Employee Engagement
Specialist Certificate
Program
Day 1
 Introduction
 Foundations of Employee Engagement
 Your Engagement Baseline
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Day 1
Introduction to the
Employee Engagement
Specialist Certification
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Certificate Program Outline
This is an outline for the 40 hour Employee Engagement Specialist Certificate Program. The program is
made up of ten 4-hour sessions delivered monthly. Each session will include pre-work and assignments
and participants will be provided tools for creating an engaged culture in their organization. Additionally,
we will provide coaching on-demand as needed.
Introduction to Certification Process and the Ten Sessions
Day
1
Topics
Date
Foundations of Employee Engagement
Determining Engagement Levels
2
Creating your Employer Value Proposition
Leading / Managing Change and Your First-line Leader
3
Your First Line Leader
Communication Protocol and Innovation
Building Innovation into your Culture
4
Generation Y in the Workplace
Motivation and High Performance
5
Effective Reward programs
Finding and Selecting Engaged employees
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Day 1
Objectives of the Employee Engagement Specialist Certification
As a result of completing the Employee Engagement Specialist Certification, participants will:

Be able to define engagement and discuss its benefits with members of senior leadership

Recognize and apply the key components of an engagement survey

Develop, communicate, and promote an employment value proposition (EVP)

Create and implement a communication protocol process

Manage the requirements necessary to evolve your organizational culture

Evaluate and help first line leaders support and implement engagement

Drive key best practices for working with different generations, especially Generation Y

Identify key motivators for yourself and others in your organization

Develop feedback mechanisms that support an engaged culture

Evaluate and update your reward and recognition process

Identify and apply the behaviors and traits that make employees successful in your organization
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Day 1
Expectations
Our Expectations of You
 Confidentiality – please respect the information shared by other participants and the facilitators in
this program so that we can feel safe relating our engagement and professional experiences

Participation – the success of this program will depend a great
deal upon you. It is essential that you participate fully in the
sessions and pre-work in order to excel as an Engagement
Specialist. Share your experiences and opinions; discuss and
challenge each other.

Application – the program is designed as an iterative process of
learn and apply over the ten sessions. Application to your work environment is essential for your
success. At the end of each session you will receive an Engagement Action Plan with
suggestions of activities you can do to apply that session’s information to your work environment.
We encourage you to use the action plan as a way of implementing the
Please notify your
engagement practices from this workshop.

Attendance - in order to receive your certification as an Employee
Engagement Specialist, you will need to complete at least 3.5 of the 5
days.
facilitator(s) if you are
unable to attend a
particular day
What are your expectations of others in the class?
What are your expectations of the facilitators?
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Foundations of
Employee Engagement
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Working Definition of Engagement
Company
Performance
Employee
Engagement
Employee
Potential
Employee Engagement is unlocking your employees’ potential to drive high performance. It’s a mutual
commitment resulting in the capture of discretionary effort.
Highly engaged employees are:
What does ‘discretionary effort’ look like in your organization?
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 480% more committed to helping
their company succeed
 370% more likely to recommend
their company as an employer
 250% more likely to recommend
improvements
Day 1
Employee Engagement Today
Gallup 2013
State of the American Workplace Report
Based on interviews with 15,000 employees
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Day 1
Exercise: Discuss your assigned article and come up with:
 Key aspects of what you learned from reading the article and how you can apply it to your
organization
 Be prepared to report back 3 - 5 ‘ah-ha’ or ‘I think I’ve heard that…’ information with examples of
potential application
Use the chart below to note the report back information from each article
It’s Not You, It’s me – The Bootstrapper’s Guide to
Employee Engagement (Kinexis)
Engagement at Risk: Driving Strong Performance in
a Volatile Global Economy (Towers Watson)
Why Your CEO and CFO Should Care About Employee Engagement (TLNT)
and
Business Results Strongly Related to Engagement Regardless of Economy (SHRM)
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Day 1
Key Facts about Employee Engagement
Statistic
Engaged businesses have:
 28% higher revenue per employee
 87% greater ability to hire the best people
 156% greater ability to develop great leaders
 92% greater ability to respond to economic issues
 114% greater ability to plan for the future



