iSuggestNow - Subscription based online suggestion box system

The “Suggestion Scheme” is traditionally implemented in the following manner:

	A Suggestion scheme with its associated rules is announced by the management.
	The “suggestion” boxes together with the pre-printed stationary are placed at prominent locations within the organization. A contributing employee is expected to write the suggestion and drop in a suggestion box. Authorized persons open the suggestion boxes at the defined frequency (usually monthly) and process the suggestions received as per the announced suggestion scheme.
	Alternatively an employee may submit a suggestion through the employee’s supervisor/manager

Many times the “Suggestion Scheme” implemented through the physical Suggestion boxes do not provide the expected results possibly on account of the following reasons.

	Fear of being ridiculed on account of the suggestion/s submitted.
	Employees may not be sure of getting the credit or the consequent benefits for the suggestions given besides being afraid of the possibility of reprisal for not going through their supervisor/manager.
	Employees are self-conscious of dropping their suggestion in the suggestion box lest a colleague may see them doing so.
	The elapsed time between giving a suggestion and its evaluation and consequent approval for adoption may be rather long. This delay may dilute impact of the suggestion resulting in its rejection.
	The contributing employee is not kept informed of the status of progress of the suggestion.
	Multiple suggestion schemes running concurrently to seek ideas on specific subject are rather difficult to implement.
	Administration of the ‘Reward Scheme’ is laborious.

As a result of the above barriers ‘Suggestion Box Scheme’ is seldom successful.

	To make implementation of the ‘Suggestion Scheme’ a success we have developed the “iSuggestNow” a suggestion box software that provides a solution to counter the above barriers and facilitates its success leading to substantial benefits. Below diagram represents workflow followed in iSuggestNow

The barriers to the success of the Suggestion schemes are effectively countered by “iSuggestNow”.

	Fear of Ridicule and Reprisal:
	It puts the fear of Ridicule and Reprisal to rest by enabling a contributor to post a suggestion from anywhere via a PC or a laptop. Suggestion scheme administrator may also be receiving a suggestion in the written form that would be scanned and attached to a suggestion initiated by the administrator. The system maintains complete anonymity and confidentiality of the identity of the whistle blower. E-mail address of the contributor is known only to the Administrator. In case ‘anonymous’ option is selected, email address of the contributor is not displayed even to the administrator.
	Processing & Status updates:
	Processing of a suggestion is initiated immediately on receipt resulting in faster processing of a suggestion. The contributor is kept informed of the progress through emails automatically sent by the system to the email address provided whilst making the contribution.
	Transparency & Timeliness:
	The built in workflow enables monitoring of the progress of a speak-up through the assessment and approval process. In case of delay beyond the set norms, at any step, email reminders are sent to the step owner. In case of excessive delay alerts are sent to the step owner as well as the designated higher authority.
	Employee Motivation:
	Any announcement on an accepted speak-up like a special reward may be made using the unique speak-up reference number via the email address specified in the speak-up or/and via the notice board. The reward scheme built in the system enables rewarding the employees contributing useful and relevant speak-ups, immediately. The system provides a facility to send emails monthly to all the registered employees reemphasising importance of speaking up.
As can be seen from above the iSuggestNow System counters all the barriers faced while implementing the speak-up scheme in the traditional manner. In short Speak-up scheme can be effectively implemented through iSuggestNow system.

“iSuggestNow” helps in the successful implementation of the ‘employee Suggestion System’ in the following way:

	Preventing Penal action: iSuggestNow provides notification to the management as soon as contributor submits the complaint and hence they can act swiftly on the speak-ups.
	iSuggestNow helps in improving the collaborative culture among the employees in the company by providing a cost effective channel to share innovative ideas by employees which can help the company.
	iSuggestNow facilitates in creation and administration of one or more suggestion schemes for all employees or for focused group of employees within the organization
	iSuggestNow gives an immediate recognition to an employee for a suggestion which was considered fit for assessment as well as on acceptance. Reward points could then be redeemed by the employee for tangible benefits through the self-service facility provided.
	iSuggestNow is a platform using which an employee can easily contribute an idea to a suggestion scheme from anywhere using an internet browser via a PC or laptop connected to the internet. Suggestions may be given anonymously too, and in such cases the contributing employee’s identity is not disclosed by the system thereby ensuring anonymity
	iSuggestNow provides automatic notification of progress of the assessment of a suggestion to the contributor.
	iSuggestNow facilitates in routing of suggestions through assessment and approval workflows as a result suggestions can be filtered and be forwarded to the right person.
	iSuggestNow has the facility of broadcasting messages on the built-in bulletin board or/and through targeted emails which helps in promoting the scheme and encourages the employees to come forward and contribute.
	iSuggestNow provides Configuration facility to specify a two tier organization structure like Divisions/ Departments that classify the organizational areas likely to be impacted or affected by the suggestions. Further categories may be specified to classify suggestions for directing the suggestion to an appropriate assessor/s and subsequent analytics
	iSuggestNow provides MIS (dashboard) for management reporting and analysis of performance of the suggestion schemes
	“iSuggestNow” is available on-demand (software as a service) i.e. no need to buy additional hardware or software and hence can be used immediately without the need for installation.

iSuggestNow - Suggestion