Staff brainwaves reap financial rewards - for employers

Staff suggestions can be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to employers, according to research published today (date) by IRS Employment Review, published by LexisNexis Butterworths.

While some suggestion schemes fail to engage employees and are eventually closed down, others engage employees and produce rewards for employers in terms of higher sales, more efficient ways of working, and lower costs.

And almost all (96%) organisations that run suggestion schemes hope to achieve greater staff involvement - with service improvements (cited by 84%) close behind.

Although most suggestion schemes offer cash or gifts to reward good ideas (anything up to 1,000 for the best ideas in some companies), employers believe that their staff place more value on the recognition they receive for their efforts.

The survey, which was conducted in October 2004, is carried in the new edition (813) of IRS Employment Review.