Source
2013 Market Analysis, Trends and
Provider Profiles
Bersin Talent Management Systems
28% less downsizing
40% lower turnover of high performing employees
17% lower overall voluntary turnover
Less than 40% of companies focus on employee
engagement
2013 Survey: Creating a High
Performance Work Environment
SilkRoad Technologies
Top ways to Foster Engagement:
1. Trust in Management
2. Career development
3. Stimulating work environment
4. Recognition and rewards
5. Flexible work options (e.g., work from home)
6. Learning opportunities
7. Career advancement
8. Salary
9. Good benefits (medical, dental)
10. Mentoring
11. Diversified comp options (e.g., pay)
12. Good pension and retirement plans
2013 Survey: Creating a High
Performance Work Environment
Best way to build trust in management
1. Show concern about the well-being of people
2. Demonstrate a high level of integrity
3. Demonstrate competence
2013 Employee Engagement
Index Scores, Workforce Trends
Report (33,000 employees in 28
countries)
SilkRoad Technologies
Kenexa
Engagement levels are twice as high (54% vs. 25%)
among those who say they are proud of contributions
their organization has made to the community
2012 Statistics and Corporate
Social Responsibility from global
client survey
Dale Carnegie
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Day 1
Statistic
Source
Bad managers are creating active disengagement costing
the U.S. an estimated $450 billion to $550 billion
annually.
2013 State of the American
Workplace Report (based on 25
million survey respondents)
Gallup
Disengaged employees cost the U.S. Economy $370
billion annually.
Employee Engagement: Every
Leader’s Imperative (May, 2013)
Forbes.com
35% of U.S. Workers said they’d willingly forgo a
substantial pay raise in exchange for seeing their direct
supervisor fired.
2012 Employee Poll
Employees with lower engagement are 4 times more
likely to leave their jobs than those who are highly
engaged
Driving Performance and
Retention through Employee
Engagement (2012)
Parade Magazine
Corporate Leadership Council
Engagement changes by level in the organization:
Level
Executive (VP and up)
Director
Team Ldr, PM, Tech
Manager/Supervisor
Consultant
Specialist/Professional
Admin/Clerical
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% engaged
59
41
39
39
33
29
27
% disengaged
9
12
14
12
16
20
21
15
2013 Global Employee
Engagement Research Update
Blessing White
Day 1
“Stuff” vs. Engagement
Engagement is not about:
 Things
 Having the best of every amenity
 Avoiding making tough decisions
 Pleasing all the people all of the time
 A ‘catch-phrase’ for all HR programs
Engagement is about:
 People
 Relationships
 Alignment
 Shared responsibility for creating business
success and a great work environment
 Continuous communication
 Opportunities for performers
 Staff development
Employee engagement is NOT a short-term program,
employee engagement is a culture!
Business Cases for Engagement
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Day 1
Engagement Drivers
Dale Carnegie “What Drives Employee
Engagement” 2012 Survey of 1,500 global
employees
Engagement and Purpose Ideas
What are the ‘purpose-driven aspects of your organization?
 Do you support specific organizations or causes?
 Who selected those causes? The employees? Leadership?
What ideas have you gotten from other participants?
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Day 1
Employee Engagement at your Organization
According to the most recent Gallup study of 192 organizations globally the breakdown of engaged
employees is:
 Engaged – 30%
 Not engaged – 52%
 Actively disengaged – 18%
Using the form below:
 In your best estimate, what percentage of your employees falls into each of the Gallup
categories?
 What are you currently doing to attempt to bring the actively disengaged and not engaged
categories into the engaged column?
 What are you currently doing to keep the engaged employees engaged?
 Write ideas from other participants – how can you improve each area in ways you hadn’t thought
of?
Gallup Study
Engaged
30%
Not Engaged
52%
Actively Disengaged
18%
What % would
you think each
is at your
company?
Current
actions – what
is being done
to address
each category
Ideas from
discussion
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Day 1
Engagement in your Organization Evaluation
Thinking about your organization, rate each of the following key engagement components on a scale of 1
– 10:
 1 being the lowest rating
 10 being the highest rating
1.
1.1
2.
2.1
3.
3.1
4.
4.1
5.
5.1
6.
6.1
7.
7.1
8.
8.1
9.
9.1
10.
10.1
11.
11.1
12.
12.1
13.
13.1
14.
14.1
15.
Key Engagement Component
Our Leadership supports making changes necessary to
have an engaged culture
Rate your organization 1 = lowest, 10 = highest
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
We conduct regular surveys to identify how our employees
are feeling and thinking
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Our organization has a purpose for being in business over
and above making money
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
We use interviewing techniques to identify behaviors and
traits of potential employees, not just experience and skills
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
We listen to our employees’ feedback and take action to
implement good ideas
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Our first-line leaders represent leadership in a positive
manner to employees
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
We have a structured process for communicating important
information to all employees
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
We proactively use social media tools to communicate with
our employees, e.g., Twitter, Yammer, and Facebook
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
We teach managers how to work with people from different
generations, especially Generation Y
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
We teach managers how to interview candidates for jobs
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
We know why employees want to work for us
Our employees speak highly of our company; they seem to
be proud to be a part of this organization
Our customers / clients speak highly of our company
We have a process for embracing and managing change
within the organization
Our first-line leaders are fully engaged in the business
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Day 1
16.
16.1
17.
18.
18.1
19.
19.1
20.
20.1
21.
21.1
22.
22.1
23.
23.1
24.
24.1
25.
25.1
26.
26.1
27.
27.1
28.
28.1
29.
29.1
30.
Key Engagement Component
Rate your organization 1 = lowest, 10 = highest
We have a culture that encourages innovation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
We have an established structure for collecting employee
ideas for making improvements to what we do
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Our managers create a culture that motivates employees to
do their best
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
We have an effective process to measure employee
