IABC
Orange County
Building Best-In-Class
Employee Engagement Programs
…from research to programming
Paul M. Sanchez ABC Fellow, APR
Buck Consultants
Overview
1. From Satisfaction to Engagement
2. Defining Employee Engagement and the relationship to
organization culture
3. Getting a Handle on Engagement
4. Stages of Employee Engagement
5. Program Implications (Communications and HR)
6. Conclusion and Discussion
2
Purpose of this session
1. To explore the topic of employee engagement
2. How these insights can inform and guide the development of
Communications and HR programs
3. Highlight the role of Communications in various enterprise aspects.
4. Discuss your views on this topic
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Defining Engagement…
Why is a definition needed?
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From Satisfaction to Engagement
Research1 has clearly established that work environment perceptions influence
a range of positive organizational performance outcomes
Satisfaction, Commitment
and Engagement
Organization
Performance
- Employee
Retention
- Productivity
- Market Share
1See,
for example, Harter, J.K., Schmidt, F.L., & Hayes, T.L. Business-unit-level
Relationship Between Employee Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, and
Business Outcomes: Meta-Analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(2), 268279.
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- Customer
Satisfaction
- Safety Behaviors
From Satisfaction to Engagement
Over time, the drivers of employee satisfaction and commitment
have evolved
1980s
 Pay equity
 Job security
 Personal accomplishment
Employee Satisfaction
 Opportunities for input
1990s
 Professional development
 Personal accomplishment
 Clear sense of company
direction
Employee Commitment
 Opportunities for input
 Work/life balance
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From Satisfaction to Engagement
Over the last decade, employers’ focus has moved beyond just
“satisfied” or even “committed” employees, to employees who are
“engaged”
Satisfaction
 Satisfied with pay,
benefits, supervisor,
working conditions,
etc.
Commitment
 Not indifferent to the
organization…willing
to stay
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Engagement
?
From Satisfaction to Engagement
Although there are some country-specific drivers, a
consistent set of engagement drivers is emerging globally
Engagement Drivers in this Century
 The work itself, including
opportunities to grow
Employee Engagement and
Business Results
 Confidence and trust in
leadership
 Recognition and rewards
 Communication
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Employment Value Chain
From Strategy to Performance Results
Business
Environment
Company
Strategy
Brand
values
Human
Resources
Strategy &
Organization
Communications
Employee
Perceptions
& Behaviors
Business
Performance
- Employee Retention
- Customer Satisfaction
- Performance
- Quality Metrics
How employees experience their work
environment has a critical impact on business
results
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…Defining Employee Engagement
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Defining Employee Engagement
1. Engagement is the result of how employees perceive the
work experience–the company, its leaders, the work itself,
the communication climate and colleagues
2. Employee engagement manifests itself as:
•
•
•
•
•
A willingness to go the extra mile
Motivation to perform to the highest standards
Creative energy applied to work tasks and duties
Customer orientation
A vested interest in the company’s success
3. Employee Engagement is both a reflection of the culture
and primary force is shaping the culture
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Culture
Culture: The patterns of behavior the organization and its people
reward and sustain. “The way things get done around here.”
Culture: The sum of all factors that make an organization and its
people unique and identifiable
Culture: The way that an organization’s stated values are
internalized and thus influence the building blocks:
• Strategy
• Structure
• People
• Processes
Employee engagement is both an outcome of and a force in forging
a culture
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Organizational Building Blocks and Culture
Mission
Strategy
Vision
People
CULTURE
Values
Processes
Structure
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Studies have linked Worker Engagement to Business Outcomes
Extensive research demonstrates that high levels of engagement (typically 60%
or more) create positive employee outcomes which, in turn, drive business results
Highly Engaged
Companies
44% higher
Retention
29% higher in
Revenue
70% more
Productive
Engaged
employees:
56% higher
Customer Loyalty
50% higher in
Customer Loyalty
50% higher Safety
44% higher in
Profitability
34% higher
Customer
Satisfaction
increased
performance of up
to 20 percentile
points
50% more
Productive
80% fewer
Union Grievances
33% more
Profitable
National Research Forum
(2004)
Izzo & Withers (2000)
Vance (2006)
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are 87% less likely
to leave an
organization
Corporate Leadership Council
(2004)
Employee Engagement Index and Drivers of Engagement…
Asking Employees
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Engagement and Drivers
Employee Engagement index is typically comprised of five items:
Engagement Index
1. I feel a strong sense of commitment to this company.
2. I am proud to work for this company.
3. I would recommend my organization to others as a good
place to work.
4. I intend to stay with this company over the next 12 to 24
months.
5. I am willing to go “above and beyond” in my job to help
this company be successful.
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Drivers of Engagement
Once measured, what drives engagement?
The experience of:
• Strategy
• Structure
• Processes
• People
Identified and analyzed
• Twelve dimensions
• Fifty to sixty “items”
• Open ended question
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External Influences on Engagement
• Regional and national characteristics
• State of the economy
• The sector
• The external brand image of the organization
• Leadership’s public personalities
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Stages of Employee Engagement
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From Satisfaction to Engagement
Advocate
 Contributes discretionary effort
 Proactively seeks opportunities to serve the mission of the
organization
 Speaks positively about the organization’s products and services
 Recommends organization as an employer
 Is willing to withhold criticism and/or be constructively critical for the
good of the organization
 Resilient to short-term dissatisfiers
Committed
 Loyal to organization, optimistic for the future
 Sees the bigger picture with a sense of how job fits in
 Collaborates to achieve team goals
 Openly ambitious for self, team and company
 Believes the organization will enable his/her good performance
 Has a sense of belonging to organization–feels valued and involved at
work —expresses views freely
Disengaged
Workers
Motivated
 Contributes energetically
 Strives to achieve personal goals
 Values achieving personal goals more than team/organizational
goals
 Focused individual contributor
 More loyal to personal professional goals rather than organization
Satisfied
 Enjoys job
 Is not dissatisfied with terms and conditions
 Content to work alone
 Does not go “above and beyond”
 Not necessarily a team player
 Often externally focused
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Engagement Stages Reflect Employee Disposition and
Management Focus
Engagement stages:
•
•
•
•
Insights and
applications:
Satisfied
Motivated
Committed
Advocate
•
•
•
•
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Psychological State
Factors
Employee Profile
Management Focus
Satisfied
Stage
Satisfied
Employee Profile
Management Efforts to Optimize
Psychological State


