Companies profit from their employees’ ideas and improvement suggestions, especially in highly competitive markets. Our Idea Management program reported a record number of suggestions and calculable benefits in 2008 – its 80th anniversary year. In all, 5,808 suggestions were submitted, up over 30% (2007: 4,440). Total benefits in 2008 amounted to €14.7 million (2007: €8.5m).
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Idea Management |
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2008 |
2007 |
2006 |
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Number of improvement suggestions |
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5,808 |
4,440 |
3,816 |
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Total benefits |
€ million |
14.7 |
8.5 |
3.8 |
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Participation rate1 |
% |
28 |
24 |
24 |
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This rapid uptrend not only stemmed from a motivation campaign, but also from two key changes introduced in 2007 – first, WACKER made it easier for employees to submit suggestions over the intranet and, second, we started examining ideas to see whether they could be applied to other areas (multiple usage).
2008’s participation rate of 28% (submitters per 100 employees) still leaves room for improvement (2007: 24%). To maximize the benefits from ideas, WACKER has interlinked the Employee Suggestion Scheme, the Wacker Operating System (WOS) and Innovation Management.