Introduce an innovative system which would enable the voices of the external and internal customers to be heard in the decision making process. The aim is to empower all the relevant stakeholders leading to increased satisfaction, ownership and engagement thereby contributing to the overall vision of the company.

Problem

The decision making in most of the companies is top down. Also, the voice of the external and internal customers is not taken into consideration
In most cases, the companies fail to gather insights from the customers which would otherwise help them in enhancing customer experiences leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty
There are less avenues for employees to contribute in areas other than those which are predefined through KPI’s etc. As a result the employees work in a rigid, objective oriented environment. Also, the incentives are linked to this structure, further narrowing the scope for innovation

Solution

A web and mobile platform based on principles of design thinking and gamification for accelerating innovation.

It will capture customer experiences, insights from all the relevant stakeholders and provide an open collaborative environment for innovation.

This would empower the external and internal customers leading to enhanced satisfaction and engagement.

Methodology

Define: Involve the customers and the relevant stakeholders in decision making. Series of questions to the external customers. Some questions can also be designed for the internal customers.Mix of close ended and open ended questions
Design: The phase of ideation, sharing, team formation, prototyping, iteration and final submission. People will have an option to post anonymously to reduce any kind of bias
Declare: The winners are announced in this phase. Identity of the winners is revealed. Awards, incentives to be given
Deploy: In certain cases, the management can invite the winning person/team to deploy the winning solutions

Decide on the time frame for the different phases.

Example

Challenge: How to improve the perception of brand ‘X’

Phase 1: Define

For eg:

What do you like in a product? What motivates you to buy?

How was your experience with brand X across various touch points

Website
Telephonic interaction
In person
Follow up

Overall Experience:

How would you rate the product on (CSI)

Quality
Delivery
Customer service

Overall Experience:

How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the service you received? (CSAT)

Reason:

Would you recommend this product to others? (NPS)

Reason:

Any specific question the company wants to ask the customers or want to know the overall feedback

Phase 2: Design

Individuals (anonymous option to reduce any kind of bias) starts answering (using insights from the previous phase)
Others can build on this
People can start forming virtual teams (in most cases, this can even be open to the external customers, partners, other stake holders)
The teams can even develop basic prototypes (sketch, mindmap, video, presentation, wireframe, model etc) and upload it
Everyone starts voting and commenting
The teams can further iterate and submit the final idea

Phase 3: Declare

Based on the number of votes and comments (based on a set algorithm) and the judging by the top management, the final winner is declared.
Then the identity of the winners is revealed
Leaderboard (Points) to be maintained and displayed
Winners pic can be displayed on a "Wall of Fame" which could be placed at some strategic location in the organization
Sometimes there can be some prize money or other awards
This can also be linked to incentives

Phase 4: Deploy

The company can further empower the winning team to realize their idea

Practical Impact

Highly satisfied customers

by incorporating customer voices into the decision making process of the organization
by working along side the employees to solve problems and suggest ideas will give them a sense of attachment to the organization

This would ensure customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy

Empowered staff

by giving the employees a greater say in an organization’s most important decisions
through a collaborative way of participation that rewards innovative ideas

Empowered employees are satisfied, motivated, driven, engaged and willing to contribute more

High performing organization

by inverting the normal work structure and providing a platform leading to more participation, autonomy and efficiency
by injecting the voice of the customers and all the relevant stakeholders in the decision making process
by converting an objective (KPI) oriented process into a more flexible project oriented one, creating an enthusiastic and energetic workforce

This would ensure happy external and internal customers leading to a profitable organization

Challenges

Challenge 1

The top management would hesitate to open up the decision making process to the employees and the external customers

Suggestion: They need to be told that the platform would help in enhancing innovation and in no way shift the balance of power

Challenge 2

Low confidence in employees when it comes to sharing their ideas and suggestions in an open system which would be accessible to all including the top management

Suggestion: There would be an option for the employees to post their views anonymously. The identity of only the winners would be revealed at the end of the challenge. Also there would be interesting prizes, leaderboard and incentive schemes linked to this system further increasing their confidence.

Challenge 3

The customer would not be that interested in sharing their insights

Suggestion: Communicate to them how special they are and how much the company value their feedback. Also involve them in the overall challenge so that they feel important and engaged.

First Steps

Introduce the idea to all the relevant stakeholders
Conduct a survey, understand how the employees and select external employees would feel about such a system
Gather insights
Develop a prototype (Web, Mobile)
Trial run
Gather feedback
Iterate
Develop the final platform
Get all the stakeholders excited through a campaign
Launch the first challenge

Credits

I got inspiration from open innovation platforms such as OpenIdeo , various customer experience measurement tools like CSAT, NPS and from the SAP-UHP cheat sheet.

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