Dell is a US company that has grown rapidly since its formation 20 years ago and currently ranks number three on Fortunes Global Most Admired Companies list. It seeks to deliver value to customers through its direct business model, by focusing on the customer experience and taking out cost from the production process. The company is data-driven. Managers report on the achievement of targets on a daily basis. Its employee relations climate is strongly influenced by its aspiration to be a great company and a great place to work through the adoption of a winning culture. The focus is on the team and on individual contributions to the team. People/line managers are expected to interact with individuals, and their performance in this area is closely monitored. Both people managers and individual contributors are measured on the way in which they deal with people as well as on their technical proficiency. Theres a consistent emphasis on how people do their job, not just what they do, including, for example, support for colleagues and behaving ethically. The company makes a conscious effort to recruit people who will have a good fit with its values people who are open, direct and who focus on getting the job done rather than engaging in office politics. The company runs a leadership programme each year, which in 2005 is focusing on personal development planning. Employee engagement is driven by the relationship between individuals and their manager. The expectations of people managers are clearly defined: Set a performance plan. Work in each team on individual development plans. Undertake mid-year review. Undertake end-year review. Undertake monthly review with each individual (30 minutes to 1 hour) Give feedback to improve performance. Dell measures people managers compliance with their performance management targets, tracking what has been done at each stage. In addition, senior managers are expected to take regular opportunities to engage with more junior staff, for example, at brown bag lunches with different groups, or while visiting operations in other countries, to help embed a common culture. Other methods of encouraging dialogue include quarterly results meetings across the business at which senior managers take questions. Tell Dell surveys every six months cover core areas suggested by statements such as Management is doing a good job positioning the company to win in the marketplace, My manager is effective at managing people, I receive ongoing feedback that helps me to improve my performance, My manager sets a good example of ethical business behaviour, I would recommend Dell as a great place to work etc. The surveys provide a broad measure of employee engagement. The data is analysed to identify trends. Managers are then tasked with sharing their results with their teams and developing team action plans to address issues and drive improvements.

1. How would you rank the ER Practices at Dell in a three point grade scale of Excellent/ Good / Needs improvement? Elucidate with reasons. 2. Why surveys are used to measure employee engagement at Dell ? Give reasons.

3. Suggest Dell any other methods to improve ER and EE other than the one specified in the case? 4. Do you think framing appropriate strategies will help improve Dell s operation ? If yes suggest some strategies that would suit Dell. 5. Draw a flow chart on the implementation of the said strategies