Adobe Systems is one of the largest and most diversified software companies in the world. It is headquartered in San Jose, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Its 18,000 plus employees are a core asset and the key to the company’s success. And the company’s managers are constantly probing employees’ attitudes to see what makes them happy and what they could be doing better. And Adobe Systems must be doing something right! It was the fourth-highest rated company in the employee engagement and development category on the Drucker Institute’s Management Top 250 list in 2017.

That’s quite an honor since it indicates the company is one of the most effectively managed companies in the United States.73 In 2012, the company was at a crossroads of transforming its business dramatically. It was moving from its traditional desktop software business to a new cloud-based model. Not only was this a massive strategic change, employees would find themselves adapting to a whole new way of working. One of the initial actions that Adobe’s “People Resources” leaders did was to change— reinvent—the annual performance review. Instead, of the once-a-year check-up that was time-consuming, negative, and slow, the company moved to a “Check-In”. . . an ongoing, two-way dialogue between managers and their employees. This led to dramatic efficiency gains,

more effective performance management, and higher employee engagement and retention.74 From that time forward, Adobe’s commitment has been to engaging and developing its employees. And a big part of that process is measuring employee attitudes. During each quarter in 2017, Adobe managers e-mailed surveys to a segment of its workforce. These anonymous surveys asked employees about various aspects of how they felt the company treated them.

One of the most interesting questions on the survey was one that asked if they would recommend a job with Adobe to others.

The answers to that would be quite revealing as to whether employees were happy with the company.

So, with all these surveys, what did the company find out? Well, one important thing they discovered was that four employee engagement surveys in a year was too many.

Preparing, administering, and compiling results from that many surveys was quite repetitive and demanding. In 2018, only two employee engagement surveys were scheduled.

However, the company remains committed to connecting with employees and finding out what they have to say, especially in light of how important it is to attract and retain technical talent. As we saw in the chapter, companies want employees to be engaged in their work and to feel that they are appreciated and valued for their efforts.

In additional to surveying its employees, Adobe’s customer and employee experience team monitors what is being posted on sites like Glassdoor, where employees can post comments about their employers. The team even checks apps such as Blind, which people use to discuss jobs anonymously.

The challenge for any company that wants to up its employee engagement efforts is that each employee has a different perspective on what an “engaging” work environment looks like. Keeping employee engagement rates high requires understanding the unique needs of different generations and groups of employees. And being engaged with their work isn’t just for nonmanagerial employees, it’s also for managers and team leaders.

Discussion Questions 

1. How can an understanding of employee attitudes help Adobe’s managers and leaders be more effective?

2. How might an understanding of organizational behavior help Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen lead his company? Be specific. How about first-line team leaders? Again, be specific.

3. Would personality affect an individual’s job satisfaction? If so, how? If not, why not?

4. Adobe is a tech company and likely has employees from all different age groups. Would Adobe have to change its employee engagement surveys for different generations that might be in its workforce? Explain.

5. In your assigned group, come with arguments supporting (a) why employee engagement surveys are useful and (b) why employee engagement surveys are not useful. Be prepared to “argue” for either.