We at Blu Ivy Group were excited to learn about this new tool and wanted to share it with you. The tool is called SoapBox and was developed by HitSend, a company that “is dedicated to increasing collective happiness by making tools that empower communities to set and achieve goals.”
How the tool works
Employees submit ideas online. Once ideas are submitted, employees can vote on them helping employers focus on those ideas that will make the biggest impact. Based on built-in criteria to help employers screen and evaluate ideas, the tool allows the employer to update the status of an idea and follow-up with the employees via online newsletters on any action taken. Lastly, and importantly, the tool has analytical capabilities helping employers identify and track the execution of ideas as well as where they are resonating.
What we love about the tool
It makes follow-up easy
The most important step when asking for employee feedback is follow-up. Unfortunately, due to multiple priorities many of us have, this step is often not done thoroughly. SoapBox makes it easy for employers to follow-up on ideas and concerns, including sending notifications to employees on the incremental progress of an idea. In addition, the tool alerts the employer when an idea has received a threshold level of support/interest (as defined by the employer).
It builds trust
Ideas are submitted in an open forum where employees can not only support ideas submitted by their colleagues but track all progress. This open and transparent manner of communicating with employees will foster a culture of trust which will contribute to high employee engagement.
Measure engagement 24/7
As employers will have access to real time data on what employees are thinking, this tool can be another vehicle to measure employee engagement. Employers will have the ability to become aware of employee concerns as they happen and can therefore address them readily. The analytical features of the tool will also help employers identify where ideas and/or concerns are coming from. We also like that the employer can customize idea categories, allowing them to map the tool to engagement survey findings, making it easy to follow-up and communicate on employee concerns that have already been identified.
Encourages Innovation
The tool was built to manage and foster innovation and in today’s world that is a critical competitive advantage. With SoapBox, employers can have constant open communications with their employees allowing them to access great ideas and insight.
SoapBox is gaining a lot of momentum and has signed many prestigious clients, including Indigo, Glaxo Smith Klein, Cisco, and RBC. We are very excited about this tool and believe it can greatly assist employers with their overall engagement strategy.