Employee Satisfaction at John Deere Harvester Works free essay sample

Having strong values that have stood the test of time allow for a workforce that can feel proud and satisfied to call John Deere their employer. Although the workforce is referred to as a team now instead of a family, the strong culture and values remain intact. To fulfill the needs of their employees, John Deere performs an Employee Satisfaction survey every two years. These surveys are reviewed by Human Resources to find out what is most important to employees, favorable and unfavorable. The results are then discussed with area managers. Deere is showing commitment to continuous improvement of employee morale by involving executive level individuals in the communication of employees’ opinions of how John Deere is working for them. Through these surveys, the company can also identify which employee’s needs are not being met, and which employee groups could benefit by training and further education. Training employees makes them better suited for their current job, as well as the jobs they hope to hold in the future with Deere. Training employees shows confidence in their ability to achieve more, and provide the company with valuable skills. John Deere has proven itself as an honest and ethical company. Employees are treated with enough respect that they have assurance knowing that if their job is in danger, they will know about it. Showing great confidence in its workforce, Deere has actually allowed certain ailing divisions the chance to pull themselves out of danger of extinction. Using an anonymous hotline to report ethical breaches keeps the employees feeling satisfied they will not have to put up with ethical behavior from co-workers, nor be asked to perform unethical tasks by supervisors. Overall, John Deere was started with a vision, and the vision has remained intact through a century and a half of wars, economic struggles, and rapid technological improvements. By sticking to superior culture and ethical guidelines, John Deere will continue to be an employer of choice. Literature Review John Deere has always prided itself in hiring and keeping loyal, dedicated employees on the wage and salaried work forces. Over 54 percent of the wage workforce at John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline, Illinois has been with the company between 25 and 30 years (Workforce Data, 2008). According to the CPA Journal (2004, 74, 6. p. 17(1)), â€Å"a tough job market and bumpy economy have made Americans more loyal and devoted to their employers. † John Deere, however, has had more than half of their employees at this factory already prove their loyalty and dedication before the tough job market emerged, by not changing jobs. These loyal employees that Deere has been able to hold onto exemplify why they are one of the best choices for employment opportunities for the workforce over 50 (Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, 2006). While other companies are focused on bringing in the newest and brightest talent, Deere can boast having some of the most loyal and experienced professionals. Keeping experienced generations in the workforce allows Deere to utilize their experience in order to provide mentor-type relationships with newer employees and show them the values associated with the John Deere name. Tenured employees show the rest of the company that loyalty is something to be celebrated, and Deere does a great job continuing to keep their employees satisfied. When thinking of employee satisfaction, the values of the corporate culture are well aligned with what the employees believe themselves, as responses from the 2007 company-wide employee survey show. Because of these instilled values, employees show that they will remain loyal to John Deere. In the past, John Deere employees were referred to as â€Å"family. † This term has gone away over time and the current CEO prefers that employees be referred to as â€Å"a team,† which is one way to describe an employee group. Bob Lane, chairman and CEO of Deere says: â€Å"The firm is actually a complement to family †¦ while family members who don’t pull their weight may not be welcome at the Thanksgiving dinner table, they remain members of the family, but if you’re not pulling your weight here, I’m sorry, you’re not part of the team. † (Pomeroy, 2007). In saying this, Lane has made his feelings clear that he appreciates his workforce, but he will not tolerate individuals not pulling their weight on a project. Other employees feel a sense of satisfaction from this, knowing that they have the benefit of the leadership team pulling for the development of each employee and team. By referring to employees as team members, Lane demands closeness and stability in his workforce, but he also realizes that it is important to keep work and family separate; this practice is known as work / life management. John Deere helps employees draw the line that allows for the distinction by providing benefits, social networking, and flextime. These programs allow individuals at Deere to plan for personal and professional lives coincidentally. John Deere made his first polished-steel, self-scouring plow in 1837, and after various manufacturing successes, business trials, and patent awards, Deere Company was formed in 1852. From the beginning, John Deere instilled four core values that remain prominent in the values of the business today: integrity, quality, commitment, and innovation. These values have led the employees of John Deere through times of success and abundance and times of turmoil and cutbacks. These values have not only applied to the manufacturing processes at John Deere, these values also apply to the workforce development and quality of life that is known as a John Deere career. Employee development and employee satisfaction ranks highly among management, leadership, and executives and is measured on different levels. John Deere encourages employees to work in an environment where they can expand their skills and knowledge of the product and the business. To maintain employee satisfaction, John Deere focuses on providing the resources and opportunities to challenge employees in their structure