Improving Employee Communications and Engagement
What do Johnson Matthey’s own people think about working for the company? Getting an accurate view of employee satisfaction – what we are doing right and where we could improve – will help strengthen commitment as we build our sustainability culture.
So in early 2007 a pilot employee survey was run within two international business units of the group, allowing us to create and test an optimum methodology. A joint working group was set up and developed a core survey questionnaire. The group drew on models currently in use within the group and incorporated questions that could be benchmarked against data from other client surveys run by our independent administrator.
A mixed media survey, using both online and paper questionnaires, was adopted. Translated versions of the questionnaire were also made available. To encourage employees to respond, the Chief Executive, Neil Carson, wrote to all prospective participants, inviting them to take part and assuring them of confidentiality.
Of the 900 employees eligible for the survey, 588 responded, giving a response rate of 65% – an above average rate of response for this type of survey.
The findings of the survey were overall highly positive: 89% said they were satisfied with working for Johnson Matthey and 93% were proud to work for the company. Other findings showed that 83% were satisfied with the company’s culture and values and 91% believed that we take health and safety in the workplace seriously.
But there is no room for complacency. The survey also indicated areas for improvement and six key areas have been identified, including speeding up the adoption of new ideas. Follow up action is being taken by management at local site level.
The pilot has proved an excellent tool for communication and is being rolled out globally on a rotational basis among the operating divisions of the group starting in summer 2008. The results of the survey will be reported in next year’s Sustainability Report.
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