CRN Impact Awards: DiUS develops employee feedback platform for Reece

Melbourne-based custom IT solutions provider DiUS created a novel and valuable employee feedback platform for plumbing and bathroom supplies company Reece earned it a finalist placing for the Workforce Empowerment category at the 2021 CRN Impact Awards.

The platform, dubbed the Ideas Channel, was developed in partnership with Next, the internal innovation arm of Reece as a way for employees to raise ideas and solve problems with the goal of increasing employee engagement and communication while improving business practices and processes.

The end product is an online portal where staff can submit suggestions for improvements that are then reviewed and potentially rolled out throughout the organisation.

According to the client, the platform has been hit with its staff seeing close to 300 ideas submitted with the first two months of launch, with five innovation projects commenced as a result.

It was developed and deployed over two engagements, with the first establishing a framework and toolkit through which Reece employees could follow a seven-step process to define problems and explore potential solutions. 

The second saw the development of a simplified one-page version that included a drop-down list of scenarios and activities that allowed for quicker problem and solution statements. 

DiUS ran inception workshops at the outset of both engagements to establish project objectives and milestones and ensure understanding of the client’s requirements and expectations.

The platform was designed to be easy to use for both the end-user staff, and at an administrative level for control and configuration.

Hosted on AWS, the platform was built with Kotlin and JVM for the backend, React for the UI, Contentful as the basis for the CMS, and Postgres for the database. Integration with ServiceNow was also added in the second engagement.

DiUS said a key to the success of the project was following the Agile methodology, in particular the ethos of maintaining clear and open lines of communication with the client, working closely with the Reece team.

Throughout the development of the platform, the DiUS team focused on trust and transparency by holding open showcases through which they gathered feedback, which could then be implemented in the following sprint.

Reece Group’s Next strategic design director Tyler Ross said that DiUS is “A great build partner who approach technology from a creative and innovative lens that has helped us build a product that we know will have longevity far into the future.” 

“We’ve worked with DiUS on this project through several iterations – from its inception through to where it is now which is a widely used product and tool that fosters innovation throughout our business.”