improving employee engagement when senior leadership is the problem monthly webinar series april 30,...
TRANSCRIPT
IMPROVING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT WHEN SENIOR LEADERSHIP IS THE PROBLEM
Monthly Webinar Series
April 30, 2015
2Topic Agenda
Item Time (min)
Introduction 2
The Importance of Senior Leadership in Engaging Employees
5
What do the Best Leadership Teams do Better?
15
Tips on Breaking the News 10
Q&A 5Norm Baillie-David
SVP Engagement - TalentMap
Monica HelgothVP Engagement - Western Region
Agenda
3
15 years in business
7,000+ employee engagement surveys since inception
1,000,000+ employees surveyed
500+ employee engagement surveys annually
Only 1 Focus
TalentMap by the Numbers
4Sample Clients & Benchmark
Award Programs Technology & Engineering Not-for-Profit & Association
Financial Services
Health Sciences
Other
The Importance of Senior Leadership in Engaging Employees
6
From the foreword to The Pogo Papers, Copyright 1952-53
Organizational Vision
Senior Leadership
Immediate Management
Investor Focus
Innovation
Teamwork
Information and Com-munication
Work/Life Balance
Professional Growth
Performance Feedback
Work Environment
Compensation Strong Engagement
Driver
Weak Engagement
Driver
Worse Than Benchmark
Better Than Benchmark
The Engaged Organization
7
Overall Engagement
I am proud to tell others I work for my organization.
I am optimistic about the future of my organization.
My organization inspires me to do my best work.
I would recommend my organization to a friend as a great place to work.
My job provides me with a sense of personal accomplishment.
I can see a clear link between my work and my organization's long-term objectives.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
11
2
9
9
9
20
16
89
98
91
91
91
80
84
Unfavourable NeutralFavourable
% Frequency
Organizational Vision
Organizational Lead-ership
Immediate Supervisor
Client Focus
InnovationTeamwork
Information and Communication
Work/Life Balance
Professional Growth
Performance Feedback
Work Environment
Strong Engagement Driver
Weak Engagement
Driver
Worse Than Benchmark
Better Than Benchmark
The Engagement Challenged Organization
8
Overall Engagement
I am proud to tell others I work for my organization.
I am optimistic about the future of my organization.
My organization inspires me to do my best work.
I would recommend my organization to a friend as a great place to work.
My job provides me with a sense of personal accomplishment.
I can see a clear link between my work and my organization's long-term objectives.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
13
4
20
10
18
10
14
18
10
22
22
26
6
24
69
86
58
68
56
84
62
Unfavourable Neutral
Favourable
% Frequency
Engaged....
9
Overall Senior Leadership
Sets ambitious, but realistic goals.
Clearly communicates their goals.
Acts consistently; they do as they say.
I have trust and confidence in their ability to achieve our organization's
goals.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
3
2
4
2
4
97
98
96
98
96
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable
% Frequency
Overall Organizational Leadership
Sets ambitious, but realistic goals.
Clearly communicates their goals.
Acts consistently; they do as they say.
I have trust and confidence in their ability to achieve our organization's
goals.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
26
34
23
23
25
32
30
38
27
33
42
36
40
50
42
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable
% Frequency
Not so much
Client 2013
Client 2014
Benchmark
45%
60%
26%
10….guess which one has issues with senior leadership?Are you looking for or thinking of accepting a job with another employer (% Yes)?
6%
7%
24%
11
What do the best leadership teams do better?
Among employees providing positive comments:
“Overall I am very satisfied with the company culture and think this is a great place to work. The company has fostered a team environment and is supportive of its employees.”
“COMPANY is a great place to work. Strong communication of the firm vision is what drives and motivates employees to continue performing their best.“
“Stay transparent with the organization's objectives and developments. “
“The Executive group is a large reason why I am still employed with COMPANY. I feel they walk the walk and are supportive in most everything we do.”
“The culture at COMPANY is unlike anywhere else I have ever worked. It really is like one big family.”
