The Playbook for Successful Idea Programs in 2025

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Launching an employee ideas program can feel daunting: will you get enough ideas? Will it take forever to manage? And will those ideas even make a difference?

Plus, let’s be real—keeping your people excited and engaged can sometimes feel like an uphill battle.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

In this playbook, we’ll show you how to make it easy, fun, and wildly effective to gather and implement ideas that can drive real change.

And the best part? You don’t need to drown your people in emails or endless surveys to get there. With our proven approach, you can:

1. Stakeholders	2. Theme	3. Audience	4. Results	5. Timelines
Pick who to involve in your employee ideas campaign	Lock in a goal that’ll spark your employees’ creativity	Decide on your target audience, and how you’ll collect data	Define the outcomes and metrics you’ll keep an eye on	Set those all-important timelines to stay on track

So... ready to get started?

Suggested stakeholders

The right stakeholders can make or break your employee ideas campaign.

You need to gather the dream team that will steer the ship, champion the cause, and keep the wheels of your campaign turning.

We've pulled together seven key personas you’ll want on your radar.

And, before you panic—no, you don’t need to wrangle seven different people! But making sure each of these roles is covered in some way is your best bet for a campaign that runs like clockwork—and actually works.

💁 Campaign sponsor	The spearhead. This is your go-to person for securing the budget and resources needed to get the campaign rolling. They’ll also be backing the winning ideas when it’s time to bring them to life.
😎 Campaign manager	The owners. Responsible for the day-to-day running of the campaign, project management and making sure the whole thing’s a success from start to finish.
💡 Idea manager	The drivers. They’re the go-to for moving ideas along the pipeline, sending updates, and closing ideas down when needed.
🔎 Expert reviewers	The evaluators. In charge of reviewing the top ideas, offering timely expert insights, and giving valuable feedback to your idea submitters.
🏆 Champions	Your hype squad—responsible for promoting the campaign, spreading the word, and rallying behind submitted ideas and idea-makers to keep the momentum going.
🎬 Implementers	They make sure the best ideas don’t just sit on a whiteboard. Whether it’s clearing roadblocks or rolling up their sleeves to get things done, they turn great ideas into real-world wins.
📪 Internal comms	They’re in charge of building buzz—before, during, and after the campaign. Their mission? Boost engagement and share those success stories.

Campaign template Everything you need to start building an impactful ideas campaign

Task

So, who’s doing what?

Using the table above, whip up an Excel sheet to list out the key stakeholders you’ll need to make this ideas campaign a hit.

Jot down their names, roles, and maybe even a note on why they’re essential to have on board. This will be your “who’s who” guide for success!

Download our campaign builder excel template to complete each task.

Your employees are your key stakeholders, so if they are engaged and impassioned about your purpose and mission, they will drive your organization forward

----- Anthony K. Tjan -----

Theme: what's your goal?

Before you dive in, let’s talk about why you’re running this campaign in the first place.

What’s the end goal? At Sideways 6, we’ve seen 3 big reasons behind most employee ideas campaigns:

Business improvement + Innovation	Find ways to save time and money, and generate revenue
Employee engagement	Get your people excited, involved, and reduce churn.
Transformation	Guide your business through change, with your people on board.

Pick your theme wisely—it’ll shape everything from the ideas you gather to the impact you make!

We’ll walk you through how you can get started with each theme, and the sorts of questions you can ask to get maximum engagement and high quality ideas.

Theme: Business Improvement and Innovation

Business improvement campaigns are all about snagging ideas that can streamline processes, cut costs, boost revenue, or even launch brand-new products or services.

Take a look below for inspiration on how to get the ball rolling.

Business improvement and innovation idea campaign- example questions

Insights based on Sideways 6 data

Most business improvement campaigns ask “What” questions.
“What” questions tend to spark the most ideas and get people talking.

$96m saved through efficiency ideas at Balfour Beatty with Sideways 6

Theme: Employee Engagement

Employees just don’t stick around like they used to, and replacing them? That’s a pricey game.

But here’s the thing: when employees feel heard, they’re happier—and they’re more likely to stay put.

By asking for their ideas and actually listening, you’re showing them that their opinions count. And, honestly, that’s what really counts for them.

