Employee Engagement –
Leveraging Leadership and
Communications to make a Difference
This material and any accompanying remarks are provided for informational purposes only and
nothing contained in either should be taken as a legal opinion or as legal advice
VA State SHRM – April 30, 2014
Copyright 2014 Willis North America, Inc.
Why Employee Engagement Matters
TO WIN CUSTOMERS – and a bigger share of the marketplace –
companies must first win the hearts and minds of their employees
Engaged companies outperform their competition
22% higher profitability
 21% higher productivity
 10% higher customer metrics
 37% lower absenteeism
 48% fewer safety incidents
 41% fewer quality incidents
(defects)

1| Page
Definition of Employee Engagement
“A heightened emotional and intellectual connection that an
employee has for his/her job, organization, manager, or
coworkers that, in turn, influences him/her to apply
additional discretionary effort to his/her work.”
--The Conference Board
2| Page
New Rules of Engagement – BI World Wide
Employee Engagement
Employees engage with their employer in four distinct ways:
1. Company – employees feel personal attachment, affiliation, passion
toward the company as a whole
2.
Job - employees value and feel personal involvement with their work and
the tasks associated with their specific jobs
3.
Supervisor/Leader – employees feel personal attachment,
commitment, and affiliation with their direct supervisors and higher level
leaders
4.
Colleagues/coworkers – employees value relationships and feel
emotional attachment to the other members of their team or to colleagues
that they work with directly.
3| Page
When it Comes to Employee Engagement, One Size Does Not Fill All, Cornell University CAHRS April 2013
Current State of Employee Engagement

50% would like to leave their jobs,
including 25% of best performers.
(Right Management)

74% of departed employees cited a lack
of employer engagement as their
principal reason for leaving.
(Harvard Business Review)

Disengaged employees are 24% less
likely to quit than engaged employees.
(Conference Board)
4| Page
Can you tell by looking?
Fully Engaged
(30%)
Partially
Engaged
(50%)
Disengaged
(20%)
5| Page
The Gallup Organization – 2013 State of the American Workplace Report
Engagement Categories
6| Page
Drivers of Engagement
In addition to
Transparency
Openness
7| Page
So how can we move engagement levels?
8| Page
Leadership,
Communications and
Knowing your Workforce
9
Top drivers of sustainable engagement among U.S.
workers are

Leadership

Stress, balance and workload

Goals and Objectives

Supervision

Organization’s image (more specifically your EVP)
10| Page
2012- 2013 Towers Watson Talent Management & Rewards Survey
1. Leadership

Employee engagement starts at the top.
– Key driver is the actions of senior leaders
• Leaders must demonstrate support for an engaged company culture by
personally living their company’s values.

Best Practices from Best Employers
– Make Employee Engagement a Business Priority
– 6 out of 10 companies report Employee Engagement as the #1 objective of
their people program investment
11| Page
Leadership

Senior Leader Mindset:
A. “Give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile”
OR
B. “If we give, they will give back.”
A.
Employee Engagement is desirable
OR
B. Employee Engagement is critical for our business
success
12| Page
Leadership and Connecting with Employees

Encourage senior management to be a part of the
employees’ corporate life.
– Install regular sessions where senior management
speaks to all employees and create virtual ask your CEO
— where employees are being heard.
CEO CORNER
•Write to Dominic
•Read Dominic’s Blog
•Request a video, phone
call or client visit with
Dominic
13| Page
Leadership and Connecting with Employees
Communication: The Cornerstone of an Engaged Workforce Culture
“When leaders tell employees where they are going,
why they’re going there and how they are going to get there
– and when they provide appropriate levels of trust,
recognition and empathy - productivity goes up.”
The Nine Principles of Service and
Organizational Excellence
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
8.
14| Page
Commit to Excellence
Measure the Important Things
Build a Culture around Service
Create and Develop Leaders
Focus on Employee Satisfaction…
Communicate at all Levels
How to Increase Belief In Leadership
15| Page
2. Relationship with Direct Manager

Connect
– Leaders must show that they value and respect
their employees.
• If an employees’ relationship with their
managers is fractured, then no amount of perks
will persuade employees to perform at top
levels.

