Suggestion Box Form

In addition to hbgb comment, Be sure to include a Check Box for Safety.
 

Is that not what I just said is important? What’s your point?

Suggestion boxes are a dumb idea.

At Toyota in Kentucky their suggestion box is a hugh white board in each department stating the suggestion.  It also has a place for the area supervisor to sign and date.  They are required by the way to respond to the post within 24 hrs.

Managing the financial rewards aspect must really be a big deal.  I know the manager of the system I was referencing would only allow a weekly or monthly drawing for a token amount ($25 – $50) to emphasize the importance of participation not the magnitude of the suggestion. 
I agree that the system must really be thought through but I’m not sure that Stan is right and that they are completely a bad idea.  I would sure want some way to capture the Voice of the Employee when it occurs to them besides at annual review time, in specific meeting settings or during an exit interview.

I really hate to be negative in general, but I embarked on creation of such a program some years ago. I thought it could be quite simple, but it turned into a bureaucratic boondoggle and failed within six months. (this was before my black belt training)  I now believe that the “small things” suggestion is the way to go. We have to create a culture both at the management level and at the operator level where the expectation is it’s part of your job to find improvements. Recognition can still occur, as it would with any process improvement success. But it needs to be built into every employee’s personal performance goals and measures.  Just don’t ask me how to do it, but I know others have done it and I continue to attempt emulation.

Wrong
We have a very successful Employee Suggestion Box in use, and some really good ideas and suggestions come from it. We manage it through feed back in both Safety meetings and employee round table discussions, and weekly review of KPI’s. The key is we have both management and employee participation on a regular interval basis. We have had this system in place for over two years and we continue to see good participation by all employees
As smart as you are Stan, your opinion on this is way off.
 
 

We use a Kaizen suggestion form that I can Email to you. It includes name date department, log info, improvement proposal box, evaluation/implement boxes, routing box, criteria boxes and conclusion boxes, all on 81/2 by 11. It’s a great form we developed.

A suggestion box in any culture that fails is due to one thing and one thing only. Managements lack of commentment to communication…………..Period.
Without communication one on one, the culture is irrelevant. And what that says to the employees is that management doesn’t care.
I’ve seen from Chicago to Lubbock to Small town Nebraska, if you don’t communicate with your employee’s and supply feedback and committment to them then its your fault that the system failed and it will become nothing more than a gripe box.
 

In psychology, there’s a concept called parataxic distortion – it’s the tainted perception of a person or idea due to a shared characteristic or trait.  For example, if you were married to a man who beat you whenever he drank, then you might tend to think that every man is going to smack you around after they toss a couple beers back. 
The same principle applies to some workplaces.  If you try to post a suggestion box in a place where its been tried be a previous (ineffective) management regime, the workers there are going to associate that box with the deaf ears of the prior staff.  “Oh, here it goes again”, “they’re pretending to care about what we think again”, “let’s put salami in there and see how long it takes them to figure it out”.  You’ll spend more time and energy trying to overcome the perceptions of the workers there than you would if you developed a different methodology for getting those ideas.  I’ve worked in places where I would never ever ever put in a suggestion box.  That doesn’t mean there wasn’t communication.  It just meant that it wasn’t the best solution in that place and at that time. One size doesn’t fit all. 
Its not simply a matter of communication.  On the contrary, if there’s adequate communication between management & operations (one-on-one or otherwise), why would you need a suggestion box in the first place?

Union,
To your point about physcological differences or even same traits, A suggestion box can be anonymous because some people will only speak their mind in that manner. Often gaining TRUST with employees is about doing the little things. Once a usually un open person can see a change as a result of something they input to the system, it becomes much easier for them be open about their ideas.
In any culture you are going to have very outspoken employee’s and those who wish to merely do their job and go home. From my experience a suggestion box gives everyone a voice. Again its about managing people and participating. Those who don’t get it, never will.
 
Other than that, I agree.
 
 

Robert S., you comments have absolutely no value in that you have
absolutely no experience.I respect Chad’s opinion, not yours. The culture we are striving for in Lean and/or Six Sigma is one of
open, respectful, and continuous discussion of how to take hassle
out of the process. By it’s very nature, a box is a batch process, not
continuous.

THANKS so very much for all the great comments.  I should have elaborated more on the working climate and the overall environment.  I implemented a quality control slip program two years ago in which operators write down problems they encountered throughout the shift.  Please note, these problems were “small stones” but problems.  To date, we have received over 1,000 and a lot of these small stones have been removed.
The success of the program provided the incentive for me to create a separate program in which employees submit ideas on potential improvements that could help them work smarter vice harder.  It’s another way to give the employees a voice in the process.
I have also created a couple of employee teams that are tackling various problems and so far they have been very successful.  An interesting thing to note…I had one employee who was handpicked to be on one of these employee teams.  After the first meeting, he quit.  His rationale wasn’t rational.  He did state he would continue filling out the quality control slips when he saw problems.  Maybe he feels comfortable doing that vice participating in a team.
Bottomline:  I truly enjoy the lively discussion…even Stan’s comments.  I am a firm believer in providing as many forums as possible in extracting the voice of the employee.  They are the technical experts.  Due to their background, education, and previous experiences, they vary greatly on how they want to communicate to management.  Some choose not to communicate at all…they want to go to work, do their job, get paid, and go home.  As a Process Improvement Person (whatever nomenclature you want to give it), it is my responsibility to engrain process improvement at my work.  It is my responsibility to teach managemenet how to react to, respond to, and act on the voice of the employee.  I just might work myself out of a job but that’s okay…I’ll find another.
So…any additional ideas on what my form should look like?  What should I call my Suggestion Box?  No, Stan, I won’t call it “dumb.”

