Knowing Cisco Australia - Case Study Example

. Cisco Australia: Defining The New Work Ethos [A] Introduction: Knowing Cisco As the world of business records phenomenal growth rates, it has become important for companies to maintain base with their most valued assets - their employees. Most successful companies today have managed to streamline their operations. They have shed excess baggage and have retained a small but highly talented work pool. This has made employee satisfaction and retention the bywords of businesses that have successfully managed to morph themselves into new-age biggies. Yet there are some who are more equal than others when it comes to servicing their employees. Cisco Australia is one such employer, which has pulled out all plugs to ensure that its employees just cannot get enough of the good life. The company could well be on its way to wearing Australia's best employer crown. So what is Cisco all about Cisco, which was founded in 1984 by two computer scientists from Stanford University, began life as a manufacturer of routing systems. Since it sold its first router in 1986, the company has more than lived up to its vision of 'Changing the Way We Live, Work, Play and Learn'. Apart from its core development areas of routing and switching, Cisco has now branched into various technology-related fields like IP communications, wireless LAN, home networking, application networking services, network security, storage area networking and video systems. The company, which has its corporate headquarters in San Jose, California, soon became one of the leaders in the global networking industry with a presence in over 115 countries. Today, it has a 47,000-strong employee base. Using the acquisition-partnership route, Cisco managed to make inroads into multiple fields. Today, Cisco's products provide solutions to a wide range of customers from business enterprises like corporations and government agencies to educational and research institutions. In 1994 Cisco set up base in Sydney, Australia, which was one of the company's first operations outside the United States. Today, Cisco Australia operates from around six cities and has over 600 employees on its payrolls. Australia is home to the company's Asia Pacific Technical Assistance Centre and Customer Assurance Group. Here's a list of the awards that the decade-old Cisco Australia won: Prime Minister's Award for Community Business Partnerships in August 2001. No 1 in the Hewitt Associates survey "Best Employers to Work for in Australia" in the under 1,000 employees category in 2002 and 2003 MAS National Award for Corporate Citizenship at the 2005 Australian HR Awards. [B(1.1)] Does Cisco Fit The New Workplace One of the main reasons for Cisco's almost meteorical rise to success was its ability to adapt to the new work order. Around 15 years ago, the same time that Cisco began operations; the new workplace became an important word in management parlance. Computers and the Internet were changing the way the world worked. Managers realized they needed to implement solid workplace strategies, to provide the infrastructure for enabling global, 24x7 work processes and remote collaboration "anytime, anyplace." (Aperture Technologies 2006, online ) This 'anytime, anyplace' strategy proved extremely beneficial for both organizations and their employees. It gave them considerable freedom, as they could now be mobile and work from just about anywhere. Freed from geographical and time constraints, an organization's managers could employ qualified people from just about anywhere in the world. A look at Cisco's growth graph during the past 20 years shows that in just over a decade, the company had spread its wings across continents. It managed to get the best in terms of qualified employees and a bigger customer base. A downside of this new workplace was that it put a strain on the companies' infrastructure and also affected workplace dynamics. This meant that enabling and empowering employees with a superior workplace was of paramount importance to the competitiveness and profitability of any organization. (Aperture Technologies 2006, online) Cisco has always portrayed itself as an employer of choice for its employees: a company, which respects the talent of its workforce and is ready to go that extra mile to ensure that its employees are satisfied. This has helped Cisco attract and retain talented individuals, thereby improving its competitive advantage. Employee feedback is critical at Cisco and the company provides multiple ways to give feedback. The Cisco Pulse Census is one of the latest tools that the company's managers employ to get employee feedback. Since this tool ensures absolute confidentiality, it allows employees to open up about issues that they may speak about when in a group. Cisco Pulse Census Results Subject Area Q3 FY2006 All Employees Q2 FY2006 Snapshot Q4 FY2005 Snapshot Q3 FY2005 Snapshot Q2 FY2005 Snapshot Cisco as a Place to Work 85% 80% 81% 78% 81% Teamwork and Cooperation 84% 83% 80% 79% 79% Understanding the Business 82% 77% 81% 77% 80% Empowerment 81% 70% 79% 77% 78% Honesty and Ethics 78% 76% 75% 73% 75% Job Satisfaction 76% 73% 74% 72% 75% Manager 76% 73% 74% 72% 75% Workgroup 75% 72% 73% 72% 73% Career Development 70 66 69 65 70% Results and Recognition 63% 59% 57% 54% 57% Notes: 1. "Snapshot" refers to a survey of a random sampling of Cisco employees. 