NI CITIZENSHIP REPORT

Hire and Retain the Best and Brightest

Retaining Employees

Given all that National Instruments invests in finding and hiring the best and brightest employees who fit well into the company culture, retaining them is essential to the company's success. People stay at NI because of the culture and core values of respect, honesty, dedication to customers, and commitment to innovation.

Recognizing Employees for Years of Service

Throughout the year, NI recognizes employees for serving 5, 10, 15, and 20 years at NI by inviting them to a luncheon with members of NI leadership and presenting them with a monetary award that varies based on the number of years of service. In 2010, the company honored more than 300 employees.

In June 2010, NI honored its first employees to reach 25 years of service for their contributions to advancing the innovative culture that NI is proud to promote. These employees became the inaugural members of the NI Quarter Century Club, along with founders Dr. James Truchard and Jeff Kodosky who have each served more than 30 years at NI. The company invited the 10 employees from NI corporate headquarters to a dinner where they could share stories and relive their memories through photos on display. Additionally, NI honored one employee for 25 years of service at NI Canada.

 

CASE STUDY

NI GRAD

The NI GRAD group organized events and social activities throughout 2010.

The NI Graduate Acclimation and Development (NI GRAD) program helps recent graduates working at NI to network socially and professionally, grow accustomed to the NI culture, and get involved in the community. The program is coordinated by recent graduates for recent graduates. Members of NI GRAD are employees who started at NI in the last three years or who started more than three years ago, yet consider themselves recent graduates at heart.

Throughout 2010, NI GRAD organized events ranging from social activities and early-career oriented brown bag lunches to volunteer activities in Austin and neighboring cities. Some of the activities they organized included decking a roof with Habitat for Humanity, sorting donated books for a nonprofit organization, and hosting a brown bag lunch on first-time home buying.

 

Employee Turnover Rate
NI prides itself on having a low employee turnover rate. In 2010, the turnover rate for all employees worldwide was 9.2 percent, which is 31.6 percent lower than the U.S. industry average. The turnover rate for the company's US employees was 7.6 percent. The company's low turnover rate is a key indication of its great work environment and superior employee development, which grow talents and skills.

Employee Turnover Rate by Employee Type

Year Type of Employee US (%) Outside US1 (%) Worldwide (%)
2008 Exempt 8.1 11.2 9.7
Nonexempt 8.9 11.2 10.3
2009 Exempt 5.6 8.8 7.1
Nonexempt 7.1 7.3 7.2
2010 Exempt 7.8 11.1 9.3
Nonexempt 6.9 10.0 8.8

1In the Outside U.S. column, totals in the Exempt row are for professional employees, and totals in the Nonexempt row are for administrative employees.


Employee Turnover Rate by Region1

1Industry data is from Radford Surveys and Consulting, which provides biannual turnover data. The 2010 industry data is from July 1, 2010.

Employees by Region
Totals are for the number of employees as of December 31 in the given year.

Type of Employee Designation Category Americas Europe1 Asia/Rest of World1,4 Total
Regular Full-Time All 2,528 1,475 1,233 5,236
    Exempt 2,093 905 1,088  
    Nonexempt 435 570 145  
  Part-Time All 37 50 1 88
    Exempt 30 22 1  
    Nonexempt  7 28 0  
  Total Regular Employees   2,565 1,525 1,234 5,324
Intern/Co-Op2 Full-Time All 51 69 36 156
    Exempt N/A N/A N/A N/A
    Nonexempt 51 69 36  
  Part-Time All 48 0 0 48
    Exempt N/A N/A N/A N/A
    Nonexempt 48 0 0  
  Total Intern/Co-Op Employees   99 69 36 204
Other Contracts5   All 49 298 45 392
  Full-Time Exempt N/A N/A N/A N/A
    Nonexempt 45 252 45  
  Part-Time Exempt N/A N/A N/A N/A
    Nonexempt 4 46 0
  Total Other Contract Employees by Region   49 298 45 392
Total by Region 20103     2,665 1,892 1,315 5,920
Total by Region 20093,6     2,619 1,699 1,184 5,502
Total by Region 20083,6     2,551 1,451 1,155 5,157
Total by Region 20073,6     2,420 1,268 959 4,647

 

1In the Europe and Asia/Rest of World (RoW) columns, totals in the Exempt row are for professional employees, and totals in the Nonexempt row are for administrative employees.
2The total for US intern/co-op employees includes all employees of that type hired in 2010.
3In this total, two part-time employees are counted as one full-time employee.
4Asia/RoW includes branch offices in Asia as well as Canada, Brazil, and Mexico.
5NI does not track the number of all supervised workers. This total includes workers from temporary employment agencies but does not include employees of subcontractors, such as cleaning personnel, working for NI on a long-term basis.
6Other contract employees are not included in this total. NI began tracking other contract employees for this report in 2009.

 
 
Kurt Veggeberg

EMPLOYEE PROFILE

Kurt Veggeberg

Growth has kept Kurt Veggeberg, NI business development manager, at the company for more than 25 years. Early in the company's history, NI leaders set goals to grow revenue through global expansion, and Kurt did his part to achieve those goals by growing customers in Australia, France, and Japan. Over a span of 25 years, Kurt has watched NI grow from a small, local company to a mid-size, international company, expanding from 60 employees to more than 5,000. Kurt knows that NI will continue to grow and watching NI customers succeed in solving more complex applications than ever is what keeps him motivated.