Harris Computer Increases Employee Engagement with WorkTango Surveys & Action Plans

Challenge

Harris Computer, a global vertical market software company, faced challenges associated with rapidly scaling its workforce. Between  2017 and 2024, Harris grew from 3,000 to over 15,000 employees due to internal growth and a series of strategic acquisitions. 

Harris Computer was structured around a unique decentralized approach that empowers managers to foster a sense of ownership, allowing them to tailor cultural and engagement strategies to fit the unique needs of their individual teams. However, this same structure presented challenges for Harris when it came to maintaining consistency in employee engagement, communication, and connection as the organization continued to grow rapidly.

Harris realized they needed a scalable, organization-wide solution to monitor employee sentiment, enable leaders to act on insights, and create a cohesive culture that maintained high levels of employee satisfaction during periods of rapid growth. They decided to conduct a Survey Platform evaluation to find a partner whose software and services could meet the needs of their growing organization.

Solution

Harris Computer decided to implement WorkTango's Employee Surveys & Insights software to address their needs. The WorkTango platform allowed leaders across the organization to gather data on employee sentiment, engagement, and satisfaction. It equipped leaders with the insights needed to take action within their autonomous business units to respond to employee feedback and ideas.

Key features of the WorkTango platform that contributed to Harris' success included:

• Tailored engagement strategies: WorkTango’s platform allowed each business unit to conduct their own surveys, while also contributing to larger organizational insights. Leaders were able to autonomously assess their team’s engagement and create tailored action plans to follow up on any problem areas.
• Leadership enablement: Harris empowered leaders to own their employee engagement strategies. Training and job aids were provided to equip managers with the skills to analyze data, develop action plans, and implement change.
• Annual and ad hoc surveys: Harris conducted an annual company-wide engagement survey, supplemented by ad hoc surveys for onboarding, change management, and specific business units. Combining annual surveys with more frequent surveys allowed Harris to take action promptly if any issues were surfaced by the ad hoc surveys.
• Real-time access to data: Harris gave every people leader real-time access to survey data within WorkTango to ensure they could monitor progress and make adjustments as needed. If leaders had fewer direct reports than the anonymity threshold within WorkTango’s settings, then they would not be able to view any responses for their team.
• Leadership accountability & action-tracking on surveys: WorkTango’s platform provided Harris with visibility into which surveys had follow up actions taken and which did not. This action plan tracking helped leaders remain accountable and focus on areas that require immediate attention. Harris also created a quarterly Executive Scorecard, to assist with accountability and reporting.
• Improved frontline and midline manager engagement: Using Action Plans based on employee feedback, Harris implemented targeted development programs specifically for mid-level managers, providing them with leadership training, communication strategies, and tools to help them better manage change on behalf of themselves and their employees.

Results

• 24-point increase in overall eNPS since launching the survey program
• 20-point increase in eNPS among frontline and midline managers by focusing on middle management development 
• +12% increase in employee reports of having quality 1:1 time with their managers
• Consistent year-over-year engagement growth: Since implementing WorkTango, Harris has seen annual improvements in overall engagement metrics
• Empowered leadership: Leaders across the organization became more proactive in addressing engagement concerns, leading to a stronger, more unified company culture

To learn more about how Harris Computer successfully empowered its managers and to explore strategies on how HR can help managers take action on employee surveys, watch this on-demand webinar on Leadership Enablement.