlines saves on average $55 million a year.

Surprisingly, the best performing idea systems don’t pay a percentage of savings for ideas. With monetary rewards, there are winners and losers, so to overcome this you should make ideas and creativity part of the job.

The key is to tap into people’s intrinsic motivation, the natural desire that they have to make a positive difference. The greatest reward for employees is to see their ideas used. An example of recognition is a variety of token items and monthly raffles for implemented ideas.

An example idea process flow is as follows.

Employees write down ideas every time they find a problem or see an opportunity for improvement and post them on the local idea board. Whenever possible, an example of the before and after situation is captured.

The person with the idea evaluates and filters the idea with peers (this saves supervisor evaluation time and improves idea quality). Their supervisor then responds within 24 hours of the idea having been brought forward.

Consider the ripple effect for all ideas and the impact they might have if shared elsewhere.

The person who comes up with the original idea should implement the idea themselves or with their work team. If additional help is needed from maintenance, IT etc, the person who put forward the idea oversees the completion of this.

Then, record implemented ideas in an idea log electronically.

Monthly metrics track that the goal of two ideas per month/person is reached and display the results. Metrics for success include: number of ideas per employee/team, volume of implemented ideas, participation rate and implementation time.

If the cycle above flows smoothly, the improvement activity will also flow; one idea will lead to another and continuous improvement will translate into improved performance and higher employee engagement.

www.lean2innovativethinking.com