Employee Satisfaction Index scores new highs

Employees increasingly say Boeing is a great place to work and that the company is making the changes necessary to compete, according to results of the company's 2004 Employee Survey. (To see how some programs and sites have used previous Employee Survey results to shape plans and improve conditions, click here.)

The data also helped show that Boeing people who regularly participate in performance feedback, goal-setting and career development discussions with their managers report higher levels of job satisfaction.

Overall, Boeing's 2004 Employee Satisfaction Index increased to a record score of 60, up two percentage points from last year's results. The ESI measures responses to 12 key workplace questions in the annual survey. When asked "Is Boeing a great place to work?," employee response increased by five percentage points to a 60-percent positive rating.

"When employees have a chance to work in an environment where they know their ideas count and people can understand where their contribution fits into the bigger picture, their job satisfaction and productivity increase," said Laurette Koellner, executive vice president, Internal Services. "We use this survey data to help us better understand what is important to Boeing people for high levels of employee engagement, and to make positive changes based upon employee input."

ESI positive ratings increased between 15 to 20 percentage points for employees who received regular performance feedback from their managers, compared with peers who did not. Positive ESI responses rose between 10 to 20 percentage points for employees who had Performance Development Partnership coaching during 2003 and 2004, in contrast to colleagues who did not.

A record 106,828 Boeing employees participated in this year's survey, for a 74 percent response rate. Responses were divided into positive, neutral and negative answers. The survey was conducted in May and June.

The percentage of employees offering positive responses increased on 24 of the 43 questions, with 13 others remaining unchanged. Positive responses declined on only two questions. The remaining questions were new.

There were significant jumps in positive responses to seven questions. These included:

. Senior executives clearly communicate the long-term strategy of Boeing (50 percent positive, up seven points from 2003)

. My operating group uses survey feedback to make improvements (44 percent positive, up four points)

. Boeing is making the changes necessary to compete effectively (42 percent positive, up four points)

The job-security question continues to generate the least-positive ratings, though it's trending upward: 36 percent provided a positive response, up from 32 percent last year and 29 percent in 2002. In two new questions on the 2004 survey, 72 percent of employees agreed that Boeing's code of conduct guides them to make ethical business decisions and 67 percent said their supervisor or manager is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive culture.

Positive responses declined in two cases. When employees were asked to rate the amount of pay they received, they were positive 53 percent of the time, down three points from last year. Positive scores dropped one point in answer to the question: "The members of my work group have the skills and abilities to get the job done."

Although progress is being made, there is still room for improvement, said John Messman, director of Employee Relations at Boeing World Headquarters.

"We have discovered key differentiators at those company locations that score very high on the survey compared with the rest of the enterprise," he said. "We're continuing to analyze survey results to uncover additional practices that give higher leverage in our quest to make Boeing a better place to work."

Survey results-and actions that will help increase employee satisfaction and engagement-are available on the Boeing Web at http://employeesurvey.web.boeing.com