Create a Great Place to Work

Employee Communication and Recognition

A key to the strong culture and high level of trust at NI is ensuring timely, honest, and accurate communications with all employees worldwide. NI supports and evangelizes existing communication channels and seeks innovative new ways to share information with employees. Employee feedback drives this continuous improvement. Dr. James Truchard, NI president, CEO, and cofounder, and other NI leadership also drop in on staff and project meetings throughout all departments to communicate key business strategies and to stay updated on how things are running. These informal, often spontaneous meetings are part of NI "sneaker management," a term coined by Dr. Truchard that places emphasis on walking around and talking to employees face-to-face. He believes that talking to people firsthand remains the best way to understand employee concerns and questions.

Other NI employee communication tools include the following:

• A weekly, internal employee-driven e-newsletter
• Quarterly business discussions with NI leadership
• Company meetings for all employees
• Periodic town-hall-style forums for employees to ask NI officers questions directly
• A crisis response team dedicated to preparing communication in the event of a crisis

Quarterly Business Discussions
NI quarterly business discussions (QBDs) are an integral part of the communication plan to keep employees educated and up-to-date on the latest business news. After every quarterly earnings release, NI officers present the QBD to managers, who in turn present the QBD to their employees. The QBD process facilitates a balanced, ongoing discussion covering a variety of topics including financial updates, challenges NI faces, company successes, and employee calls to action. The QBD presentations are held at corporate headquarters and recorded to share with branch employees.

Company Meetings
NI corporate headquarters holds its popular company-wide employee meetings twice a year to review business strategies, report on goals, and have fun celebrating successes with colleagues. For those who cannot attend these meetings in Austin, the meeting is recorded for distribution worldwide and similar gatherings are held internationally at NI branch offices. To assist with company meetings held in regions around the world, NI headquarters sends each branch office online video links, scripts, and other materials to help employees recreate the meetings held in Austin.

NI Code of Ethics
The NI culture of honesty in business dealings is one of the company's most valuable assets. NI considers maintaining this principle to be one of its most important responsibilities. The long-term success of NI depends on employees and leadership members observing high standards of conduct.

The purpose of the NI Code of Ethics is to clarify specific policies based on the NI principles of honesty and integrity. Each employee and leadership member has a responsibility to assist in furthering these principles. This means that all employees and leaders must take responsibility for their own actions and report any violations they witness. NI provides a secure, confidential intranet site and phone number for reporting any concerns regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, and auditing matters. Employee support and cooperation is highly valued and helps ensure that NI is an ethical company from top to bottom.

The NI Code of Ethics applies to all employees, officers, and directors of the company. A list of US and international employees (including those of subsidiaries) who certify compliance once every two years is compiled and updated as necessary.

The NI Code of Ethics is intended to comply with the applicable requirements of the SEC and NASDAQ. The company expects all employees and leadership members to read and understand the NI Code of Ethics, uphold the standards in day-to-day activities, and comply with the applicable policies. Therefore, employees read and sign the NI Code of Ethics upon entering into employment at NI, and NI leadership reviews and signs the policy every two years.

Number of Employees Who Signed the NI Code of Ethics

Type of Employee	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Management	316	N/A1	204	N/A1	207
Nonmanagement	409	614	580	165	290

¹NI management reviews and signs the NI Code of Ethics policy every two years.