performance on an ongoing basis
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Our employees (managers and staff) are key players in the
selection of new staff
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Recognizing the diverse nature of our employees is
important to the organization
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
We have an effective system for measuring employee
performance
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Customers/clients feedback is collected and evaluated on an
ongoing basis
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Employee Engagement is a key topic during high level
corporate review meetings
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Our employees go the extra mile without being asked
Health, welfare, and safety is a priority in our environment
and culture
Employee retention is a key business measurement
We have a structured reward and recognition process that is
practiced by all managers
Our employees are compensated fairly for what they do
Voluntary turnover has minimum impact on our business
Note: the smaller the impact of turnover, the higher you should rate
30.1
17.1
Based on your answers, write or highlight the 3 – 5 areas that you think, if improved in your organization, would
cause engagement levels to increase.
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Day 1
Who are your Engagement Change Agents?
Using the pre-work you completed, identify those people in your organization that will support developing
engagement (these are your Engagement Change Agents). These people are normally the decision
makers for corporate change and improvement, i.e., CEO, CFO, EVP, VP, Director, and
Department/Division Leaders.
Write the name or position of each Engagement Change Agent in the left-hand column then rate each
one, low to high, on their:
 Understanding – how much do you think they understand the concept of engagement and what is
required; how much education on engagement will they need?
 Influence – what is their influence on the organization? What is their level of ability to help you
implement a culture of engagement?
Low
Name
Example:
Director of Finance
Understanding:
Influence:
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High
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_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Low
Name
Understanding:
Influence:
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High
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Low
Name
Understanding:
Influence:
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High
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Low
Name
Understanding:
Influence:
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Understanding:
Influence:
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Understanding:
Influence:
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Understanding:
Influence:
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High
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Low
Name
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High
Low
Name
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High
Low
Name
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High
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Day 1
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Who are your Engagement Adversaries?
Using the pre-work you completed, identify those people in your organization that may resist developing
engagement (these are your Engagement Adversaries). As with the Engagement Change Agents,
these people are also the decision makers for corporate change and improvement, i.e., CEO, CFO, EVP,
VP, Director, and Department/Division Leaders.
Write the name or position of each Engagement Adversary in the left-hand column then rate each one,
low to high, on their:
 Understanding – how much do you think they understand the concept of engagement and what is
required; how much education on engagement will they need?
 Influence – what is their influence on the organization? What is their level of ability to hinder your
efforts to implement a culture of engagement?
Low
Name
Understanding:
Influence:
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High
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Low
Name
Understanding:
Influence:
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High
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Low
Name
Understanding:
Influence:
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Understanding:
Influence:
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Understanding:
Influence:
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Understanding:
Influence:
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High
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Low
Name
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High
Low
Name
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High
Low
Name
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High
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Day 1
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Your
Engagement
Baseline
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Day 1
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Day 1
Exercise - Identify tools you have used in your organization to gather information for determining
engagement levels and the pros and cons of using each
Tool for Measuring Engagement
Engagement Survey
Pros
Cons
Pulse Survey
Town Hall Meeting
Team Meetings
Committees, Focus Groups, or Think
Tanks
1 on 1 Employee Meetings
Suggestion Boxes
Other methods?
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Day 1
Case Study
• You are the director of a 3-person HR department for EM Systems
International, a cell phone manufacturing, sales, and service company.
• You have been given the task of delivering an Engagement Survey to your
employees
• Company details:
• 400 employees
• 25% management
• 75% production, sales, and customer support
• Eight divisions in the US, Canada, and Australia
• The company did an internal survey three years ago
• The accuracy of the results were questioned by management and the
employees
• Results weren’t shared with employees until 6 months after the
survey was completed
• Executive management identified areas that needed to be addressed
and created action committees
Discuss:
 What could you do differently this time around?
 What issues will you need to address?
 Are there any special needs you need to address, i.e., different languages,
paper vs. online surveys, disability issues?
 How will you ensure the results are more accurate (at least in the eyes of
management)?
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Day 1
Keys to a Successful Engagement Survey
Notes
Listen and be prepared to act
• Feedback must lead to action
• Create complete project plan including:
• Methods for capturing feedback and
ideas
• Action planning sessions
• Follow up strategy
• Recognize what you can and cannot change
Partner with an Outside Firm

