Employee Suggestion Program: Everything You Need to Know in 2024

Are you considering launching an employee suggestion program but worry that it might not work for you?

Ah, then I have some good news for you. 

You see – in this guide, you’ll learn everything about employee suggestion programs, from what they are to how to run such programs, the best practices, and even what mistakes to avoid. 

Plus, at the end of this guide, you’ll even see how other brands are using employee suggestion programs and what results they’re getting. 

In short, I’ll tell you everything I’ve learned about employee suggestion programs, from running them to building a product that helps companies collect suggestions from employees. 

It’s a lot to cover, so I guess we had better get started…

What is an employee suggestion program, exactly?

First, let’s ensure that what you think is an employee suggestion program matches what it really is. 

So, when we talk about employee suggestion programs, we mean a managerial initiative to encourage employees to share ideas or suggestions that could shape or improve vital areas of the company’s operations: its products, processes, workflows, etc.

But there is also another central element of an employee suggestion program: 

Facilitating difficult conversations with employees, ones they might not be willing to conduct in person—conversations about any concerns they have, issues they’ve noticed about the workplace, unethical behavior, problems, deficiencies, and so on. 

I admit that this definition is quite complex, but so are employee suggestion programs, in general. So, let’s review some of its elements. 

For example, I’m sure the phrase “managerial initiative” immediately stood out to you. Well, rightly so. 

You see, an employee suggestion program is not something employees devise, plan, and launch themselves. No. The initiative and support from such a program must come from the very top.

After all, most employee suggestions or issues will relate to or require input from the managerial team. 

Another phrase that I’m sure caught your eye is “difficult conversations.” Again, rightly so. 

Often, when we think of employee suggestions, we consider only the positives, like amazing ideas that could improve the company’s products, for example. Or suggestions that would streamline processes and make certain aspects of the company’s operations run smoothly and fast. Sometimes, we think of ideas that would help teams get along better. After all, there is no point in denying that cross-team collaboration isn’t always smooth. 

But it’s worth remembering that employee suggestions might also relate to negative aspects of the workplace – unethical behavior, conflicts, challenges, and more. 

Why do companies launch employee suggestion programs?

I admit that the most immediate answer that comes to mind is to get more ideas from employees. 

And that, naturally, is true. However, there is more to having an employee suggestion program than this. 

In fact, for most companies, the employee suggestion program delivers gains in three main areas:

Innovation

Needless to say, creating a safe space for employees to share ideas and suggestions is bound to deliver some amazing results. And because these results come from the people actively involved in various aspects of the production process, they are also bound to relate to and resolve various actual problems or operational shortcomings.

Workplace Improvements

Here are just some of the most common benefits of employee suggestion programs that improve the workplace:

Greater employee engagement: Suggestion programs help employees get actively involved in various decisions or operational aspects of the company. That, in turn, can increase their sense of ownership and belonging, leading to greater job satisfaction and engagement. 

This is a particularly important benefit, given that overall employee satisfaction and engagement have hit an all-time low this year. 

According to Gallup, for example, 4.8 million fewer U.S. employees are engaged with their work compared to 2023, the lowest engagement rate in eleven years!

Being able to address workplace issues early: There is no point in denying it; issues and workplace conflicts do arise regularly. 

In fact, 35% of large organizations admit to experiencing an ongoing difficult relationship between employees. (source)

What’s more, the impact of such issues and conflicts can often be devastating. 

According to the same data, on average, employees spend as much as 3 hours per week, dealing with internal conflicts. 

What’s more:

• 30% of them leave their jobs due to a conflict. 
• 25% report taking sick leave because of an internal conflict. 
• And a staggering 10% admit that conflict led to a complete project failure. 

An employee suggestion program is probably the most effective and fastest way to learn about any such issues early before they escalate.

Increasing retention: Another amazing benefit of running employee suggestion programs is their ability to make employees feel valued and heard, preventing many from changing employers. 

Organization and Operational Improvements 

Finally, here’s how employee suggestions can help boost the company’s operations:

Better productivity and collaboration: No person is more suited to advise you about any potential production bottlenecks or inefficiencies than someone experiencing them day in and out. It’s no surprise, then, that employee suggestion programs often deliver the best ideas for streamlining processes and improving productivity.

Increased organizational efficiency: This happens for the same reasons as the abovementioned benefit. Hearing about issues from the people on the ground can lead to discovering the most effective ways to boost efficiency. 

Lower operating costs: Finally, who’s better at identifying cost-saving opportunities in day-to-day operations than those who see issues and challenges with them? Needless to say, their suggestions might lead to significant reductions in operating costs for the company.

