The Backstory
Schindler was founded in 1874 and is one of the leading manufacturers of elevators, escalators, and moving walkways, as well as a top provider of vertical transportation maintenance and modernization across the globe – with over 1,000 offices in more than 100 countries.
To build a thriving and enduring business, Schindler Elevator Corporation understands you need a highly engaged workforce, which starts with effective leadership. They also recognize that companies with engaged employees tend to experience higher levels of retention, thereby reducing the significant costs associated with employee attrition.
As part of the company’s long-standing program for “Building a Winning Team,” Schindler partnered with Satrix Solutions and adopted the Net Promoter Score methodology to gather honest feedback for its managers from their direct reports.
Satrix Solutions worked with Schindler to develop an employee feedback strategy that relied on a two-pronged approach: listening to employees and addressing inconsistencies in the overall employee experience as it relates to their manager’s leadership skills. This decision has had a profound impact on the company’s ability to keep their finger on the pulse of employee sentiment.
“In partnership with Satrix Solutions, we’ve been able to change the culture at Schindler. Consequently, we are winning the talent war against our competitors.”
– Michael Yurchuk, Senior Vice President, Human Resources Field Operations, Schindler Elevator Corporation
The Winning Strategy
According to Gallup, managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across business units. Simply put, great teams require great leaders.
For Michael Yurchuk, Senior Vice President of Human Resources Field Operations at Schindler Elevator Corporation, putting the focus on continuous improvement and manager development was a top priority. The challenge was finding the best mechanism and metric that would lead Schindler to continually strengthen its managers. Additionally, he believed building trust in the program required a skilled and dedicated third-party partner.
Schindler carefully selected customer experience and employee engagement consulting firm, Satrix Solutions, for this highly important initiative. Together, both companies agreed the most effective approach would be to rely on a modified version of the Net Promoter methodology to evaluate (among other topics) whether employees would recommend their manager to a friend or colleague (as someone they should work for in the future).
To execute the new Manager Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) program, Satrix designed a short survey questionnaire for employees to share thoughts on their current manager, colleagues, and the culture at Schindler. Through a variety of communications, newsletter articles, and intranet banners, Satrix and Schindler convey to all employees that the survey will help managers develop into stronger leaders and create a better environment for their teams.
Also important to the success of the program is a high survey response rate. To ensure strong participation numbers during each survey wave, Satrix relies on multiple distribution streams (email, SMS, 2-way SMS, Short Code, and iPad distribution). This tactic means all employees are given every opportunity to complete the survey.
Additionally, in partnering with Satrix, Schindler is able to communicate to employees the strict anonymity of the program, which has provided a greater confidence in both data quality and the reliability of the results.
Beyond administering the survey, Satrix plays a vital role in developing action plans to improve manager performance, while also providing assurance to employees their ongoing feedback will be kept anonymous. One example of this is how Satrix carefully reads every piece of verbatim feedback and redacts any identifiable information if it was inadvertently included by an employee. This has proven to be an extremely successful for Schindler.
“Our Manager eNPS program is putting an important spotlight on a manager’s behavior by providing them with a reliable frame of reference on their ability to cultivate loyalty with employees,” said Yurchuk. “In partnering with Satrix Solutions, we found that employees are more comfortable providing feedback to their managers for continuous improvement. This has allowed us to confidently work with managers to create value added experiences for employees.”
Along with objectively analyzing all employee feedback – both closed and open-ended – Satrix delivers in-depth reporting and actionable recommendations which has been instrumental in keeping Schindler on task and help to build momentum behind the “Building a Winning Team” program. More specifically, Satrix has worked with Schindler on customized reports for hundreds of its managers, leading to more valuable and pointed discussions from the front-line teams up through departments and regions within Schindler.
In adopting the Net Promoter system, Schindler wanted its managers to prioritize its people. With this focus, the company’s overall Manager eNPS continues to increase year over year. Additionally, Schindler has seen its reputation as an employer of choice grow in the industry. “In partnership with Satrix Solutions, we’ve been able to change the culture at Schindler. Consequently, we are winning the talent war against our competitors,” said Yurchuk.
Based on the success of its engagement with Satrix Solutions, Schindler is now considering expanding its Manager eNPS program to other areas.
