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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:
😀 Unlock happier humans | Watch employee engagement soar as your people feel seen, heard, and valued. |
💰 Save big, stress less | Shave hours (and headaches) off your plate, all while you boost the bottom line. |
⚙️ Spark positive change | Empower your people to lead with their own brilliant ideas—it’s change management with a dash of innovation |
How?
We'll introduce you to our START framework. It's like your campaign GPS. It has five stages:
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?
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 7 key personas you’ll want on your radar.
And, before you panic—no, you don’t need to wrangle 7 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. |
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 -----
Before you dive in, let’s talk about why you’re running this campaign in the first place.
What’s the 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.
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.
Insights based on Sideways 6 data
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:
Check out the infographic below for some ideas on how to make this happen and get your team more engaged than ever.
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.
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:
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:
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
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
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).
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.
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 |
|
|
|
4 IMPLEMENT |
5 DELIVERED |
< END 6 BENEFITS REALISED |
|
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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?
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 |
Imagine having a system that:
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.
Ideas from Anywhere™
Sideways 6 exists to help bring good ideas to life every day, everywhere from everyone.
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