Managing Employee Engagement through Organizational Change
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Our experience in working with hundreds of organizations shows that undergoing significant organizational change does not mean that employee engagement has to suffer as a result. Managed well, organizational change can drive big improvements in engagement. Yes, improvements! In fact, one client very recently achieved a 16% improvement in employee engagement while undergoing significant change and restructuring. How?
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Managing Employee Engagement through Organizational Change
2. 2
Topic Agenda
Item Time
(min)
Introduction/Why the Topic? 5
What Happens to Engagement During (poorly
managed) Organizational Change?
10
Why do so few get it right? 10
Some Key Success Factors 10
Q&A 5
Norm Baillie-David
SVP Engagement - TalentMap
Monica Helgoth
VP Engagement - Western Region
Agenda
3. 3
15 years in business
7,000+ employee engagement surveys
since inception
1,000,000+ employees surveyed
500+ employee engagement surveys
annually
Only 1 Focus
TalentMap by the Numbers
4. 4
Sample Clients & Benchmark
Award Programs Technology & Engineering Not-for-Profit & Association
Financial Services
Health Sciences
Other
6. “You know, I need to give you some context here. We’re
probably a different case, because we (insert one of these)
• have just gone through
• are going through
• are going to go through
a significant (insert here):
• Restructuring
• Transformation
• Change
So, we’re probably (insert one):
• Not like your other clients
• Different
• A special case
and engagement will be a challenge” (or something like it)
My Favorite Client Quote:
6
8. What Happens to Engagement During
(poorly managed) Organizational
Change?
9. ENGAGEMENT SCORES GO DOWN, OF COURSE! 9
+/- CLIENT
2013*
+/- TM
Benchmark
Data is rounded to the nearest whole number
* Number indicates % Favourable score
-12 -9
+2 -7
-12 -23
+1 -4
+2 -4
+1 -6
-4 -14
16
10
22
13
15
13
21
25
19
30
25
23
21
32
60
72
48
62
63
66
48
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Engagement
I am proud to tell others I work for my
organization.
I am optimistic about the future of my
organization.
My organization inspires me to do my
best work.
I would recommend my organization to a
friend as a great place to work.
My job provides me with a sense of
personal accomplishment.
I can see a clear link between my work
and my organization's long-term
objectives.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable
Note: I am optimistic about the future of my
organization is compared to the 2013
statement I am hopeful about the future of
my organization
Engagement sinks, and is
often below
benchmark/average
10. ENGAGEMENT SCORES GO DOWN, OF COURSE! 10
+/- CLIENT
2013*
+/- TM
Benchmark
Data is rounded to the nearest whole number
* Number indicates % Favourable score
-12 -9
+2 -7
-12 -23
+1 -4
+2 -4
+1 -6
-4 -14
16
10
22
13
15
13
21
25
19
30
25
23
21
32
60
72
48
62
63
66
48
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Engagement
I am proud to tell others I work for my
organization.
I am optimistic about the future of my
organization.
My organization inspires me to do my
best work.
I would recommend my organization to a
friend as a great place to work.
My job provides me with a sense of
personal accomplishment.
I can see a clear link between my work
and my organization's long-term
objectives.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable
Note: I am optimistic about the future of my
organization is compared to the 2013
statement I am hopeful about the future of
my organization
Optimism in the future
decreases dramatically
11. ENGAGEMENT SCORES GO DOWN, OF COURSE! 11
+/- CLIENT
2013*
+/- TM
Benchmark
Data is rounded to the nearest whole number
* Number indicates % Favourable score
-12 -9
+2 -7
-12 -23
+1 -4
+2 -4
+1 -6
-4 -14
16
10
22
13
15
13
21
25
19
30
25
23
21
32
60
72
48
62
63
66
48
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Engagement
I am proud to tell others I work for my
organization.
I am optimistic about the future of my
organization.
My organization inspires me to do my
best work.
I would recommend my organization to a
friend as a great place to work.
My job provides me with a sense of
personal accomplishment.
I can see a clear link between my work
and my organization's long-term
objectives.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable
Note: I am optimistic about the future of my
organization is compared to the 2013
statement I am hopeful about the future of
my organization
Most of all, employees lose their
“sense of place”, because they don’t
know what the change will bring.
UNCERTAINTY!
12. 12
39%
48%
24%
CLIENT 2013
CLIENT 2015
Benchmark
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
% Frequency
Are you looking for or thinking of accepting a job
with another employer (% Yes)?
(THREAT OF ) ATTRITION CAN REACH DANGEROUS
LEVELS
!
13. MANAGING THE CHANGE ITSELF DRIVES
ENGAGEMENT
13
Hypothesized Drivers
Compensation
Work Environment
Performance Feedback
Professional Growth
Work/Life Balance
Information and
Communication
Teamwork
Innovation
Customer Focus
Immediate Manager
Senior Leadership
Canadian Leadership
Team
Organizational Vision
Change Management
Diversity
#2 Change
Management
Change Management
#1 Professional
Growth
Professional Growth
#3 Organizational
Vision
Diversity
Employee
Engagement
Previous period drivers highlighted in grey.
15. +/- CLIENT
Canada
2012*
+/- TM
Benchmark
12
3
11
14
8
25
22
9
20
31
19
33
65
88
69
55
73
42
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Change Management
I understand why change is needed at
the CLIENT.
I am convinced the change we are
undergoing at the CLIENT is necessary
to achieve the desired goals.
I am confident that the CLIENT can
execute change successfully to achieve
the desired goals.