2. "All Employees" refers to a survey distributed to all Cisco employees. Q3 FY06 was Cisco's first survey of this kind. 3. Data shown represents the average percentage of respondents who agree or strongly agree with the statements in each category. (Source: www.cisco.com 2005) As you will note in the table above, Cisco has consistently managed to ensure employee satisfaction. One big reason is the ability of the company's managers to weave the work culture around the employees. Every innovation in work techniques is used to enhance employee capability and satisfaction. For instance, in 1993, Cisco Systems was one of the first companies in Silicon Valley to develop teleworking guidelines for both managers and employees, as well as a teleworking agreement to standardize policies and procedures for telecommuters. This arrangement allowed Cisco's managers to provide employees with a better quality of work life without compromising on the quality of work. [B(1.2)]The Impact of Globalisation on Cisco The very nature of its business meant that Cisco couldn't afford to remain a local or national company. Its routers were built to connect computers worldwide and globalization only helped the company realize its goals faster. As the world of business shrank, Cisco extended its reach to over 115 countries worldwide. Here are the employee figures for Cisco which shows that while the U.S. still houses a majority of Cisco employees, units in other parts of the world are quick and will quickly catch up. In 2005, Cisco employed nearly 40,000 people across the world. Over 70 percent employees were based in the United States, 15 percent in Europe and the Middle East, 9 percent in Asia Pacific, 2 percent in Japan, and 3 percent in Central and South America. (Cisco Systems Inc 2006, online) (Source: www.cisco.com 2006) This increased global presence has meant that Cisco is now capable of fulfilling the requirements of clients located just about anywhere in the world. And employees from varied backgrounds create an inclusive culture that attracts, fully utilizes and leverages the unique talents of its global workforce. This has helped maximize customer and employee satisfaction and business profitability. (Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, 2005). Let's take the example of Cisco's Asia Pacific Technical Support team in Sydney. Forty-three per cent of the staff is from non-English-speaking backgrounds. Employees here take over 3,400 calls a month and effectively service customers from around the world. Sydney is also home to one of Cisco's four global human resource centers and employees here are on call to assist with human resource queries across Asia Pacific and sometimes, even Europe. (Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, 2005). [B(2.1)]Cisco's Diverse Workforce Diversity of workforce is something no global organization can escape today. What Cisco has done is leverage the diversity to increase customer and employee satisfaction and correspondingly, its revenues. A global networking giant, Cisco has to deal with customers from different parts of the world. Its employee-oriented management style has enabled Cisco to attract employees from diverse backgrounds. This means Cisco has a workforce that is as diverse as its customer base and helps the company provide a much higher level of service its clients Access to new ideas, new methods of functioning, interacting with clients, different business strategies are some of the other benefits that Cisco has derived from its multinational workforce. In an online article on its website, the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs describes this lovely mish-mash of cultures that is present at Cisco's Asia Pacific Technical Support office in Sydney. Some days you could be anywhere in the world. It gives the centre a nice, warm feel. We really are a small community. We have morning teas where people bring in a local, traditional dish. This contributes to making a welcoming and supportive environment. It is not the type of place where you work to simply earn a buck and then go home. Creating this type of culture in the workplace makes our support centre very innovative, says Senior director of Asia Pacific Technical Support Karen McFadzen." (Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, 2005). [B(2.2)]Cisco's Strategies to Encourage & Benefit From Diversity What managers at Cisco realized early on is that if the company had to grow beyond geographical boundaries, it would have to embrace people from all cultures. And even more important, the company had to inculcate a sense of respect and acceptance of different peoples. Cisco's managers have done this quite admirably by creating various training programs. These programs try to increase employee awareness about various cultures and celebrate their differences. Employees are also being educated and trained to be aware of their conscious and unconscious biases and assumptions that may have made working together difficult. (Lieberman 2002, online) Cisco uses e-learning software to provide cross-cultural training and education. The Sydney office uses: Cross-Cultural Quickstart: A one-hour web-based course with self-assessment. Videos: That bring to fore topics relating to the diversity in the organization including diversity in leadership, and business. Instructor-led courses: offer cultural training