Convey/Communicate
– Good Leaders provide clarity around expectations,
provide regular and routine feedback about
performance (both individual and organizational)
and what one needs to do to advance or take on
new tasks/opportunities.
16| Page
7 Things Every Great Boss Should Do




Acknowledge – let employees know they are doing a good job
Motivate – set high standards and stick to them enlisting employee input
Communicate – clearly, honestly and often
Trust – believe your employees can meet or exceed organizational goals
and support them in their endeavors

Develop- provide tools and training so as your employees can reach full
potential


Direct – challenge your employees but not overwhelm them
Partner – create and cultivate a sense of camaraderie
17| Page
In simpler terms:

Treat your employees right:
– Respect (being sensitive to needs, desires and goals)
– Objectives (set clear objectives involving them in the
process)
– Awareness (increase awareness by providing feedback)
– Dialogue (on-going regular communications)
ROAD
18| Page
19| Page
3. Communications – Leadership/Management

Managers person-to-person, day to day
interactions influence how they feel
about their work environment, the value
they create for the organization and their pay and
growth opportunities.

Their communications and interactions with their team
needs to be cognizant of their workforce’s
communication preferences and other characteristics to
make this relationship a positive one.
20| Page
Adopt your Management Style –
Find Opportunities to Connect/Convey & Motivate

Emotional Intelligence – Blended Leadership
21| Page
Know your Workforce…
22| Page
Managing/Coaching Millennials
23| Page

Offer plenty of help

Create a collegial and team-oriented culture

Rewards for innovating and taking appropriate
risks
(Praise can be more powerful than money)

Checklists/guideposts/milestones—lots of
feedback
(Millennials mistake silence for disapproval)

Provide regular “developmental coaching”
(Positive, forward–looking, skill building)
How to increase Satisfaction with Immediate
Supervisor
24| Page
Organization’s Image - Employee Value Proposition
Communication of the things that make your organization a great place to work is essential.
25| Page
Communications and HR
Employees are ill informed…
41% of workers rely on word of mouth
among friends for advice/info about
benefits
 16% of employees say they are not
very informed about benefits offered
at their company
 Only 25% of employees felt they
received a lot of information about
their compensation systems
 Only 46% were satisfied with the
openness of their compensation
programs/systems

26| Page
Sibson’s Rewards of Work Study
27| Page
Best Practice Example
Employee Value Proposition
At the Front Counter – Engaged and Committed Employees
To identify McDonald’s EVP, they conducted an unprecedented effort to gather input
from crew and managers. They received responses from nearly 10,000 restaurant
employees from 55 countries about what they love most and least about working
at McDonald’s. Identified key themes around ““People and Culture,”
“Flexibility and Variety,” and “Development and Opportunity”
Family & Friends – “I work in an enjoyable, energizing atmosphere where
everyone feels part of the team.”
Flexibility – “I have a challenging, varied job that has the flexibility to fit into my lifestyle.”
Future – “I have an opportunity to grow and progress by learning personal and work
skills that will last me a lifetime, whatever I choose to do.”
28| Page
HR Communications
29| Page

Do you believe your
employees are paid
fairly?

Do you believe you are
paid fairly?
What information is shared within your entity
regarding compensation?

Salary Ranges

Incentive Programs

Managers also tend to share what it takes to
– Expand an employees role
– Improve performance
– Obtain training
30| Page
Employee Communications
31| Page
2012 AON Hewitt Study
When it comes to Communication –
one size definitely does not fit all

Print Collateral
– Direct Mail
– Total Rewards Statements

Face to Face Communications
– Focus Groups
– Town Hall Meetings
– Benefit Fairs

Electronic/Digital
–
–
–
–
32| Page
Internet/Intranet
Email – Text Messaging
Videos
Social Media
4 generations in the work force with
different:
• Thoughts and values
• Perspectives
• Ways of managing, communicating and
problem solving
Know your workforce/audience

Where they are located;

How long they’ve been
employed;

Their job role;

