Engagement, Retention, and
Corporate Culture
Rich Dec
Agenda
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Introduction
Trust vs. Engagement
The C-suite Wake-up Call
HR Leaders’ Evolving Role
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What is a great place to work?
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An Engagement Framework
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What is a Great Workplace?
Employee Perspective
credibility
Any workplace can
be measured
through five
dimensions:
credibility, respect
and fairness (which
are attributes of
trust), as well as
pride and
camaraderie.
Trust
fairness
respect
relationship
with
management
Employee
relationship
with other
employees
relationship
to your job
pride
camaraderie
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Respect via two-way communication
Listening: Pulse Point Program: Umpqua Bank
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At Umpqua Bank the Pulse Point program has
evolved over the years as a forum for ideas on
issues such as increased operational efficiencies,
improvements in customer service, and increasing
the bank’s use of "green" practices.
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Many associates' observations and
recommendations have resulted in positive change,
cost savings to the bank, and, in some cases, a
monetary reward.
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For every idea submitted to Pulse Point, there is a
two-way communication between the associate
submitting the idea and the executive manager of
the appropriate business division. Whether the idea
is selected for implementation or not, the mutual
communication helps build relationships and a
sense of empowerment among associates.
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Respect via leadership development and
local decision making
Behavior Change: Dealing with Behavioral Inflection
Points
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Issues with unhappy customers and gaps in service
in 00s
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Failure in other efforts to drive employee willpower
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Role playing through inflection points until new
normal
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Ability for autonomy in stores—strengthening of
trust and “willpower muscles”
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Resulting in better service and personal life skills (
as outlined in “The Power of Habit” by Charles
Duhigg”)
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Credibility and Camaraderie
Dealing with a Crises
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Over extended coming out of ‘08 credit crises
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Up front candor
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Asking for help
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Broader organization truly empowered to develop
and implement solutions during the crises
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Trust levels increased during this crises
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C-Suite Waking Up
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Why focus on Trust and Culture?
Greater economic turbulence
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Turbulence strikes more frequently than in the past.
> More than half of the most turbulent quarters over the past 30
years have occurred during the last decade.
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Turbulence has increased in intensity.
> Volatility in revenue growth, in revenue ranking, and in operating
margins have more than doubled since the 1960s.
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Turbulence today persists much longer than in
preceding periods.
> The average duration of periods of high turbulence has
quadrupled over the past three decades.
Source: BCG, “The Most Adaptive Companies 2012: Winning in an Age of Turbulence”, 2012
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Best leaders make it a priority
“Ninety-five percent of my assets drive out the front gate
every evening. It’s my job to bring them back”
-Jim Goodnight, CEO and Founder of SAS
“Our whole belief is that if we get the culture right,
then most of the other stuff, like delivering great
customer service or building a long-term enduring
brand, will just happen naturally on its own.”
-Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO
“Great companies have very strong and great
cultures. A huge part of a leadership role is to drive
the culture of the company and to reinforce it.”
-John Chambers, CISCO CEO
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Trust delivers superior shareholder
returns
During this most turbulent era, companies with the highest
levels of trust outperformed the market by a factor of 3.
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Turnover at Best Companies
United States
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Best Companies: Better Customer
Service, Cooperation and Commitment
Better Custom Service
Better American Customer Satisfaction Index ratings
• Ratings for Best Companies were 2.3 to 3 points higher than
average (out of 100)
• Within the same service industry, Best Companies had ratings
4.2 to 4.6 points higher than their counterparts
More employee cooperation and commitment
• “You can count on people to cooperate.”
Best Companies: 86%. Lower 100 of applicant pool: 70%.
• “People here give extra to get the job done.”
Best Companies: 86%. Lower 100 of applicant pool: 70%.
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Why focus on it:
Talent flight & shortages
Looming employee flight:
• Almost two million Americans quit their jobs voluntarily in
May, up 35 percent from January 2010. (Source: BLS)
• Nearly one in three (32%) US workers is seriously
considering leaving his or her organization at the present
time, up sharply from 23% in 2005. (Source: Manpower)
Shortage of talent:
• Relative to the broader workforce, high potentials are
almost twice as valuable to an organization, and are three
times more likely to succeed as future leaders, but their
numbers have dropped by at least 48% in recent years.
(Source: Corporate Executive Board)
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How are great workplaces built
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Starts at the top
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Strong commitment from CEO and senior management
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Leaders walk the talk
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High levels of trust between employees and management
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A genuine belief that people are indispensable to the
success of the business
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A greater consistency of experience across groups
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Active communication forums between employees and
management
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Perception of a special and unique culture; “we are not
like others”
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Make difficult decisions
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Regularly and Effectively Change in Response to Culture
Assessments—So Well That They Do Not Even Need to
Wait Until The Survey
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Make hard decisions in a highly trust-building way
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Have zero tolerance for people who behave counter to
the cultural values, regardless of the person’s other
strengths or role in the organization.
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HR’s role continues to evolve
Source: Vosburgh, “The Evolution of HR: Developing HR as an Internal Consulting Organization”, Human Resource
Planning Journal, 2011
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HR functions differently in effective
culture change
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Broader leadership team owns culture initiative vs. HR
solely
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HR leaders strategic partner to the c-suite
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Focused on consistently, not just during less “turbulent”
times or “slower” parts of the year
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Mix of program related initiatives and effectively
embedding behavior change
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Common Culture Change Traps
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Event versus process
Mandated to them, lack of incentive for doing
Senior leaders above them not working on things themselves,
senior leaders not sharing what they are working on
Focusing on too many things
Outsourcing to subordinates
Not including subordinates in developing potential solutions
Viewing Action Planning as the way to achieve successful
culture change
Over analyzing the data
Over-emphasizing the tool
Waiting until next survey to assess progress
Not linking to broader, well defined change approach
Transactional actions versus focusing on trust-building “how”
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Final Thoughts
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Workplace culture is a critical talent advantage
HR’s role continues to evolve as the C-suite focuses
more on culture
Trust remains a constant foundational element of a highperforming results-driven culture
Changing technologies and economic conditions demand
a strategy-driven culture
Implementing culture change requires focus and
effective culture change approaches
Any organization can become a great place to work
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