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We spoke with Phil Knowles, Head of Continuous Improvement & Skills Development at Currys, to find out how his team tracks impact across their employee ideas platform, the Pitch, powered by Sideways 6. From financial validation to frontline feedback loops, here’s how they’re making it work.
“We’ve got an internal process that involves the Continuous Improvement team, the area where the idea was delivered, and our finance team if there’s a financial benefit involved.
Once an idea is implemented, we track it over a 12-week period. At the end of that, we run a review to understand what’s been achieved.
If a financial benefit has been realised, it gets validated by our finance partner and rolled up into an annual cost saving for that team or idea.
We log everything in our CI tracker, and those savings are also reflected in the profit and loss statement for that part of the business.”
“Yes. At the stage where our expert reviewers assess ideas to move them forward, we’ll include an initial estimate of the potential value.
We use that in our reporting to highlight how much value could be unlocked.
Once the idea is implemented, we follow the 12-week tracking and validation process to see what’s actually been delivered.
Sometimes the estimate is accurate, and other times it’s higher than what’s realised. But it gives us a sense of what’s possible.”
“We’ve built a Power BI dashboard that integrates data from Sideways 6. It’s designed to match the look and feel of our other business reports, which helps with adoption.
The first page covers high-level stats like how many ideas have been submitted, where they are in the process, and what types of improvements they relate to – customer experience, ways of working, and so on.
We also show delivered financial value and hours saved.
The second page is focused on implementation and uses a red, amber, green rating to flag ideas based on how long they’ve been sitting at that stage.
If something’s been there for over 100 days, it shows as red. This helps us start conversations with teams about what’s stuck, why, and whether it’s still relevant.”
“It depends on the campaign, but we try to keep things straightforward.
We focus on process changes that improve productivity, reduce waste, or lead to financial savings.
On the customer side, we look at Net Promoter Score to track whether customer experience improves as a result of ideas.
And from a colleague point of view, we’re starting to see more impact in our annual engagement survey. There’s a question around whether people feel they have a channel to share their suggestions, and that’s improved by three points since launching the platform.”
“The biggest challenge is showing a clear, direct link between an idea and a specific outcome, especially with things like wellbeing or customer satisfaction.
There are often lots of contributing factors, so it’s hard to isolate one idea as the driver of change.
The financial impact is easier to track and validate because we can involve finance to rubber stamp it.
But for the more qualitative metrics, it’s about having structured processes and being clear about assumptions.”
“It’s twofold. First, it’s about going back to colleagues and showing that they’ve genuinely made a difference. That’s massive for engagement and satisfaction.
And from a business point of view, we’re constantly looking to drive improvements.
The outcomes we get from colleague ideas are a big part of that.
Rolling it all up into a financial dashboard that leadership can review, question, and challenge gives it weight and visibility at the top level.”
“Definitely. People want to know they’ve been listened to and that their ideas are making a difference.
For some, it’s about improving their day-to-day working environment. For others, it might tie into performance-related pay.
And there’s also pride in knowing they’ve improved something for our customers.
It helps people feel more connected to the business and their team.”
“We’ve had small process changes where we’ve tracked the results weekly and could clearly show the benefit.
That means when we speak to our finance business partner, we can confidently present the numbers for validation.
It also builds trust. They know we’re not just guessing.
If we follow the new process for the rest of the year, we know what the full benefit could be.
But if we stop or go back to old ways, we lose it. That’s why accurate tracking at the benefits realisation stage is so important.”
“It gives us a way to show how engaged teams are and where support might be needed.
It also helps leaders see what’s in the pipeline and where they can step in – whether that’s unlocking budget, providing resources, or helping prioritise delivery.
And when we highlight winning ideas, it gives leaders a chance to reach out, give thanks, and get more visibly involved.”
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“I’d say it’s essential.
From a business point of view, it shows you’re contributing to continuous improvement.
From a colleague perspective, it helps with engagement and motivation.
It can even link to personal objectives or development goals.
Having a structured process to estimate, monitor, and validate ideas means you can confidently say, this idea made a difference – and here’s how we know.”
Whether you're just getting started or want to take things further, the Business Impact Dashboard is a simple, powerful way to track outcomes and prove the value of employee ideas.
Want to talk it through? Just hit the Book a meeting button at the top of the page.
