Customer interview with the Profond pension fund

Hello, Ms. de Capitani, we are very pleased that you are willing to answer our questions about your experience with the employee surveys conducted by ValueQuest for the Profond pension fund.

Why did you originally decide to conduct an employee survey?

• The decisive factor was the consolidation of Profond's locations in German-speaking Switzerland and the associated relocation of the offices to Zurich. At the same time, the company had been struggling with the issue of "common culture" since the merger.

When was that?

• The decision was made by the Executive Board at the beginning of 2016.

How did you hear about ValueQuest GmbH back then?

• Various providers were examined. As Profond and ValueQuest already had a good working relationship in the area of customer satisfaction and the system, questions and type of evaluations met our requirements, the decision was quickly made.

What were your experiences during the first survey? Were you able to improve the working atmosphere and employee satisfaction?

• The first survey was deliberately regarded internally by Profond as a zero measurement in order to have a baseline value for subsequent years. Nevertheless, measures were already defined after the first survey based on the feedback and workshops were held in the individual areas.

How often have you been conducting employee surveys since then? And why do you think this frequency is important?

• The survey has been conducted annually since 2016. As Profond has also had to "master" changes in the various committees since then and cultural change has therefore been a recurring theme, but also because Profond's targeted digital transformation has been an intense focus in recent years, the Executive Board decided to maintain the annual frequency. The regular pulse checks supported the change process in that they allowed us to quickly and specifically address issues where the shoe was still on the other foot.

How did the process continue and what made it successful in your eyes? What were the most important learnings?

• We have used the results to tackle things both within the team and in entire areas or even across Profond (e.g. targeted management training). In doing so, we have found the motto "less is often more" to be very useful. Our euphoria at having identified the weak points and wanting to improve something in all areas at the same time after the first survey was quickly curbed. That was simply unrealistic in addition to the normal working day. By involving all employees in the development and implementation of improvements, it was possible to implement things in a generally acceptable and broadly supported manner.

Which instruments and tools are helpful for you?

• The detailed evaluations with recommendations are a great help in quickly separating important from less important topics. However, the shorter evaluations are also very important for presentations at the various levels and are generally easy to understand. After one of the first surveys, we also used the workshop posters provided, which were a good basic guide for the first steps with the survey results, as they created a common understanding for the discussions.

Where do you stand today?

• Since its launch, Profond has "worked its way up" from the bottom quantile to the top quantile. The management is aware that such an increase is rather unusual and that it is unlikely to be realistic to continue in this vein over the next few years. At the same time, however, we are also aware that we cannot rest on our laurels, but want to continue working on the weak points. Because not everything is (yet) green at Profond either.

What arguments would you use to recommend an employee survey to other companies?

• An anonymous employee survey gives employees the opportunity to express their opinions openly, address weaknesses and highlight positive aspects. Just as our employees have an annual appraisal to enable them to develop further, I believe that a company should also constantly develop and improve. In addition to an open exchange during the year, a survey enables a global perspective and a comparison across several years and all locations.
• Of course, any survey is only as good as the subsequent "lessons learned". And this must be followed by credible actions. If the results disappear into a drawer - which, admittedly, would be temptingly easy - a survey is just an additional expense and is degraded to an untrustworthy and tiresome compulsory exercise.

How would you describe the collaboration with ValueQuest?

• The collaboration was very supportive, professional and appreciative right from the start. The initially low values were addressed openly, but at the same time, possible approaches for the next steps were also pointed out. There was always a willingness to respond to our wishes and concerns (special questions, evaluations, presentations). And the preparatory work is always very well coordinated and scheduled, so that the workload for us in HR is no longer great.

Thank you very much for your insightful answers. We look forward to continuing to accompany you in this exciting process.

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