Is your idea management as good as your ideas?

News

29.02.2008

K+S combines the target Idea Management Add-On for SAP Software with the Premium Shop from CH Couponing House


As of February 12, 2008, all it takes for employees at K+S is a simple click in the enterprise portal to select valuable premium awards for ideas they submitted and were realized by their employer. This new service was made technically possible through cooperation with target software solution GmbH as the provider of the idea management solution implemented and CH Couponing House GmbH, responsible for the premium shop.

K+S belongs to a leading group of global providers of specialty and standard fertilizer products, plantcare, and salt products. Approximately 12,000 employees work for K+S in its business areas for potash and magnesium products, COMPO and fertiva plantcare, salts, waste management and recycling, as well as in their complementary trading business and consulting services.

In terms of idea management, K+S has long depended on a model based on appraisals by subordinates as well as the continuous improvement process (CIP). Ulrich Pausch, head of knowledge and idea management for the K+S Group, summarizes the reasons: “The best business consultants are our own employees. Many of the simplest ideas, together with the CIP teamwork carried out in behalf of idea management, ensure a good culture for communication, self-expression, and recognition of employees in our company, as well a highly cost-effective process.”

K+S has ranked among the top in idea management statistics from the German Institute for Business Economics (Deutsches Institut für Betriebswirtschaft). They received a special award in November 2007: Idea management at K+S was named one of the ten best at manufacturing companies in Germany in a ranking published by the German business weekly Wirtschaftswoche.

K+S have used the add-on for SAP software from target Idea Management for implementing their idea management processes since 2004. In January 2008, an important enhancement for idea submitters was implemented: Points are now awarded for realized ideas; these points can be cumulated and saved independently of idea submitted. At any time, employees can view their total points account. Employees determine when they want to use all or a portion of their points for premium awards (including tickets for events) or a payout in cash. Employees make these decisions in their enterprise portal, where they have access to an online shop that includes the premiums selected by K+S for this purpose. This process runs securely and effectively through the intelligent interaction of the idea management software with the premium shop. CH Couponing House is responsible for the entire administrative process – from the provisioning and delivery of the premium awards to the issuing of the invoice to the employer, ensuring that the maximum selection of attractive premium awards are available to employees and employers, with the minimum possible administrative efforts.

According to Ulrich Pausch, “The points system is well-suited as an additional incentive for employees. We first implemented it for idea management. Starting in April 2008, we will expand it to include occupational safety and healthcare services. The points that our employees earn in these areas will also be included in the target system. We hope that the through the appeal of the premium shop, we will gain additional interest as well as a further incentive to not only positively influence the company culture, but also the business!“

Project lead Martin Koller (data process GmbH, a K+S subsidiary) explains the technical architecture of the solution: “The enterprise portal of the K+S Gruppe provides access to the premium shop. When users click the link that leads to the premium shop („Hier geht’s zum Webshop“), employee data and points available are transferred via a Web service in target Idea Management to the premium shop. Simultaneously, a unique transaction ID is generated that synchronizes the Web services in the idea management and the premium shop. The premium shop is hosted by CH Couponing House, but this is not relevant for employees. Because the premium shop is viewed as an iframe in the portal, it looks just like a regular site in the K+S intranet. The enterprise portal at K+S is also available through the public Internet. With their corresponding user accounts, all employees have access to the K+S portal to browse the premium shop at their convenience from any PC. After employees fill their shopping carts, they submit their order. In the premium shop, an advance reservation is carried out for the order and a call for a second Web service in idea management is made that deducts the points from the points account and prepares the information in the shopping basket for later accounting in the SAP software. After the successful posting in the SAP software, a Web service is called again in the premium shop that submits the order. In this way, the two systems are securely linked with each other.

From our perspective, we have created an all-round successful solution for the benefit of our employees. The cooperation with target software solution and CH Couponing House resulted in a very successful partnership.”


target Idea Management is a standard software solution that supports all of the phases of the idea management process and is specifically designed to work with the SAP ERP Human Capital Management application. SAP has certified the software as an ABAP add-on. The solution is currently used by more than 500,000 employees worldwide. target software solution GmbH customers who have implemented the target Idea Management solution include Audi, Bayer, Bauerfeind, B. Braun, Fraport, Henkel, Lufthansa, LVM, Porsche, REHAU, SAP, Siemens A&D, die Schweizerische Post, VHV, Volkswagen Navarra, and ZF Sachs. For more information, see www.target-soft.com.

About CH Couponing House GmbH: Whether bonus card programs, premium shops, voucher programs, sales promotions, corporate idea management programs, or intelligent value-added programs – CH Couponing House is one of the leading providers of innovative solutions for building successful customer relationships and employee motivation. For more information, see http://www.couponinghouse.de/.

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target Idea Management

Handling ideas submitted by more than 500,000 employees

Global presence

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