But are there any downsides to running employee suggestion programs?

Yes, unfortunately, there are. In my opinion, these do not outweigh the benefits. However, you should know about them before launching the program. 

I suppose the main downside of employee suggestion programs is their strain on management. 

After all, someone has to read, process, understand, and analyze each piece of feedback and suggestion received, and that is usually the management (or human resources) team’s responsibility. 

Then, someone needs to decide which ideas, suggestions, or issues to act on and manage and oversee the entire process. 

Another thing to consider is that employee suggestions might reveal some hard truths about the company and/or the management. 

Employees might raise concerns and send comments that might not be pleasant to read. Naturally, I don’t mean obscenities or any outright negativity towards the management. Not at all. However, your employees might vent their frustrations or raise issues or concerns about the management’s actions or decisions that might be difficult to take. 

It’s certainly something worth considering, too. The feedback will be candid, which might sometimes be a double-edged sword. 

How do you launch an employee suggestion program?

In theory, you could just set up a suggestion box and declare the employee suggestion box live. 

In reality, though, there are several other steps I’d recommend you take before and after setting up the suggestion box. These steps will ensure that the program is set up correctly and will also succeed:

1/ Get leadership buy-in

Earlier in this guide, we defined employee suggestion programs. We called them a “managerial initiative,” and we discussed that for the program to succeed, it must have complete support and buy-in from top management. After all, it will be up to managers to review, analyze, and act on the feedback. 

That’s why, as the first step, I recommend that you get the management’s complete buy-in for the program. 

TIP: Earlier in this guide, I’ve shared various benefits of running such programs. Use them to argue the necessity for the organization to launch and run it. 

You can also review my other guides on the topic:

• Candid Employee Feedback: What It Is and How to Get It
• The Trust Covenant: Build a Better Organization
• How to Collect Anonymous Employee Feedback

2/ Set a theme for your employee suggestion program

It’s a common mistake I see companies make with their programs – They launch a generic suggestion system and expect great ideas to flow. 

Unfortunately, that’s not what usually happens. 

As you’ll see from the examples below, companies with the most successful programs have a theme and a fancy name for them. 

• Toyota runs Kaizen. 
• Google employees can submit suggestions through “Google Ideas.” 
• 3M operates the “15% program.”

Having a theme for the program helps you communicate what suggestions you’re looking for. It might be feedback on a particular issue or initiative. Or ideas for the next big thing. Or just advice from the front lines. 

The important thing is that the theme creates a situation where the issue takes center stage. Anyone affected by it will want to share feedback, since the resolution will affect their situation, too.

3/ Develop a suggestion program policy

As I said earlier, launching an employee suggestion program seems so easy. You just have to set up a suggestion box, and you’re pretty much done, right? 

Unfortunately, there is more to this. You need to make sure that everyone uses the suggestion box and uses it for the intended purposes. You also need to have the processes and policies in place to deal with the feedback, particularly if it contains sensitive information.

That’s where having an employee suggestion program policy becomes so essential.

For one, the policy will bring clarity to the program.

It will offer clear guidelines about how the program operates, define its SOPs, and give it structure.

The policy will also outline the program goals and objectives and explain why the program exists.

The policy will ensure transparency and outline how employee feedback will be handled, by whom, and when.

Finally, in many cases, having the policy will ensure compliance with legal or regulatory requirements. It will also protect the company from any potential disputes regarding handling suggestions or employee feedback. 

RECOMMENDED READING: How to Create a Suggestion Box Policy

4/ Create the suggestion box form to collect employee feedback

This is finally the practical step in the process. It’s also when you finally create and launch the program. It all revolves around setting up a suggestion box so that employees can share their ideas and feedback quickly. 

Now, I understand that the phrase “suggestion box” might put many people off. 

After all, many of us associate it with something like this…

In reality, however, today, a suggestion box looks more like this:

It’s an online form for employees to share ideas, feedback, suggestions, or concerns directly from their computers or mobile devices. 

Many software products can help you collect employee suggestions – from online forms to survey builders to dedicated employee feedback platforms. 

(A side note – I created my tool, Suggestion Ox, to help companies do just that: collect anonymous candid feedback from employees.)

But not all of those tools offer the most important capability that can make your employee suggestion program a true success: 

The ability to collect anonymous feedback and have anonymous conversations with employees. 

I cannot stress enough how critical it is for employees to submit their feedback anonymously. After all, not many employees feel comfortable sharing opinions and concerns in person. 

Some fear retaliation. Others fear being labeled troublemakers or challenging to work with. Many might fear them and their ideas being ridiculed publicly. 