Understand what’s important in a partner

Select the right partner for you

Recognize that you may not get it all
Invest less in technology, more in solutions
• Use your Rank Order exercise to help determine
your technology provider
• Could you use your own technology?
• Pros and cons
• Recognize that solutions don’t come from the
technology
• What providers have you used?
Create Committees and Sub Committees
• Equal mix of leadership and non-members of
Leadership team
• Evaluate results of data
• Strengths
• Challenges
• Make recommendations
• Recognize that you can’t do it all
• Active for 10 – 12 months
• Repeat formula for local sub-committees
• Develop action plans
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Creating the Best Team
 Diversity
 Volunteers and high
performers
 Seek fresh eyes
Deputize and empower to:
 Prioritize
 Present to leadership
 Follow up and follow
through
27
Day 1
Keys to an Engagement Survey
Create a Communication Plan
• Commission a communication team to develop a
plan
• Macro results to senior leadership
• Outline results for employee base
• Identify both strengths and challenges
• Communicate:
• Actions to be taken
• What will not be addressed
(either this time or ever)
• Schedule multiple communications
• It’s not a one-time activity
Notes
Adopt a Common Action Plan Template
• What does your action plan look like?
• Share action plans with
• Leadership team
• All employees
• Other departments
Keep it Simple and Execute Flawlessly
• What are the consequences of under-delivering
on your promise?
Follow up
• What follow-up mechanisms have you used
when collecting employee information?
• Who is responsible for follow-up?
• Best practices include:
• Assign follow-up to committees and subcommittees
• Schedule follow up activities on a regular
basis
• Use technology (but don’t rely on it – the
human touch is important)
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Day 1
Partnering with Consulting Firms on Surveys
Mark the top 6 categories of most importance to your survey vendor choice.
Category
Confidentiality
Description
Our staff needs to know that their answers are truly
anonymous and will be held in strictest confidence
Cost of survey process
We have a limited budget for completing the engagement
survey
Credibility of partner
We need to use a well-known survey provider like a
Gallup or Towers Watson
Customizable
We have specific needs and can’t use an out of the box
Filter options
We want to be able to drill down into multiple levels of
employee data (by department, location, manager, etc.)
Flexibility
Our time frame is in flux – we need the survey provider to
be able to kick off the survey at a moment’s notice
Global
We need to deliver this survey in multiple offices across
multiple countries
Guidance during process
We know very little about conducting a survey and need
my provider to give me specific guidance
Languages
We need to deliver this survey in multiple languages
Normative data (industry)
We want to see normative data that is specific to our
industry
Normative data (size)
We want to compare our data to companies of our size
(no matter what the industry)
Online survey option
Our survey must be done online in a secure environment
Paper survey option
Some of our employees are remote without access to a
computer – they will need a paper version of the survey
Presentation of material
We want our survey provider to deliver the initial results
to our leadership team
Quick turnaround
We need to have a quick turn-around from start of
survey to finish
Reporting
We want reports that are easy to read while being
thorough
Services
We want a provider that offers services after the survey
such as consulting and training
Top 6
Other
Other
Other
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Day 1
Exercise - Employee Engagement Survey for EMSI
This Employee Engagement Survey is provided to EM Systems International. All responses are based
on a 5 point scale, 1 = Disagree Strongly and 5 = Agree Strongly
1. Link to High Performance
Employe
e Rating
Benchmark
I know what my organization is trying to
achieve strategically
3.2
3.8
Management gets the best work out of
everybody in the office
3.7
3.9
I am encouraged, to learn and develop new
skills
4.6
3.9
Employe
e Rating
Benchmark
People in our office always treat others with
respect
4.1
3.7
Management is trusted
3.3
4.1
Management operates in accordance with the
firm's overall philosophy and values; they
practices what they preach
3.5
3.9
Employe
e Rating
Benchmark
My manager is interested in my well being
4.2
4.4
Our managers have good people skills
3.7
3.9
I am a member of a well-functioning team
3.6
3.9
2. It Starts at the Top
3.
Engage First-line Leaders
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Day 1
4.
Communication
Employe
e Rating
Benchmark
I am informed about what is happening at this
organization
3.1
3.6
Communication between the office’s
management and people at my level is very
good
3.2
3.8
I feel comfortable talking to my superiors about
any concerns I might have about my work
2.6
4.1
Employe
e Rating
Benchmark
Staff diversity is respected; employees of
different backgrounds and personalities are
valued
3.9
4.0
Promotions at my company are based on
capability, and not tenure
3.4
3.1
I would like to be working for this organization
one year from today
4.1
3.9
Employe
e Rating
Benchmark
There are real opportunities here for
meaningful career and professional
advancement
3.3
3.7
We have high quality training opportunities to
improve skills
3.2
2.9
I have the freedom to make the necessary
decisions to do my work properly
3.0
3.8
5.
6.
Individualize Engagement
Create a Motivational Culture
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Communication Plan Template
Communication
Overview of survey results
Objectives
 Provide high-level
overview
 List specific strengths and
Audience
Executive
Leadership
Team
Who delivers
Survey
Committee
(specifically
Dave and
Renee)
Venue
Annual
Executive
Team
Strategy
Meeting
All employees
CEO
Webinar
followed by
Yammer and
posted on
Intranet
‘Water
Cooler’ page
challenges
 Provide a recommended
timeline for results
 Estimate budget
Overview of survey results
 Thank staff for the candid
feedback
 Provide high-level
overview of all results
 Point out strengths but
focus on concerns
 Describe next steps and
timeline, noting that we
will be looking for
volunteers to help
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Key Details
Overall results – 3.8 rating vs a 4.1
benchmark (-.3 variance)
Communication seems to be a
common challenge
