Success Story: John Muir Health

Although John Muir Health already had an Employee Suggestion Program (ESP) in place, which monetarily rewarded employees for making cost-saving suggestions implemented by the organization, the program was not being promoted throughout the health system and participation was lacking.

Our challenge was to create a fun, vibrant and compelling internal campaign to promote the suggestion program system-wide and increase employee participation. Since the focus of the program was putting employee suggestions into action, we developed the theme “Smart Thinking Pays Off.” To communicate the program in a colorful and succinct way, Hodes created the acronym “E$P” and a stylized and recognizable icon. We also created a rules brochure that was mailed to the homes of all employees, which introduced the program, provided details and promoted participation. The brochure featured a tear-off card that was an actual submission form to encourage employees to submit ideas. Internal marketing included posters, table tents and a button on our client's intranet site. The button linked to a special splash page that provided program updates and rules, a list of winners and submission forms.

Our revamped Employee Suggestion Program was highly effective and well received by employees. Since its inception, they have received 90 employee submissions, a 350% increase when compared to their previous average of 20 submissions per year. Four suggestions have already been implemented, including one that gave the employee the maximum $25,000 cash award.