Save Money in Your Business

Cost Cutting

Ideas management is about improving operational efficiency, eliminating wastage and slashing costs without adversely affecting quality. Indeed, highly profitable companies such as Dell, Toyota and Wallmart focus their innovation on cutting costs and operational efficiency. That's a big part of the reason why they are leaders in their respective markets.

Jenni™ hosted ideas management software service, makes cost cutting innovation remarkably easy. Simply run regular ideas campaigns with challenges that focus on areas of potential wastage and inefficiencies. Request a Jenni online demo.

Some very basic challenges might include:
- In what ways might we reduce our use of electricity?”
- “How might we cut down on the amount of paper we use?”

Process

The structure of a cost cutting ideas campaign is like any ideas campaign.

1. Plan it!
   - formulate the innovation challenge decide on time frame
   - establish rewards (Jenni's rewards management tools make this easy)
   - organise promotions (Jenni can handle e-mail promotions for you)
   - set up any preliminary activities (such as a paperless day)

2. Launch the ideas campaign with your innovation challenge and announcement of rewards. This process is automated by Jenni.

3. Allow employees to share and collaborate on ideas in Jenni's idea-space. Jenni's unique IdeaWiki space is particularly useful for open cross-enterprise collaboration.

4. At the end of the idea generation phase, use Jenni's evaluation management module to select the best ideas and send them to appropriate evaluation teams. You might use one team to evaluate all ideas or you may wish to have several teams each focusing on different kinds of ideas.

5. Use Jenni's idea development tool to prepare action plans for all ideas which receive high evaluation scores.

6. Implement the best ideas and start saving money!

It's as easy as that with Jenni idea management.

Contact us for a demo online

Advantages to Cost Cutting Ideas Campaigns

Why bother using idea management to generate money saving ideas when top management could unilaterally make cost cutting decisions? Because it is better to combine top-management's big picture ideas with employees' detailed ideas. Moreover...

1. Employees are on the factory floor, in your shops, meeting your customers, responding to customer complaints and solving problems day in and day out. They can see wastage in all kinds of processes, wastage that may not be visible to management who are should be focusing on the big picture.

2. When senior management mandates cost cutting actions, such as smaller company cars, restricted use of mobile telephones and flying economy class rather than business class, employees frequently see these actions as infringements of their work benefits. They feel as if they have received demotions. As a result, cost cutting demands from the top often result in reduced employee satisfaction which can have a negative affect on productivity.

3. When employees generate ideas themselves, on the other hand, they tend to look at the big picture - rather than their personal imposition - and so better understand the maths behind cost cutting measures. Most importantly the employee who suggests or collaborates on a cost cutting idea also has a stake in the success of that idea. She is more likely to adopt the idea herself and encourage her colleagues to do likewise. This can only lead to a higher level of success and improved productivity.

4. In being asked to participate in cost cutting idea management initiatives, employees become engaged in the organisation's success and feel they are an important component of the enterprise and not a mere cog in the works.

Results

By using Jenni idea management to generate, evaluate and implement innovative cost cutting ideas, you reap big rewards:

• Identifying effective methods of cutting costs in all areas of operations.

• Giving employees a stake in the successful implementation of those cost cutting ideas.

• Engaging employees in the success of the company, particularly during hard times.

Best of all: even a very few cost cutting ideas campaigns will generate sufficient savings to cover the subscription fee for Jenni. Indeed, we guarantee it! If Jenni does not save you money, simply cancel your contract with just 30 days notice.

But, we are sure you won't need to do that. Because when you subscribe to Jenni idea management, you not only get access to Jenni software, but you also get access to an innovation expert such as Andrew Greaves, Itha Taljaard or Jeffrey Baumgartner as part of your package. And with personalised support and coaching at every step of the way, your idea management initiative is sure to succeed!

Have you found this article helpful? Imagine how much more helpful we could be if you were our client!

Find out more. Contact us today!

Examples of Cost Saving Ideas

	Staff Turnover Employee involvement will increase loyalty and reduce turnover. You can incorporate the reward scheme into appraisals. Rewards do not have to be expensive: possibly less than you are paying now, see our page on incentives.
	Recycling and Sustainability ideas Waste disposal, storage, ISO 14001 policy, travel share, use of stationery suppliers are just some of the ideas our customers' employees and partners submit. Call us for more.
	Travel Costs Incentives for using bicycles, better routes, offers for car sharing can all save money. If the organisation is all on board then it's easier to opt for better value vehicles which means lower costs.
	Energy Savings Vary from small recommendations such as turning off equipment to recommendations for use of manufacturers with more energy efficient goods from your suppliers, new employees, partner and customers. Solar panels on the roof is another idea.
	Production costs Larger production lines expect hundreds of cost saving suggestions a year. Whatever your size, ideas can include project management (recommendations for specific software - call us), storage, siting of delivery (not on-site, thus saving money) and many more...
	Cross Department Suggestions This catch-all category includes for example removal of products or services from the range due to unprofitably (seen by service / finance staff sometimes ahead of marketing), removal of bureaucracy (sales people re paperwork !) and more...
	Legal Fees Do you automatically resort to legal services? Your staff, their trade associations or partners and network often have the answers, or at least some. The mediation industry now works with forensic use of legal services - you might too in some instances? Call us us for more information on this...

Distinguishing between Investment and Costs

“Investment: those monies spent which directly, or indirectly, add customer value.
Costs: those monies spent which don’t.” – Professor Paul FifieldSouthampton University

Cut Costs Using Innovation Article by Jeff Baumgartner

Next Step: Just contact us now for a demonstration .online

or call us on 01202 706 975 Jenni Ideas Management Main Page

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