Dedication, hard-work, persistence, etc, are key employee attributes that help a product or a company transform into a brand. However, sharing and discussing great ideas, and letting the deserving ones take credit for it are non-negotiable. Having employee board ideas where ideas defeat hierarchy is definitely a plus point.
“If you want to hire great people and make them stay then you have to let them take decisions. You have to run by ideas and not hierarchies. The best ideas have to win otherwise good people don’t stay.” - Steve Jobs
Employee idea board to defeat hierarchy at one single place
1. An initial push to the newbies of the company
When you have new people joining your company it is really important to align them with your company goals and vision. The best way to go about it is by involving everyone through an open platform where everybody can share their views. It will be an encouraging push for the new joinees, who will feel comfortable in the organisation right from the beginning. They will get to know what other people have in mind and will automatically be willing to share their ideas as well.
Getting it right from the very beginning is easy because it’s more convenient to learn something new in the initial stage of a new culture. Later on it might be difficult to unlearn a perception, which the new joinees might already have created. Therefore, an open Idea Board works the best in such cases.
2. 24/7 digital solutions without any limitations
If your organisation uses a physical platform that is only available during work hours then you are probably limiting your employees. Ideas don’t have a time or place to come because they come instantly. A more open and accessible platform allows your employees to share an idea right there and then. In fact, proactive alerts and notifications promote improvement.
Moreover, employees are now comfortable using their mobile phones, iPads or laptops. So, whenever they find time they can share the ideas as they are through the device they are comfortable using. If the idea turns out really well then they will get the credit that they deserve. Further, if anyone suggests any changes or improvements then those suggestions can be tracked and implemented accordingly.
3. Support the improvements with real measurements
Every time someone shares an idea, it can have a long-term or a short-term impact. The best way to go about it is to ensure that the timelines are set prior to the execution process. So, whenever someone shares an idea they can keep a proper track over the implementation and execution process. The person in charge must have total control over the process. So, there is no fault while taking the measurements. In the end, employees want to share ideas and see those ideas pay-off.
Even if an idea doesn’t work out, it’s still better to know why it didn’t work. Maybe they can improve their approach the next time. That’s how an Idea Board helps establish the process from scratch and further helps employees to keep tabs on them.
4. Promote cross-functional collaboration
To get the best of ideation and execution it is really important to ensure that only great minds are working on the project. Therefore, it gets really important to build and maintain the momentum, and brings members from different departments of the organisation to work in collaboration. A product marketer can contribute towards bringing in UX delivery that alters a brand marketing idea and ends up giving it more credibility.
An analytical mind will know the best ways to capture data and make the best use of it. The content, social and PR teams all add relevance and contribute in their own ways. When they all work together they can actually make the smallest idea bring to life.
5. Transparency in the business model and goals
To put it in simple words, to maintain consistency and transparency at workplace you have to ensure that each department knows what the other departments are up to. Otherwise, there is unnecessary chaos and confusion that might lead to blame games in the future.
Therefore, employee idea baord is the easiest way to manage and keep a check on who is responsible for which project. People will keep sharing ideas on this open, transparent portal and others will be able to keep a check on the progress while equally putting in efforts to contribute further.
6. Key differentiator between ideators and executors
An Idea Board for work is a great integration on your employee engagement platform to check whether an employee is an ideator or an executor. It is a general misconception that ideators belong to the top most hierarchy and executors belong to the lower most hierarchy. The truth is that the very idea of an Idea Board is to eliminate any such propaganda.
Yes, great ideas have to win but great execution is also important. With the way your employees discuss ideas and suggestions, it would be easy for you to manage them. Further, you can assign tasks to individual employees as per their calibre. This will motivate them to improve every single time.
7. An engaging meeting place outside of work
There’s no other feature that could conclude the article in a better way. An employee idea Board for work is a great place that is accessible to all anytime, anywhere. It is an open platform where anybody can view ideas shared by all employees across the company. It is a great place to interact with fellow employees and see the extent of scope to which an employee can think and share ideas.
Having said that, there are certain ways in which we can make the HR automation process more productive. As suggested by Geoffrey A. Moore in his book - Crossing The Chasm - there are a lot of times where employees aren’t sure about the ways in which they can invest their time, which automation saves for them. This further gives unnecessary validation to the conservative thought that billions of dollars are invested on automation but it doesn’t have much significant improvements in productivity.
Employee engagement tools therefore, become all the more important. So, the HR and management are able to measure the impact of automation. Moreover, Employee Idea Board will also play its role in measuring the impact of various ideas that employees share and have ideas defeat hierarchy.