Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) is a supplier of office products and services. The company's selection of brand name office supplies includes business machines, computers, computer software and office furniture, while its business services encompass copying, printing, document reproduction, shipping, and computer setup and repair.
An S&P 500 company, Office Depot generates revenues of over US $14 billion annually and has 42,000 employees worldwide. It is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. As of 2011, Office Depot is the third largest retailer of office supplies, behind Staples and OfficeMax.
The surveys are tied into the creation of action plans for the coming year, says Anita Cayuso, a supervisor in sales accounting. She begins by printing out the analysis and the accompanying documentation, which contain suggestions for ways to improve upon the key survey findings. As a manager, she also uses a module in the Kenexa software to generate an action plan for her area. She then schedules a meeting with her staff to go over the main points in the survey results.
"You don't want to touch on every minute area because you could be in the meeting all day long," Cayuso says. "Everybody is interested in the results and wants to have their opinions heard on the surveys."
Afterward, she meets privately with each employee to address areas in which they have excelled, areas of concern and areas in which improvement is needed. Together they set goals and create a game plan for the employee, and Cayuso follows up on that plan throughout the year.
"The surveys give me a very good view of areas I need to address with my employees," she says. "As a supervisor, my responsibility is to take them out of their comfort level and to challenge them to do a little bit more."
She keeps these individual plans in a folder in her office; only the group plan is kept and tracked online.
Driving Positive Change
These surveys and their follow-up are having an effect, both for individual employees and the company as a whole.
HEROtsc employee benefits are amongst the best in the business.
Bonus programmes
28 days holiday
Access to company pension scheme
Range of flexible shift patterns available
Full comprehensive training
Opportunity to complete a National Vocational Qualification (site dependant)
Internet Cafe
Free onsite parking
Onsite shop / canteen
Recognition Awards for service and performance
Regular incentive drives
Childcare voucher scheme
Healthsure scheme
Employee assistance programme on health, money and work issues
Assisted eye care
Onsite plasma screens
Access to free financial advice and discounted legal advice
Discounted products with Office Depot & Viking Direct
Staff offers for mobile networks (campaign dependant)
Hotel discounts
Because of recent federal and state energy legislation, energy-efficient lighting is now a major component in the effort to reduce the load and increase building energy savings. Since lighting accounts for more than 30% of electric energy use in offices, lighting controls are going mainstream. However those office lighting control systems should still be flexible enough to provide the proper illumination for different tasks and respond to changing conditions within the space.
Today's workplace is exceedingly dynamic, with employees shifting among a variety of tasks during a typical day. A high light level is needed for reading documents with small text or engineering drawings, a medium light level is more appropriate for collaborative meetings, and an even lower level is required for keyboard tasks at a computer. Additionally, each employee's personal light requirements may differ based on age, vision, or preference.
A growing number of smart fixtures, such as this line of suspended indirect fixtures, integrate global control for energy management and personal control for occupants.
Thus, quality light — illumination that can be described as comfortable in all office facilities — is important because it brings tangible returns. And that may include giving the light users more control. According to many recent studies, employers who offer individual workstation control, particularly for lighting level and thermal comfort, have happier employees, improved work output, better employee attraction and retention, and financial success.
Getting a solid return on your investment. Believe it or not, job satisfaction and employee retention as they relate to comfortable office lighting can have a measurable effect on your bottom line. According to Harris Rothenberg, LLC, a New York City-based performance consulting firm, replacing an employee costs 1.2 to 2 times their annual salary due to organization inefficiency while the position is vacant and the processing costs related to the new hire. The same research indicated that a new employee reaches maximum efficiency and performance only after 13.5 months of employment.
More specifically, surveys conducted in office settings over the last few years indicate the value of having personal controls at the workstation. For example, a landmark productivity study published in 2003 by the Light Right Consortium linked the availability of workstation personal control to worker satisfaction and performance. Nine office workers in Albany, N.Y., were subjected to a variety of lighting scenarios and then asked for feedback. When the questionnaire results were evaluated at the end of the test period, the Light Right Consortium found that the availability of lighting control in the workplace directly affected the workers' motivation on the job.
Thus, some facility owners are willing to pay a premium for personal lighting control to achieve a gain in worker satisfaction. In these situations, the occupants are able to “tune” the lighting according to changing tasks, their mood, and the amount of daylight available. For these reasons, tailored lighting has the capacity to provide a significant return on investment.
Understanding workspace-specific lighting. In the past, fluorescent luminaires consisted of a light source (lamp), a reflector or lens, and a ballast to operate the lamps. However, a variety of new occupancy sensors, photocells, and infrared/RF controls are now being mounted in fluorescent fixture housings to allow “fine tuning” of the lighting in an office space. With motion detectors and daylight sensors that are either remote-mounted or integrated into a luminaire housing, lights will dim and/or switch off when not needed. Depending on the technology selected, sensors may be programmed using an IR remote controller or administration software.
Workspace-specific direct/indirect lighting provides both task and ambient lighting.
At least two manufacturers offer a suspended linear fluorescent luminaire with the features described above. The three-lamp, direct/indirect luminaire integrates occupancy sensing, daylight sensing, and personal dimming, which can be accessed remotely using a network communications system. Two four-foot T8 lamps and a program-start dimming electronic ballast (64W active power) provide the direct/task lighting. A single T8 lamp operated by a program-start electronic ballast (31W active power) provides the indirect light component.