Employee engagement campaigns usually aim to:

Boost the employee experience
Streamline efficiency
Level up your customer experience

Check out the infographic below for some ideas on how to make this happen and get your team more engaged than ever.

Employee engagement idea campaign - example questions

Insights based on Sideways 6 data

Most employee engagement campaigns use “How” questions and are the second most popular way to ask a question across all campaigns.

75% increase in employee engagement at Marks & Spencer when they moved their ideas program into Microsoft Teams

Theme: Transformation

Change doesn’t have to be a top-down drag. When you bring employees into the mix and let their ideas help shape the transformation, it’s amazing what can happen.

Not only does it make the change feel more like a team effort, but it also gives everyone a sense of ownership—which makes them more likely to embrace the shift.

Transformation campaigns usually aim to:

Build a culture of innovation
Sharpen up processes
Drive impactful changes across the business

Take a look below to see the kinds of transformation campaigns you can run to shake things up and lead the charge for change!

Task

Go back to your campaign builder template and complete the following:

What's your campaign theme?
Why do you want to focus on this?
Go back to your stakeholder task - who needs to be involved?

Audience: who’s in? Defining your campaign audience

Before you hit go on your employee ideas campaign, you need to think about who you want to engage. Are you rallying the whole company, or focusing on a specific group?

Let’s break it down!

All employees

Running an all-employee campaign means opening the floor to everyone—every department, every perspective. Here’s why that’s awesome:

👍 Benefits

Diverse perspectives: You’ll get a flood of ideas from across the business, tapping into insights you might not expect.
Inclusivity: It’s a win for company culture—everyone feels heard and part of the process.
Better problem-solving: More brains = better solutions. A wider range of ideas means you’re more likely to crack those tricky problems.
Boosted engagement: When employees feel valued and heard, they’re more likely to be invested in their work.

Segmented employees

Running a campaign with a specific group of employees lets you zero in on a select crowd with shared interests or expertise. It’s like crowdsourcing with a laser focus.

👍 Benefits

Expertise: You’ll get top-notch, relevant ideas from employees who know their stuff in the area you’re tackling.
Efficiency: Smaller groups mean less noise and more focus, so you can move faster and with clearer direction.
Less resource strain: Fewer ideas to sift through means less time and manpower spent managing the process.
Tailored campaign: You can customise the campaign to the needs of the project, bringing in just the right people with the skills to match.

Task

Go back to your campaign builder template and complete the following:

Make a record of who your campaign will target: All employees or specific employees?

Think about the volume and quality of results you want to get, and if you are running a time-bound campaign or an always-on campaign (more on that later).

Results: how to know you're nailing it

Running a killer ideas campaign is great, but how do you know if it’s actually working? That’s where setting the right metrics comes in.

Whether you're focusing on business improvement, employee engagement, or transformation, tracking the right data is key to monitoring success—and figuring out where you can tweak things for next time.

Check out the table below for ideas on what metrics to track, based on your campaign theme and goals. Remember, it’s all about keeping things measurable, so you know when to celebrate (or make adjustments).

Business improvement	Employee engagement	Transformation
£/$/€ etc of costs saved	% or bps increase in employee engagement score (eNPS)	% or bps increase in organisational health index
£/$/€ etc of revenue generated	% of audience engaged	No. of unique ideas shared
No. of hours saved	% increase in employee retention	% of your employees who believe in the strategy
Velocity of ideas to market	% in reduction in employee churn	% of people feeling closer to the business
No. of innovation projects	% increase in number of 'employees feeling heard'	% of audience engaged

Task

Go back to your campaign builder template and complete the following:

Add some ideas for your campaign timeline.

For example, you might kick things off with one “always-on” campaign, plus a time-bound one that pops up each quarter.

Structure: from idea to impact—how to structure your campaign

Kicking off an employee ideas campaign is exciting stuff! But to turn great ideas into real results, a bit of structure goes a long way. Think of it like a roadmap: without one, those brilliant ideas can get lost or stall out.

By setting up a clear path—from submission to delivery—you’ll keep things moving and make it easier to spot the game-changing ideas that can really make a difference.

