UK
employers are missing out on nearly 7 million new business ideas, because staff
don’t feel comfortable or confident in sharing them.
A
new poll, timed to coincide with National Ideas Week, finds that despite
creating a wealth of suggestions, almost a quarter of the workforce don’t share
them with managers.
The
research, commissioned by 3M, reveals that untapped employee ideas cover a wide
range of subjects ranging from ways to improve staff morale and productivity to
new product ideas.
One
in five workers claim they don’t share ideas because they believe they won’t be
listened to, while one in 10 are intimidated by managers.
The
figures demonstrate the value of employee suggestion schemes, with 84 per cent
of the 1,000 respondents claiming they’d be more likely to stay at an employer
that listened to their ideas.
Jeff
Skinner, training and development manager at 3M, said it was important for
managers to genuinely listen to staff and take on board their ideas.
“The
simple message is most employees don’t believe their ideas are valued. One of
the main criticisms is that managers don’t really listen to their staff.
“Employers
must do more to make staff feel valued and that means managers asking people’s
opinions rather than going through the motions. Giving basic leadership
training can also help harness ideas from staff,” he said.
National
Ideas Week runs 10-14 March
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