Retail Week discusses the importance of employee ideas and how retail giants like M&S and Primark use Sideways 6 to give their employees a voice.
Writers for Retail Week highlight the success of M&S’ Straight to Stuart and Primark’s FWD Th!nk schemes, two long-running initiatives powered by Sideways 6 that have to date helped both organisations hear and act on over 28,000 employee ideas collectively.
Industry experts outline the principles that guide successful ideas initiatives, covering key factors like ease-of-submission, recognition and ensuring all employees who take the time to submit ideas are rightfully rewarded. Will Read, CEO of Sideways 6, talks about the steps his company takes to speak to these principles, and how this enables the team at Sideways 6 to create unique idea management tools that help businesses achieve millions in savings.
Jermaine Lapwood, Director of Innovation at Primark, says taking a “targeted and thematic” approach to suggestions campaigns has benefited the business greatly. Lapwood mentions how running campaigns through FWD Th!nk every “two months or so” helps leaders and employees keep idea volumes at a manageable level and stay fully focused on each project.
Stuart Machin, CEO of Marks & Spencer, shares similar views on Sideways 6-powered ideas initiatives. Machin says the Straight to Stuart suggestions scheme ensures everyone across the business has a part to play in ongoing transformations, helping to improve collaboration and communication across all levels of the organisation.
Read more about the importance of employee ideas in Retail Week’s two articles, ‘Secrets of successful staff suggestion schemes’ and ‘Retail Week Awards 2025: From the trolley park to the boardroom - Leader of the Year Stuart Machin’.
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