The Challenge:

In 2004, a Massachusetts hospital and long time customer approached us with a problem. They wanted to improve services and lower costs without drastically changing their business. They hoped to gain insight from their bustling network of nurses, physicians, techs and staff.

The goal? Innovation with quick and easy implementation, driven by positive support and feedback.  

Their first attempt began with a series of classic suggestion boxes. Instead of a quick fix, slips of paper piled up, suggestions went unnoticed, and stressed out employees struggled to manage it all. The effort to increase employee engagement backfired and caused resentment.

This old school “innovation strategy” couldn’t keep up.

If someone wasn’t checking the boxes, they overflowed. The stacks of ideas became an elaborate and confusing Excel spreadsheet in an attempt to keep track of it all.

Were suggestions lost along the way? Repeated? Were the right managers in control of the situation? Was the program even working?  If suggestions were missed employees felt neglected. Instead of fostering engagement, good will, and growth, the project created confusion and disconnects.

While Excel allowed them to capture the data, the spreadsheets were cumbersome. Maintaining the project added a demanding burden to an employee’s already busy job. And, it was difficult to track anything beyond initial suggestions. 

Worse still, there was no clear way of determining the improvements (monetary and otherwise).

How MTC Helped:

MTC <3 databases, so we built a web-based application to manage the process from suggestion to implementation.  New ideas and solutions could be easily submitted by employees and filtered into a larger database. 

Various company administrators now became idea moderators, increasing involvement and participation. They began implementing changes and recording results in record time. This new, organized, and user friendly system let parties view the status of suggestions. At any point throughout the process, they can receive feedback from managers, discuss ideas and improve them.

Instead of lost suggestions and overwhelming spreadsheets, MTC created a channel for easy communication and growth. 

No more scraps of paper, ineligible contributors, overlooked suggestions, or hefty workload. The hospital began fostering stronger relationships while saving time and money. As news of the program spread, MTC began building custom implementations for half a dozen other firms.

We’d struck a nerve and companies were looking to try it out themselves.

How it works

The system works twofold; letting users to contribute at will, and managers can request solutions for specific problems. Users can filter by topic or department, approve ideas and assign projects all within an online collaborative workspace.

Vocoli's workflow tracks the progress of ideas from submission to implementation. Tracking progress also allows businesses to monitor ROI. Analytics reveal employee participation, monetary savings and additional successes or failures. If a great idea doesn’t seem to take off, the system lets managers to look back and isolate how it they can improve.

The app allowed the hospital’s program to take off. It has since achieved far beyond what their original excel spreadsheet could have ever imagined.

Essentially, we had created Vocoli.

Excited by consumer feedback and increasing demand, we did a complete re-build in 2013. MTC is now incubating Vocoli, growing it into a business of it's own. Adapting from our original design, we re-built the platform into its own scalable SaaS (software-as-a-service) product.

Vocoli, the digital suggestion box and innovation platform, offers a social and collaborative idea management that can scales to fit various organizations and markets. 

Vocoli Today

According to Accountemps, nearly three quarters of employees are looking for new jobs. And that’s before they even leave their current gigs. Stats like this rattle the nerves of CEOs and strike fear in the hearts of HR departments. So, how do you keep from losing valued employees?

Vocoli is a great start.  

Suggestion programs give employees a place to voice suggestions and complaints. They spark engagement and provide managers with a way to tap into their employee’s knowledge base for improvement or innovation.

We designed Vocoli to increase employee engagement by bringing together every level of an organization towards a common goal of improvement and innovation. It offers employees a place to “be vocal” with their coworkers and gives managers a better way to listen.