Companies Risk Greater Employee Turnover and Lower Productivity Without Improved Teamwork.

PHILADELPHIA -- New Hay Insight Research Findings Suggest That Many Companies Are Struggling to Promote Teamwork and Ensure That All Departments Are Pulling in the Same Direction

In today's complex, team-based, and increasingly matrixed organizations, managing roles and relationships between individuals and functions is essential. Indeed, Hay Group research on top teams suggests that alignment around goals and objectives among senior leaders is critical to accomplishing strategic objectives, building productivity, increasing job satisfaction, and advancing a CEO's agenda. In many companies, however, the senior team is not a team at all, but rather a group of functional and business unit heads with little inclination or incentive to cooperate.

Hay Insight employee opinion research confirms that most organizations today are struggling to establish effective collaboration/teamwork and communication across departments. The current research is based on findings from our database of approximately 1.2 million employees in over 400 organizations worldwide.

More specifically, the findings suggest:

--Only 54% of employees feel that their company has an atmosphere that encourages cooperation and the sharing of ideas and resources across the organization.

--Less than half of employees surveyed (49%) stated that their company had a generally cooperative atmosphere (i.e., various parts of the company working well together).

--Only 48% of employees rated the teamwork that exists between departments as either "good" or "very good."

--Finally, a mere 33% of employees responded favorably when asked about the level of communication between departments within their organization.

"A lack of cross-functional teamwork creates lower levels of productivity and growth and makes it much more difficult for organizations to operate efficiently or achieve their strategic objectives," notes Mark Royal, a senior consultant with Hay Insight. "What's more, by making it more difficult for individuals to carry out their responsibilities, employees are frustrated in their current positions and job turnover is much higher."

In separate research, Hay Group partners with Fortune magazine annually to identify the World's and America's Most Admired Companies and the business practices that make these businesses both highly regarded and successful. Hay Group's findings reveal that the Most Admired Companies distinguish themselves from others by fostering cultures that support collaboration, by encouraging teamwork at the top through executive performance measures, and by holding executives accountable as a team for strategy implementation.

About Hay Insight and Hay Group

Hay Insight (www.hayinsight.com), Hay Group's survey research division, is a global leader in employee and customer opinion research. Through customized survey programs focused on organizational objectives, we help organizations attract and retain talent, improve operating efficiency, manage change more effectively, and enhance customer loyalty and business performance.

Over the last 30 years, Hay Insight has assisted more than 4,000 organizations. The breadth of our experience enables us to identify best practices for our clients, not only within their own industries but also across industries.

Hay Group (www.haygroup.com) is a global organizational and human resources consulting firm that helps its clients -- Boards, CEOs, Executives, and HR Managers -- on virtually all aspects of their people-related business issues. Founded in 1943, Hay Group has over 2,200 employees working from 78 offices in 77 cities and 43 countries. Our areas of expertise include:

--Design and analysis of organizations and jobs;

--Talent management through assessment, selection, and development of executives, managers, and teams;

--Compensation, benefits, and performance management;

--Executive remuneration and corporate governance; and

--Employee and customer attitude research.

Hay Group works with nearly three-quarters of FORTUNE's top-50 Most Admired Companies, as well as many mid-sized and non-profit corporations, public institutions, and governments.