Offering the option to submit feedback anonymously is precisely how you’re breaking the psychological barrier preventing many of them from sharing their ideas with the organization. 

(Example of actual anonymous feedback shared through a suggestion box.)

5/ Notify employees about the program

I admit that this advice sounds obvious. Yet, I am always amazed at how many brands launch the program, send a generic email about it, and expect the feedback to flow. 

But it never does, and that’s often for several reasons:

• The email is likely to get buried somewhere in the inbox. After all, many of us receive up to hundreds of emails per day. What are the chances we will spot and act on, a generic notification from HR?
• A single email isn’t enough to keep the program on top of employees’ minds. 

Another thing is that employees might prefer to reach the suggestion box through different channels. Some might click the link in the email, but others might only notice it if it’s shared on the company’s intranet, Slack, or MS Teams. 

My product allows you to set up shareable links to email to employees but also:

• A QR code that you can print out and distribute across the office.
• Slack integration,
• MS Teams integration.

As a result, our customers’ teams can be reminded and access suggestion boxes through a channel that works best for them.

6/ Consider boosting participation with incentives and rewards

I appreciate that words, suggestions, and incentives do not always go hand in hand. 

For example, it wouldn’t be appropriate to offer rewards for suggestions that help uncover issues like workplace harassment or unethical behavior.

However, incentives can motivate employees to participate in many other cases. One example of that is launching a suggestion program seeking ideas for improvements. In this case, you could offer several incentives to boost participation: cash awards, gift cards, additional time off, etc. 

RECOMMENDED READING: How to set up a suggestion box that employees want to use.

Examples of Employee Suggestion Programs

I briefly mentioned several employee suggestion programs already: Toyota’s Kaizen, Google Ideas, etc. But let’s take a deeper look at some of them. 

Toyota Kaizen

Kaizen is one of the 12 pillars of Toyota’s Production System. 

This Japanese term broadly translates as continuous improvement, and it’s what helps the company ensure quality, limit wastage, and continuously find new ways to improve and streamline production. 

Under the Kaizen principles, every employee can identify areas for improvement and suggest practical solutions. 

According to various sources, Toyota receives over a million employee suggestions annually, with about 90% implemented.

Incredible, right? 

Amazon Idea Box

Amazon also runs a virtual suggestion box system called Amazon Idea Box. The principle here is simple: employees can suggest improvements or share their ideas with the company. 

And many do. But what’s important is that the management team closely monitors the contents of the box. 

Let me share just one Amazon innovation from submitted suggestions – Amazon Prime!

Yes, the phenomenon many of us avail of every month came to life from one employee’s suggestion. 

True story. 

British Airways Ideas UK 

Imagine an employee suggestion that saves you $600,000 a year…

That’s exactly what happened to British Airways. The company operates an online suggestion box called Ideas UK, which encourages employees to share suggestions that could help reduce emissions and cut fuel bills. 

Lo and behold one day, the company received a suggestion to descale the toilet pipes and make them lighter. Without going into detail, this seemingly insignificant change resulted in the airline saving 600,000 GBP a year on fuel. 

You can read more about the story here. 

How you can get started?

I’ve already shared the process for launching an employee suggestion box program. Much of it revolves around making certain decisions about it, or getting the buy-in. 

However, another actionable item on that list is to get a dedicated employee feedback platform with the ability to collect anonymous feedback. 

If you don’t mind, I’m going to tell you about my product – Suggestion Ox – briefly. 

Suggestion Ox is an employee feedback platform that uses the power of anonymity to help leaders and managers get truly candid information from employees, whether that is ideas, concerns, or questions.

As our product’s name might suggest, it works very much like a suggestion box. That said, there is much more to Suggestion Ox than this.

For one, our platform facilitates more than just collecting feedback. It empowers employees and organizations to communicate anonymously in two ways.

This allows you to respond to employees’ feedback with Suggestion Ox while protecting their anonymity. Even though you and they converse about it, you wouldn’t know with whom you’re talking.

As a result, with Suggestion Ox, you can receive honest and unbiased feedback as your people know their identity is protected and are more willing to share ideas.

• Our platform allows you to collect anonymous feedback and reply anonymously to employees.
• You can deliver suggestion forms through several channels, such as shareable links and QR codes, or use Slack or MS Teams integrations. Your employees can post suggestions on the web and their mobile devices.
• Suggestion Ox features case management capabilities that allow you to assign and track issues, from intake to investigation to resolution.
• Plus, Suggestion Ox’s AI assistant helps you write more thoughtful responses.

In short, with Suggestion Ox, employees feel empowered to share their ideas or suggestions without fearing ridicule, and they never feel like they’re just shouting in the void.