based on work specifications, routine, and organization design. Employees can enhance their talent and creativity by utilizing outside resources and technology. Employees are diverse, and they are encouraged to work together in these diverse teams to develop global teamwork strategies. John Deere employees can use their individual differences within the global community for the benefit of many. This allows employees’ attitudes and behaviors to be shaped around global culture and inclusive of teamwork. In addition, with a cultural approach and group diversity, social networking will increase. John Deere encourages collaboration and shared goals focused around people and their abilities (Deere Company, 1996-2008). John Deere’s success is built around professional development, cultural diversity, and training. John Deere provides world-class training and development opportunities, and their employees can advance their careers as fast and as far as their ambition, skills, and competencies allow. Multiple career paths enable Deere employees to explore their many talents and maximize career satisfaction (Deere Company, 1996-2008). At the global level, management creates functional teams based on the company goals and stakeholders needs. Analysis Every two years, John Deere implements a Corporate-wide employee survey. The results of this survey are reviewed at the executive level and at the unit level to measure employee satisfaction for both wage and salary employees. Factories that manufacture John Deere equipment employ both wage and salaried employees. Most John Deere wage employees’ interests are represented by labor unions such as United Auto Workers (UAW), Iron Workers (IW), etc. Wage employees mainly represent the production workforce. However, many wage employees work on Non-Traditional Assignments (NTA). NTA’s are more like salaried positions; they are typically in an office and require knowledge and skills related to computer use. These are typically jobs that salaried employees hold. Salaried employees, then, hold typical office roles: supervisors, managers, engineers, etc. Harvester Works, the factory that will be highlighted later in this paper, is represented by 1,700 wage employees (UAW contracted employees) and 600 salaried employees. In many cases, John Deere management can identify the needs of employee by using surveys and evaluations. It is also important for Human Resource Departments (HRM) to identify employees’ needs and wants in the workplace, so they can effectively communicate with the area management. HRM can implement a specific training and education program for each employee’s job description and needs. By using a content task analysis, managers can execute training programs that are cost efficient and practical for organization needs. Budgets will have to be created for training and eveloping programs in order to plan and forecast for organization operation needs. Operational-activity analysis can be used to input or output variables that management uses to determine unit volume and measurable of employee services (Longest, Rakish, Darr, 2003, pg. 205). Once funding is determined, management can plan accordingly and assess needs for training and certifications. Employee satisfaction s hould be based on stability and structure, which is why management determines who really needs training and who really does not. One way to do this is to use performance appraisal and job descriptions. A performance appraisal helps identify productivity, quality, and service with each employee and helps managers interact and communicate effectively. This allows the employee to feel confident in the manager’s decisions and creates an environment for open communication between different stages of careers. Understanding the Employee’s Point of View The most recent John Deere employee survey was conducted in early 2007. In order to gauge what has changed in the minds of employees since their responses were revealed, another survey was conducted in July 2008. The surveys conducted in 2008 were sent to both wage and salary employees, and the employees were asked questions about their dedication to John Deere, their feelings on John Deere culture, the understanding of their benefits package, the importance of new employee integration, and their opinions on the competitiveness of their pay. Of the 406 wage employee surveys that were mailed, 127 (or 31 percent) were returned for analysis. Similarly, of the 326 salaried employee surveys that were mailed, 104 (or 31 percent) were also returned. The surveys were mailed to wage employees via company mail and returned the same way, as most wage employees work in production on the shop floor and do not have access to e-mail on a regular basis. The information returned in paper format was then loaded into the survey website for ease of analysis. The salaried employees were mailed a link to the survey website and were asked to click a link to fill out their surveys. These two surveys both focused on people hired new to John Deere Harvester Works between January 1, 2007 and January 23, 2008. These new-hire surveys were done between these times because these were employees who were unable to participate in the 2007 corporate-wide employee survey The 2007 employee survey at John Deere found the following feelings from employees: the 2007 employee survey had a completion rate of 72 percent; over 40 percent more returns then the 2008 survey. Fifty-seven percent of those returning the 2007 survey reported that their overall engagement with John Deere is favorable. In terms of compensation and benefits, employees felt 42 and 53 percent favorable, respectively. The overall highest score on the survey reflected 63 percent favorable feelings about the ethics that are employed at John Deere. The 2008 survey performed for the purpose of assessing increases in these scores in employee engagement showed interesting results in terms of people’s favorability with their benefits and pay. According to the survey performed in July of this year, employee favorability with benefits and pay increased to 63 percent. What this shows is that in a short amount of time, Harvester Works has successfully increased