Rewarding System

In order to talk about idea management and reward system, first of all, it is necessary to define the concept of innovation. Innovation can be defined as the development of products, goods, services, processes, or methods that have never been done or significantly changed in internal and external applications or organizations for enterprises. The term innovation can also appear as an Oslo guide. The Oslo guide is a detailed guide explaining the work to be done and concepts in the new product process. The Oslo guide was prepared by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

 

This guide argues that companies wishing to develop innovative applications should focus on what is new or what is distinctly different from existing. Innovation is a great force that keeps the company growing. It increases the profitability and competitiveness of companies. Because innovation has many benefits, it is highly regarded by companies. According to researches; 50% of the positive data in the performance of developing countries that provide improvement comes from innovation activities. The first point to start innovation activities is the idea. Idea management will come into play in these actions.

 

The idea is the first step in the research and development phases. Every process starts with an idea. The process after the idea; It continues in the form of concept development, design and verification, testing, and trial production. If the starting point of innovation is the idea, companies should do some work within the scope of idea management. Companies need to reach the idea. The ideas reached should be evaluated. Companies need to select and implement ideas that are suitable for their processes. The last phase of idea management is the evaluation of ideas put into practice. One of the indispensable actors of idea management is the rewarding system.

The reward system is a motivational tool. The idea process, that is, obtaining the idea, depends entirely on the human. Although the technology is very advanced, there is no artificial intelligence that offers ideas. If there were an artificial intelligence that offers ideas, it would be one of the most valuable programs of companies. Setting a reward system up to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the ideas that are entirely provided by people is a very important point in terms of the process. Businesses work with many stakeholders inside and outside. Those who offer ideas to improve the processes and products of the enterprise among these stakeholders should be rewarded in some way. If the idea management process is managed in accordance with the reward system, the pool of ideas of the enterprise will expand and the activities in innovation activities will increase immensely.

Idea management processes start with collecting ideas that can be managed. The most effective method for collecting ideas is to create a pool of ideas. So how do you create a pool of ideas?

• The people who will have the most impact on the pool of ideas are the company's employees. People working in the company are in control of both the company's processes and improvement points. Since each of these employees comes from different disciplines, names, experiences, and sectors, they can add their experiences and good points to the pool as ideas and expand the pool of ideas. Employees are also end-user who is very familiar with the company. These people can also be viewed as customers, as they use the company's products and services.
• After employees, customers or users, that is, people who will pay for your product, are another resource that can be used to create a pool of ideas in the process. Idea pools are now so developed that in some project management processes, the customer is directly in the development processes. We can see in agile, project, and scrum applications whether the ideas given by the customers are developed correctly. It is very important to experience every outcome and provide feedback on the experiences.
• The third important actor in the idea pool segment is the distributors and dealers who sell the business's product, service, or software. Distributors and dealers know the company closely and are in constant contact with end-users.
• There are other points that must be followed in order to create new products. Markets, market and industry needs, and technological developments should also be taken into account. The closest points to these concepts are; They are sectoral journals that publish fairs, universities, academies, and ındustry developments.
• Competitors are the last actors of idea management. Competitors can contribute to the pool of ideas.

 

Developed and developing countries place much emphasis on open innovation. Sharing and spreading information is very important for using that information in different versions or transferring it to different fields. The support programs of the European Union are completely based on open innovation. The work of competitors should be published and cooperated with them. Working together on joint projects will contribute to the idea pool of businesses.

1) Form and Surveys

In the past, wish and suggestion boxes were meeting us in public institutions. There were a pen and paper attached to the box. Points that needed improvement or problems were written and dropped into the box. These wish and suggestion boxes are still available in some companies. "I have an idea!" and "Let me have salt in the soup." and thanks to these platforms, anyone can submit an idea by entering a holding's contact page as an end-user. Surveys are a tool used to gather ideas that are open to improvement.

2) Rewarding System

The reward system can be used both as a tool and as a result. With a good reward system, more contributions will be made to the pool of ideas.

