More from Slashin' Sam

[2muchcoffeeman]

Zell, that is.

From LA Observed:

From: Talk to Sam
Sent: Wed Mar 26 09:16:41 2008
Subject: IdeaBank

Partners,

I’m thrilled with the hundreds of ideas employees have sent me. It’s been great to see your creativity, and in many cases, the thoughtful approach you’ve taken to analyzing your suggestions.

As I’ve said repeatedly, the best ideas for this company will come from you, and we’ve seen a number of these innovations come to life in the past 60 days, including: a new morning show in Hartford, a free newspaper targeting young adults in Baltimore, a new national news section in Newport News, and spadia ads in Orlando and South Florida. We need to test a lot of ideas; we recognize that some won’t work. But, we’ll never find the ones that do work, unless we try them.

To open up this idea exchange across the company, we are launching an online IdeaBank, accessible via TribLink.

Going forward, I’d like you to direct your ideas to our IdeaBank, rather than sending them to [email protected]. This will enable others across the county to see them. I will still read and respond to all of the ideas that are submitted, and I still encourage you to e-mail me directly with comments and questions.

The IdeaBank has a crowd-sourcing element, so you can tag ideas you think are particularly good. You can also sort ideas by categories, and we’ll feature the top Revenue-Generating ideas, as determined by their popularity, on the front page of the site. We’re placing special emphasis on revenue-generating ideas because, as you know, that is our current focus. (One reminder: Ideas should cost significantly less than the revenue they produce.)

Most importantly, I want to convey that this is not some lighthearted initiative. I expect you to participate. Make deposits. Make withdrawals. Review the ideas to determine how you might adapt them to your business unit. And, managers, by reviewing and analyzing these ideas, you dramatically increase the probability of their viability.

So, be prolific. The future of our company is literally in your hands.

Sam

"Partners," he says.

http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/03/zell_puts_up_a_suggestion.php

 

[Armchair_QB]

I think we would achieve a great moment in SportsJournalists.com history if somebody could post a password for the IdeaBank. I'm sure there are a lot of SportsJournalists.commers who would love to help Sam out.

 

[IGotQuestions]

I love it. How many gazillionaire owners are this accessible to the people who work 50 rungs below him?

 

[VJ]

Wait, is someone suggesting this is a BAD thing?

At least Zell is letting employees' voices be heard. I bet if Singleton tried this the damn thing would fill up with death threats.

 

[Ace]

I love it. How many gazillionaire owners are this accessible to the people who work 50 rungs below him?

Yeah, he's super.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Dear Sam:

Sell the ****ing ballclub already.

Sincerely,

Armchair

 

[captzulu]

Notice that the ideas that'll be highlighted on the front page are the top revenue-generating ones. Not that I'm so naive to think that those are bad, but it does pretty clearly show where Zell's priorities are. Otherwise, why not highlight the best reader-service ideas as well? The best ideas for retaining employees?

 

[steveu]

I agree that this is a good thing. Would Tony Ridder have tried something like this? Heaven forbid Gannett think about it. Shows you he's listening, at least.

 

[Ace]

I agree that this is a good thing. Would Tony Ridder have tried something like this? Heaven forbid Gannett think about it. Shows you he's listening, at least.

I believe Gannett does have something pretty much exactly like that -- minus the crusty boss playing nice to the troops.

 

[playthrough]

Notice that the ideas that'll be highlighted on the front page are the top revenue-generating ones. Not that I'm so naive to think that those are bad, but it does pretty clearly show where Zell's priorities are. Otherwise, why not highlight the best reader-service ideas as well? The best ideas for retaining employees?

I noticed. And to add the disclaimer that "ideas should cost significantly less than the revenue they produce" is jackass-ish to me. Guess I'd scrap my idea to update any archaic computers or things that, you know, would make my area more efficient or productive. Must not make capital improvements!

There's also enough corporate-speak gobbledygook to choke a horse. In just one sentence: reviewing, analyzing, dramatically, probability, viability.

 

[NightOwl]

I remember once when one of the Tribune papers ran a suggestion program like this, offering its employees a bonus based on 10 percent of the money their suggestions saved the paper.

It was a big success. Suggestions rolled in, many of them were adopted, and the company paid the 10 percent bonuses -- usually $50 or $100 or $200 range, something like that, since most of the suggestions were pretty basic.

Then a guy out in the pressroom came up with a way to save either $500,000 or $5 million a year. I forget the specific amount, but it was one or the other. A huge cost-saving procedure, and it was quickly put into place.

And the paper gave him a big, fat check for $500.

 

[fishwrapper]

This is a true story. The check was for $1,500.

 

[NightOwl]

This is a true story. The check was for $1,500.

Wow. Glad someone else remembers that.

If you say $1,500, I'll buy that. It was a long time ago, so what I remember most is that the bonus was ridiculously out of proportion to what was offered in the suggestion program.

 

[Ace]

This is a true story. The check was for $1,500.

Wow. Glad someone else remembers that.

If you say $1,500, I'll buy that. It was a long time ago, so what I remember most is that the bonus was ridiculously out of proportion to what was offered in the suggestion program.

Too bad the guy wasn't a consultant. He'd have charged them $1 million to save $500,000 and the suits would have been thrilled.

 

[Moderator1]

I used to work with a guy who would go ape**** - really ape**** - if you gave him receipts for an expense report in a sealed envelope. Or any envelope. He prefered a paper clip and he'd give you the paper clip back when he was done with your report and the receipts were filed.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Old corporate story. Sears used to solicit suggestions the same way, but if you came up with a beaut, hey, you were an employee, that's your job. Looking for the big check? Whistle.

 

[steveu]

I agree that this is a good thing. Would Tony Ridder have tried something like this? Heaven forbid Gannett think about it. Shows you he's listening, at least.

I believe Gannett does have something pretty much exactly like that -- minus the crusty boss playing nice to the troops.

OK, I wasn't sure about Gannett. Thanks.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Old corporate story. Sears used to solicit suggestions the same way, but if you came up with a beaut, hey, you were an employee, that's your job. Looking for the big check? Whistle.

If I were that employee, I would have gathered up the contest brochure, as well as any cost-analysis that proved the money was saved. Then he should have got himself a lawyer.

 

[fishwrapper]

And done what? Have a dinner party?

 

[leo1]

Notice that the ideas that'll be highlighted on the front page are the top revenue-generating ones. Not that I'm so naive to think that those are bad, but it does pretty clearly show where Zell's priorities are. Otherwise, why not highlight the best reader-service ideas as well? The best ideas for retaining employees?

I noticed. And to add the disclaimer that "ideas should cost significantly less than the revenue they produce" is jackass-ish to me. Guess I'd scrap my idea to update any archaic computers or things that, you know, would make my area more efficient or productive. Must not make capital improvements!

There's also enough corporate-speak gobbledygook to choke a horse. In just one sentence: reviewing, analyzing, dramatically, probability, viability.

you guys realize that you work for a business, not a non-profit, right?