Mestergruppen uses Eletive to strenghten culture and performance

 “One of my first tasks was to find a system for measuring employee satisfaction,” Erik recalls. “Mestergruppen is a group with around 1,500 employees. To create the best possible working environment, we needed proper insight into how our people were actually doing.” 

More engaged employees perform better. Productivity, customer satisfaction, financial outcomes—they all improve.

Mestergruppen is a vast and varied organisation, comprising brands such as XL-Bygg, Bolist, Colorama, Happy Homes, as well as construction companies, house-building firms, and logistics operations. The organisation includes both white-collar office staff and blue-collar workers across numerous different environments, making the implementation of a unified engagement approach particularly complex. 

From fragmented tools to one unified platform 

Before 2020, Mestergruppen had no centralised method for measuring employee engagement. 

“It was quite fragmented,” Erik recalls. “Some departments had tested different tools, but nothing was aligned or consistent across the group. We needed a system that worked for all our employees, not only those sitting at a desk.” 

This requirement quickly shaped their search for the right platform. 

“With the wide variety of roles in our organisation, usability was essential,” he says. “It had to be easy for everyone to use—whether on mobile, tablet, or PC. User-friendliness was the priority.” 

After reviewing several options, Mestergruppen chose Eletive, signing an agreement at the end of 2020. 

Smooth implementation and strong support 

Mestergruppen began by piloting Eletive in the Norwegian retail division, comprising XL-Bygg and Byggtorget. 

“It went very smoothly,” Erik says. “In the beginning we didn’t have an HR system integration, so we imported employees manually. Even so, it worked well.” 

Today, an API integration between CatalystOne and Eletive keeps employee data automatically updated, dramatically reducing administrative workload. 

“That integration removed an enormous amount of manual work,” he explains. “With close to 2,000 employees at times, it makes a huge difference.” 

Erik also highlights the quality of Eletive’s support throughout the journey. 

Expanding the use of Eletive across the organisation 

Mestergruppen began with annual surveys, later increasing to twice per year. Eventually they transitioned to pulse surveys, which now provide continuous insight into engagement trends. 

Over time, they have adopted almost the entire Eletive Professional Package, including: 

• Pulse surveys 

• Comment functionality 

• Supportive conversations 

• Manager tools 

• AI-powered insights 

• Next up: onboarding and offboarding modules 

“The comment field is my favourite part right now,” Erik says. “You get so much more insight when employees can elaborate on their answers. And with more and more comments coming in, the AI summaries are very exciting to use.” 

A clear increase in employee engagement 

Simply measuring engagement does not create change. At Mestergruppen, real improvement has come from consistently turning insight into action—using data as a starting point for dialogue, leadership decisions, and concrete follow-up at every level of the organisation. 

Since introducing engagement surveys with Eletive, Mestergruppen has been able to track trends over time, identify risk areas early, and focus effort where it has the greatest impact. 

“Our overall engagement score has increased from 3.6 to 3.9 since starting with pulse surveys,” Erik shares. “We haven’t quite broken through the 4.0 barrier yet, but it’s still a strong and encouraging trend across such a large, complex organisation.” 

Eletive pulse surveys

Learn more about Eletive's AI-powered employee pulse surveys.

Learn more

While the group-wide development is important, the most powerful evidence of impact appears at a local level—where leaders actively use the results as a tool for improvement rather than a report to be filed away. 

One department was down at 3.3. We supported the leader closely and joined team meetings to work through the results. Now, that department sits consistently at 4.2. That’s a significant transformation.

For Erik, this illustrates a crucial point: tools alone do not create change; people do. 

“Whatever system you use, it only works if leaders engage with the results and employees take shared responsibility for the working environment. Eletive helps facilitate that conversation.” 

One of the most meaningful outcomes has been a cultural shift in how responsibility for the working environment is perceived. Engagement is no longer viewed as something done to employees, but something created with them. 

Supporting leaders with tools, resources, and hands-on guidance 

To ensure leaders feel confident working with engagement data, Mestergruppen has built an extensive internal library on SharePoint, including: 

• A dedicated page for employee surveys 

• Technical FAQs 

• A Norwegian version of the Manager Handbook 

• Tips and best practices 

• Tailored slide decks 

• Internal success stories featuring cultural turnarounds 

Erik and the HR team frequently meet with leaders to guide them through the platform and help interpret results. 

“That’s the part we enjoy,” he says. “The system handles the admin. We can focus on supporting leaders and teams in a meaningful way.” 

Connecting engagement with business results 

At Mestergruppen, employee engagement is not viewed as a “soft” metric or a standalone HR initiative. It is treated as a leading indicator of business health—something that directly influences performance, productivity, and long-term results. 

Rather than stopping at survey scores, the organisation actively connects engagement data with operational and financial outcomes. Engagement insights are used to understand why some units outperform others, and where cultural strengths—or risks—may be affecting the bottom line. 

“We look at engagement scores compared with financial results,” Erik explains. “Those with strong working environments often deliver stronger financial performance. The correlation is always there.” 

The same logic applies beyond revenue and profitability. Engagement is also closely linked to how customers experience the business on a daily basis. By analysing engagement data alongside customer metrics, Mestergruppen has identified a clear pattern: motivated, supported employees create better customer experiences. 

“We measure NPS, and units with high customer satisfaction tend to have high employee engagement too,” Erik says. “It all aligns.” 

Together, these insights have reinforced a simple but powerful truth across the organisation: strong culture drives strong results. Engagement is not just about how employees feel—it is about how the business performs. 

Advice for organisations starting their engagement journey 

For organisations still without a structured engagement process, Erik offers clear guidance: 

“If you don’t have a system today, choosing something like Eletive helps you quickly comply with legal requirements and gives you a strong tool for identifying risks and opportunities.” 

And the business impact is significant: 

“More engaged employees perform better. Productivity, customer satisfaction, financial outcomes—they all improve.” 

Looking Forward 

With onboarding and offboarding soon set to launch, and an increasingly rich set of comments powering AI insights, Mestergruppen’s use of Eletive continues to evolve. 

“It will involve even more of our HR colleagues,” Erik notes. “And as we refine our processes, the insights will only become more valuable.” 

For now, Eletive remains a central pillar in how Mestergruppen measures, understands, and strengthens its culture—across countries, brands, and teams. A cohesive tool helping unify a diverse organisation.