Capitalize on the Power of Suggestion
Much of the literature on this subject advocates accepting or rejecting an idea within a week at most. My personal opinion, however, is that maintaining contact with contributors and managing their expectations are much more important than a super-quick decision. I believe that it's impractical to gather members of the evaluation team each and every time a suggestion is submitted, and unfair to require a thorough assessment under such intense time pressure. Instead, I recommend monthly meetings during which all contributions received since the previous meeting are jointly reviewed and discussed.
Immediately following this meeting, the program administrator should notify each participant of the status of his or her suggestion. This communication should be tailored to reflect why the individual's recommendation has or has not been adopted, and - if so - the anticipated next steps and implementation timeline. If the suggestion has been forwarded to an engineer or other subject matter expert for further consideration, let the employee know that, as well as when he or she can expect another update.
Regardless of the nature of this notification, the employee should be encouraged to continue to think creatively about his or her work and submit additional suggestions in the future.
Continually assess - both formally and anecdotally - the perceptions of management and staff on the suggestion system, and solicit specific feedback on how it might be better operated, supported, and marketed in the future.
Can you think of a more appropriate way to demonstrate your commitment to a suggestion program, after all, than to ask your workforce to suggest ways to improve it?
The copyright of the article Capitalize on the Power of Suggestion in Human Resources is owned by Christina Morfeld. Permission to republish Capitalize on the Power of Suggestion in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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