Rated highest in how we treat
employees as individuals
Recommend establishing five focus
3-person focus groups for up to 4
hours to create action plans
(estimated cost in time of $22K)
TBD by Executive Leadership Team
Date
5/15/15
6/2/15
Action Plan
Date:
Metric Area
Opportunity Identified
Specific Action
Results Expected
Responsible
Person
Note in this space any incentives associated with accomplishment of particular opportunities and related actions or any overall incentives:
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Time
table
Town Hall Meetings
–
Benefits of a Town Hall Meeting
•
–
–
Hold audience attention better than any other form of communication
Must be a dialog, not a monolog
•
Keep the intro short and the Q&A long
•
Avoid scripting
Best practices
•
Have employees send in questions (anonymously) beforehand and during
•
Presenter must be prepared - intro, answers, reactions, conclusion
•
Assign a note-taker – scribe questions, answers, and actions
•
Say ‘Thank you’ – employees want to be acknowledged
•
Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up
Guidelines for Successful Town Hall Meetings
Understand
objectives
A town hall is usually a call to action around something that isn’t going right. Make sure that the
leaders that are involved come to do more listening than speaking. Employees want to hear less of
the pre-packaged speeches and more of their concerns and how leaders will address them.
Management has to be prepared and dedicated to see employee concerns through to a successful
resolution. Be poised to deliver results after the meeting to show your dedication to the town hall
process and the people that make your business a success every day.
Set
expectations
Be sure to have employees and managers sitting together preferably at a round table to foster
open discussion. Managers should not be at a dais table, a podium or anything else elevated that
gives the impression of hierarchy. When managers and employees are seated together it gives the
impression that the playing field is leveled. You want to mitigate intimidation both perceived and
actual.
Create ground
rules
The beauty of a town hall is the serendipity of the conversation and sharing. However, there is
usually one person that will spoil it for the bunch by making it a personal therapy session or being
inappropriate in their address to senior management.
Ground rules ensures that all involved parties understand that they have an opportunity to be
heard, but it must be done in a respectful, responsible and reasonable manner.
Safe
environment
It is extremely important that your employees, managers and supervisors understand that
retaliation against an employee for speaking up during a town hall no matter how damaging the
statement will not be tolerated.
It is important that employees feel safe and empowered to speak up during the town hall. If they
feel like their job will be on the line or some other adverse action will be taken - it will prevent them
from being candid.
Adapted from: Recruitment News, Janine Truitt
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Day 1
360 Evaluation – the Upside and Downside
The Upside
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When to do a 360 Evaluation
– During annual planning / review cycles
– Anytime
Who is involved?
– All employees should be open to participate as a reviewer and a person receiving
feedback
– Clients and stakeholders can be involved in the process as well
– To gain acceptance, it is suggested that year one 360’s be limited to manager level
employees only
Three Ways to Deliver a 360
Paper
Internal technology
External vendor
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Employee Development Plan
Three Circles
Complete the information within the three circles below in
preparation for your discussion about employee performance
and goals.
Name
Title
Salary Grade
Office/Dept
Supervisor
Review Period
What the company needs
From:
To:
What you are good at
In this circle list specific Company needs
within employee’ area (s) of responsibility
In this circle, list specific
strengths of employee
What you like to do
In this circle list specific areas of
interest of the employee.
Strengths and Opportunity area
Describe the employee’s strengths and opportunity areas. Be as specific as possible, including examples.
Strength Areas
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Employee Development Plan (continued)
Looking Back – Goals and Accomplishments against Goals
Summarize performance and progress made on goals/metrics established in the beginning of the review period.
Review Period Goals
Accomplishments Against Goals
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Looking Ahead - Goals for Next Review Period
List 5-6 high-impact goals to be achieved in the upcoming review period. Link each goal to one or more of the company’s
strategic priorities
Goals and Measures
This links to which of the
Completion
company’s strategic
Date
priorities?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Succession Planning
Identify with the employee at least one successor for his/her position, evaluate readiness of each person, and list actions
that will be taken to
Successor
Readiness (check one)
Action Plan
 Ready now
 Ready in 6 months
 Ready in 1 year or
more
 Ready now
 Ready in 6 months
 Ready in 1 year or
more
 Ready now
 Ready in 6 months
 Ready in 1 year or
more
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Overview
In every employment life cycle the employee is on-boarded (in some way), acclimates and, we hope,
excels at the job, and at one point leaves the company (whether it’s through retirement or moving to a
different organization).
Exit Interview
The most common interview during the life cycle (after the hiring interviews) is called the exit interview – a
questionnaire or discussion about what the employee liked and disliked about the company, job, and/or
manager. The exit interview is typically done at the end of employment and serves to validate strengths
of the organization and find patterns to areas that need improvement. Its’ one fault is that it’s done after
the employee has elected to leave the company.
Exit interviews can be conducted by the employee’s manager, human resources, or by sending the
document directly to the employee (including through an online survey tool). One on one discussions
with the employee can result in a more thorough understanding of the employee’s answers while answers
on paper or online may provide more candid responses.
The exit interview document in this file includes:


