Just a Little Suggestion
BIC Corporation Spurs Employee Involvement
By Asking For Opinions
Growing up, children are taught that they can make a
difference if they try hard enough—if you put your
mind to it, you can accomplish anything. As we roll
through life, we gain knowledge and experience that
rounds our talents and shapes our abilities. The
opportunity to use that information could transform our
existing lives. However, once in the workplace, many
employees are asked to check their brains at the door.
Companies are not interested in the need for thinkers
when they just want someone to fit into a fixed position
in the already running machine. What could employees
really add? BIC Corporation, Milford, Conn., decided to
ask that question. The answer was their innovative
suggestion program. The resulting employee involvement
initiative speaks for itself and can be transferred
across company boundaries for others looking to improve
their systems.
The Man Behind the Plan
Ten years ago, BIC decided to take a calculated chance on
its employees. How could they not benefit from the
involvement of their employees? It seemed simple, and
indeed, it was. Dick Williams, the current global
manufacturing manager for stationary products for BIC,
set up a pilot program in one of the company’s
divisions.
“He was the driving force behind
this—the idea champion,” states Charlie
Tichy, employee involvement administrator. “He
pushed the program and gave us the clout to build
it.”
His hope was to start the program off
small and then deploy it to the remainder of the company
after cleaning up the small problems not noticed by the
creative team. “That is why we had a pilot program
in one division,” says Phil Preston, employee
involvement specialist. “A lot of companies want to
start a new program and just roll it out to everybody at
the beginning and then find out the problems
later.” Luckily, Williams had the vision to avoid
that pitfall. In fact, the pilot program remained in only
that one division for a couple of years before it was
deployed to the entire corporation. BIC very methodically
held it back, got the bugs out, set up the structure,
covered the problems and then rolled it out to one
division at a time.
“When it was finally up and
running and everyone was on board and understood how it
worked and what was expected, then it went on to the next
division,” says Tichy. “That is how we kept
it in line, and that is why we were so
successful.”
Fostering Involvement
So, how does this program that has done so much for BIC
work? Well, simply put, it is a suggestion program. If
employees see something they think could be improved,
they put in a suggestion—nothing more, nothing
less. And they are rewarded for each as well. As Tichy
explains, “When an employee puts in a suggestion,
even if rejected, they are acknowledged.” For each
suggestion, employees are given a token worth one dollar
to be cashed in at the company store or cafeteria or the
tokens can be traded in for cash. Additionally, each of
the 10 divisions randomly picks one suggestion from the
bunch each week and that person is given an extra 10
tokens. More important, the divisions choose a suggestion
as “Best of the Week” on the basis of value
to the company. The employee who submitted it is given a
check for $75. Out of those weekly best, a monthly best
is chosen for a prize of $100.
“We don’t give out an
extraordinary amount of money,” says Tichy.
“We didn’t want to corrupt the intentions of
sharing information.”
They avoided that mistake well by making
recognition the main source of reward. From photos posted
on bulletin boards to semi-annual recognition dinners to
special parking spots, the employees receive more than
just money. And rewards are based on total suggestions
made—no matter how outlandish. “We reward
participation, not quality,” states Tichy.
“We feel everybody has at least one good idea in
them,” agrees Preston. “In order to get that
one idea, we take all of their ideas and reward
them.”
Building the Environment
BIC had always had a lot going on in the realm of
employee involvement, but this program helped them focus
their employee’s efforts to accomplish specific
tasks while enabling them to track what individuals were
doing in regard to productivity improvements, safety and
quality. “The suggestion program has brought more
structure to our employee involvement efforts,”
says Preston. “We always had employees who were
taking initiative to improve their jobs and the
corporation, and the program not only gave us the ability
to quantify that, but to recognize the employee effort as
well.”
And the program works across 10
divisions within BIC. Not only that, but the program
remains exactly the same. “That is one of the
things we attribute the success of the program
to—it is standardized throughout,” explains
Preston. “We found in the past that when different
divisions are allowed to tweak programs, it causes a lot
of problems.” Another quality to mention is that
out of the 10 divisions, some of those are union and some
are not. The same program is used perfectly for both.
Some would consider that unusual. People usually think
that a program can work on one or the other, but not on
both. BIC has proved that wrong.
Other factors make this program special
from the rest. Most suggestion programs are strictly
designed to derive cost savings from employees.
BIC’s program is unique in that they are trying to
foster an environment with their suggestion program where
management and employees work together as a team to solve
problems. There are some cost savings related to the
program, but that was never the main goal. The main goal
was to create and foster an environment where hourly and
management can work together. In fact, hourly associates
are the ones who volunteer their time outside of their
normal jobs to coordinate the programs in the different
areas. In addition, Tichy and Preston oversee all 10
divisions. Tichy is an hourly employee and Preston is
management. They set the example by working jointly as a
team.
“The cost savings are a
byproduct,” says Preston. “What we found out
at BIC—and it is part of our company
philosophy—is that if you can create that
cooperative team environment between the employees and
the management, the company is going to naturally
benefit. The suggestion program just proves that
out.”
Last year they had approximately 3000
suggestions: 30 percent were safety improvements, 8
percent were actually cost saving. “When we kicked
off this program, Dick Williams felt the foundation for
having good teams is to have a suggestion
program—you have to prove to the employees that you
care about their ideas and what they are thinking,”
explains Tichy. “You can’t just put six
people into a room and tell them they are a team with no
support.”
Continuing Down the Road
It is just like the company mission says, “People
are our main resource.” BIC believes in the mantra
that one can buy computers, software, and manufacturing
machinery, but people make the difference in whether or
not they are successful and productive. “It is a
competitive market—especially when you consider it
globally,” states Preston. “We feel that
tapping the resources of our employees—getting them
totally involved in their jobs, looking for ways to
enhance their jobs and improve the company—is
vital.” Their suggestion program encourages
critical thinking and it affords all employees an
opportunity to participate. This ensures that even the
person at the lowest level has an opportunity to
contribute to the company and BIC recognizes those
efforts. “In the normal course of business, I would
guess in any organization, people are looking for better
ways to do their jobs and that trickles down to the
bottom line,” says Tichy. “Most times those
people aren’t being recognized. It is very
important that we encourage our employees to use the
program so we can recognize them.” Not only are the
employees allowed to bring their brains through the doors
at BIC, but it is encouraged.
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