Colleague feedback is an important driver of our evolution as a company. In 2011, we continued to ask colleagues for their thoughts and suggestions in a variety of ways, ranging from our annual engagement survey to our intranet portal for colleague communication where colleagues can comment on stories posted and share stories with each other. Our senior executives conducted numerous face-to-face meetings with colleagues in small settings and in regular Town Hall meetings where they discussed company performance and hot topics. In addition, we continued our monthly series of conference calls for senior leaders, where we encourage a two-way dialogue and share insights into company performance and strategy.
Colleague Engagement Survey
Just as feedback from patients, clients and customers helps us refine our approach to delivering customer service, our annual colleague engagement survey shows us how we’re doing from the perspective of our colleagues. It is critically important that our colleagues understand our company’s stated purpose and how they and their teams can impact our success. Higher levels of engagement are associated with increased productivity, higher retention rates and a better customer experience – all factors that contribute to our long-term growth and success.
We use the survey results to understand what colleagues value most in their workplace, to identify opportunities for improvement and to track our progress over time. The methodology of the data collection was changed in 2011 to also allow colleagues to provide open-ended comments. Over 13,500 colleagues responded to the request to “Please tell us what it is like to work at this company.” Our overall survey response rate was 92 percent.
