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It turns out that treating your workers like school children (and not in a \u201cyou earned a pizza party\u201d kind of way) tends to backfire. Summer is in full force, this year\u2019s report card is in, and Dell<\/a> Technologies\u2019 executives are staring straight at a fresh-off-the-presses failing grade.<\/p>\n Scores from the technology giant\u2019s latest employment engagement survey, called \u201cTell Dell,\u201d paint a picture of slipping satisfaction. The annual survey has been running for eight years now, and employees\u2019 submitted sentiments from May were shared in late June, sources told to Business Insider<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n The employee net promoter score (eNPS), or if the respondent would recommend someone to work at Dell, was especially lacking. While scores varied by department, the overall eNPS decreased from 63 to 48 in one year, according to BI<\/em>, which saw the results of the around 98,000-person survey<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter what, I\u2019ve never seen a score move that fast in the wrong direction,\u201d an anonymous employee told BI<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important to note that the question on whether you would recommend Dell is one question in a robust survey that gives us a current snapshot of employee sentiment,\u201d a Dell spokesperson told Fortune<\/em>, claiming the survey showed other positive metrics. \u201cWhile our score did drop, if you look at the Perceptyx blog, you will see that Dell is still well above industry averages.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not entirely shocking to see Dell employees are down in the dumps. After a dip in sales, the company let go of 13,000 employees in 2023 (issuing layoffs<\/a> in both February and August). Those who stuck around were subject to changing policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n In February, Dell announced staff would be given a less exciting version of a sorting test as they were divided into two groups:<\/a> hybrid, or remote workers. It seemed to be a bit of a false start<\/a>, as Dell warned remote employees that working from home would come at the cost of their progress. \u201cCareer advancement, including applying to new roles in the company, will require a team member to reclassify as a hybrid onsite,\u201d Dell said in a memo.\u00a0<\/p>\n The polarizing mandate was followed up with equally polarizing strategy: employee surveillance and monitoring. Dell was revealed in May<\/a> to be tracking employee attendance and grading them with an elementary school style of using blue, green, yellow, and red flags.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn today\u2019s global technology revolution, we believe in-person connections paired with a flexible approach are critical to drive innovation and value differentiation,\u201d Dell told Fortune<\/em> at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Either way, workers didn\u2019t seem to take the bait<\/a>. In June, almost half of Dell\u2019s full-time employees opted to stay remote, Business Insider<\/em><\/a> reported, citing internal data.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even if this year doesn\u2019t make it appear that way, flexible work was seemingly a burgeoning part of the culture at Dell before the pandemic and subsequent RTO crunch kicked in. \u201cThe debate on whether a large remote workforce<\/a> can be productive is over \u2013 we\u2019re learning that it\u2019s not only possible, it\u2019s successful,\u201d Jeff Clarke, vice chairman and chief operating officer for Dell Technologies, wrote in May 2020<\/a>. The tech company boasted it \u201chad already been leaning into flexible work,\u201d with 65% of team members leveraging flexible-work policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company\u2019s subsequent 2022 Future of Work report<\/a> remained committed to the idea of a remote-first or friendly workplaces, saying \u201ca long-term ambition for Dell Technologies is for 60% of our workforce to operate remotely on any day.\u201d<\/p>\n The total 180 isn\u2019t necessarily sitting well with the remaining workers, if you take the employee eNPS score as an indicator. And executives are trying to brush it under the rug, according to BI<\/em>\u2019s sources.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s as if every leader was given the OK to ignore it,\u201d one Dell employee said of the survey responses.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRecommended Newsletter:<\/strong> CEO Daily provides key context for the news leaders need to know from across the world of business. Every weekday morning, more than 125,000 readers trust CEO Daily for insights about\u2013and from inside\u2013the C-suite. Subscribe Now<\/a>.<\/div>\n