Xerox Corporation has been conducting employee surveys with Genesee for over 30 years. In 2001, they revamped their entire program. Not only did the content of the survey change from Empowerment to Engagement, but so did the whole way the company used the survey, from administration to how results would be interpreted to changes in levels of action and accountability. Unlike previous surveys Xerox had conducted, the new Employee Engagement survey program required a centralization and consistency of all survey activities globally. One annual, global census administration replaced multiple business groups’ surveys; a “three dimensional” interpretation strategy replaced a focus on a single index number; and top-down, bottom-up action planning replaced actions focused at the work group level. As you might imagine, these changes were all fraught with resistance at first. With persistence, communication, and training, senior managers are seeing the survey as a strategic action planning tool, and line managers are seeing it as an enabler to help them better manage their people.

The Xerox Employee Engagement survey has helped bring together the company in a number of unique ways that were not available in previous surveys. Despite the disruption associated with significant change, the company believes they now have a more valuable survey program. Genesee is honored to have partnered with Xerox on this massive effort at Globalization of the survey process.

Click here for the complete presentation from 2004 SIOP (Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology) Conference.

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