The challenge
The annual survey gave leadership a read once a year. They wanted listening that ran alongside the work, covering culture and the operational detail behind it.
How Arbor helped
Unlike a static survey, Arbor asks follow-up questions in real time, so each finding arrives with the reasoning behind it and a recommended next step.
The results
- 01
By branch
Each branch now acts on its own answers
Each branch came back with its own findings and next steps. Where the branches differed most, one company figure would have described none of them.
- 02
Ideas from the field
Nobody had asked people for solutions, and they had them
People suggested a shared system to replace separate handoffs between departments, described specific flexible working patterns, and compared the benefits package with other states.
- 03
Root cause
Uneven standards traced back to one thing
When someone said standards weren’t applied evenly, Arbor kept asking why. The answers landed in the same place: whether their own manager ran the team meetings and reviews that already existed.
Why it worked
- People answered in their own language
- Interviews ran in English and Spanish, so people answered in the language they think in.
- Nothing had to be written down
- No app, no login, no typing. Answers came from wherever people were working.
- Every score came with its reason
- Each rating arrived with an explanation attached, in the person’s own words.