Gannett Announces Results of Pilot Program for the BOLD Initiative
McLEAN, VA – Gannett Co., Inc. President and CEO Craig Dubow today said improved productivity, plus enhanced employee morale, were the results of a pilot workplace flexibility program undertaken by the company in 2005.
“This team-based, results-focused approach to workplace flexibility gave us a new way to look at managing the complex demands we make of our employees,” said Dubow. “While flexible work arrangements were already widely employed at Gannett, primarily as an employee accommodation, this program helped us to add worker productivity to the mix. In the end, we were able to arrive at the most effective way to meet both the needs of the company and the employees’ personal goals.”
Phase one of the pilot program involved the Facilities Services department at the company’s headquarters in McLean, VA. Facilities Services manages the engineering, mail services and other needs of the headquarters building around the clock, 365 days a year.
“Facilities was selected because of their work load and functions, but also because they have managers who were open to exploring new ways to engage their staff in achieving improved performance,” Dubow said. Teams from engineering and mail services participated in the program.
Under the program, engineering staff members were given more independence in determining work schedules, enabling them to schedule non-critical work in such as way as to directly impact both customers and employees. Work orders were closed at a faster rate, backlog was reduced and employees were able to better adjust their schedules to fit home and work needs.
The mail services team was able to increase flexibility of work schedules while maintaining the high standards of letter and package delivery in the building.
Phase two of The BOLD Initiative pilot project will occur at one of Gannett’s more than 100 newspapers around the country, the company said.
The BOLD Initiative is a national organization which employs a comprehensive approach to helping corporate America diversify its leadership to gain competitive advantage in the global economy. Gannett was one of 10 companies to participate in the pilot project.
Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information company that publishes 101 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation’s largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns more than 800 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom’s second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes more than 300 titles, including 17 daily newspapers, and a network of prize-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 21 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web.
For more information, contact:
Tara Connell
Vice President of Corporate Communications
(703) 854-6049
tjconnel@gannett.com