the amount of employees that are satisfied with benefits and pay. Harvester Works has worked with corporate human resources to develop a plan for increasing these numbers. One reason for the increase in satisfaction is an employee workshop that was organized by Harvester Works and facilitated by Fidelity, the 401k provider for John Deere worldwide. These workshops allowed experienced employees to ask questions about retirement and also allowed new employees to ask questions about getting into their new 401k programs. In addition, human resources worked with the communications department at Harvester Works and developed a Survey Focus Group to address the needs and feelings of the workforce. A few specific concerns on the initial 2007 survey were related to issues in the parking lot at the factory. These issues were also addressed by the focus group but of course, were not related to benefits or pay. In addition, it was determined in the survey that people were slightly confused about their bonus structure and payout. Harvester Works is in the process of implementing a manager â€Å"talk sheet† that can be covered by managers when they have new employees begin work in their departments. Focus group members are currently working with management to address frequently asked questions and are working with the communications department to facilitate the rollout. All of these actions were in direct request of the 2007 and 2008 surveys and directly relay the importance that John Deere Harvester Works and John Deere corporate put on the satisfaction of their employees. Global Implications on the John Deere Business Operating with the highest business ethics while maintaining employee satisfaction is no easy task, and it requires vigilance on the part of John Deere leadership. John Deere maintains a compliance hotline for reporting possible violations of company ethics policies, and employees who suspect or have knowledge of unethical or improper actions are encouraged to report these concerns, either personally or anonymously. The hotline, available 24 hours a day, is backed up with anonymous e-mail and a postal address as alternative means for confidential reporting, if one chooses (Deere Company, 2007a). This gives employees the satisfaction of knowing that there is support from the executive level when it comes to doing business in an ethical and moral manner. In addition, John Deere’s Office of Corporate Compliance helps â€Å"ensure consistency and compliance in a global business environment of increasing complexity of laws, regulations, and cultural practices,† (Deere Company, 2007a, p 8). This office of compliance conducts continuous training, delivers communications, and promotes the sharing of best practices throughout John Deere’s various operations to ensure compliance with laws and regulations. The office also provides employee access to global policies and offers guidance on complex, and sometimes confusing, business and cultural situations. All of these methods promote not only ethical decision-making processes, but also a culture of ethical behavior in which all employees make the right decision. It is this promotion of ethical culture that leads to the global understanding of the nature and dynamics promoted at John Deere and a main reason why they intend to keep employees satisfied in the working environment. The global community population is growing and with its growth comes the aligned growth of global corporations, which requires a whole different level of creating satisfaction among employees of different cultures. In addition, the global marketplace is becoming more prosperous, which has been driven by increased income for families in poorer countries (Deere Company, 2007b, pg. 3). In the global marketplace, corporations must seek to be responsible to their shareholders and customers, but in different ways that a corporation functioning solely in the United States would be. Performing on the global scale means a corporation has to strive to conduct business in a way that safeguards not only the shareholder, but employees, customers, community neighbors and the environment, as well. Many companies would view global business performance as a necessary part of its pursuit of sustainable growth in any industry (Deere Company, 2007a). A commonality that all corporations share is the value of making a profit, and leadership knows that they have to work towards the common goal and get others to follow in order to achieve success in the field. However, achieving financial goals means different things to different cultures, and actions are held to different levels of accountability depending on culture. While embracing commonalities of employees and their dedication to John Deere, the corporation must also embrace differences. In addition to commonalities, it is important for the leadership of an organization to bring expertise, business skills, and strategic global perspective that enables the corporation to grow while maintaining its values and the values that employees hold. (Deere Company, 2007a). Along these same lines, it should be expected that employees in a global company would have extensive diversity sensitivity training to be sure they are aligned with the business conduct guidelines of the global organization. All of the company’s businesses and its reported results are affected by, among many other things, general economic conditions in, and the political and social stability of, the global markets in which the company operates (Deere Company, 2007b). These conditions must be taken into account heavily in order for the global corporation to be successful. Languages of contracts, payment of employees, prices of commodities, political unrest, social unrest, climate conditions: these are all factors that each and every global business has to understand and be equipped to deal with. Recommendations for Management Employees and management should have skills and training available to them to perform the job and duties efficiently and effectively. Management and all administrative divisions in the John Deere organization should exemplify broad-based expertise in handling conflicts, ethics, design, evaluation, and