Working Relationship
Enjoys job
Is not dissatisfied with
terms and conditions

Content to work alone

Does not go “above and
beyond”

Not necessarily a team
player

Often externally
focused
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
Work tools, resources and equipment

Work environment

Reward (reward level and understanding
of the rationale for reward change)

Recognize work efforts
Motivated
Employee
Employee Profile
Management Efforts to Optimize
Stage
Psychological State
Working Relationship
Motivated




Contributes
energetically

Establish fair performance goals

Communicate clear expectations about
job role

Regularly clarify priorities and feedback

Support by removing obstacles to optimal
performance

Recognize and reward his/her
performance

Delegate work to this employee

Support employee skill development
Strives to achieve
personal goals
Values achieving
personal goals more
than team
organizational goals
Focused individual
contributor
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Committed
Stage
Employee Profile
Management Efforts to Optimize
Psychological State
Committed

Loyal to organization,
optimistic for the future

Help employees build meaningful long-term
careers

Sees the bigger picture
with a sense of how job
fits in

Ensure recognition and reward for long term
commitment

Listening to employees, sharing insights and
experience, making time to informally develop
the employee

Develop employee trust by

Collaborates to achieve
team goals

Openly ambitious for self,
team and company



• fairness
Believes the organization
will enable his/her good
performance
• consistency
• transparency
Has a sense of belonging
to organization–feels
valued and involved at
work—expresses views
freely
Resilient to short-term
dissatisfiers
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
Develop understanding among employees of
long-term vision and business plans

Promote organization values and reinforce them
through management behaviors
Advocate
Employee
Employee Profile
Stage
Psychological State
Advocate
Management Focus

Contributes discretionary
effort

Communicate organization's progress and
challenges

Proactively seeks
opportunities to serve the
mission of the
organization

Relate business results to team and individual
roles

Endorse strong customer focus

Share understanding of customer needs with
team

Challenge and grow through delegation

Speaks positively about
the organization’s
products and services

Recommends organization
as an employer

Establish comprehensive career development
plans

Is willing to withhold
criticism and/or be
constructively critical for
the good of the
organization

Encourage upward communication

Encourage innovation

Recognize and reward
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Core Engagement Elements and Program Implications
Leadership

Acts in accord with the expressed values of the
organization

Allocates resources in ways that support strategy

Visible & transparent involvement with the
customers and employees

The Work Itself
Making the connections between strategy and
process that will aid employees in seeing the big
picture
Recognition and Rewards

Treated with respect

Work valued for overall contribution

Opportunity to grow in job and laterally

Work aligned with the success of the enterprise

Participating in developmental opportunities
Communication

Reward practices that are perceived as fair and
competitive

Organization culture that is built on a two-way
exchange of information

Total compensation approach (bringing it all
together)

Communication that is planned

Supervisors are active participants in the cascade
of information

Full mix of media to reach all levels of the
organization (adult learning model)

Communication training for supervisors

Leaders and managers take communications
seriously

Benefits components integrated with the total
reward package

Employees recognized in tangible and immediate
ways

Exploration of non-cash recognition for outstanding
performance
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Conclusion
Critical success factors:

How the mission is framed and internalized for employees

How values are lived (made apparent) by leaders
and managers

How customer input information is used to inform employees

How employees are treated:
•
Two-way communication environment
•
Recognition
•
Development
•
Rewards
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Conclusion
1. Presented an engagement model and the stages of engagement
2. Examined how this information provides insight in developing
approaches for:

Creating an engaged workforce

Building Communication & HR programs


Touched the question of Culture
Influencing positive business results
3. Questions and discussion?
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