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Global leadership survey 2004

The sustainability of our success as a business rests significantly on intangibles such as the quality of our leadership, our culture and our ability to develop talented people. Regular employee surveys help us to monitor the evolution of GSK’s culture and overall employee satisfaction with the company. The results are used to assess the effectiveness of our people management practices and identify areas for improvement.

In 2004 we conducted our second global leadership survey of GSK managers. The survey was completed by over 9,500 managers in all countries where GSK operates (an 83% response rate). It tracked their views against our first survey in 2002 and against findings from other global companies such as IBM and Microsoft.

Key survey findings
The responses were generally more positive than in 2002. There was a significant improvement in the number of positive responses to 29 out of 31 core questions and, overall, responses were on average 4 points higher than two years ago.

Areas that received high scores included business ethics, with 92% of managers reporting that they understand how the GSK code of conduct applies to their job responsibilities, pride in the company and clarity about how their role is aligned with GSK’s wider strategy and mission. For example:

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	2004 (%)	2002 (%)
People in my department show commitment to performance with integrity	91	88
I can see a clear link between my work and the company’s objectives	87	85
The people I work with cooperate to get the job done	87	82
I am proud to be part of GSK	83	78
Strategies in my department support the pursuit of the GSK mission	85	81
People in my department are committed and enabled to make meaningful contributions	82	76
I feel encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things	77	74
I can report unethical practices without fear of reprisal	76	70
I would gladly refer a good friend or family member to GSK for employment	78	72

The survey also produced clear messages about areas for improvement. Quite a few managers expressed concerns about workload and also frustrations about not being able to do their best work. The areas that received lower scores still showed improvement over 2002 and included:

	2004 (%)	2002 (%)
The amount of work I am expected to do is about right	45	42
GSK is a company where great people can do their best work	52	46
When choices have to be made, my manager usually places quality over other business objectives (deadlines, budget, etc.)	54	48
How satisfied are you with the recognition you receive for doing a good job?	57	56
Sufficient effort is made to get the opinions and thinking of people who work here	59	51
Leaders in my department act as teachers, coaches, and champions of development	59	54
I receive ongoing feedback that helps me improve my performance	61	57

Comparisons with other companies
Responses to many of the survey questions can be compared with those given by employees of other companies through a cross-company database. This includes responses from around three million employees in 139 countries.

GSK scored highly compared to other companies in several areas. These include:

• My manager effectively communicates GSK goals and objectives.
• I can report unethical practices without fear of reprisal.
• I have the authority to make decisions that improve the quality of my work.

We scored below average in other areas, including:

• The amount of work I am expected to do is about right.
• When choices have to be made, my manager usually places quality above other business objectives.

It is important to understand the context of this second finding. This is a business where exceptionally high quality standards are built in at every level. Analysis of the response with employees indicated that their concern was related to hitting deadlines, rather than quality per se.

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Improvement plans
The survey findings have been reviewed by GSK’s Corporate Executive Team and our business units are developing plans to deliver improvements in key areas.

For example, additional ethics training is planned for parts of the business that scored lower than the GSK average on business ethics questions. Other business units are looking at ways to improve the effectiveness of their employee development, coaching and feedback systems.

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