How Abacus Helped Descon Transform Employee Insights into a Culture of Connection and Growth

Industry Focus 

Descon, a leading multinational conglomerate headquartered in Pakistan, operates across diverse sectors including engineering, power, chemicals, and agriculture. What began as an engineering firm has expanded to include the ownership and operation of chemical and power plants, alongside interests in inspection and testing. Recently, Descon has broadened its scope by venturing into agriculture, with a workforce of approximately 22,000 employees. 

In managing such a large and diversified organization, Descon recognized the importance of understanding the pulse of its people: how engaged, motivated, and connected employees felt across business units. To gain a comprehensive view of workforce sentiment and the factors influencing it, Descon partnered with Abacus to conduct an organization-wide Employee Engagement Survey. 

The Challenge 

With a workforce spanning multiple sectors, Descon faced the complex task of understanding diverse engagement drivers and aligning them under one organizational culture. The company needed to translate both qualitative and quantitative feedback into meaningful strategies that could strengthen satisfaction and performance. 

Key challenges included: 

• Diverse Engagement Drivers: Understanding and addressing varied engagement motivators across a large, multi-sector workforce. 
  

• Cultural Alignment: Aligning diverse employee groups under one cohesive organizational culture. 
  

• Actionable Insights: Translating survey data into practical strategies that would drive long-term engagement and growth.  

These challenges underscored the need for a structured, data-informed approach to understand employee perceptions and prioritize initiatives that foster connection and commitment. 

The Solution 

To address these challenges, Descon partnered with Abacus to conduct a comprehensive Employee Engagement Survey across its entire organization. 

The initiative was designed to go beyond surface-level observations, combining quantitative analysis with qualitative insights to create a holistic understanding of employee engagement. 

Abacus worked closely with Descon’s HR and leadership teams to conduct: 

• A detailed analysis of engagement across the organization, identifying patterns, strengths, and areas requiring focused attention. 
  

• Benchmarking of Descon’s engagement levels against industry standards, providing a clear context for how the organization performed relative to peers. 
  

• In-depth insights into the drivers and barriers affecting engagement, uncovering what motivated employees and what hindered satisfaction and performance. 
  

• Clear identification of key focus areas for both immediate action and long-term strategic improvement. 
  

• Analysis of employees who were neutral in their engagement, developing targeted strategies to address their concerns and encourage a stronger connection. 
  

• Collection of qualitative insights from employees to capture authentic feedback, opinions, and suggestions across all levels of the organization. 
  

• Thorough examination of nuanced engagement factors to guide evidence-based decision-making and leadership planning. 
  

• Identification of the most critical areas for impactful change, ensuring future engagement initiatives were data-driven and outcome-oriented. 
  

This structured and collaborative approach provided Descon with a comprehensive understanding of its workforce dynamics revealing not only how employees felt, but why they felt that way. The findings gave leadership a clear roadmap to strengthen engagement, enhance satisfaction, and sustain organizational performance. 

The Impact 

The partnership helped Descon move from observation to action. The findings became the foundation for a more transparent and collaborative work culture, where feedback was not just collected but acted upon. 

Key Outcomes: 

• Transparency in Dialogue: Encouraged open, honest conversations between employees and leadership. 
  

• Empowered Employee Voice: Gave individuals a platform to express opinions and feel genuinely valued. 
  

• Continuous Improvement: Established a culture of ongoing feedback and learning. 
  

• Stronger Connections: Fostered better understanding and trust between management and staff. 
  

• Collaboration and Innovation: Created opportunities for employees to share ideas that drive progress.  

The insights gathered now serve as a roadmap for sustaining engagement across Descon’s evolving business landscape. 

Conclusion 

For Descon, this initiative was more than just an engagement survey; it was a step toward building a more connected and empowered organization. 

With Abacus’ support, Descon transformed employee feedback into actionable insight, aligning engagement with strategy and culture. The collaboration not only deepened organizational understanding but also reinforced a shared commitment to transparency, growth, and innovation across every level of the company.