Reference no: EM132159338

Case 1. How Adobe’s People and Rewards Contribute to High Performance Adobe Systems is probably best known as the company behind the software for creating and reading PDF documents. What users don’t see when filling in a PDF form are the ingredients a company needs to succeed in the competitive, fast-changing software industry. And Adobe is succeeding, as measured by one-year revenue growth of 25% and profit growth of 48%. One ingredient of that success is that Adobe designs and rewards work in ways that promote innovation. Adobe’s vice president of innovation, Mark Randall, wanted to create “a whole culture of experimenting,” so he equipped employees with a set of software tools called Kickbox, as well as the opportunity to participate in workshops on how to use it. Kickbox leads the user step by step through the process of creating and developing an idea. Any employee may use Kickbox on company time, so the company is in effect supporting projects without the bureaucracy of an approval process. Randall acknowledges that this means it Page 286is paying for some failed ideas, but he insists that failure “teaches people how to respond to what customers need or want.” And as they learn, successes follow. An example of an innovation that emerged through this process is DeepFont, pattern recognition software that helps designers select the perfect type font for a project by analyzing photos of ideas. Another ingredient is a set of practices for bringing loyal employees onboard, despite the demands of business growth (adding 4,000 employees per year) and the talent poaching that is rampant in the industry. Jeff Vijungco, Adobe’s vice president of global talent, has a background in recruiting coupled with a passion for employee development. He combines the two perspectives to ensure that new employees quickly embark on a path to job success and career growth. Vijungco directed recruiters to check in with new employees periodically during their first few months and to work with the talent development team to ensure that talent needs are being filled and employees have the resources they need to meet their responsibilities. This coupling of recruitment and development supports Adobe’s goal of creating a culture of learning. Adobe employees are enthusiastic about their company. In fact, when Adobe’s leader of Social Business was analyzing data, he discovered that some of the greatest social-media impact on revenues was coming from employees, not company-sponsored posts. Adobe has therefore equipped its employees with guidelines and encouragement to become brand ambassadors on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and the Adobe blog. Most likely, they will have plenty of good news to share. Questions 1. Would you consider Adobe a high-performance organization? Why or why not? 2. How do the practices described in this case relate to the principles of empowerment, knowledge sharing, and employee engagement?