The Ripple Effect of Employee Engagement

A Success Story featuring :

See how King County discovered the solution to get aligned, empower their employees, and move teams toward collective success.

As the most populous county in Washington,King County is committed to the citizensthey serve. They strive to be a model ofoperational excellence, emphasizing a cultureof continuous learning and improvement.Research shows that employees who say theywork for high-performing organizations arefive times more engaged. With more than14,000 employees, it’s necessary for KingCounty’s leadership to be tuned in toemployee engagement across theorganization.

Improving employee engagement doesnot happen overnight. The Office of RiskManagement Services (ORMS) and Financeand Business Operations Division (FBOD)at King County worked with IntegrisPerformance Advisors, experts inorganizational development, to establishtransformational long-term solutions thatwould enhance engagement on their teams.As a Five Behaviors™ Authorized Partner,Integris delivered custom sessions of TheFive Behaviors of a Cohesive Team®, thebreakthrough program based on The FiveDysfunctions of a Team by best-sellingauthor Patrick Lencioni.

“The Five Behaviors framework creates acommon language that enables teams towork more effectively together,” saysBrett Cooper, President and Co-Founderof Integris. “Team members discover howto navigate difficult conversations andovercome barriers that might otherwiseprevent them from meeting their collectivegoals.”

THE OFFICE OF RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES’ INVESTMENT IN TEAMWORKWhen Jennifer Hills, Director of the Officeof Risk Management Services (ORMS), sawthat the division scored 66 percent on theirannual engagement survey, she knew thatshe had to invest in her team and help themfeel valued within the organization. Sheturned to Integris for a solution to increaseteam engagement.

Gwen Voelpel, Performance Advisor atIntegris, guided the ORMS team through TheFive Behaviors program, helping them turntheir task-oriented environment into a moreteam-oriented culture. Demanding dailytasks such as invoice processing and enteringclaims often kept team members isolated.The Five Behaviors helped them realize howmuch more productive and efficient theycould be when they worked as a team.

Teamwork can seem elusive, but with acommon language to discuss team conceptsand behaviors, it becomes actionable andattainable. The Five Behaviors is pairedwith the personality inventory of EverythingDiSC®, a tool that helps teams improvecommunication and build healthy workrelationships. Gaining insight intopersonality styles helped the team see thevalue that individual relationships have onoverall team development.

These insights helped carry the team throughThe Five Behaviors program, starting withthe first behavior: Trust. The foundation ofall cohesive teams starts with

Striving to be the best-run government in the United States is a huge undertaking, but for the King County government headquartered in Seattle, Washington, that goal is top-priority.

2

vulnerability-based trust, the willingness tobe completely open and honest with teammembers. Voelpel helped set this foundationby asking each person to share a few aspectsof his or her childhood. The team bondedover personal stories and was surprised athow little they knew about their peers.

“Some of them had been working togetherfor 20 years and didn’t know basic thingsabout each other,” says Chauntelle Hellner,Finance and Administrative Service Managerof the ORMS team. “It was fascinating to seethat we’re more focused on trying to get workdone than getting to know each other.”

Hellner noticed a complete shift in the teamafter this exercise. “Our team was allbusiness. We got a lot of work done but insilos,” she says. “Now, we actually feel like ateam.”

Soon, work wasn’t just about gettingthings done. It was about being a team daily

that gets things done together. The teamincorporated daily huddles, which designatedup to 15 minutes each day for peer-to-peerinteraction focused on issues that wereresolved the previous day. They also took that time to address upcoming issues and figure out how to solve them as a team. These short check-ins proved to make a big differenceon engagement. “People are willing to helpwithout question. People who are overloadedfeel supported,” says Hellner. “It’s a simpleconcept but has a big impact on the team.”

The team’s Social Committee plannedspecial events to help improve morale andencourage people to continue building theirwork relationships. Picnics, holiday parties,and happy hour outings were a few eventsthat helped keep team members interactingand getting to know each other better.

The team went on to cover the moduleson the remaining behaviors: Conflict,Commitment, Accountability, and Results.By the end of the program, the proof of theirsuccess was not only evident in the way theyengaged with each other; it also showed intheir improved employee engagementsurvey results for the following year.

