SHRM Poll: Employee Suggestion Programs November 8, 2010

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Key Findings Less than half of organizations have a formal employee suggestion program. About two out of five organizations reported that they have a formal system for employees to submit ideas through a mechanism such as a suggestion box, or online application. Who has responsibility for reviewing and responding to employee suggestions? HR was most frequently tapped to review employee suggestions, followed by management-level employees of the department or function area that would be affected by the idea if implemented. The same held true for responding to employees regarding decisions about their suggestions. What incentives do employees receive for suggesting ideas that are implemented? Employees whose ideas are implemented are most likely to receive recognition at staff meetings and/or in organization communications. 2

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Does your organization have a formal system for employees to submit their suggestions and/or ideas through a mechanism such as a suggestion box, or online application? 3 Note: n = 517

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Does your organization have a formal system for employees to submit their suggestions and/or ideas through a mechanism such as a suggestion box, or online application? Publicly owned for-profit organizations (49%) were more likely than privately owned for-profit organizations (33%) or government agencies (24%) to report that their organizations have a formal system for employees to submit their suggestions and/or ideas. 4 Comparison by Organization’s Sector

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Are employees encouraged to make suggestions that affect…? 5 Note: Only respondents whose organizations have a formal system for employees to submit suggestions were included in this analysis. Employees are encouraged to make suggestions that affect their own departments, other departments and the organization as a whole.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 To what extent do employees utilize the organization’s suggestion system? 6 Note: n = 179. Only respondents whose organizations have a formal system for employees to submit suggestions were included in this analysis.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 How often are submitted employee suggestions reviewed? 7 Note: n = 178. Only respondents whose organizations have a formal system for employees to submit suggestions were included in this analysis.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Who reviews submitted employee suggestions to decide which ones will be implemented? 8 Note: n = 170. Excludes respondents who answered, “N/A, no set review process.” Only respondents whose organizations have a formal system for employees to submit suggestions were included in this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Who reviews submitted employee suggestions to decide which ones will be implemented? Smaller organizations (100 to 499 employees) were more likely than larger organizations (25,000 or more employees) to report that HR reviews submitted employee suggestions (63% and 10%, respectively). 9 Comparison by Organization’s Staff Size

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 In general, at what point(s) after the suggestion review do employees receive feedback on their suggestions, regardless of whether they are implemented? 10 Note: n = 154. Excludes respondents who answered, “N/A, employees generally do not receive feedback following the review of the suggestion.“ Only respondents whose organizations have a formal system for employees to submit suggestions were included in this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Who responds to employees regarding decisions about their submitted suggestions? 11 Note: n = 140. Excludes respondents who answered, “N/A, no set response process.” Only respondents whose organizations have a formal system for employees to submit suggestions were included in this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Who responds to employees regarding decisions about their submitted suggestions? By Staff Size: Larger organizations (2,500 to 24,999 employees) (50%) were more likely than smaller organizations (100 to 499 employees) (14%) to report that management-level staff in the affected department of function area responded to employees who submitted suggestions. By Sector: Publicly owned for-profit organizations (47%), privately owned for-profit organizations (36%) and government agencies (44%) were more likely than nonprofit organizations (4%) to report that management-level staff in the affected department of function area responded to employees who submitted suggestions. 12 Comparison by Organization’s Staff Size and Sector

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 What kinds of incentives do employees receive if they make suggestions that are implemented? 13 Note: n = 95. Excludes respondents (75 people total, 44%) who answered, “N/A, employees do not receive incentives for their suggestions." Only respondents whose organizations have a formal system for employees to submit suggestions were included in this analysis. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 What kinds of incentives do employees receive if they make suggestions that are implemented? By Staff Size: Larger organizations (25,000 or more employees) (36%) were more likely than smaller organizations (1 to 99 employees) (14%) to report that employees who make suggestions that are implemented receive merchandise gift cards or other tangible items. 14 Comparison by Organization’s Staff Size

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 To what extent does…? 15 Note: Only respondents whose organizations have a formal system for employees to submit suggestions were included in this analysis. Despite nearly one-half of organizations reporting to a large degree or to some degree that their employee suggestion program links to their strategic planning process, most organizations indicated a lack of leadership support for the suggestion program as a critical component of organizational innovation. More than one-third of respondents also believed that a lack of available resources justified not implementing otherwise worthy suggestions.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 If a suggestion is not implemented right away, is it stored in some way for future review? 16 Note: n = 160. Only respondents whose organizations have a formal system for employees to submit suggestions were included in this analysis.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 How often are previously submitted suggestions reviewed again? 17 Note: n = 100. Excludes respondents (38 people total, 28%) who answered, "N/A, previously submitted suggestions are not reviewed again.“The response categories "no set process" and "when a similar idea comes up" were recoded from write-in responses for "other." Only respondents whose organizations have a formal system for employees to submit suggestions were included in this analysis.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Does your organization track the financial value of implemented suggestions (e.g., cost savings, staff time savings, etc.)? 18 Note: n = 165. Only respondents whose organizations have a formal system for employees to submit suggestions were included in this analysis.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Does your organization track the financial value of implemented suggestions (e.g., cost savings, staff time savings, etc.)? By Staff Size: Larger organizations (25,000 or more employees) (90%) were more likely than smaller organizations with 1 to 99 employees (39%) or 100 to 499 employees (37%) to report that their organizations track the financial value of implemented suggestions. By Operations: Organizations with multinational operations (61%) were more likely than organizations with U.S.- based operations (39%) to report that their organizations track the financial value of implemented suggestions. 19 Comparison by Organization’s Staff Size and Operations Location

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Demographics: Organization Industry Industry Manufacturing –other15% Health care, social assistance (e.g., hospitals, clinics)11% Services –professional, scientific, technical, legal10% Government/public administration—federal, state/local, tribal7% Financial services (e.g., banking)6% Other services (e.g., other nonprofit, church/religious organizations)5% High-tech5% Educational services/education4% Retail/wholesale trade4% Transportation, warehousing (e.g., distribution)4% Construction, mining, oil and gas4% 20 Note: n = 452. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Demographics: Organization Industry (continued) Industry Consulting3% Insurance2% Services—accommodation, food and drinking places2% Utilities2% Association—professional/trade2% Manufacturing—auto/auto-related2% Arts, entertainment, recreation2% Telecommunications1% Biotech1% Real estate, rental, leasing1% Publishing, broadcasting, other media0% Pharmaceutical0% Other6% 21 Note: n = 452. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Demographics: Organization Sector 22 Note: n = 440. Excludes other organization sectors.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Demographics: Organization Staff Size 23 Note: n = 353. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding.

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 Demographics: Other 24 Note: n = 479 U.S.-based operations75% Multinational operations25% Single-unit company: A company in which the location and the company are one and the same 35% Multi-unit company: A company that has more than one location 65% Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices 48% Each work location determines HR policies and practices 2% A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determine HR policies and practices 50% Is organization a single-unit company or a multi- unit company? Are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit corporate headquarters, by each work location or both? Does the organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only or does it operate multinationally? Note: n = 427 Note: n = % of organizations indicated that employees at their work location were unionized. Note: n = 450

Employee Suggestion Programs | ©SHRM 2010 SHRM Poll: Employees Suggestion Programs Response rate = 20% Sample comprised of 523 HR professionals randomly selected from SHRM’s membership Margin of error is +/- 4% Survey fielded October 8–October 22, Methodology For more poll findings, visit: Follow us on Twitter: