Investing in the Power of Potential
- To differentiate Quad as an employer of choice, we offer a flexible work model for office-based employees and continue to pilot work schedule options for manufacturing employees that promote work-life balance.
- We provide an innovative, comprehensive Total Rewards package to be more competitive in each of the labor markets where we have operations. This includes resources for employees’ total wellness across physical, emotional, financial and social well-being.
- We seek to engage our employees, listening to what matters to them, and then celebrating their accomplishments.
- We promote career tracks with paths for accelerated responsibility, career growth and competitive earnings. These efforts include creating rich learning and development programs.
- We remain committed to helping our employees pursue their retirement dreams or other financial goals through tax-advantaged retirement savings plans and free financial coaching.
Recruiting, Interviewing & Hiring
As we integrate our DEI goals into Quad’s recruiting and hiring processes, we are consciously working to improve the candidate experience, create an inclusive environment and reduce potential hiring biases.
For example, our Agency Solutions group has been at the forefront of reimagining how we discover, interview and hire employees by:
- Expanding recruiting resources to reach more candidates.
- Instituting interview panels and structured questions to reduce bias and eliminate variability.
- Beginning to use interview scorecards and team reviews to promote objective hiring decisions.
Also, in fall 2022, Quad launched a new recruiting and training hub in Milwaukee's Central City to build and strengthen relationships within the community while also serving as our new Wisconsin recruiting and training hub.
Competitive Pay & Benefits
Part of Quad’s ongoing legacy is rooted in creating jobs with competitive pay and innovative benefits that support families, strengthen communities and provide long-term career growth opportunities.
- Our pay processes ensure that Quad is externally competitive for the markets where we compete, and internally equitable based upon employees’ experience, job responsibilities, performance and business results.
- We regularly evaluate our pay practices and structures, and work toward continued pay equity regardless of gender, race or ethnicity.
- Based on our belief in fair and competitive pay as a reflection of our Values, Quad will complete its commitment to increase the base hourly rate for all U.S. employees to at least $15/hour by the end of 2022.
Performance Management
100% of our U.S. employees receive annual reviews. We use a holistic approach to listen to employees, evaluate their performance, discuss individual career development, celebrate accomplishments, and set individual and team goals.
- All employees are reviewed annually against core competencies. The process is a two-way conversation: employees can submit a self-evaluation, giving them a voice.
- Managers and supervisors take our employees’ input into consideration when preparing evaluations, using it to open up more helpful conversations.
- Fairness and objectivity are important. We can solicit 360-degree feedback on an employee’s performance from people who have worked closely with the employee, offering new and different viewpoints, and helping to identify an employee’s strengths.
- Employees can provide written feedback for their review, too. Grounded in our Values, our evaluation process is transparent and ongoing.
- Evaluations are shared directly with the employee, digitally stored and available to employees year-round.
Employee Engagement & Job Satisfaction
Becoming an employer of choice begins with listening to our employees. In recent years, we have begun using engagement surveys to help us better understand what our employees like about working for Quad, what we can improve, and what could drive greater job satisfaction. These surveys are critical to maintaining our culture and values, including creating a welcoming, inclusive environment.
- We administer our surveys online using a third-party experience management company to protect our employees’ anonymity and encourage candid feedback.
- We include standard questions on engagement, communications, leadership and DEI together with questions customized to department and location.
- Survey results are taken seriously. They are aggregated and shared with both local and corporate leadership.
- Our internal engagement specialists help interpret the results and lead discussions about what the data means, including what may be happening in various locations or among different demographics, what events may be impacting engagement, and what trends to pay attention to moving forward.
- Leaders incorporate feedback into their plans to address areas of impact or concern, while inviting employees into continued, productive conversation.
People & Career Development
Quad’s programs help employees not only build new skills, but discover personal strengths and instill confidence as they grow at our company.
- People Leading People. The program — designed for anyone who leads others, including managers, supervisors, machine operators and senior employees identified as influencers — focuses on how to foster a positive work environment and create a motivated workforce through greater awareness of themselves and their teams.
- Corporate Trainee Program. This is a high-performing, cross-functional career development experience. Ranging from 18 months to three years, the program focuses on developing trainees’ skills and leadership abilities through a series of agency and corporate rotations.
- Accelerated Career Training (ACT) Program for Manufacturing. This one-year training program not only develops technical competencies, but also teaches skills such as critical thinking, interpersonal communication and leadership. Education takes place in the classroom, on the manufacturing floor and through one-on-one coaching.
Manufacturing Apprenticeships
The ability to develop and retain talent, especially during a skilled worker
shortage, has become a critical factor in our success. Our hands-on, mentor-led apprenticeship programs are effective at creating an employee pipeline in
key trades.
- Registered Apprenticeship. This program is a full-time, formal four-to-five-year training program for Skilled Trade labor positions. A typical work week combines 80% hands-on learning on the manufacturing floor with an experienced mentor and 20% related instruction at an approved technical college. Apprentices rotate through various departments to gain expertise and receive progressive reviews and continual feedback. This unique platform develops critical cross-functional skills across multiple departments, arming apprentices with a network of subject matter experts and an arsenal of problem-solving tools.
- Youth Apprenticeship Program. This program is a partnership with local high schools, inviting students to explore the skilled trades at Quad. The students gain real-life experience and skills in advanced manufacturing before committing to a registered apprenticeship. The one-to-two-year program involves job shadowing, company education programs and career-based training with subject matter experts in various departments.
Retirement Planning
At Quad, we encourage financial planning and retirement readiness through several free services, including one-on-one financial coaching, access to online financial and retirement modeling resources, and live virtual webinars.
As of September 30, 2021, 96% of our eligible U.S. employees participate in our tax-deferred 401(k) retirement savings plan at an average annual deferral rate of 8.2%. Offered as part of our overall financial wellness program, Quad’s 401(k) plan makes it simple for our employees to fund their retirement savings through:
- Automatic enrollment at a pre-tax contribution rate of 6%. Quad automatically enrolls employees when they join the company and initiates automatic payroll deductions for employee contributions into their 401(k).
- Automatic annual escalations. If an employee is contributing 0%, Quad enrolls them at a pre-tax contribution rate of 6% annually. If an employee is contributing between 1% and 9%, Quad auto-escalates their contribution by 1% annually up to 10%.
Quad provides an annual discretionary, performance-based match on the first 6% of employee contributions.