Siemens was awarded top honors for its idea management program at the German congress of the Zentrum Ideenmanagement (“Idea Management Center”), which took place in Fulda over the last two days. Within the framework of “3i ideas – initiatives – innovations,” as the Siemens idea management program has been called since 1997, the ideas, initiatives and innovations of Siemens employees continue to contribute to the company’s success today. Under the program, Siemens employees submitted more than 160,000 suggestions – or an average of more than 400 a day – in fiscal 2017. Nearly 125,000 of these ideas were ultimately implemented, bringing Siemens benefits last year totaling over €300 million – more than ever before.
“Our employees’ knowledge and personal commitment are decisive for our company’s success. We want to leverage this vast potential in order to make our processes even faster and more secure, to make our products even better and to increase customer value. The 3i program plays a key role in this regard since it gives us a way to call for and foster entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurial action,” said Janina Kugel, Siemens’ Chief Human Resources Officer.
Idea management has a long tradition at Siemens. The first recorded employee suggestion dates back to 1889. The first rules and bonuses for suggestions were set down in writing in 1910. Idea management has thus been a reality at Siemens for nearly 110 years. The 3i program is actively supported at the Group level by Chief Human Resources Officer Janina Kugel. It is supported at the Divisions and Regional Companies by the relevant CEOs. The idea management program is also closely linked to other Siemens initiatives – for example, the Werner von Siemens Award and the IT Hackathon.
Overall, some 40 companies – including many distinguished enterprises on Germany’s DAX stock index – presented their idea management programs to the Zentrum Ideenmanagement. This was the first time that Siemens had entered the competition, and its 3i program was the clear winner industry-wide.