Don’t worry—we’ve got a simple model lined up for you, laying out the ideal status at each stage. It’s the perfect way to help everyone stay in the loop on where each idea is in the funnel.

START > 1 QUALIFY	2 DEVELOP	3 EVALUATE
Where all new ideas land—Recommended Status: New Filter out the 'non-ideas' (e.g., feedback)—Recommended Status: Closed - Feedback Move the promising ones forward—Recommended Status: Active Idea	Develop ideas: Add missing details or build on what’s already there. Tidy things up: Combine similar ideas or split them if they’re covering too much ground. Spot the game-changers: Highlight those bold, radical ideas. Pro tip: Sort them into Quick Wins, Medium Ideas, and Big Ideas!	Send ideas to be reviewed by experts—Status: Waiting Evaluate ideas using your own criteria Easily spot the winning ideas based on expert feedback
4 IMPLEMENT	5 DELIVERED	< END 6 BENEFITS REALISED
Assign implementers to each idea as it moves forward—Recommended Status: Active Idea. Use custom fields to keep an eye on progress—Recommended fields: Implementation Lead Name, Delivery Update, and Follow-Up Date.	All successfully implemented ideas land here—Recommended Status: Active/Delivered This is where you track and report on all delivered ideas and the benefits they bring. Ideas stay in this stage until those benefits are fully realised!	All ideas that have been implemented and delivered results land here. Track and report on the wins from each idea—Status: Completed/Benefits Realised.

Structure: what's the Big Question? Broad vs. Specific

When it comes to asking for ideas, the type of question you ask matters. Do you want to keep things broad and open-ended to spark a wide range of ideas? Or go more specific, targeting a particular problem or area?

There’s benefits to each approach, and the choice depends on your campaign goals. Check out the infographic below to help you decide which question style fits your needs best!

	Broad	Medium	Specific
The why	Leadership want to spread the word and get more eyes on a company strategy	You want fresh ideas to nail down a specific goal within an overall strategy	You’re after ideas that hit a more specific objective / criteria
Example	“How can we become carbon neutral by 2030?”	“How can we reduce environmental waste?”	“How can we cut the amount we travel for business?”
Benefits	Sky-high engagement, tons of ideas, and a broad mix of perspectives	Solid engagement, and a high rate of ideas that actually get implemented	Top-notch ideas, maximum implementation rate, efficient campaign
Disadvantages	Idea quality is lower	Engagement is usually lower long-term	Lower volume of ideas

Task

Go back to your campaign builder template and complete the following:

Know your stakeholders, campaign audience and timeline?

Now’s the time to jot some ideas down for your campaign question. Why not rope in some of your stakeholders to vote on their favourite?

Structure: ask a little more—get a lot in return

When employees submit an idea, it pays to ask a few extra questions up front.

Why? Because the more you know about their thinking, the better you can evaluate their suggestions.

These questions help you get the full picture and boost the chances of landing some seriously high-quality ideas. Ready to dig deeper? Let’s explore what to ask!

Question type	Question examples	Answer types
Idea name	What is the name of your idea?	Free text
Submitter's department/team/region	What department/team/region do you work in?	Multiple choice
Idea department/team/region	What department/team/region would your idea benefit?	Multiple choice
Problem	In 100 words or less, what problem is your idea trying to solve?	Free text
Solution	In 100 words or less, please explain how your idea could be implemented	Free text
Benefit type	What type of benefit might your idea bring?	Multiple choice
Submitter responsibility	Are you prepared to develop and/or deliver your idea?	Yes/No
Innovation type	Is this a brand new product, process or service (radical idea) or an improvement to an existing product (incremental improvement)?	Multiple choice
Strategic pillar	Which strategic pillar does your idea relate to?	Multiple choice

Boost engagement, cut costs, and manage change the easy way...

Imagine having a system that:

Seamlessly collects ideas from every corner of your company
Automatically sorts and categorises submissions (no more spreadsheet nightmares!)
Helps you easily spot those game-changing ideas
And enables you to track progress like a boss

Sound too good to be true?

Discover the easy way to gather your employee ideas and transform them into game-changing innovations.

Learn more about our product or book a free demo today to find out how you can leverage AI-powered technology to take our idea management initiative to the next level.