Stan,
Maybe I shoud not have said  wrong and said like this. I agee that its a Muda Process and can be refined. My points are strictly to the failure of the Suggestion Box Process. If you have one, you have to manage it and your people by very open communication and feedback. I personally dislike Suggestion Boxes for all the reasons that they are bad, in same breath I embrace the gems that come 1 out of 20 or 1 out of 100 suggestions.
For us its the system that upper management chose and we have to do it correctly because if your going to do it, do it right. I have seen everything under the sun come out of these boxes, and you have to have rules for using them, they cannot become a tattle tale box.
 For me its simple, check the box weekly, reply to those suggestions with comments and plan further discussion on the ones you can, and throw the bs out.
I will say this, and it makes your point valid, the more communication you have with your employee’s in tool box meetings, safety meetings, etc, less communication comes out of the suggestion box, so if nothing else, it can be a tool to measure how effective management is communicating if you gage it that way. Maybe BS but seems valid from the 10000 foot level.
 

Thanks for elaborating. I agree.

I would call it the illusion of commnication and involvement.

Jay,
Thanks for the great post, this has given me a nudge to remember all (most !) of the things I have learnt over the years.
I have gained specific knowledge from several contributors on this Forum ( yes, even Stan, Fake Stan, et al ).
One overiding thought…as we ask others to look at what/how/why they do things, we also need to challenge ourselves likewise.
I’m not too proud to say I’m still learning.
D

I do not understand your attitude.  Under what rubric is “Stupid” constructive. 
First off, the form worked.  ie it’s a way to focus the effort and teach the employees simple problem solving.
Second it was used to help “change the job of the supervisor” so that they too could learn how to work with operators in a mentoring / coaching role.
Third, it’s a great example of the difference between a line manager who creates an environment to practice and  a consultant who tries to “talk / teach” it in.
Will wanted a name for his new program.  I suggest he name them STANs. 
 

Oh my, Jay.You took a shot at me for being a consultant and you are a consultant that doesn’t even know a good solution.Keep up the good work, it creates the opportunity for real consultants to come clean up the mess.http://www.linkedin.com/ppl/webprofile? action=vmi&id=3441133&pvs=pp&authToken=pXTn&authType=n ame&trk=ppro_viewmore&lnk=vw_pprofile

Good point Brandon Les Don R – I probably do have too much time on
my hands, maybe I should get a real job.You should see my online avatars – I am Hulk Hogan and I have two
chihuahuas. One is named Greg and the other is named Robert S.At least my advice is sound and based on experience even if I do
choose to live in this online lala land.

OK, you don’t like me, fine. But don’t put me in a class with Greg. That’s low.

Thanks again for all the inputs.  I do wish, however, that the bickering and name calling wouldn’t take place in this forum.  I do enjoy healthy debate but when it gets personal, all potential value is lost.  Please know that A LOT of people read these posts.  Many of them, like me, are trying to get more educated in the various disciplines we are involved in.  I don’t want people to think we aren’t professional.
Just my thoughts.  No need for additional inputs.  Thanks, however, for the inputs I did receive.

Stan:  We all understand your position on the topic.  Can you give it a rest?  Talk about muda – every post that you make on this topic that regurgitates your already fully elaborated position just wastes another 20 sec’s of my time as I select to go to the next post. 
Please, make your point, then drop it.  If there is additional elaboration that expands the topic constructively, you are welcome to add it.  But PLEASE stop wasting my time.

Roland:
Your 8 1/2 by 11 form sounds very interesting and usable. Would you please e-mail a copy? Our company is really hurting and our original Idea Box concept is an abysmal failure. I’m trying to pump some life in it before it is too late. Thanks.

It’s already too late.

Since you’re posting to me, here are my counterpoints –
1) Other people often waste my time, you often do with your useless sniping.  Sometimes, you actually have something useful to say, the other 80% of the time it is useless sniping.  If this board used a better technology, there would be a preview of the thread postings or I could block you.  Unfortunately, that is not the case, so as I traverse the thread (I often go back to the beginning so that I get the full context before I post and try not to rehash what has already been discussed – a strategy which you might consider) and when I come across something that I think can be addressed that hasn’t been, I do so.
2) Since you seem to think you know who I am, or at least where I work (or rather used to work), why don’t you contact me directly?  That way, I wouldn’t have to waste a post that nobody else is going to get any value out of here.
3) There are some who look to this forum for real help.   Some are misguided or trying to get a quick answer to a homework/cert question and it is appropriate to set them straight.  However, you often go off on personal attacks or just useless snipes at others.  Nobody needs it.

MBBn’Cheese,1) You are a big boy, you have the opportunity to not read anything
by me. Take responsibility for yourself. Just because you live in a
socialist state doesn’t mean you can’t take responsibility for
yourself. I don’t choose to consider the strategy you offered, but
thanks for offering.2) The soup place is good, isn’t it? I don’t know your email
address, but you should consider it a positive you don’t work there
anymore. A recluse for a CEO is not a good umbrella for a good
change agent, which I believe you are.3) I help those that come looking for help if they have invested in
their questions before coming here. On this particular topic, it is
well documented that suggestion boxes and a change culture have
nothing to do with one another. Why would I tell anyone something
different?Cheers and there is some really interesting consulting work in the
midwest if you are interested.

The company i  work for has an internal email address system ,so we added an ideas link so that people send their ideas to it and every two weeks i lead a team of employees who look at whats been sent and evaluate them . we also have a box in the canteen for staff who dont have access to emails to fill in forms .this is working well at the moment and its fair to say that after we added small cash incentives the ideas started rolling in. this snt the answer to everybodys problem but it suits us for now.