To encourage innovation and maximize internal entrepreneurial spirit and foster employee ideation, Northrop Grumman solicited Bayen Group to develop an online tool that provides a forum for employees to pitch their ideas to management. Submissions that show potential are then provided with additional resources and/or funding.

• An American global aerospace and defense technology company with over 65,000 employees

The client manages a large number of employees and was interested in a way to solicit innovative projects in order to further their technological advancements. They required a cloud-based, user-friendly tool that encourages workplace innovation and collaboration and serves as a place for employees to pitch their ideas to upper management. A connected website would also recruit college students to create and propose original solutions.

Bayen Group built an intuitive SharePoint site in the cloud for employees to submit their ideas and showcase their viability and potential success which includes two types of submissions: Blue Sky ideas and Challenges. For Blue Sky ideas, employees fill out a web-based form describing their product, the problem it solves, the big idea, how it compares to similar products, and their proposed statement of work. For Challenges, senior executives pose problems, requesting their teams devise new solutions or products.

If executives see the idea’s potential, the employee is invited to pitch it to the VPs. If funded, the employee receives a portion of the patent. The website is self-sufficient, featuring a How-To page that explains the submission process and an FAQ page. Each submission generates a confirmation email with a tracking number, notifying the employee that their idea was received. Key decision-makers also receive an email notification of a new submission.

Employees can explore their colleagues’ Blue Sky ideas and Challenge submissions, using a filter tool to view submissions by sector, status, and funding. An administrator tab, organized by sector, allows admins to grant permissions and change data in the system. Additionally, the website features a platform to solicit college students to submit original products and solutions.