Good ideas from employees pay off. LANXESS encourages suggestions for improving work routines with its own ideas management system. This gives the company continual access to new ideas on how to optimize procedures in all areas – be it economic processes, or occupational safety and environmental protection.

Benefit both for the company and its employees
In 2009, LANXESS employees submitted around 1,800 suggestions – corresponding to almost 400 suggestions for every 1,000 employees. Around a third of the ideas were realized during the same period, bringing the company total savings of some EUR 1.6 million. The creative employees that came up with the ideas benefited as well: They received prizes worth EUR 590,000 in total.

The LANXESS Ideas Competition which compares the different organizational units acts as a further incentive encouraging consistent and successful ideas management. The main criteria judged are positive impact on costs and the level of participation and implementation. The Inorganic Pigments business unit was the top ideas provider in both 2008 and 2009.