Age and Gender, etc.
34
Total Rewards and EVP Statements
35| Page
EVP Brochure
36| Page
Employee/Total Rewards Portals
“one-stop shop” for total rewards information
Available
Courses
37| Page
Courses
Completed
Professional
Development
Print Collateral - Direct Mail
Sent to new hires as part of a
welcome packet from the
Chief Human Resources Officer.
38| Page
Electronic - Intranet and Internet
Campbell's compensation philosophy supports our Success Model.
The foundation of the model — “Winning in the Workplace” —
recognizes that our people drive profitability and our competitive
advantage.
We understand that paying competitive wages is critical to attracting and retaining
the talent we need to build a company that can produce extraordinary results and
compete over the long term.
Our compensation program is market-based and performance-driven:
•
•
39| Page
Campbell conducts a comprehensive market analysis each year to ensure our
compensation programs are competitive with the appropriate set of peer
companies.
Employee performance is evaluated as part of Campbell's annual Performance
Management process. Consistent with the Campbell Leadership Model,
employees are evaluated and rewarded based both on what they do (results
they create) and how they do it (behaviors they demonstrate).
www.campbellsoupcompany.com
Engagement & Recognition
We believe that our employees feel most valued when they are fully informed, understand the company's
business goals and plans, and are invited to offer their feedback on a regular basis.
Research shows that engaged employees are more productive and profitable as well as more customer-focused,
safer, and more likely to stay with the company. At Campbell, we firmly believe that employee engagement is
one of the most important indicators of our ability to drive performance improvement and win in the workplace.
In fact, every employee who participates in our Performance Management process must include a specific
objective around engagement.
The Way We Work
Building a safe, diverse, inclusive, engaged and socially responsible workplace that delivers business results
with integrity
While we are continually looking for ways to leverage Campbell’s world-class engagement to drive sustainable
business results, we believe employees feel most valued when they are:
•
•
•
•
Recognized and celebrated for their contributions
Well-informed and aligned with how their work connects to
the Company’s overall goals and plans
Encouraged to bring their uniqueness to work each day
Engaged in an ongoing dialogue that encourages the sharing
and challenging of ideas
40| Page
Measures how Campbell’s overall
Grand Mean score compares
relative to Gallup’s overall
database of respondents
Electronic – Video Post Cards
 Unique way to engage
employees (and applicants)
 Distributed via email to
employees’ inboxes
 Views can be tracked and
measured
 Can be viewed on smartphones
41| Page
Social Media

Vehicle to share company information
and get employees to talk, share
information and collaborate.
– Internal social media platforms allows
employees to post presentations, ideas,
etc. and receive instant feedback from
other workers.
– Examples
• Experience Forum – connects new hires
with other new hires to share experiences
or answer questions.
• PepsicoConn3ct – LinkedIn group for young
professionals within Pepsi.
42| Page
Targeted Communication Solution –
Knowing your Audience
Social Media & Gen Y
 40% check their cell
phone every 10 mins
 45% check social media
as part of their daily
routine
 Don’t block facebook at
work
– 56% won’t work at
your company if you
ban it!
43| Page
Formula for Communications Success

Plan before you launch
 Define objectives, identify key stakeholders,
and create a strategy and plan of action.

Stick to your message
 Determine key messages at the beginning
and communicate them consistently.

Make sure Managers/Supervisors are onboard
 Don’t underestimate this group—they have influence over employees
and can be advocates or barriers

Rinse and Repeat
 Reinforce key messages multiple times and across a variety of media in
a coordinated way . People are affected differently by different formats
and messages.

Measure the overall effectiveness of the initiative
44| Page
In Closing…
45
46| Page
What are High Performing Companies Doing
Differently?




Increased leadership
capabilities at all levels
of the company
– Leaders are accessible, visible and listen/encourage employee
feedback
Inspire trust and respect throughout the organization
Connect today's work, initiatives, and changes with where the
business is heading
Communications is core to the culture
– They commit to open, honest, regular communication – Employees
understand the “why” behind their jobs – what they’re expected to
achieve and why it’s important to the greater good of the
organization.
Top performing firms cultivate engaging cultures
47| Page
HR and Communications
“Great Company”
Organization
• Culture
• Mission/
Values
• Leadership
Compensation
• Base
• Variable/
Incentive
“Great Rewards”
48| Page
People
• Talent
• Social
Networks
Employee
Value Proposition
Benefits
• Health &
Welfare
• Financial
Security
Career &
Development
• Training
• Performance
Management
Work
Environment
• Challenge
• Autonomy
• Experiences
“Great Job”
Treat employees as valuable people with skills
rather than as people with valuable skills
People will support a ‘world’ they understand,
support and help to create
49| Page
50| Page
HUMAN CAPITAL PRACTICE
Human capital’s impact on business results is a critical source of opportunity and risk. At Willis,
we understand the human capital risk our clients face, and we work in partnership to deliver
solutions that drive and support your organizational goals.
BROKERAGE AND CONSULTING
 Program renewals and marketing
 Request for Proposal (RFP) processes
 Proposal analysis
 Carrier selection and implementation
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE
 Communication
 Health Outcomes
 HR Partner
 National Legal & Research Group (NLRG)
 Reporting & Analytics
Contact your local office for more information on our Human Capital Practice
51| Page