Sample letter to employee introducing the questions
Exit interview questions in survey format for ease of completion and return
Stay Interview
A stay interview is a structured discussion with individual employees to determine many of the same
things an exit interview would determine, but with retention in mind. Intent to say reaches a low point
after 3 years with an organization. It’s at
this time that an employee is vulnerable to
outside offers and begins to see the ‘grass
as greener’ elsewhere. By conducting a
stay interview, managers and human
resources can help the employee see the
‘green’ within the current organization and
reinforce the aspects of the business that
are attractive. At the same time, the stay
interview reveals areas of the organization
or manager that could be improved.
Ideally the stay Interview is conducted by
the employee’s direct manager to help determine immediate needs. It should be an open discussion
about current state and the future – how can things be better? A trusting relationship is required in order
for an employee to share areas in which the manager can improve. If information is more forth-coming in
an anonymous environment, an HR representative might want to conduct the interviews and compile the
results. It can also be created as an online pulse survey that is easy to use and administer.
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Stay Interview Questions
Gauging employee interest in the company and the job is important to helping to ensure retention. “Stay
interview” questions provide insight to how employees are feeling and what a supervisor can do to help
the employee feel valuable and continue to grow.
1.
What about your job makes you jump out of bed in the morning?
2.
What makes you hit the snooze button?
3.
What aspects of your job do you like the most and the least?
4.
What would make you leave (our company) for another job?
5.
Do you get enough recognition?
6.
What kind of recognition would be meaningful for you?
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Stay Interview Questions
7.
Are we allowing you to reach your maximum potential?
8.
How can the company help you be more successful in your job?
9.
If there are three things we can change around here that would help you and others realize
your potential, what would they be?
10.
If you were to win the lottery and resign, what would you miss the most?
11.
What would be the one thing that, if it changed in your current role, would make you consider
moving on?
12.
What is something new you would like to learn this year?
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Day 1
Guidelines for “More of/Same as/Less of” Feedback Exercise
PREPERATION
1.
Agree on date/time/location - try for intimate setting (vs. large conference room) unless size of
group dictates a large space.
2.
Make sure flipcharts (or 5 large pieces of paper)/markers/tape are available.
3.
Be aware of context of exercise - middle of staff meeting, etc. You also may have several
people connected by phone...so you'll have to keep remembering they are there and stay
conscientious of their ability to participate.
AT MEETING
1.
Have manager set stage - explain purpose in his/her words.
2.
Agree on method of contacting manager at conclusion of exercise
3.
After manager leaves, elaborate on purpose if necessary, and explain your role simply as
"neutral facilitator". You will neither contribute nor comment on the content of their product. You
are there to guide the process.
4.
Set tone - this is a supportive session. It's a great learning opportunity for participants as well
(learning to give constructive feedback, learning how to reach consensus, understanding others'
perspectives, etc.)
5.
Ask about individual time constraints that may need to be considered or accommodated.
(Typically I've found that even if people say they can only stay an hour, if the discussion is
fruitful, they will stay for the length of the exercise - so don't worry about individual schedules
setting the pace)
6.
Start with "warm up exercise" by splitting group in half (or in quarters if it's a particularly large
group - as Don's group may be). One group creates list of "positive leadership traits", the other
"negative leadership traits". Give 5 minutes for them to create lists - even if they're not finished
after 5 - cut it off so you can focus main energy on main exercise. Bounce back and forth
between groups to stimulate free flow of ideas, encourage the scribe to record everything - even
if it seems to be redundant. Don't let them get hung up on word use or spelling - neither counts
- just quantity and "free flow".
7.
At conclusion of 5 minutes, have scribe hand marker to a person they select to be presenter.
Have each presenter "flesh out bullets" on flipchart.
8.
Explain how this is a generic exercise to prime the pump for the real exercise - encourage same
level of free thinking and discussion.
MORE OF/SAME AS/LESS OF EXERCISE
1. Refocus group with explanation of 3 lists and how traits can often appear on 2 or 3 lists
simultaneously (because of different circumstances).
2.
There are two basic rules during the process: 1) all topics are valid (for now) – there should be
no judging of ideas (list will be evaluated and scrubbed at the end of the exercise) and 2) what
gets discussed in the room stays in the room
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3.
Assign scribes for each of the 3 lists (or one person can do all 3). Mention to the group that 3
other people will be coaches that deliver the feedback.
4.
Start with "same as" traits to get discussion flowing...then
let ideas spill into other flipcharts as they occur. You
may need to facilitate this process at first - helping them
recognize which chart their idea should be recorded on.
5.
As the facilitator, try to take a back seat to discussion.
Intervene when group gets hung up on semantics, can't
