The Return on Optimism survey conducted by Xerox reveals that optimism is crucial for innovation and business success, with over 5,900 participants highlighting key areas such as workspace, risk-taking, and time for forward-thinking. The enterprise/business sector scored lower in optimism, with only 57% of participants feeling their work was meaningful, and many reporting barriers to innovation. The findings suggest that improving work environments and empowering employees to take risks can enhance productivity and organizational success.

1. presented by:
Return On
Optimism
Survey Findings:
Business/Enterprise

2. What is Return On Optimism?
The belief that you can:
Overcome
big challenges
Be confident
about your
outlook and
opportunities
Know that
what you do
makes a
difference
This results in determination, innovation and BUSINESS SUCCESS!
2

3. In 2014, Xerox launched an online
survey at returnonoptimism.com
• Over 5,900 participants took part
• 10 questions covering work environment,
communications, empowerment and more
• Optimism scores span industries—Healthcare,
Higher Education, Enterprise/Business and
Government—and internal departments
Assessing the Return On Optimism
lousy meh ok aces
Xerox® Managed Print Services (MPS)
knows that optimism fuels innovation
and business success.
We’re so keen on the positive effect of
optimism to an organization’s bottom
line, we set out to study it.
3

4. 57%
Business/
Enterprise
14%
Healthcare
11%
Government
9%
Higher Ed
9%
Other
Respondent Data Comparison
5,941 total responders to ROO survey
3,369 enterprise/business responders
(highest industry response)
4

5. Optimism Score: Enterprise/Business
Enterprise/Business was among the
least optimistic of industries surveyed
• Corporate Operations and
Shared Services were the
most optimistic departments
• IT was the least optimistic department
C+ Optimism Grade
77 ROO Score
80 Corporate Operations
80 Shared Services
79 Purchasing
79 Sales/Marketing
74 IT
75 Other
5

6. Key Optimism Issues
Biggest barriers to innovation and creativity:
Time for
forward-
thinking
Risk-taking
Workspace
and
Environment
6

7. Time for forward thinking
1: State of the American Workplace, Gallup. 2013. http://www.gallup.com/services/178514/state-american-workplace.aspx
ROO Survey Findings:
Employees are not able to devote enough
time to forward thinking.
• Employees were more satisfied and productive when they
could focus on their most important tasks.
• The most engaged teams deliver higher profitability and
customer satisfaction ratings compared to those spread
thinly across tasks.
—Gallup Study1
Xerox MPS
• Reveals trends and fixes
bottlenecks so that processes
are streamlined and optimized
• Improvements help to free up
time so employees can remain
focused on the tasks that count
7

8. Risk-taking
2: Strategic Risk Management, New York University Stern School of Business. 2007.
http://people.stern.nyu.edu/adamodar/pdfiles/papers/strategicrisk.pdf
ROO Survey Findings:
Employees feel a discomfort in taking risks
and failing fast.
The most successful companies achieve success
not by avoiding risk but by having the time and
space to innovate and fail fast through sensible
risk management.
—New York University Stern School of Business2
Xerox MPS
• Diagnostic information gleaned
through MPS help businesses
feel confident they are focused
on solving the right problem
• Improvements help to free up
time so employees have the
space to learn, take risks and
innovate
8

9. Workspace and Environment
3: Bloom, N. “To Raise Productivity, Let More Employees Work from Home”, Harvard Business Review. January, 2014.
https://hbr.org/2014/01/to-raise-productivity-let-more-employees-work-from-home
ROO Survey Findings:
Uninspiring work environments can hinder
innovation and growth.
• Mobile workers are more productive and produce higher
quality work than those who have no option but to work
from a corporate office.
• Flexible work environments contribute to employee
well-being and reduce operating expenses.
—Harvard Business Review (HBR) Study3
Xerox
Digital Alternatives Tool
• Provides mobile workers with easy
and secure access to the information
they need, when they need it
• Allows mobile workers to read, save,
share and annotate documents
within a single application
• Automatic synchronization
across PC and iPad tablets provide
secure, up-to-date access to
information
9

10. Return on Optimism
Business/Enterprise Survey Answers
10

11. What percentage of your work would you
describe as meaningful?
of people working in Enterprise/Business
feel the majority of their work is meaningful.61%
11

12. How would you describe the work/life
balance at your organization?
of people working in Enterprise/Business
feel that their work/life balance is ok.52%
12

13. of people working in Enterprise/Business
feel that their clarity of work is clear enough.47%
How would you rate the clarity of
your organization’s mission?
Obscure and
ambiguous.
Foggy at best. Clear enough. Crystal clear.
13

14. How would you describe your workspace?
of people working in Enterprise/Business
feel that their workspace is presentable,
though not necessarily inspiring.58%
14

15. How would you describe the communication
in your workplace?
of people working in Enterprise/Business
feel that the communication within their
workplace is decent.49%
The lines
are down
Spotty signal
Decent
reception
Full bars
15

16. How would you rate your organization’s
commitment to community outreach?
of people working in Enterprise/Business
feel that their organization’s commitment to
community outreach is relatively promising.36%
16

17. What percentage of your time are
you able to devote to forward thinking?
The majority of people in Enterprise/Business
devote less than a quarter of their time
to forward thinking.<25%
17

18. Do you feel empowered to take risks?
of people working in Enterprise/Business
feel somewhat empowered to take risks,
though tend to play it safe.43%
18

19. Do you feel your accomplishments are
properly recognized?
of people working in Enterprise/Business
feel that their work is firmly recognized.43%
19

20. How would you describe your opportunities
for professional development?
of people working in Enterprise/Business
feel that opportunities for professional
development are encouraging.51%
Non-existent Discouraging Encouraging Positively rosy
20

21. Want to fuel
employee
optimism
within your
business?
21
See how Managed Print Services
can change the way you work:
xerox.com/mps
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