An S&P 500 company, Office Depot generates revenues of over US $14 billion annually and has 42,000 employees worldwide. It is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. As of 2011, Office Depot is the third largest retailer of office supplies, behind Staples and OfficeMax.
The surveys are tied into the creation of action plans for the coming year, says Anita Cayuso, a supervisor in sales accounting. She begins by printing out the analysis and the accompanying documentation, which contain suggestions for ways to improve upon the key survey findings. As a manager, she also uses a module in the Kenexa software to generate an action plan for her area. She then schedules a meeting with her staff to go over the main points in the survey results.
"You don't want to touch on every minute area because you could be in the meeting all day long," Cayuso says. "Everybody is interested in the results and wants to have their opinions heard on the surveys."
Afterward, she meets privately with each employee to address areas in which they have excelled, areas of concern and areas in which improvement is needed. Together they set goals and create a game plan for the employee, and Cayuso follows up on that plan throughout the year.
"The surveys give me a very good view of areas I need to address with my employees," she says. "As a supervisor, my responsibility is to take them out of their comfort level and to challenge them to do a little bit more."
She keeps these individual plans in a folder in her office; only the group plan is kept and tracked online.
Driving Positive Change
These surveys and their follow-up are having an effect, both for individual employees and the company as a whole.
HEROtsc employee benefits are amongst the best in the business.
Bonus programmes
28 days holiday
Access to company pension scheme
Range of flexible shift patterns available
Full comprehensive training
Opportunity to complete a National Vocational Qualification (site dependant)
Internet Cafe
Free onsite parking
Onsite shop / canteen
Recognition Awards for service and performance
Regular incentive drives
Childcare voucher scheme
Healthsure scheme
Employee assistance programme on health, money and work issues
Assisted eye care
Onsite plasma screens
Access to free financial advice and discounted legal advice
Discounted products with Office Depot & Viking Direct
Staff offers for mobile networks (campaign dependant)
Hotel discounts
Because of recent federal and state energy legislation, energy-efficient lighting is now a major component in the effort to reduce the load and increase building energy savings. Since lighting accounts for more than 30% of electric energy use in offices, lighting controls are going mainstream. However those office lighting control systems should still be flexible enough to provide the proper illumination for different tasks and respond to changing conditions within the space.
Today's workplace is exceedingly dynamic, with employees shifting among a variety of tasks during a typical day. A high light level is needed for reading documents with small text or engineering drawings, a medium light level is more appropriate for collaborative meetings, and an even lower level is required for keyboard tasks at a computer. Additionally, each employee's personal light requirements may differ based on age, vision, or preference.
A growing number of smart fixtures, such as this line of suspended indirect fixtures, integrate global control for energy management and personal control for occupants.
Thus, quality light — illumination that can be described as comfortable in all office facilities — is important because it brings tangible returns. And that may include giving the light users more control. According to many recent studies, employers who offer individual workstation control, particularly for lighting level and thermal comfort, have happier employees, improved work output, better employee attraction and retention, and financial success.
Getting a solid return on your investment. Believe it or not, job satisfaction and employee retention as they relate to comfortable office lighting can have a measurable effect on your bottom line. According to Harris Rothenberg, LLC, a New York City-based performance consulting firm, replacing an employee costs 1.2 to 2 times their annual salary due to organization inefficiency while the position is vacant and the processing costs related to the new hire. The same research indicated that a new employee reaches maximum efficiency and performance only after 13.5 months of employment.
More specifically, surveys conducted in office settings over the last few years indicate the value of having personal controls at the workstation. For example, a landmark productivity study published in 2003 by the Light Right Consortium linked the availability of workstation personal control to worker satisfaction and performance. Nine office workers in Albany, N.Y., were subjected to a variety of lighting scenarios and then asked for feedback. When the questionnaire results were evaluated at the end of the test period, the Light Right Consortium found that the availability of lighting control in the workplace directly affected the workers' motivation on the job.
Thus, some facility owners are willing to pay a premium for personal lighting control to achieve a gain in worker satisfaction. In these situations, the occupants are able to “tune” the lighting according to changing tasks, their mood, and the amount of daylight available. For these reasons, tailored lighting has the capacity to provide a significant return on investment.
Understanding workspace-specific lighting. In the past, fluorescent luminaires consisted of a light source (lamp), a reflector or lens, and a ballast to operate the lamps. However, a variety of new occupancy sensors, photocells, and infrared/RF controls are now being mounted in fluorescent fixture housings to allow “fine tuning” of the lighting in an office space. With motion detectors and daylight sensors that are either remote-mounted or integrated into a luminaire housing, lights will dim and/or switch off when not needed. Depending on the technology selected, sensors may be programmed using an IR remote controller or administration software.
Workspace-specific direct/indirect lighting provides both task and ambient lighting.
At least two manufacturers offer a suspended linear fluorescent luminaire with the features described above. The three-lamp, direct/indirect luminaire integrates occupancy sensing, daylight sensing, and personal dimming, which can be accessed remotely using a network communications system. Two four-foot T8 lamps and a program-start dimming electronic ballast (64W active power) provide the direct/task lighting. A single T8 lamp operated by a program-start electronic ballast (31W active power) provides the indirect light component.
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