reach consensus, or is in need of ideas for words to
express thoughts. Throw out some paraphrases or
suggestions that they can consider/select.
6.
Make sure lists represent some balance and that doubleedged comments show up on both "more of" and "less
of" lists
7.
Encourage group to find ways to express ideas with
humor or metaphors, especially on the "less of" list (e.g.
"coffee" - to convey hyperactivity or irritability, etc.)
8.
As ideas wind down, refer back to "positive" and
"negative" traits lists to make sure all areas are covered.
Check to make sure everyone has purged themselves
completely and aren't withholding comments (typically
visible in body language).
9.
Go over each list ensuring that there is agreement on
each entry (there should be 90 – 100% agreement – if 2
of 10 people don’t agree that the entry is an issue, it
should be removed. During this process, scribes should
be writing the 3 final lists on clean flip chart paper.
10. As the facilitator, record the final lists on a separate piece
of paper as they are created on the flip chart paper. Your
copy of the lists will be given to the manager after the
session.
11. Ask for volunteers to be "coaches" for each list...remind
them you will be there to help...and that it's a great
learning experience.
12. After selection of coaches - give guidance to coaches:
a. They are speaking for the group - so use phrases
like "we felt.. we thought...the group agreed..."
b. solicit help from group for specific examples to
clarify points
c. provide as much detail as possible so manager
can fully grasp meaning
13. Remind "non-coaches" they are to pipe in often and lend
support
Potential scribe to set up exercise:
Today we will be providing feedback for
[manager] – we will be telling him what he can
do more of, less of, and the same as in order to
be the best leader possible. While we’re doing
this, [manager] will be out of the room
working on his own list of what the team as a
whole can do more of, less of, and same
as. Before we get started, here’s how the
process works:
We will start with the ‘same as’ list – we will
write down everything we think [manager]
does that you don’t think he should change –
he does this very well or just the right
amount. Next we will do the ‘more of’ list –
this is what you think [manager] should do
more in order to meet your needs as a
team. Lastly, we will do our ‘less of’ list –
these are things you would like to see
[manager] not do as much. Obviously, there
will be some crossover on the lists – don’t let
that restrict you – if you think something goes
on more than one list, we’ll put it on more than
one list.
Before we start, let’s cover some of the basic
rules we will follow during all 3 lists:
1) All statements are valid and will go
on the list (for now)
2) No judging others – if you don’t
agree with someone, you will have a
chance to discuss later
3) What happens in the room, stays in
the room – as a group, you need to
maintain confidentiality of who said
what.
Once we finish the lists, we will go back
through to clarify and make sure we all agree
with what is on each list. If we don’t have [90
– 100%] agreement, the feedback will be taken
off the list or lists.
14. Check anxiety level - reassure if necessary.
15. Contact manager
16. While manager is in transit - take down all lists except "same as" list
17. When manager arrives - restate ground rules:
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a. Consensus opinions only
b. The manager will be listening to accept, even though s/he may not necessarily agree
c.
The manager will not be defending, but certainly will want complete understanding, so
s/he is encouraged to stop and ask questions to make sure s/he understands.
18. Tell manager you have already recorded the 3 lists on a separate piece of paper that you will
provide to them at the end so they don't need to take notes.
19. Have coaches present all 3 lists. Try to keep silent and let group do the work - as it is their
process.
20. At conclusion, thank participants for their candor, and remind them that it is their job going
forward to support the manager in his/her pursuit of enhanced leadership style. They should be
the constant reminders and cheerleaders as time goes on - they are all now in this together.
21. Remember to give manager your handwritten copy of the lists.
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Keys to Facilitating Discussions
Opening
 Introduce self
 Participant introductions (“Introduce self and tell one thing about
yourself that no one in the room would know)
 Explain the objective for the session
 Describe process for getting to the objective
Key facilitator behaviors
 Listen and paraphrase
 Ask questions
 Check pace, manage time
 Remain open minded (no
agenda)
 Manage disagreements
 Maintain focus of the group
 Remain neutral through
discussion - contribute last
 Control dominant members
so everyone gets involved
 Aware of the group
Structure
 For brainstorming - Begin with a question that is clear and
understood by all. Gather as many ideas as possible.
o Be sure to get everyone involved. Structured
brainstorming (around the (virtual table) can help with
this.
o Piggy-backing on other ideas is encouraged
o No judgments – all ideas are ‘good’ (facilitator must
manage this with entire group)
o Capture all on ideas
o Ask clarifying questions (usually closed questions)
 Log all ideas – if in person, on flip chart paper (others can scribe); if via Web do it onscreen so all
can see.
 Involve all members of the group – use questions to bring individuals into the discussion (‘Dave,
what do you think about that?’)
 Take the pulse of the group (‘How is everyone doing?’ ‘Are we on the right track?’)
 Park topics and follow up (see Parking Lot on next page)
 Take breaks if needed
 Bring closure –summarize next steps, write down any decisions
Facilitation Techniques
 Listening
o Listen
o Reflect (paraphrase back)
o Respond

