--- help me out here. What does BCI offer?
-------------------------------------------------------------
Recalls, PCA letters, workarounds, broken promises, frustrated customers, rude disgruntled employees, and service agreements that mean nothing when you're down and have to wait until they can work you in. That's what I the "customer" see that BCI has to offer!! I am not alone as your sinking stock indicates. Hope you are one of the lucky ones that gets to retire when you get asked to leave.

[Only chemistry, immuno, hematology, blood typing, flow cytometry, centrifugation, HTS, Molecular Dx, capillary EP, not much really.]

What are you smoking?
- Chemistry has glucose & lytes problems/workarounds.
- Immuno has withdrawn FDA 510(k) certification for troponin.
- Hematology has all but been abandoned by SG. Sysmex is killing 'em.
- Molecular isn't even released and GE already has filed a lawsuit for patent infringement.

Nothing yet, this too is delayed. The DXN is coming. Who knows when.

Molecular Dx, --- help me out here. What does BCI offer?

Only chemistry, immuno, hematology, blood typing, flow cytometry, centrifugation, HTS, Molecular Dx, capillary EP, not much really. No one needs all that stuff, and there is so much better at Siemens, Roche and Abbott.
Excuse my sarcasm, but really, it's just incredible what is written sometimes!

Company is up for sale anyway......but no buyers with their current situation.

~~~~

Not so sure about the company being up for sale. However I am sure that in the present condition Beckman has nothing to offer any buyer.

Employee Survey.......nobody cares at Beckman about it, Company is up for sale anyway......but no buyers with their current situation

Under enegaged is getting tired of bending over and saying, "Thank you sir can I have another?"

oops, looks like beckman management is hear and on the war path! Damn employees!

??? what is this ???

It's called screwing off on company time.

"It's also hard to be engaged when you are busy shopping, golfing, searching the web for a new home or job, paying bills, organizing food drives, or taking extended lunch with friends all on company time."
??? what is this ???

"our employees appear to be underengaged..."

Yes, they are underengaged in providing top-notch customer support or underengaged in developing leading new technologies.

It's hard to be engaged when you have to be constantly watching your back. It's also hard to be engaged when you are busy shopping, golfing, searching the web for a new home or job, paying bills, organizing food drives, or taking extended lunch with friends all on company time.

After filling out the survey suddenly the lingo changed to 'our employees appear to be underengaged. We are going to have meeting with each group to help them become more engaged'.
Here's your engagement: I got another job. Too many MBA's trying to managed engineering in this company... typical 'lets substitute people with process' and the resulting failures...

I left after I secured another much higher paying job. I saw the culture degradation from what Coulter once was and where it seemed to be going. Thanks you Scott so much for pointing the direction to take. I now have a fantastic job!

The Beckman Coulter employee survey is a waste of time.
Nobody looks at it, Just to make the employees "feel good".

Terrible Company, I hope they are soon going to get what they deserve.

Anyone have any updates on this ?

Right...can't find another job. Is that a reason to take advantage of your employees? I, for one, haven't had a raise for two years. Yet it seems in Scott's news letter he is very proud of the millions the company is making.

"Did they ever change the lousy review process and form? That was one of the first things SG promised to correct."

****************

They change the process and form every year, spending millions on consultants and retraining. But they always end up with the same 5 categories, but with different names (e.g. "Achieved Important Results"). And everybody gets a "C". Very motivating and morale-boosting to all.

"Interesting how they time the survey. Always before they slam you with their wonderful performance reviews...."

Did they ever change the lousy review process and form? That was one of the first things SG promised to correct.

interesting how the time the survey.always before they slam you with their wonderful performance reviews....

vivement une DRH à marseille

I love BC threads! Always make me feel good.

----

Makes me feel good that I don't work there.

----

Exactly

I love BC threads! Always make me feel good.

----

Makes me feel good that I don't work there.

I love BC threads! Always make me feel good.

Vive IMMUNOTECH Marseille et son assignation

Why even bother with the time and expense of a survey? Lets face reality - SG and his inner circle don't care what employees think, don't care about customers and are merely biding time until they can jump ship and cash in.

Let me try to enlighten you about how attitude surveys are conducted. As you correctly noted, there were really only 6-10 actual questions being asked. However, a fundemental rule of market research (of which these attitude surveys are one type) is to ask each question several different ways. While this may seem redundant to the casual observer, there really is a method to the apparent madness. The reason for the multiple forms of the same question is to ensure that the answers are truly responses to the intent of the question and not its form or format. Believe it or not, but the form of a question can strongly influence the response:

I think management does a good job (Agree, Not Sure, Disagree)
I think management does a bad job (Agree, Not Sure, Disagree)

In theory, the results of these two questions should be mirror images, but they often are not. Asking the same question from slightly different perspectives helps to sort out discrepancies in answers.

