[Post by Chuck Krugh, June 16, 2023]
Are you sure??? Of course, I’m sure that we want to hear from you. Talking with you and listening to what you have to say is extremely important to me. After all, listening to you helped me create Strategy 2023, our guide for our activities this year.
This week I wanted to take the opportunity to cover the Pulse Surveys that I discussed in the All-Hands meetings. This is another way that you can communicate, sharing your thoughts related to specific topics with us.
We started the Pulse Surveys in April. We designed them as a way to provide an opportunity for everyone in the company to provide feedback on a wide range of topics. One of the challenges we have as a company is that our front-line production workers don’t have email.
Mechanics receive most of their company information through their supervisors in the muster. This is supplemented by information shared on our website, the digital bulletin boards in production areas and lunchrooms, posters around the yard and mailings home.
A lot of people hear things by word of mouth, but if you have ever played that game telephone when you were young, the message the last person in the circle hears isn’t always the same one that started going around. So word of mouth isn’t always the most reliable way to get the word out. It is important that we all get the same message.
We are working on expanding the ways we communicate with all employees so everyone hears the same information. For example, we are currently piloting an expansion of our digital bulletin board system with outdoor monitors around the shipyard. You will see these coming on line this month. That is one way more employees can see safety messages, learn about events and discover what else is going on in other areas of the company.
But those types of communications are all one-way, and it is important that we have additional ways to listen to more employees. I do like to talk to everyone, but that is not very efficient!
The Pulse Survey is basically a Google form you fill out online by accessing a website using a QR code with a cell phone. The QR code can be found on messages running on the Digital Bulletin Boards in all production facilities as well as large signs at the gates and outside lunchrooms. People can access the survey using a work or personal phone. You can also get the link by messaging the Communications Department through our social media accounts (like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter) or by email at communications@gdbiw.com. The link is also available on our intranet.
Answering the monthly Pulse Survey is an allowed use of a personal phone in the yard. In fact, before we launched the survey, the Communications Department sat down with our unions’ leadership and discussed how the survey would work and emphasized that is allowed to be filled out while at work.
We call the questionnaire a “pulse” survey because it is designed to be a short check-in, like taking a pulse, rather than a long, in-depth analysis. Each month we ask between three and five questions on different topics. These topics aren’t random. They are generated by issues we are actively working on, like transportation, food in the shipyard and how you learn about what is happening in the company.
Your answers are anonymous, so we also ask a couple of the same questions each month about what shift you work and whether you are in a union (and which union) to help us understand which shifts or populations have concerns that need to be addressed.
Your input will help us make decisions and plan for the future. Most of the questions are “Yes or No” or multiple choice, so they don’t take much time to answer. But some questions might be open-ended to allow you to make specific suggestions.
In May, we asked the open-ended question, “What would you like to see in lunchrooms for food options or amenities, for example, different food or different vending options (give examples), more microwaves, a swipe card you put money on to use in the machines or other ideas?” We received more than 230 suggestions!
This is valuable information that we can take back to our vendor and use to improve the food and drink choices available to you in the vending areas as well as use internally to improve our lunchroom facilities.
Because so many of you took a few minutes to answer the survey, we are able to take action. To those who have answered, thank you for your input. If you haven’t answered a survey yet, I encourage you to try it out. The questions in June’s Pulse Survey are:
- Have you heard about the new regional shuttle bus from Lewiston for first shift?
- Does any part of your commute to the shipyard take you on Route 27 (Gardiner to Wiscasset) or 127 (Dresden to Woolwich)?
- The new BEST Activities Team is planning after-hours employee activities for 2023–2024. What are some events or activities you are interested in participating in (choose all that apply):
- What keeps you working at BIW?
- What shift do you work?
- Which group do you belong to?
Click here to take the Pulse Survey.
See you on the deckplates!
Safely Execute High-Quality Work
Chuck
President, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works
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