3) Competitions

4) Brainstorms

It is the gathering of experts on a specific subject at a specific time to get their opinions about the problem.

5) 6-3-5 Technique

6 people gather for an idea, not knowing what to give an idea. Ideas are noted during the meeting. 3 ideas must be found in 5 minutes.

6) Benchmark 

By examining and comparing the new products released by your competitors in the sector, ideas can be obtained at the stage of new product and process development.

After creating an idea pool, evaluation should be made. The company needs to designate an authority to oversee incoming ideas. Committees, departments, and experts can contribute in this regard. Ideas can be pooled and simply archived. In order for the process to progress, it must be filtered by an expert. In the idea management process, ideas may arise from other issues. First, a response has to label ideas. Unsuitable ideas should be eliminated. Appropriate ideas can be transferred to the necessary points.

Ideas should be sent to the committee in line with the company's goals, that is, improving quality and efficiency. Generally, committees are formed from teams with R&D, marketing and managers. The main task of the committees is to think about whether the idea will add value and whether it will contribute to quality. After this thought, the committee should decide whether the idea will be implemented with a certain prioritization system. In order to facilitate the work of the committees, it is important to expand the form in which requests are received. When the person expresses his / her opinion, the part of what the purpose of the idea is and which department it will affect is filled in, the job will be easier.

In good project management idea modules, the process is carried out in a detailed form. Thus, ideas are easier to archive, execute, label, and evaluate. If the idea is found suitable after the idea evaluation phase, feasibility teams can be involved as a second analysis. "As a team, is our company authorized to receive this application?" It is evaluated on the question. It can be checked whether the stone thrown is worth the frog that was thrown financially. It is necessary to look at how much the idea will make and how much it will be spent to realize it.

The last phase of the idea put into practice is performance evaluation. After the ideas hit the market, the success or failure of their sales will come back as a lesson to businesses. Better results can be achieved thanks to the lessons learned in later thought management processes. It is very important that the idea is monitored for a certain period of time after it is implemented.

In line with the new product development process, the first action required for the establishment of the award system is to determine the strategies and targets. For example; If the new product-R&D department wants to take two products to live within the current calendar year, it must select 10 viable ideas for this. It is also among the goals that the pools bring 200 ideas so that 10 ideas can be selected. In order to get more ideas, research can be done by turning to external denominators. Academic studies and consultancy can be obtained with at least 3 universities. Goals can be included in the rewarding system. Profitability can be followed during the monitoring phase.

With all these performance indicators, determined awards should be given to the new product department that has passed a successful process in accordance with the procedure followed or to people who contribute in line with the targets. So how is the prize chosen? The reward is always seen as a cost for businesses. Human resources can provide diversity in rewards. With employee satisfaction surveys, the points where the employees of the companies are not satisfied can be corrected. Companies that have disconnections and problems in internal communication can build their awards on the activity. In this way, employees can both communicate and be rewarded with an event for their efforts.

In order to establish a successful recognition and reward system, first of all, targets should be determined. Achievements such as revealing the idea, putting it into practice, the number of registrations, the number of outputs such as patents, utility models, industrial design, and the number of articles published by the R&D department should be determined clearly in advance and should be carried out in accordance with the strategic plan. Different goals may be set following the goals. These will differ from the idea implementation process. R&D centers must realize their own resources.

 

It is very important for R&D departments that employees continue their individual, personal and professional training and receive continuous training. As a reward system, the firm can cover training fees and enable the employee to benefit from more training. R&D departments may need to allocate more budget than the budget in the special training procedure. School education of researchers should also continue. The school makes serious contributions to research. Researchers in the R&D center can continue their graduate and doctorate education.

 

Companies can apply different reward systems for training. Exam fees can be covered, monthly stipends can be given, the employee who will complete his / her training can be paid a wage increase and the graduation theses can be funded. Theses and company activities can be carried out together so that the thesis study can be used in company activities. The day the graduation thesis is published, an award can be made. According to the evaluation period related to education, the person may be entitled to an award.