Louisville, Ky.—Louisville Tile has democratized the process of business innovation with the creation of its Employee Innovation Program. The program is designed to give a voice to employees at all levels of the company.
The program asks employees at all levels to submit ways to improve some feature of the business, from the customer experience to the business processes. The winning ideas and the finalists all receive a cash prize. Then, finalists and winners all work with a member of the senior management team to implement their suggestions throughout the company. The last two winners came from the warehouse team and their ideas have vastly improved Louisville Tile’s business efficiencies.
“We know our employees have brilliant ideas that can make our business better,” said Crosby Hall, executive vice president of corporate resources. “We also know some employees are hesitant to share their thoughts, so we decided to create an easy way for employees to submit ideas. Once an employee’s idea is selected to be a finalist or winner, the employee is then paired with a member of the senior management team and an analyst to help the employee develop the idea’s merit and ROI. Working with senior leadership to implement the ideas gives employees a way to learn leadership, presentation and project management skills and to get recognition for how they shape the company.”
The program’s 2022 winner was Donald Resendez, warehouse manager, who submitted the idea for a new process that allowed branch managers to review stock levels and inventory flags, examine vendor consistency with stock shipments and review trackable expiration data. Once implemented, Resendez’s plan reduced inventory loss from expired products and created several new efficiency procedures.
In 2023, winner Brandon Bingham’s proposal streamlined the order pickup process by utilizing visible magnets to indicate what order the customer was picking up. Warehouse associates can now quickly identify exactly which vehicle matches which order, increasing their speed, accuracy and professionalism.
“People are always our greatest resource,” Hall added. “Our Employee Innovation Program offers our staff members another way to really get involved and it gives one more way to recognize all the brilliant people working at this company.”