Building Trust Through

Constructive Communications

Walter Grubbs
Vice President Human Resources
VSP
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 WARNING: Appearing on the Fortune
Magazine “100 Best Companies to Work For” list
may be hazardous to your health.

• It raises employee expectations

• It raises CEO expectations
• People from other organizations want a
lot of your time

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 Agenda

• VSP Overview
• What Makes VSP a Great Place to Work
• Communications at VSP
• Q&A

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 About VSP
• Founded in 1955 by Oakland, CA
optometrists
• Nation’s largest provider of eyecare benefits
– Nearly 38 million members
– 20,000 clients
– 2,000 employees
– $1.975 billion in 2003 revenue
• Not-for-profit
• Sacramento, CA headquarters
• 26 offices nationwide
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 About VSP (cont’d)
• Cover 217 of the Fortune 500 companies
• Cover 42 of the Fortune 100 Best Places to
Work companies
• Training Magazine Top 100 List -- fourth
year in a row
• Fortune “100 Best Companies to Work For”
-- fifth year in a row

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 What Makes VSP a
Great Place to Work?

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 It’s Putting People First . . .
Focus is Always on the People
We Serve

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What Makes VSP a Great Place to Work?

Valuing Employees
• Values of respect and dignity drive
management training programs
• Employee satisfaction drives part of the
management bonus
• Fun environment -- picnics, cake days,
dinner dances, ad hoc celebrations
• Superior benefits and physical work
environment
• Lively rewards and recognition programs
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What Makes VSP a Great Place to Work?

Helping Employees
Develop Careers
• Active career development program
• High internal promotion rates (40%+)
• Free technical training for employees and
family members
• Training for critical future skills

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What Makes VSP a Great Place to Work?

Helping Employees Have a Life

• Flexible schedules and telecommuting
• Sick pay available for dependent and
eldercare purposes
• Paid volunteer time
• Market-leading benefit package with free
medical, dental and vision coverage options
for employees and dependents

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What Makes VSP a Great Place to Work?

Being a Values-Driven
Organization
• VSP’s values
– We start with trust
– We care
– We are a team
– We hold high expectations
– We create the future
– We treat others as they wish to be treated
– We support our community
– We have fun

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What Makes VSP a Great Place to Work?

Constant Quality
Communications

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 The remainder of this
presentation is rated:

R Contents may not be suitable for

participants who are uncomfortable
with hearing or telling the truth,
unwilling to change their minds or
behaviors, or suspicious of ideas other
than their own.

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Employee Communications
at VSP

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Employee Communications at VSP

Atmosphere of:
• Openness
• Honesty
• Integrity

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Employee Communications at VSP

Mission/Vision/Values/Goals

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Employee Communications at VSP

• Our Mission
– We provide people great vision for life, by
bringing together the best in eyecare.

• Our Vision
– VSP is a household name known for delivering
the best value and personalized eyecare
experience to consumers. Because private
practice doctors play a vital role in that
experience, our family of companies ensures
they continue to thrive and that the VSP
delivery system remains the preferred choice in
eyecare.
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Employee Communications at VSP

Strategic Goals

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Employee Communications at VSP

Mission/Vision/Values/Goals
• New employee orientation
• CEO talks
• Staff meetings
• Intranet
• Posters
• Training
• Success stories
• KJA’s
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Employee Communications at VSP

Communication Programs
• VSPNet
• VSPeople

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Employee Communications at VSP

Communication Programs
• VSPNet
• VSPeople
• Insta-meetings
• All-employee CEO talks
• Division/department meetings
• E-mail broadcast

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Employee Communications at VSP

Management Visibility
• CEO talks/division meetings
• Company events (picnic/dinner dance)
• Serve Thanksgiving lunch
• Ad-hoc celebrations
• “In-Touch” Day
• Mentor/brown bag/training programs
• Lunch room/walk around

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Employee Communications at VSP

Listening to Employees
• Employee Focus Group
• Open door policy
• “Dear Rog” letters
• Ad-hoc committees (special events)
• HR Advisory Council (management)
• Special focus groups
• Surveys

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Employee Communications at VSP

Listening to Employees
(cont’d)
• Surveys
– All-employee opinion survey
– Upward evaluation
– 360 degree feedback
– Fortune Best Companies
– Corporate leadership council employee
engagement
– Division service excellence
– Communication surveys
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Employee Communications at VSP

Communications Training
• Management
– Constructive feedback
– Situational leadership
– Managing inclusion
• Staff
– Myers-Briggs
– Conflict management
– Inclusion workshop
– Vision Masters (speaking)
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 Special Issues

• Communicating change
• Communicating “touchy” topics

Bottom line:
Truth is better than speculation.
Credibility drives trust.

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Questions?

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