Making Things Better @ Work: Sonopress Is No.7 in Nationwide Employee Suggestions Ranking

When bessermachen@Bertelsmann , our media company’s in-house employee suggestion scheme, publishes its ranking of Bertelsmann companies with the most suggestions for improvement, Sonopress is regularly one of the top scorers. Nor does the Arvato subsidiary have to fear a comparison with other German companies outside the group. A ranking recently published by the German Institute for Business Administration (DIB) puts Sonopress at No.7 in the “Various Industries” category. The DIB reports that 365 companies from different industries and public offices participated in the survey. Criteria that fed into the score included the participation rate (submissions per 100 employees), as well as the bonuses paid out for suggestions used. And Sonopress is near the top on both counts: During the past year alone, its employees submitted 312 suggestions, of which roughly half were put into practice and thus qualified for a bonus. Rewards totaling €53,554 were paid out last year, with €10,773 being the highest single bonus. “The result shows that our employees voluntarily take an active part in shaping operations– above and beyond fulfilling their assigned tasks,” said Sonopress Europe CEO Sven Deutschmann, commenting on the results. “Not only do the many innovative suggestions save the company a lot of money – they also add new impulses and help to improve processes.”