From $1.5B to $3B: How One Firm Used the OES to Unlock Growth (Video)

Video Categories: ,

Background

Russ Moen has been with Express Employment Professionals for 30 years and has played a key role in their growth and development. Over the past decade, Express has utilized the Organizational Effectiveness Survey℠ (OES) to enhance both business performance and workplace culture.

How OES Transformed Express Employment Professionals

Moen shared that when Express first implemented the OES around 10–12 years ago, the company had approximately $1.5 billion in revenue and set an ambitious goal to reach $3 billion. Achieving this required a deeper focus not just on business metrics, but also on workplace culture and employee engagement.

“We put more effort into being cognizant of people’s feelings and how they perceived the workplace.” – Russ Moen

By leveraging the OES, Express was able to track internal engagement indices, identifying how employees felt about their roles, the organization, and their overall level of engagement. This aligned with Gallup research Moen referenced, which estimated that lack of engagement in the U.S. workforce results in $350 billion in lost productivity annually.

Measuring Progress Like a Physical Exam

Moen compared the OES to a corporate health check-up, emphasizing that without a structured assessment, companies risk missing critical insights.

“You can’t effectively measure soft skills without the OES. It gives you an accurate reading that you just won’t get otherwise.”

Rather than conducting the OES annually, Express opted for a strategic cadence—typically every 18 months or longer—allowing leadership to track trends and make informed decisions. Moen emphasized that conducting the OES only once would be as ineffective as taking a physical exam once every 10 years.

Results and Long-Term Value of the OES

Express successfully met its revenue targets while improving its organization’s culture. Moen credited the OES with providing a dashboard for measuring and tracking the three traits all organizations must master to sustain success: Relational Behaviors (soft skills), Operational Practices (hard skills), and the Immune System (resilience).

“It needs to be something you use consistently, so you can measure progress—or recognize when you’re going in the wrong direction.”

The conversation underscored that business success isn’t just about hitting financial targets—it’s also about fostering a strong workplace culture, engaging employees, and ensuring long-term sustainability.

For business consultants, the Organizational Effectiveness Survey℠ (OES) isn’t just a diagnostic assessment—it’s a game-changer that provides validated and reliable data-driven insights your clients need to retain talent, improve engagement, and drive sustainable growth. As an Accredited OES Partner, you gain access to this proven methodology, empowering you to offer a strategic, measurable approach to organization performance. If you’re ready to elevate your consulting practice and deliver tangible ROI for your clients, now is the time to join our Accredited OES Consultant Partner Network.

Let’s build healthier, effective, and resilient high performing organizations—together.

Complete Video Transcript

Russ,

Uh, could you just share with us, you know, how long you worked for Express? I think you’re still in some way, you know, uh, working for them. But how many years would you say?

So when we started using the OES, could you just kind of summarize what you saw that the OES helped to improve in business performance? When I say business performance, I don’t just mean metrics—I also mean the soft side and the soft skills.

We put more effort into trying to be cognizant of people’s feelings and the way they perceived the workplace. Mm-Hmm. Mm-Hmm. Because we were, again, by the time we started using the OES—which would’ve been probably when we were at about a [missing detail]—and the objective was to get to three. Mm-Hmm. And so that would’ve been the intermediate term. Mm-Hmm.

We began to look at those internal indices that tell us how people are feeling and reacting. Are they fully engaged in our work? Are they fully engaged in their jobs?

Not being fully engaged, according to some Gallup research that I’ve read, was about a [missing detail]. Now, this is Gallup’s research, not Express’s, but when you begin to focus on those soft skills—skills that you can’t develop as effectively without the OES—it’s just not possible. You’re just not gonna get the same accurate reading.

So, did you reach the goals that you were wanting to reach?

Yes.

In terms of money?

Yes.

Yes, it’s been a gradual thing. And, uh, yes, we did achieve our objectives.

The OES gave you metrics to look at—like a physical exam—showing how you were doing periodically. Mm-Hmm. Maybe you wouldn’t take it every year, but maybe every other year, or even longer than that. Mm-Hmm. Just to be able to say:

“How are we doing? How are we tracking this?”

It was like a dashboard of the health, effectiveness, and resiliency of the organization.

Yeah. It seemed like we took it the first time, and then maybe [missing detail]. And then we’ve used it in other facets of the Express world. Right.

But yeah, you’ve got to repeat it. Taking it once is like taking a physical exam just once in your life—that’s not gonna really give you what you want.

And it’s the same way with the OES. It needs to be something continuous so you can measure your progress—or your digression.

Recent Posts

Scroll to Top