implementation of training programs. John Deere management should set the standards and keep organization morale high, by providing employee training programs, rewards, certifications, and development courses to maintain employee satisfaction. John Deere should also strive to continue to be an honest employer and build trust with each employee. Honesty and Involvement With the fast paced world and all of the bad news about the housing market and rising gas prices, it may be difficult for an employer to be completely honest with their employees. At John Deere, CEO Bob Lane believes in leveling with his employees. If there is bad news to come, he wants it to come early, even if it involves letting people go. He thinks that each individual has worth and need to be treated with dignity (Pomeroy, 2007). Not only is this concept honest, it makes communication less of a problem. Employees can focus more on their tasks at hand instead of worrying about losing their position. They know that if there is a threat of their job being cut, they would have heard about it; there is no need to fear the grapevine. Not dealing with this fear and anxiety should allow for greater employee satisfaction. Involving employees in some decision-making events can also lead to great employee satisfaction. Even though Deere is a very successful company, they found that they were facing having to close a number of factories and reduce product lines. Even though Lane believed they had a great company, great products, and a great dealer network, they had just an okay business (Pomeroy, 2007). Instead of making the decisions on his own, Lane pushed a lot of the responsibility back on the employees themselves. He encouraged them to pull the workforce together to make the business itself great. Giving employees the chance to work with their team to bring the company back to being competitive shows a great deal of respect for subordinates. This respect allows the employees to feel much pride and should really motivate very innovative thinking. Being part of the solution will benefit both individual employees as well as the company stockholders. If a team of employees can bring a business section back to being productive, they will also earn the respect of fellow employees, who would otherwise be out of a job. Gratefulness and awe from peers can really inspire and satisfy employees. Deere should continue to motivate employees by allowing for their constant involvement in the â€Å"real† problems. Telecommuting One way that employee satisfaction can be encouraged is to allow employees more freedom to take their jobs into their own hands, and decide for themselves when and where they will get their work tasks done. Allowing employees this much freedom will show that the company has the utmost respect and trust for certain employees. By introducing the concept of telecommuting, employee satisfaction can reach new levels. It is a very risky idea with managers feeling like their employees will do nothing but goof off and home and be very unproductive, but the benefits can be astounding. The benefits to the environment can actually be quantified. One news correspondent calculated that he could save 80 minutes a day in commuting time as well as a gallon of fuel a day, which would save the planet 2. tons of carbon dioxide each year (Global Agenda, 2008). If everyone telecommutes instead of driving to work, oil imports would drop over a quarter, and carbon emissions would fall by 67 metric tons a year, and everyone would get the equivalent of an extra 25 working days of vacation per year (Global Agenda, 2008). In the news recently, it seems like the environment has become a very important issue, both ethically and politically. Keeping the earth healthy for as long as possible is a good goal for a large corporation to focus on. The other benefit of telecommuting is making the employees’ lives more enjoyable. More work can be accomplished if the employees are experiencing fewer interruptions by constant phone calls and other co-workers. The stress of other co-workers and bosses should also be diminished, because there will be less time spent with them. The quicker the work gets done, the more free time an employee will have to focus on their personal life, the more satisfied they will be. With the increasing popularity of dual income families, telecommuting will be much more appreciated. Each parent can work around the other’s schedule to make the family happy and successful. Along with the family aspect, the financial aspect also needs to be thought about. By not paying for the gas, employees can save a significant amount of money, which can be spent on more important things, like food. Conclusion Since 1852, the values of John Deere have remained rooted: integrity, quality, commitment, and innovation. These values have not only applied to the manufacturing processes at John Deere, these values also apply to the workforce development and quality of life that is known as a John Deere areer. Employee development and employee satisfaction clearly ranks highly among management, leadership, and executives and is measured on different levels. John Deere encourages employees to work in an environment where they can expand their skills and knowledge of the product and the business. To maintain employee satisfaction, John Deere focuses on providing the resources and o pportunities to challenge employees in their structure based on work specifications, routine, and organization design. Employees can enhance their talent and creativity by utilizing outside resources and technology. Employees are diverse, and they are encouraged to use work together in these diverse teams to develop global teamwork strategies. John Deere employees can use their individual differences within the global community for the benefit of many. This allows employees’ attitudes and behaviors to be shaped around global culture and inclusive of teamwork. At the global level, management creates functional teams based on the company goals and stakeholders needs and from recent survey results, the reader can see that John Deere and its factory environments go above and beyond to achieve employee satisfaction.