to employees, and finally Some comic relief: in the form of an educational comic strip Diversitoons. Humor is the simplest and easiest way to teach employees about different people and their cultures. (Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, 2005) While all these training programs help sensitize employees to their individual differences, it is left to the employees to build on these initial contacts and develop strong relations with each other. This helps break down any barriers that may still exist. Social gatherings and meetings between employees help strengthen these bonds. [B(3.1)]Ensuring Employee Job Satisfaction & Motivation With Incentives to Avoid Unwanted Behavior Job satisfaction and employee motivation levels are something of an enigma even today and most managers are still trying to decipher the exact magic formula to improve satisfaction and enhance motivation levels. According to Frederick Herzberg, there are two factors to motivation: 'hygiene' and motivators (Accel-Team, 2006). While hygiene issues are job-related and improve or decline depending on the quality of administration, salary hikes, company policies, motivators are more complex in nature. At Cisco, though traditional extrinsic rewards of recognition, benefits, promotions and salary hikes do exist, the emphasis is on providing intrinsic rewards to employees. It is here that the interpersonal skills that Cisco's managers emphasize on, play a very important role. For an employee to feel a sense of belonging, s/he must be able to relate to the atmosphere around him/her. Cisco's administrative policies are geared toward making employees believe that they are valued assets. At Cisco, an ability to learn, adapt and innovate are highly valued qualities and employees are given due recognition and rewarded for their work. (Vault.com Inc 2000, online) Cisco employs a linear management style where each employee is encouraged to be responsible and responsive to company and client requirements. This style of management allows the company to empower its employees, which in turn helps enhance their productivity. Cisco also makes great use of the Internet to improve employee development standards. Web-based applications allow the company's managers to review and compare talent within the organization. (Adams 2002: para 1). In addition to identifying skilled employees, this talent scan gives Cisco managers an idea of the general capabilities of workers at a micro level. This helps in identifying and creating growth strategies and correcting any problem issues. [B(3.2)]Avoiding Unwanted Behavior By Providing Equal Opportunities To All Employees One area where Cisco has managed to shine is in its endeavor to bring increasing numbers of women and people with physical disabilities into the mainstream. The low representation of women in the IT sector is a matter of concern and the Cisco think tank has initiated many schemes to close the gap. A Women's Initiative attempts to address problems and issues that female employees face so that they can compete on an equal footing with other Cisco employees. As a mark of its efforts in this direction, Equal Opportunities Publications ranked Cisco number 13 of the top 50 employers with the best working environment for women in 2005. The company also attempts to employ talented individuals irrespective of their disabilities. The company has successfully managed to improve access to its various facilities, services and goods for people with visual, physical, cognitive, and hearing disabilities. The American Foundation for the Blind awarded Cisco the Helen Keller Achievement in Accessibility Award. [B(3.3)]Motivating Employees By Making Them Partners In The Human Network Cisco has grown considerably since the days of its vision of Changing the Way We Live, Work, Play and Learn'. Today the company is trying to form a human network, a web of connections between its customers and employees. This change in perspective underlines Cisco's adaptability to the dynamic environment around it. Cisco has consciously tried to redesign its organizational structure to enhance employee involvement in its organizational structure. The company actively employs an equal opportunities growth strategy that does not discriminate along racial, sexual, and ethnic lines. To improve understanding and acceptance of its diverse employee base, Cisco encourages the development and growth of employee networks. The management conducts various training and development programs that are designed to help the personal and professional development of its employees. [B(4.1)]Job Design Approaches At Cisco: Alternative Work Arrangements A big reason for employee dissatisfaction is a feeling of stagnation. Sometimes employees may feel that their skills are not being optimized or they may want a change. In such a situation, a company should be able to help its employees find their groove or risk having to deal with disgruntled workers. Cisco employs internally developed web-based tools that allow managers to post their requirements and employees to post their qualifications, skills and career aspirations (Adams 2002, online). This system allows the company to optimally utilize available talent and improve employee satisfaction and productivity. Cisco is also one of the pioneers of the work-at-home strategy now employed by most Fortune 500 companies. In a perfect