Practitioner ForumComplex Employee Survey Challenges: Survival Tales and Strategies: Practitioner Forum Complex Employee Survey Challenges: Survival Tales and Strategies April 2, 2004 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 19th Annual Conference Chicago, IL


Forum Overview : Forum Overview Large-Scale Survey Projects Straight-forward process made complex Increased role of surveys in strategic decisions and organization change Three Tales of Survival Jeff Jolton & Charissa Roberts – Xerox Corp. John Mutschink & Jeff Jolton – HP Paul Mastrangelo & Charles Corace – Johnson & Johnson Three Tales of Creating Unity


Xerox’s Employee Engagement Survey: Bringing It Back Together: Xerox’s Employee Engagement Survey: Bringing It Back Together Jeffrey A. Jolton Genesee Survey Services, Inc. Charissa Roberts Xerox Corporation Presented at the 19th Annual Conference for the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychologist April 3, 2004


Expansion of Existing Survey System: Expansion of Existing Survey System Xerox has been conducting employee surveys for over 20 years Tech Bubble Burst – Xerox in Turnaround Shift from Empowerment to Engagement In 2001 made a change in current program on four major fronts: Content of the survey Scope of involvement Interpretation strategies Action response


Content of Survey: It’s not about you, its about us: Content of Survey: It’s not about you, its about us Old Survey (EM&S) Based on Empowered Workplace concept (now considered outdated) 80 items + custom items Focus limited to managers and their workgroups (although module available on org.) Minimal use of normative comparisons Focus on index score based on 18 items New Survey Based on Xerox Corp. definition of Employee Engagement 84 items – no customization (since reduced to 72 items) Focus expanded to include organization and core values Uses ITSG and NWOS norms No index scores


Creating Content: Creating Content Employee Engagement Employer of Choice Effectiveness Reward/ Recognition Open Communications Job Security Career Development Empowerment Pay and Benefits Working Conditions Immediate Supervisor Work Teams Challenging Work Understanding Co. Strategy Belief in Co. Direction


Scope of Involvement: All Together Now: Scope of Involvement: All Together Now Old system allowed more independence in how surveys were conducted globally Engagement requires a consistency of process Create common action and movement Focus on same items (no customization) Everyone go at the same time world-wide


Getting Together – Overcoming Challenges: Getting Together – Overcoming Challenges Communication, communication, communication Top-down ownership New focus and purpose Keeping the baby – tossing the bathwater Keep some key elements from existing survey Build on familiarity to create support for change Languages Administration – not a problem Reporting – presented new challenges


Interpretation Strategies: Three Dimensions: Interpretation Strategies: Three Dimensions Old Survey had a single index score Very popular with managers Difficult to let go of that concept Tied to bonus Built new strategy using three dimensions of interpretation Absolute scores (traditional % fav/% unfav) Relative scores (compare to norms or to org.) Importance or value (how much an area contributes to Employee Engagement)


Not all categories are created equal: Not all categories are created equal Created two structural equation models Employer of Choice Effectiveness Used coefficients (path values) from these models to prioritize categories Stronger paths  Greater influence  More important Weaker path  Less influence  Less Important


Nine-Box Overview: Two Dimensions: Nine-Box Overview: Two Dimensions Percentile rank against default comparison group. Degree of Importance in driving Employee Engagement


Sources of Action Response: Where the bucks stops: Sources of Action Response: Where the bucks stops Old survey system put action response primarily in hands of managers and work groups Made sense of empowerment focus Accommodated custom items New system encourages both top-down (organization) action and bottom-up (work group) action Two hierarchies are used for reports Continues to be of CEO’s performance plan Expectation that all managers act on survey results


Continued Challenges: Continued Challenges Interpretation Strategy Some still long for single index Complexity of 3 dimension – learning curve Action Response Still building consensus with senior leaders on how they should use and act on survey More training and education required Looking to track actions in future, but not doing so right now


