In 2021, workplaces across the globe were met with the challenge of team member turnover, with terms like “The Great Resignation” and/or “The Big Quit” coming to life to describe the economic trend that showed itself via mass voluntary resignations.

Global Voluntary Turnover

While it’s true that NXP saw a year-over-year increase in team member turnover in 2021, we also saw voluntary turnover stabilize in March, and have remained relatively flat, and since down over the second half of 2021 versus the first half of 2021.

New Initiatives and Programs

In addition to turnover concerns, NXP faced supply challenges that further spurred our focus on team member well-being, engagement, and retaining our business with customers. Below is an overview of some of the initiatives we launched to address these concerns and drive retention actions for strategic roles and top-performing talent, as well as programs targeting all team members:

Global Flexible Work Arrangements

Taking lessons from COVID-19, the company incorporated flexibility into our work style, allowing qualified team members to work a combination of onsite and from home. Participating team members follow a defined process for their respective country to participate. This new way of working offers a positive benefit to team members, while still supporting our collaborative style, and allows for constructive and meaningful social interactions.

Continuous Focus on Well-Being

To ensure consistent support for the physical, mental, and overall well-being of our team members, we introduced a focused initiative across the globe. Each month of the year was defined by a well-being theme that was further explained and demonstrated through internal communications, team-building activities, and in-country celebrations, among other things. Results from a mid-year well-being poll showed that most team members found NXP’s focus on well-being to be “just right” and requested more coverage on topics like health/wellness and general work/life balance.

Consistent Communications and Business Updates

Team members were invited to quarterly town hall meetings and small group sessions between NXP team members and leaders. In addition, there are regular well-being check-ins led by NXP managers to ensure team members are doing well.

Expanded Hiring Practices

New practices help ensure that when we identify qualified internal or external talent for a role, our teams can feel comfortable inviting them to NXP based on their capabilities, even if they are not located in a country or market where we originally planned for the role.

Focused Attention on Global Manufacturing Team Members

Our global manufacturing team members consist of a workforce that is required to operate high-end, expensive equipment. We ensure that our population is well paid (above entry-level pay in the market in which they operate), incented to perform with periodic bonus programs, invited to special events to build community, and support with team member development programs (tool certifications and personal development). We also have very strong onboarding programs to orient the new team members to NXP and train them for their jobs. So while these roles might be entry-level within the NXP job hierarchy, the individuals who perform them are skilled, and run complex processes on tools every day.

We spend significant time to build and maintain good relationships with our direct labor (DL) team members. In some countries, there is presence of official team member representatives, like Works Councils (EMEA) and/or unions. Where applicable, NXP is continuously in conversation with these team member representatives to ensure that any issues raised are addressed and solved in collaboration with these groups.

Examples of the many initiatives/efforts ongoing to maintain our relationships with these team members include:

  • Participating in the NXP Winning Culture Survey every other year, which provides DL team members an opportunity to share their thoughts and provide feedback on their work environment, development opportunities, management, among other things. The leadership team then takes the top 1-3 issues for the DL population and implements action plans to address the issues. One example is the re-instatement of the Engineering Review Board (ERB) in the United States. An individual can apply to the ERB and have their experience reviewed, and ultimately qualify to be a candidate for an engineering position (higher job grade). This initiative was very positively received.
  • NXP has opportunities to participate in our annual incentive program as our focus throughout the organization allows equitable AIP participation and payout opportunities across job levels and employee types, including our DL population.
  • Proactive requests for information and feedback through suggestion boxes and regular roundtable discussions allow us to hear directly from team members about what’s working well and/or opportunities for improvement, outside of the bi-annual Winning Culture Survey.
  • Increased the size of our DL workforce across all of our factories to reduce overtime and provide sufficient resources to keep production at appropriate levels.
  • In our Asia factories, we provided direct access to COVID-19 vaccinations in 2021, and are now working towards providing them boosters. The focus on Asia was due to limited availability of the vaccination in those countries. By NXP providing our team members (and many of their family members) access to the vaccines, we were able to keep them healthy and safe.

As we continue to focus on retention, we will examine the many aspects required to offer a positive and inclusive environment to our team members. NXP has not experienced any material strikes or labor disputes, and we consider our team member relations to be strong and stable.