illustration of the mountain coming to Mohammed, Cisco decided to go all out to woo talented workers on their home base. Today Cisco employees have the freedom of working from multiple bases of their choice. This gives them flexibility and improves their work-life balance greatly. . [B(4.2)]Goal Setting & Learning Of Individuals In Cisco: Learning on the Job There was a time when workers and managers were churned out of universities. Today, employees have to fine-tune their talents to meet company and customer-specific requirements. Cisco doesn't like its employees to come well trained; at least not initially. The company prefers to let its employees learn through experience and exposure to various tasks and problems. The belief is that educating and training employees in this manner will allow them to imbibe and retain much more knowledge than a classroom atmosphere allows. Emphasis is on helping employees understand their capabilities, strengths, and weak points. There is no handholding here and every employee is expected to iron out his/her faults by creating a personal development plan, which identifies training requirements. The plan also encourages employees to chart a future course within the organization. And managers provide employees with assistance and training wherever required. Most employees receive training, coaching and other career developmental skills at Cisco University. Employees who feel they need a change can learn new skills at Cisco University and then move on to other projects within the organization. This enhances employee satisfaction and helps improve job performance. Cisco managers have also developed a plan for the high performers. Any employee who exhibits exceptional skills in the organization is made to attend development courses that help them grow at a rapid pace within the organization. [B(4.3)]Job Design Approach Geared To Retaining And Growing Employee Base It is very easy to paint a rosy picture when it comes to a company's management policies but ground realities may be different. So to say that Cisco is the perfect employer may be a bit of an exaggeration. But Cisco does manage to come closer to perfection than most other employers. In a time when most companies are aggregating their losses caused by high attrition rates, Cisco is one employer, which has seen a minimal loss of employees. And these employees are staying back not because of phenomenal salaries but because of an inclusive culture that encourages their talents and helps them grow. Simply put, Cisco "Is not the type of place where you work to simply earn a buck and then go home (Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, 2005). [C]Conclusion What is it that makes a good employer the best Hewitt Associates, which conducts The Hewitt Best Employers in Asia study, has a few benchmarks that it uses to zero in on the Best Employer of the region. (Hewitt Associates LLC 2006, online) As per the study, a best employer strives to make its employees feel valued, and strives to extract best performances from them. Cisco has already acquired a rock star status among its employees worldwide. The management has ensured that the quality of management has only increased in Cisco Australia. The huge diversity of its employee base has even given Cisco Australia a qualitative edge over its competitors. Its many employee-centric programs combined with performance-based rewards ensure that it gets its employees to perform at their optimum levels. Most important is the fact Cisco manages to meet the biggest requirement for being a best employer: create a successful business. This allows it to meet and exceed its customer and employee requirements and demands. A true blue Best Employer by any standards. References Accel-Team, 2006, 'Human relations contributors'. Abstract retrieved 27 November 2006 from http://www.accel-team.com/human_relations/hrels_05_herzberg.html Adams Eric. J, 2002, Tap Employee Talent, iQ Magazine, Cisco Systems Inc. Retrieved 26 November 2006 from. http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac123/iqmagazine/archives/2001_2002/employee_talent.html Aperture Technologies, Inc, 2006, 'Enterprise Strategy: The New Workplace'. Retrieved 25 November 2006 from http://www.aperture.com/facilities/new_workplace.php Australian Government Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, 2005, 'Multilingual workforce puts Australia on world map'. Retrieved 25 November 2006 from http://www.diversityaustralia.gov.au/_inc/doc_pdf/cisco.pdf Cisco Systems Inc, 2006, 'Cisco and Employees Employee Diversity'. Table retrieved 24 November 2006 from http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac227/ac111/cisco_and_employees/employee_diversity.html Cisco Systems Inc, 2006, 'Cisco and its Employees Employee Satisfaction'. Table retrieved 28 November 2006 from http://www.cisco.com/web/about/ac227/ac222/employees/employee_satisfaction/index.html Hewitt Associates LLC, 2006, Best Employers In Asia 2007 study. Retrieved 26 November 2006 from http://www.hewittasia.com Lieberman Simma, 2002, 'Diversity benefits Organizations and communities', Simma Lieberman Associates. Retrieved 25 November 2006 from http://www.simmalieberman.com/articles/diversitybenefits.htm Vault.com Inc, 2000, 'Cisco Systems'. Retrieved 26 November 2006 from 1. http://www1.excite.com/home/careers/company_profile/0,15623,1001,00.html Read More