This educational message brought to you by one of your stockholders.

45 questions - employee is asked to rate strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree

Reading the list of questions I think to myself how many different ways can a company pose the same question?
It seems there are about 6 basic questions and the rest are a variation of the others
Typical Beckman Coulter thinking we must get a good response from one of the variations to feed back to the employees
Just wait for the white wash when the results are announced.

'Still no feedback on results of survey, anyone heard anything?'

Management has to digest the data and then manipulate it to suit their needs. Then they need to formulate a politically correct response. These things take time especially when you are busy going to Director level award retreats at top notch resorts.

Vive le Quebec libre!

Still no feedback on results of survey , Anyone heard anything ?

Vive la France!

Et bien je vois
En attendant tout ce qu'on peut dire de la société Beckman c'est que pour nos avoir "former" (entre guillemets car j'appelle pas ça de la formation) il n'y a pas d'enquête de satisfaction effectué auprès des clients. Alors pourquoi ce donner autant de mal ....

Fascinating list of questions. As someone who has experienced employee attitude surveys elsewhere, it is amazing to see how much they are all alike. They all ask the same questions with the same slant. It sure sounds like an outside consulting group handles alot of such surveys for many companies. Your only issue at Beckman is whether you trust your management or not. Whether you do or not individually, the overall results from the survey will provide management with the basic answer as to how much trust exists between employees and management. If management pays attention to this aspect of the survey, then it is a worthwhile activity overall.

45 questions - employee is asked to rate strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree

1. Beckman Coulter recognizes employees who produce results.
2. My manager/supervisor keeps his/her commitments.
3. Beckman Coulter provides equal opportunity for all employees.
4. My ideas and suggestions count.
5. Within Beckman Coulter people are held accountable for their performance.
6. Beckman Coulter's values are evident through the actions and decisions of our leadership.
7. Beckman Coulter values my contribution.
8. Customer problems are dealt with quickly.
9. I receive the information and communication I need to do my job effectively.
10. Policies, practice and procedures do not prevent me from doing my job effectively.
11. Beckman Coulter does a good job of adapting in the face of change.
12. My manager/supervisor is an outstanding leader.
13. I am proud to work for Beckman Coulter.
14. I can see a clear link between my work and the vision and objectives of Beckman Coulter.
15. I have access to the resources (e.g., materials, equipment, technology, etc.) I need to do my job effectively.
16. Beckman Coulter has a climate that encourages diverse perspectives.
17. I rarely think about looking for a new job with another company.
18. Beckman Coulter is committed to providing high quality products and services to our customers.
19. I believe in the values of Beckman Coulter.
20. I have opportunities to advance in Beckman Coulter.
21. Beckman Coulter's employees are getting the training and development needed to keep up with customer demands.
22. My manager/supervisor really cares about my well-being.
23. My manager/supervisor helps me know what is expected of me.
24. I feel well-informed about what is happening at Beckman Coulter.
25. Beckman Coulter recognizes productive people.
26. I trust the leadership of Beckman Coulter.
27. My manager/supervisor listens to me.
28. My manager/supervisor provides me with timely and helpful feedback to improve my performance.
29. I feel supported in my efforts to adapt to organizational changes.
30. I am able to manage my work responsibilities in a way that allows me to maintain a healthy balance between work and home.
31. In Beckman Coulter there is open, honest two-way communication.
32. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with Beckman Coulter as a place to work.
33. The leadership of Beckman Coulter has communicated a vision of the future that motivates me.
34. I am involved in decisions that affect my work.
35. My manager/supervisor does a good job dealing with poor performance.
36. People at Beckman Coulter collaborate for the good of the whole company rather than focusing on their own area, or business unit.
37. Beckman Coulter provides me with the opportunity for learning and development.
38. I regularly receive appropriate recognition when I do a good job.
39. The people I work with deliver excellent quality and service.
40. My manager/supervisor has made a personal investment in my growth and development.
41. Beckman Coulter is making the changes necessary to compete effectively.
42. Beckman Coulter shows a commitment to ethical decisions and acting with integrity.
43. I would gladly refer a good friend or family member to Beckman Coulter for employment.
44. I feel that I am part of a team.
45. I believe Beckman Coulter has an outstanding future.

"Taking action on a single response is exactly what you are not supposed to do."

guess you weren't around for the last one

Being an outsider interested to know what irrelevant questions Beckman Coulter are asking for a response.

Oh, you are soooooooooo naive. Whether Beckman tracks individual response or not is not the issue. Some companies conduct these surveys completely anonymously; others track individual responses. From what has been posted here, the mechanism used by Beckman will allow them to track individual responses if they choose to do so. Don't let your naivete fool you into thinking that you are safe and that there is no such thing as an upper managemnt person who has nothing better to do than to keep track of the petty details of individual employee dissatisfaction. The point here is to know your own company and what kind of mentality they have (open environment with good communication or a seige mentality where it is us [management] against them [employees]).

