ideasUK shares Secrets to Successful Ideas Schemes

Posted on January 30, 2012 by ideasuk

What benefits does having a suggestion scheme bring, to both employers and employees?

The benefits to the employee are that it gives them a voice in the business and allows them to have an outlet for their creativity and to make a change to their working environment. For the employer it encourages a culture of innovation that can lead to sharing of best practice and a reduction in costs to the business therefore more efficient working and increased employee satisfaction.

It is well documented that organisations who listen to employees and act on suggestions developed become an employer of choice with a more motivated and happy workforce.

What is the best way to incentivise staff to take part in a scheme?

There are two schools of thought around incentivising staff to take part in the programme. Old school thinking was that you had to reward or ‘bribe’ people to take part in the scheme; however, this encouraged wrong behaviours within the organisation. In a well managed ideas programme, employees feel proud of the fact that they are taking part in something which can benefit both themselves and the organisation. Continue reading →

Who are ideasUK and how can membership benefit us?

Posted on June 22, 2011 by ideasuk

As a membership association we work with you. Your membership entitles you to an analysis of your training requirements without obligation. We take pride in the professionalism of our training services and advice. More importantly, should you decide on our training services, you are not purchasing a one off event. Joining ideasUK entitles you to continuing help, advice, support and assistance.

Continue reading →

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the Ideas Programme

Posted on June 15, 2011 by ideasuk

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation.

Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans’ innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, all of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans.

: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Please ask permission from ideasUK if you wish to use the above image.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid, with the largest and most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom, and the need for self-actualisation at the top. Continue reading →

Employee Engagement – Why bother? by Alan Firmin

Posted on June 10, 2011 by ideasuk

Employee Engagement is one of those topics, which always sparks off a variety of views and perceptions.

On the one hand you have those who support employee engagement and see the benefits of investing time and money in improving employee engagement within their organisation and on the other hand you then have those who take an opposing view and see employee engagement as a waste of time and energy with very little business benefit.

Given the current economic environment when organisations are looking to reduced business costs and overheads, many are seeing employee engagement as a key enabler. Continue reading →

An Interview with Nationwide’s Elen Owens on their Successful Staff Suggestion Scheme

Posted on June 1, 2011 by ideasuk

This is the first in a series of interviews where we will be questioning people who are involved with innovation and ideas programmes, how they have gone about setting them up and its benefits to their business, by creating increased profits, staff goodwill and enthusiasm. Our first interviewee is Elen Owens who is the scheme manager for Nationwide Building Society who have been members of ideasUK for over 10 years.

Who do you work for? Please tell us a little about them.

I work for Nationwide Building Society, based in Swindon, Wiltshire, UK. It’s in the financial sector with 19 administration, contact and technology centres, plus approximately 700 branches. Which means we have about 15,783 permanent employees and an ever changing number of temporary and contract workers. Continue reading →

Ideas Programmes – The ideal way to raise productivity and increase profit

Posted on May 26, 2011 by ideasuk

When you hire a new member of staff you get an extra pair of hands; their brain comes free, or so the saying goes. But how many employers are really aware of the huge talent bank that exists among their staff, or how to go about unlocking its potential?

Staff suggestion schemes, to which employees contribute ideas for saving money or improving business processes, have been around for years. But getting them right can be the difference between them being cost centre or profit centre to your business. Continue reading →