Within a year, the team was able to applyThe Five Behaviors™ lessons to theirdaily interactions and see significantchange. “Prior to this work we weren’t readyto take on any level of change in continuousimprovement,” says Hellner. “We wouldn’thave seen some of the success we’re seeing now as a result.”

3

Office of Risk Management Services team members.

Engagement Survey Item % PositiveImprovement from previous year’s results

My department’s goals give guidance to my work. 95% 36%

My work unit works well to solve problems and achieve common goals.

90% 32%

There is a spirit of teamwork and cooperation among the members of my work unit.

86% 33%

I feel encouraged to share new ideas to improve the way we work.

90% 26%

Taking on The Five Behaviors™ did more than increase employee engagement forthe ORMS team. “This program gave themclarity and direction on where they wanted togo as a team,” says Voelpel. “That clarityis crucial for any high-performing team.”

THE FINANCE AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS DIVISION ON GAINING CLARITYThe Finance and Business OperationsDivision (FBOD) at King County strived tomodel the way toward becoming the best-rungovernment in the nation. To meet such highexpectations, Ken Guy, Director of thedivision, was motivated to take hismanagement team to a higher level ofperformance after he saw the growth of othergroups that went through The Five Behaviorsprogram. “With such an aspirational goal, wehave to be the best leaders and people we canbe. We can’t rest on our laurels,” said Guy.FBOD partnered with Integris to bringthe management team through The Five

Behaviors program. Although the teamseemed to work well together, theirFive Behaviors team assessment resultsrevealed unspoken challenges beneaththe surface. The team scored medium tolow in all five behaviors of the model,discovering that they had areas for vastimprovement.

Integris guided the team through The FiveBehaviors model, giving new meaning toTrust, Conflict, Commitment, Accountability,and Results in relation to the success ofcohesive teams. For instance, althoughpeople automatically associate conflict asbeing a negative part of the workplace, thetruth is that productive conflict is actuallycritical to the success of high-performingteams. The FBOD team had a tendency toavoid conflict and lean toward artificialharmony, agreeing on the surface but holdingback their true feelings.

“We had a habit of having conversations afterthe meeting because people didn’t feel safe toshare their opinions at the table,” said Guy.The program helped the team gain strategiesto become more comfortable with engagingin productive conflict and having healthydebates focused on ideas.

The team’s progress with Commitment, thethird behavior of the model, has also made atremendous impact on their productivity andcollaboration. “We had a tendency to want toreach consensus. We thought we had a highlevel of commitment only to find out later that not everyone was aligned,” said Guy.

4

Office of Risk Management Services survey results.

Teams that follow The Five Behaviors™model prioritize clarity over consensus.Productive teams can commit to a finaldecision even if team members disagree.The goal is to prioritize clarity overconsensus, which ultimately leads togreater productivity.

“Now we come to meetings prepared. Weestablish if we’re voting on something that’sstill up for discussion or if we’re making afinal commitment,” says Sandy Treibel, HRManager. “We make sure we commit beforewe leave the room and follow up thecommitment in writing so that there’s nolingering doubt.”

Practicing Commitment made it easier forthem to hold each other accountable. Theystrived to keep Accountability, the fourthbehavior of the model, at the forefront.They understood that they each have aresponsibility to the team and to each

other to ensure they are all working towardsthe good of the team.

STRIVING TOWARDS EXCELLENCEAfter launching efforts with The FiveBehaviors of a Cohesive Team®, King Countysaw high survey scores that were above thegovernment benchmark, one being that 74%of employees recommend King County as agreat place to work.

The simple framework of The FiveBehaviors continues to help ORMS andFBOD keep momentum. “The model is easyto understand but challenging to keep alive ifyou lose focus. You can’t check a box and sayyou’re done,” said Guy.

Moving forward, both teams will buildupon The Five Behaviors and continue totap into their team strengths to overcomechallenges. Sandy Treibel and Kara Cuzzettoof the Finance and Business OperationsDivision earned the credential of FiveBehaviors Accredited Facilitator, enablingthem to deliver the program to theircolleagues and help them get the most outof this powerful solution. Through the hardwork and dedication of these two teams, KingCounty is experiencing the ripple effect ofbuilding a strong common language forteamwork—the ultimate competitiveadvantage—and is determined to become thebest-run government in the country.

5

Finance and Business Operations team members.