Original Date: 08/14/2000
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

After the 1998 merger, Howmedica Osteonics established new company core values to guide its individual and group efforts. In May 1999, the company implemented the Gallup Q12 Survey as a streamlined method for measuring employee job satisfaction and employee engagement. The survey consists of 12 questions and provides a vehicle for employees to communicate with management.

In the past, Stryker Osteonics and Howmedica administered their own employee feedback process (e.g., 50-question Max survey) to evaluate productivity, employee retention, profit, and customer satisfaction. After the 1998 merger, Howmedica Osteonics established new company core values to guide its individual and group efforts. In May 1999, the company implemented the Gallup Q12 Survey as a streamlined method for measuring employee job satisfaction and employee engagement. The survey consists of 12 questions and provides a vehicle for employees to communicate with management.

Howmedica Osteonics will be conducting the Q12 Survey on an annual basis. The questions target the employees’ perspective on company expectations, training, upward mobility, and work environment. Employees answer the questions on a one-to-five scale from extremely dissatisfied to strongly satisfied. The results of the survey are tallied through the Gallup Organization, Independent Specialty Research Organization. Each question is assessed in four categories (productivity, employee retention, profit, and customer satisfaction) to identify areas of improvement for overall company growth and profit. The Gallup Path (Figure 3-1) shows the relational route from strengths through stock increase as influenced by the Q12 Survey. The survey results are tabulated on a Gallup scorecard which provides Howmedica Osteonics with a breakdown of the answers according to grand mean, overall satisfaction, individual questions, and engagement hierarchy. The engagement hierarchy uses a pyramid arrangement to group the questions into Overall Growth, Teamwork, Management Support, and Basic Needs. Howmedica Osteonics uses training to discuss and explain the survey results to its managers who, in turn, educate their respective groups.

The results of the Q12 Survey can be used as an effective management tool to employ and retain qualified and loyal employees who are passionate about their work and contribution within the company. Individual job satisfaction has a direct influence on team performance and company goals. Based on the May 1999 results, 82% of the employees participated in the first survey. The results indicate an improvement in employee-management relationships, and an increase in efficiency and decrease in production time due to employee empowerment. Management highly encourages employee engagement in building a stronger workplace through team feedback.

Howmedica Osteonics has established a baseline with the initial Gallup Q12 Survey. As more data is gathered from future surveys, the company will be able to measure employee levels of satisfaction and correlation with goals (e.g., retention, profit). The company’s goals are to create a healthy, productive, results-focused environment and achieve $1 billion in sales by 2004.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.