Employee Satisfaction

In 2009, 80 percent of our salaried employees participated in the annual Pulse survey, which provides insight into employees' overall satisfaction with the Company, their jobs, diversity and other aspects of workplace satisfaction.

The Pulse survey includes a total of 52 items, eight of which make up what we call the Employee Satisfaction Index (ESI). Sixty-eight percent of respondents gave favorable ratings on the ESI in 2009, up two percentage points from 2008 levels and the third consecutive year of improvement; we also continue to be above external benchmarks on this index. Compared with 2008, about 72 percent of the 52 items improved, 10 percent declined and about 18 percent remained the same.

The area showing the greatest improvement was employee overall satisfaction and satisfaction with information received from top management. Other areas showing improvement included supervision, diversity, and employee perceptions about work-related stress. In addition, employee satisfaction with actions being taken to improve quality maintained a high level of favorable employee satisfaction.

As part of our efforts to increase satisfaction, we are constantly improving our strategies for fostering open dialogue with employees. We know that communication is especially important during difficult financial times, and we have been enhancing our internal communication efforts to build trust and increase transparency. For example, we hold weekly interactive webcasts with all employees, during which employees can submit questions directly to top executives. We also have a web-based forum for submitting and discussing innovative ideas.

For more information on the Pulse survey, see the Data section of this report.

In 2009, we sent surveys to approximately 6,000 of our employees to gauge their understanding of sustainability and how their individual efforts impact sustainability issues. More than three-quarters of the 1,144 respondents, for example, said they believe that sustainability can have a considerable to great impact on corporate reputation. The results also showed that employees had varying definitions of sustainability, with 36 percent defining it as "corporate profitability;" only 5 percent mentioned social issues as a part of sustainability.