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Freight Firm Con-way Driven by Engagement
May 21, 2009
By Jeanie Casison
Think you have a challenge measuring employee engagement? Con-way Inc., a freight transportation and logistics company based in San Mateo, CA, has 25,000 employees working out of 500 locations in 20 countries, and most of those employees are truck drivers, a moving target if ever there was one and not a group that spends much time sitting in front of a computer.
As it faces the same economic challenges nearly all companies are seeing this year, leading to layoffs, pay cuts, and benefit adjustments, Con-way has taken a proactive approach to measuring its workers' engagement levels. It has brought in employee research provider Kenexa to measure its workforce engagement.
“If they are not engaged, we will not reach our goals,” says Con-way's vice president of culture and organization development, Pat Jannausch. “Our productivity and efficiency depend on having very engaged employees.”
Kenexa will provide Con-way with survey results, as well as a "priority analysis" showing which areas have the greatest impact on employee engagement. While many of these types of surveys are conducted entirely online, Con-way requires a system that can integrate more paper and pencil. Only about 10 percent of the survey responses will be tallied online, since so many Con-way workers don't spend time in an office.
There were discussions earlier this year regarding whether or not to proceed with the survey given the challenging times. In the end, a decision was made to continue on the path, Jannausch says. She thinks the decision is an excellent opportunity: "This is the best time to find out how our employees are feeling while going through hard times. It may be counterintuitive, but the benefits far outweigh any negative implications. The survey results provide us with substance for dialogue, to open up discussions with employees and find out more."
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