EXAMPLE POSITIVE COMMENTS
Visibility, Connectedness and Empathy“Need more confidence that the organizational leadership is truly listening and doing everything within their power to support us”“They make decisions in a vacuum. They have no idea what’s going on on the front-lines. We never see them”
Set, Communicate and Follow-up Clear and Realistic Goals:“Ambitious goals; perhaps not realistic - involve staff when establishing goals that impact practice rather than deciding and telling them”
Decisiveness on Clear Priorities“Improve priority setting, as it seems everything is a priority.”“I would like to see more decisiveness. Projects are being delayed because either a decision is not made or work is being completed by the wrong person.”
Articulate and Communicate a Clear and Compelling Vision“I can't say that leaders of the organization have painted a picture of the future of our agency. Most of their actions seem to be reactive to issues/funding changes that come up. It doesn't seem like there's a proactive approach to planning the future of the organization from my perspective.”
EXAMPLE COMMENTS: REQUIRE IMPROVEMENT
14
LEADERSHIP PRACTICES THAT ENGAGE
Building trust and honest communication
• Transparency, especially in difficult times
• Frequent and forthright – answer employee questions
• Admit when you don’t know
• Senior Leaders take ownership of the people agenda (as opposed to it being “HR’s” problem)
• People priorities are clearly embedded in business strategy
• People take precedence, sometimes over short-term gain
• Talent is more built than bought (75% internal, 25% external)
Effectively communicate the organization’s goals and objectives
Consistently demonstrate the organization’s values in all behaviours and actions (“they walk the talk”)
Appropriately balance employee interests with those of the organization
Consistently demonstrate empathy and caring for employees
Ensure presence and visibility – in person or virtually
Connected with Employees
15
Effectively communicate goals and objectives
Ensure goals and objectives are aggressive, yet attainable
Empower managers and employees and instil a culture of accountability
Performance Focused
16
Fill employees with excitement for the future of the organization
Ensure employees understand how they contribute to the organization as a whole
Consults widely, but decides quickly. Inclusive decision-making
Genuinely future and development oriented
17
Tips on “Breaking the News” to Senior Leadership
18
UNDERSTAND STAGES OF RESULT ACCEPTANCE
19
Meet with CEO alone first (if possible). Discuss how to broach the subject with the executive team.
Sometimes, leaving them the report and having them come to their own conclusion is most effective.
Avoid any comparison/contrast between VP areas of responsibility. Position it as a common issue – not isolated to certain executives only.
Are you the best placed to deliver the message? Your survey provider can help ensure no loss of face.
Avoid inclination for “told you so” or vindication.
Understand that many execs are probably not aware of how they are truly perceived.
Some Practical Tips
20
Allow the leadership (as a group) to come to the acceptance stage. Facilitate conversations if possible. Allow for introspection.
Focus on helping them identify specific behaviours.
Bring forward other experiences/best practices (e.g. this presentation). What have other senior leadership teams done? What do they do that we don’t?
Objective: commitment to behaviour change and accountability.
Moving to Action
21
Trust, confidence and positive perception of senior leadership is crucial for high levels of engagement.
Behaviour change will yield a positive ROI.
Anticipate stages of result acceptance, particularly denial and rationalization.
When ready, facilitate the move to action. Focus on emulating positive behaviours.
Final Thoughts
22
Event Format Topic DateConference Board“Engagement 2015”
Calgary NEW Research: 10 Years On – What Do We Really Know?
May 25th
TalentMap Specialty Webinar
Live Webinar Employee Engagement: Maintaining Momentum – Part 2
May 28th 12:00pm EDT
TalentMap Monthly Webinar Series
Live Webinar with special guest
How Edmonton International Airport Improved Employee Engagement – from Survey to Implementation and Beyond
June 25th
12:00pm EDT
TalentMap Monthly Webinar Series
Live Webinar Engaging your Employees through a Compelling Organizational Vision
July 30th
12:00pm EDT
Upcoming TalentMap Learning Sessions
THANK YOU!QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
24
Monica HelgothVP Engagement – TalentMap [email protected], x515
Norm Baillie-DavidSVP [email protected], x504