The other possibility is that you are not naive at all, but a slick member of management attempting some form of damage control here.

Tracking individual responses? Do you actually think anyone truly cares how one person out of 10,000 responded? The point of a survey is to get trend data, positive or negative. Taking action on a single response is exactly what you are not supposed to do.

Simply put: Unless you are the CEO, you aren't that important. Get over yourself, please.

They tracked the number of responses by department. There was competition between groups to have the highest percentage completed. The third party that administered the survey is supposed to maintain confidentiality. But I wouldn't count on it.

BECKMAN COULTER IS KNOWN FOR BEING THE LOWEST PAID MEDICAL MANUFACTURING COMPANY OUT THERE!!! THATS ONE OF THE MANY COMPLAINTS PEOPLE ARE CRYING ABOUT!!! SO IF THIS SURVEY DOESNT GET THEM ANYWHERE THEN THAT REALLY SUCKS!!!

It is definitely not either/or. I should be both. Companies that practice MBWA may and should also do formal surveys. The trust that tends to get established by MBWA translates into far more reliable surveys. In companies with poor communications, you never even know what the surveys mean. Were the negatives too high because only those with problems participated (in well run companies most participate because the feel they are part of a team)? Or were the negatives too low because of possible fear or intimidation. If you believe that Beckman is a fairly 'open' company where communication is encouraged, then, by all means, be a team player and participate. If there is an atmosphere of fear and suspicion, then this is a good time to be careful. Since I stated I was an outsider at the beginning of my original post it was not possible to know how things are at Beckman. If the warning signs of a company with poor internal communication and alot of internal friction are there, then my warnings are worth heading. If not then they are something to keep in mind if you ever work anywhere else.

Interesting perspective. High performing companies (CISCO, PFIZER, APPLE, STARWOOD among the ones that I know of) are never afraid of any feedback including regular surveys. They use it to coach leaders, understand better what the broad population is feeling, and seek to adapt. Something many people here seem to be afraid of. You seem to see it (walking around and surveys) as a either or. Is that true? In my mind a company executives and leaders should do both. Beckman Coulter is one of those companies.

As an outsider, let me give you a bit of advice. Companies that have executives and managers that have their ears open and are not stuck in their offices all the time have no need for employee surveys. MBWA (thats Management By Walking Around) has many advantages, the most important of which is that you really know what is going on and not what is selectively filtered up to you in meetings and reports. The fact that any company finds itself in need of an employee survey suggests that upper management is not only unfamiliar with what is going on, but probably has some preconceived notions that things are going very well and that most employees are satisfied with most aspects of their job. They probably assume that there are always a few trouble makers (maybe 5 %) and that they will ultimately leave or be fired. Then they do the survey and find that only 50-70 percent of employees are happy. They can't understand why they feel that upper management is not in touch with things or reality. They don't want to hear that many people think that things are done poorly within the organization including poorly conceived or funded projects, incompetance in those in management who have achieved their lofty level through sucking up or backstabbing, but definitely not through obvious achievement. They don't believe that top performers often don't get rewarded because they are not seen as team players (meaning they don't have a herd mentality). Some will look at the 'bad news' and then have some kind of communication with the employees to tell them the results and focus on the positive and find ways to explain away the negatives (such as, those who are complaining about things just don't understand whats going on).

And once they start to see the results of these surveys, the next step is generally not to fix the problem, but to identify the trouble makers. Many companies try to take punitivate measures; some, however, will seek out the 'complainers' to really try to make an honest attempt to improve things within the organization. I don't know Beckman management well enough to know how they react to these kind of surveys but given that there is any evidence that participation in these surveys is NOT completely confidential, I would recommend proceeding with alot of caution before signing up to play. If management wants to understand employee attitudes, let them simply get out of their offices more and talk to people in all departments one on one. Let them have lunch with the 'common people' instead of eating alone or with others just one level above or below them. When you 'mix' with others, you learn whats going on and you even get inputs on little or even big things that can be done to make employees alot happier.

Good luck on this one !

Bitter people who need to go get a life.

I told it like it is....

ya mean the survey that came with a password linked to my email

And whom or what is stopping you from leaving? Maybe because you can't find another job?

Including the question whether you were happy enough to NOT be looking for anoter job?? That one was as survey first!

yes mr G ...sir