HP’s Voice of the Workforce Survey: HP’s Voice of the Workforce Survey John Mutschink Hewlett-Packard Company Jeffrey A. Jolton Genesee Survey Services, Inc. Presented at the 19th Annual Conference for the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychologist April 3, 2004


Employee Survey History: Employee Survey History Hewlett-Packard Paper-and-pencil surveys Business unit specific Administered at different times Census survey on very infrequent basis Compaq Web-based survey and report system Census surveys on annual basis Corporate survey program office Integrated into company processes Compaq’s VoW Program Adopted by HP Not truly ‘adopt and go’


HP’s Voice of the Workforce Program: New Challenges: HP’s Voice of the Workforce Program: New Challenges VoW Program Governance Pre-merger – autonomous survey office with direct access to executive sponsorship HP – Multiple governance forums with decision influence and agendas Conflicting experience and expectations Normative comparisons Business and initiative specific items Driving change into organizations


HP’s Voice of the Workforce Program: New Challenges: HP’s Voice of the Workforce Program: New Challenges Management Hierarchy Changes Separate HR systems for first survey Near constant change in management hierarchies Generating meaningful action and change Integration activities a heavy burden on employees and managers Financial performance overriding concern for company High rate of change in organizations


HP’s Voice of the Workforce Program: New Challenges: HP’s Voice of the Workforce Program: New Challenges World Wide Survey Administration and reporting in 17 languages Coordinators from each major division and region Dual Hierarchies Direct line manager relationships (Business Hierarchy) Regions and countries (Geographic Hierarchy) Reports kept separate, but used other hierarchy as demographics (i.e., business report has region demo; region reports had business demo) Dotted-line relationships not captured


HP’s Voice of the Workforce Program: Addressing Challenges: HP’s Voice of the Workforce Program: Addressing Challenges Gained CEO and EC sponsorship of survey program Highlight importance of employee issues Create energy behind new survey program Single, unified survey with focus on employee commitment and productivity Create common action and movement Focus on same items (no customization) Everyone surveyed at the same time world-wide


HP’s Voice of the Workforce Program: Addressing Challenges: HP’s Voice of the Workforce Program: Addressing Challenges Action response based on Total Company and Work Group Issues Minimize impact of organization hierarchy changes Maximize work group managers’ ability to focus on issues affecting their employees Strong expectation that all managers will respond to results Built new strategy to create unified action while providing critical information Three dimensional view of results ‘QuickStart’ tutorial for managers


Continued Challenges: Continued Challenges Management of Organizational Change Organization and manager reports often outdated between time of survey and results release New leadership team in HP HR Alignment with new organizational initiatives Action Response Build consensus on who drives survey content and resulting actions More training and education required Beginning tracking of action planning and improvements at organizational level


The Unifying Force of Johnson & Johnson’s Credo Survey: The Unifying Force of Johnson & Johnson’s Credo Survey Charles Corace Johnson & Johnson Paul Mastrangelo Genesee Survey Services, Inc. Presented at the 19th Annual Conference for the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychologist April 3, 2004


Slide23: 113,000 Employees 215 Operating Units


Slide25: Medical Devices & Diagnostics Consumer Pharmaceuticals & Nutritional Products


Slide27: Then The Credo Survey Is One Diagnostic Which Assesses the Health of That Heart


Slide28: Bill Weldon Described The Credo As the Moral Compass Which Provides J&J Direction. If That is the Case? Then The Credo Survey Is One Diagnostic Which Can Tell You Where You Are


Slide29: If The Credo Is the Core of Johnson & Johnson’s Global Standards of Leadership Then The Credo Survey Is One Diagnostic Which Can Tell You How Well Your Leaders Are Meeting Employee Expectations


Slide30: Moved From Local to Global Business Unit Specific Business Context Centered


Slide32: So What Has Changed Over the Past Year?”????


Slide33: So What Has Changed Over the Past Year?????? Integration System ( gathering, reporting, action planning) Business Imperatives Organizational Processes - Dashboards Meaningful 91% response rate (63,000 employees) Real time information The dialogue has changed – Audit Vs. Forecast Systems Perspective Executive Committee Attention