Coca-Cola Canada launched the SoapBox platform to improve employee engagement after a survey revealed workers wanted more input. SoapBox allowed Coca-Cola's 6,000 employees across Canada to share and vote on ideas to innovate the business. In the first year, over 600 ideas were submitted with 7,600 votes and 500 comments. Coca-Cola has implemented 57 ideas based on employee feedback. Examples of implemented ideas include having merchandise supervisors attend sales meetings to prepare for initiatives and providing education on shift work coping strategies. Coca-Cola saw participation nearly triple in the first year and aims to increase engagement further.

1. 1a case study
COCA-COLA:
BUBBLING UP IDEAS AND
ENGAGING EMPLOYEES
IN 2011, COCA-COLA CANADA’S
employee engagement survey revealed
that not enough of the company’s
workers felt their feedback and ideas
for innovation were being heard.
Traditional outreach methods such as
newsletters and group presentations
just weren’t cutting it. Workers wanted
to have more say in the decision-
making process, and were telling the
leadership team to do more to unlock
employee innovation.

2. 02
“The cost was very reasonable
for the number of people we
could touch.”
to fix this, Coca-Cola launched
SoapBox at their 52 bottling facilities and
plants across Canada, and started a real
dialogue on innovation with their 6,000
employees. In order to effectively engage
their employees, the leaders needed to
create a two-way dialogue.
WHY SOAPBOX?
For Coca-Cola, the appeal of SoapBox
was twofold.
The innovation platform was a highly
effective way to reach thousands of
workers from coast to coast and get
their input on improving Coke’s business
— all for the cost of running a two-day
employee engagement event at a single
facility.
Company management was also keen
on the idea of using technology to
gain feedback and ideas from its large
workforce. And the SoapBox concept
won the backing of senior leaders.
Said Tova White, VP of Human
Resources: “SoapBox was a perfect fit
for us — an intuitive, attractive and easy
to use platform that also has robust
functionality.”
One important part of Coke’s journey with
SoapBox is that they proactively used the
innovation platform to boost employee
engagement. In other words, they didn’t
wait for the “perfect” moment when
workers felt more involved but instead
took steps to boost engagement and
create the innovation culture the company
and its employees wanted.
The result was a platform that gave them
major innovation bang for their buck and
helped the company meet strategic goals.
THE RESPONSE
One year in and Coca-Cola’s SoapBox has
become a busy focal point for employees
to share and comment on ideas to make
their business even better. The SoapBox
has received more than 600 ideas, with
7,600 votes and 500 comments. The
leadership team has responded to 97
ideas, and put 57 into practice.
”Employees felt like
decisions were being
made in an ivory tower
without their input.
That wasn’t really the truth,
but that was the perception-
and perception is reality.”
COCA-COLA
CASE STUDY
2015
02

3. AWESOME IDEAS, AWESOME RESULTS
The SoapBox has led to realistic and
impactful suggestions that Coca-Cola is
using to improve their business.
Operational Excellence
Have merchandise supervisors attend
field sales meetings.
It’s now easier for supervisors to
get their teams ready for upcoming
initiatives.
The Best Place to Work
Better educate workers on coping
with shift work.
Coca-Cola Canada now gives useful
tips on coping in their internal
magazine.
Customer Happiness
Translate sell sheets into multiple
languages.
The marketing materials are now
available in Korean and Chinese,
making those customers happy and
meeting the company’s multicultural
growth strategy.
THE FUTURE
Coca-Cola saw its SoapBox participation
rate nearly triple in the first year, and are
making changes to get that rate even
higher in year two. To pull this off the
company is launching a refer-a-friend
program to get more workers onboard.
Managers are also incorporating
discussions about SoapBox and its ideas
into their regular team meetings to
further increase employee engagement.
of employees who adopted
SoapBox have submitted an
idea, voted or commented
Coke Votes (cumulative)
59%
4947,604 630
“People were a bit concerned
that the ideas were going to be
unreasonably large and really
difficult to make happen and not
aligned to our strategy. That
hasn’t happened. They’ve
been great.”
Associates in:
Manufacturing
Comments
Warehouse
Sales
Votes Ideas
6,200
of accepted ideas
are now in place
71%
COCA-COLA STATISTICS
03
ABOUT SOAPBOX
SoapBox provides easy to use
software and services empowering
organizations to accelerate cultural
change and generate real business
value from employee ideas.
80
Ideas accepted, in
progress or completed
and implemented