• You will hear part of a conversation between two company employees, a woman ca

Man: Well, I definitely agree with you, Rose, that the suggestions scheme is a good idea - Woman: Good.
Man: - and it’s got the MD’s support, which is crucial, of course.
Woman: Yes. Well, I am pleased, because where I’ve seen these schemes in other companies, they do seem to be valuable, you know, worth setting up.
Man: I suppose because they push profits up?
Woman: Yuh, well, not exactly. I mean, yes, ultimately, that can happen ... but it’s more that if you get an efficient scheme going, one that runs well, then the real advantage is people feel more involved, that they matter more, so you get more energy around the place.
Man: I see what you mean. OK, so when we get the suggestions in, how do we start? I guess we check out viability - if it’s worth going ahead?
Woman: Certainly you’ve got to be seen to respond. But actually the first thing, crucially, is to acknowledge it. I’d have thought we could use the noticeboard for that, put the suggestions on it, so people see immediately that it goes somewhere.
Man: Right. And now, is there anyone who can’t be involved, do you think? I was thinking that the assistants maybe shouldn’t -
Woman: Oh no, they should have a say, some of their ideas could be useful, and it’s important for them to feel more involved. I was wondering about the directors and so on, because there’s a danger -
Man: That their ideas would seem like orders?
Woman: Absolutely. Mind you, I think we can set the thing up so that all ideas are to be judged as ideas, regardless of the level they’ve come from.
Man: OK - but I do think, whatever level they’re at, that I’m not sure about including the Research and Development people.
Woman: I think you’ve got a point there, yes, I mean R &; D could be setting their own agenda because they could just end up putting forward existing ideas, and then getting extra for them.
Man: Yes - we’d have to make sure that that can’t happen. Right, so how should we do the rewards? I was thinking of a proportion of the benefit, once we know it - I mean, assuming the idea runs.
Woman: Oh yes, obviously only the ones put into action will get ... so, er, well, it’ll depend on when we can see the benefits come in, I suppose, say two years would - or we could pay out over a three year time-scale?
Man: I don’t think we can predict the time, it depends on too many factors. Why don’t we just say we estimate the value of the idea in terms of worth to the company, and pay a proportion of that right away?
Woman: So, a fifth, for example?
Man: Sounds reasonable. And we work out the time-scale later...
Woman: What matters now, I think, is to get the idea over to people that it’s something they’d have fun doing.
Man: More chance of promotion!
Woman: But we can’t make any promises there. I’m not even that keen on profit or sales margins here, just the idea that they’ll feel good if they come up with new ideas. But then we really don’t know exactly where it’s going to lead us. It might really vary from office to office.
Man: Mmm ... let’s start with head office, shall we? Or one of the regions?
Woman: Well, we’ve got to start somewhere. How about the south-western branch office?
Man: Uh-huh. And then spread to everywhere else later.
Woman: Right. Now, how are they going to get their suggestions to us?
Man: However they want.
Woman: What, even by phone?
Man: Oh, I see what you mean, could be pretty disruptive -
Woman: If we get a lot ... or memos -
Man: Would be good. They’re simple, direct ... in a box, maybe, in Reception -
Woman: But then we’d be putting off any people who don’t go in there -
Man: True. OK, they can send them to us then. Well, I hope this is going to work!
Woman: Bound to. It’s not a question of whether it works, but how well! We’ll need to evaluate it, of course, for the board. They’ll want to know how much money we think we’re saving.
Man: But I don’t think we’ll know that exactly for some time yet.
Woman: The same’s true for quality issues, too.
Man: Hmm. We could just give an initial report on how many ideas we receive in the first month, or something like that.
Woman: That’s the most realistic aim, and it should be enough to start with.