Ask questions
o Open questions (best to begin with ‘what’ or ‘how’, or ‘give me an example’)
o Closed questions (require a one word or yes/no answer) – helps to clarify and control
time (‘just so I understand, are you saying. . .?’)
o Reflect questions back – let the participants answer the questions (‘what do you think?’ or
‘does anyone have an answer to that?’)
o Guided questions (‘what do you like?’ ‘what do you dislike?’)

Parking Lot – when the discussion seems to be side tracked by something that cannot be
controlled by that group, put it on a separate sheet of paper (‘I’ll look into this and get back to
you’).
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Day 1
Action Plan
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Day 1 Action Plan
1. What are the key business drivers of engagement you want to share with your senior leadership to
help them understand the benefits of implementing an engagement culture?
 What specifically did you talk about?
 What went well?
 What are your challenges?
2. From our discussion of Purpose, what are 3 ideas that might help your organization improve its focus
on purpose? Review your notes on what others have done and be prepared to ask individuals for
more clarification.
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Day 1 Action Plan
3. Based on your Engagement Organization Evaluation, what are 3 – 5 areas that, if improved, would
increase your engagement levels? In the right-hand column, write actions you could take to begin the
improvement process.
Improvement Area
Actions to Make Improvements
4. Think about the key EA you listed in your workbook. Create a strategy for each that will help you to
influence them to support the engagement culture.
EA
Strategy
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Day 1
Day 1 Action Plan
5. Discuss with your leadership team the benefits of gathering employee input.
a. Use your notes on the pros and cons of each type of tool
b. Determine what type of tool might be best for your organization and why
Tool

Pros and Cons
Why is this tool appropriate for your
organization?
Create a plan to implement at least one tool to gather information from your employee
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Day 1
Day 2
Pre-work
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Prework for Day 2
1. Create four lists of ‘reasons why’:

Why do you think people work for your organization or would want to work for the
organization?

Ask several senior leaders why they think employees work for your organization.

Ask at least 5 employees why they work for the organization.

What are 3 – 5 reasons that your customers buy from your organization
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Prework for Day 2 (continued)
2. Identify how your organization uses social media

Does the organization encourage using social media? If no, why not? If yes, how is it
encouraged?

Does your organization have a social media policy? If yes, can you bring a copy?
3. Think about what changes you’ve been part of:
Change
Personal
change
What went well?
What would you do differently?
Organizational
change
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4. Outline your current selecting process for hiring/promoting people managers:
 What do you do well? Not so well?
 What training do they receive?
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