I feel motivated to adapt the way I work
to support change in the CLIENT.
I am provided with the coaching, tools
and training necessary to meet the
requirements of change.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable
Data is rounded to the nearest whole number
* Number indicates % Favourable score
-13 n/a
-4 n/a
-16 n/a
-20 n/a
-11 n/a
-13 n/a
Change Management (Key Driver #2) 15
16. The “Inside” Perspective
16
“Recognizing that we all cannot be privy to all decisions, I would like to feel that change is
not always something I have to accept, but rather something I can also input
to.”
“Communicate change and reasons for change well before the change is
made. For example - dissolving field services without telling area offices.”
“Opportunity to have training and coaching one particular areas once the implementation
plans are communicate and we have a better sense of our upcoming
role.”
“There needs to be some clear direction on where the company is going
so that I can better understand my place in it.”
“With two layoffs in 2014, it's hard to trust in the senior leadership. Even
if the top people have changed, a lot of the upper management is still the same, and these
are the people who got us into the current non-profitable state that we find ourselves in.”
17. Unwilling to “lose face” by communicating uncertainty (i.e.
not knowing all the answers).
• Result: if we can’t say everything, say nothing.
Thrill of being “in the know”
Fear of the rumour mill
Many execs assume that the reasons for change are self-
evident, so they focus communications on what is changing,
as opposed to “why it’s changing”.
Most Execs/Leadership Teams Manage Change
through Secrecy
17
19. Do you or your leaders:
spend more time in meetings
with each other than with their
teams?
tend to be less and less
visible or accessible?
avoid answering questions
about impending restructuring,
layoffs, strategy shifts, or
worse, use talking points?
Get a “thrill” by being “ in the
know”?
The “Boardroom Bunker”
19
20. The most common reasons for lower engagement during
change are:
Employees don’t understand the reasons for the change
(burning platform)
Employees don’t understand the “end state”, i.e. what
will we look like after the change.
Employees haven’t had/don’t have the opportunity to
influence the change, especially with regards to their
expertise.
Leaders are less visible and less communicative
precisely when employees crave communications the most.
In a phrase: Uncertainty kills engagement.
In Summary
20
22. The Burning Platform:
An extremely urgent or compelling business case to convey,
in the strongest terms, the need for change
CLEARLY COMMUNICATE THE “BURNING
PLATFORM” – THE “WHY”
22
23. 6
8
13
10
12
15
15
16
12
16
16
16
31
30
30
11
10
12
18
21
17
18
20
22
22
23
27
20
21
22
83
81
75
72
68
68
67
66
65
62
61
57
50
49
48
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Diversity
Immediate Manager
Work Environment
Organizational Vision
Senior Leadership (in your province)
Performance Feedback
Professional Growth
Teamwork
Change Management
Donor Focus
Innovation
Canadian Leadership Team
Work/Life Balance
Information and Communication
Compensation
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable
23
+2 n/a
2 8
-4 -2
1 12
-5 +8
1 7
-1 -2
-2 9
-13 n/a
6 -3
-5 -4
-11 -3
-4 -6
-9 -1
-4 -5
Data is rounded to the nearest whole number
* Number indicates % Favourable score
+/- CLIENT
Canada
2012*
+/- TM
Benchmark
Overall scores include standard TalentMap questions only.
MIDDLE MANAGERS ARE YOUR “ACE IN THE HOLE”
Get them onboard!
Include them early!
Get their input, especially on how to manage
change in their areas!
Most of all, BE TRANSPARENT with them
24. “Employees watch their supervisors intently, skeptical of
management’s commitment to change”
Middle managers operationalize change, while managing
employees’ emotions (e.g. anxiety, defensiveness)
Grounded Change Model During of Organizational Schema Empowerment
G Labianca, B Gray, DJ Brass
Organization 11 (2), 235-257
RESEARCH SHOWS MIDDLE MANAGERS ARE
THE KEY!
24
25. Employees need a clear
picture of the desired, or end,
state.
“What will we look like after
the change?”
• It’s fiction. There is no “after” the
change.
• It’s aspirational. Like the brass
ring – we strive for but never will
attain. But we strive anyway!
CLEARLY ARTICULATE AND RE-COMMUNICATE
THE “END-STATE”
25
26. Leaders’ role:
• Evangelize the change
• Demonstrate, by walking the talk.
• Be the first to live with the temporary
inconvenience
• Share the vulnerability.
• Include subordinates in continuous
improvement.
Managers’ role:
• Operationalize.
• Problem-solve.
• Share the vulnerability (up and down)
• Include subordinates in continuous
improvement.
LEADERS: GET OUT OF THE BUNKER!
26
Employees’ role:
• Embrace the idea, but question the modality.
• Share ideas for continuous improvement
• Have an open mind.
• Don’t expect all the answers.
27. Event Format Topic Date
OMAA – Ontario Municipal
Administrators’ Association,
Kitchener
Conference Emerging Practices: The Economic
Development Transformation
October 14
HR Technology
Conference, Las Vegas
Conference The World’s Biggest and Best Conference
on HR technology for HR Executives
October 18-21
People Analytics Canada Conference Drive People and Organizational
Performance with HR Analytics
October 27-28
TalentMap Monthly
Webinar Series
Live Webinar How To Improve Engagement Through
Better Teamwork (and It’s Not Through
“Team-building” Exercises)
October 29
Top Employer Summit,
Toronto
Conference Canada’s Top 100 Employers with keynote
speaker Bill Clinton
November 16-17
UPCOMING TALENTMAP LEARNING SESSIONS