The document discusses using social media to gather employee feedback on engagement. It proposes visualizing opinions based on similarity to allow participants to see where they stand. Participants rate statements and comments, with the most insightful and relevant comments appearing largest. Examples show top comments from an exercise on improving international assignment policies, with suggestions around transparency, COLA calculations, policies favoring certain locations, and health insurance coverage. Sentiment analysis of the suggestions is also visualized. The approach aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of employee opinions than traditional lists of comments.

1. A
Social
Media
Approach
to
Employee
Engagement
Research
Michael
Silverman

3. “The
Corporate
Black
Hole”

4. Too
many
numbers

5. Ignores
the
Wisdom
of
Crowds

6. Social
Media
is
a
Powerful
Feedback
Mechanism
The
problem
is:
LISTS
of
comments

7. The
Joy
of
Text
1 2
“I love the service, but the products are not great.”
Verb
Pronoun Object Conjunction Noun Negation Adjective

8. Data
Visualisa=on
as
a
User
Interface
• VisualisaHon
of
people’s
opinions
based
on
similarity
of
aJtudes
• Uses
data
visualisaHon
as
a
user
interface

9. Par=cipants
rate
5
statements
that
determine
their
posi=on
in
the
space

10. Par=cipants
Respond
to
a
Discussion
Ques=on

11. Par=cipants
are
projected
onto
a
2D
space
(people
with
similar
opinions
are
closer
to
each
other)
so
they
can
see
where
they
stand

12. Par=cipants
click
on
other
par=cipants’
sugges=ons
to
rate
them
in
terms
of
relevance
and
insighKulness
–
the
more
a
sugges=on
is
rated
as
insighKul
&
relevant,
the
bigger
it
is

13. Top
3
Comments
Abandon
the
crazily
complex
and
absolutely
intransparent
home-­‐pay
rule.
-­‐
It
may
look
transparent
on
paper,
but
essenHally
the
black-­‐
box
of
hypotheHcal
home
tax,
Cola
calculaHon
and
'spendable'
amount
is
unacceptable
and
irreconcilable
with
reality.
No
one
understands
their
payslip
and
no
one
can
actually
explain
it!!!
-­‐
HypotheHcal
tax
is
parHcularly
contenHous
as
you
have
to
wait
for
years
to
get
a
reconciliaHon
and
in
the
meanwhile
the
hypotheHcal
tax
rate
may
move
any
direcHon.
There
is
no
planning
certainty.
No
country
would
dare
to
move
their
income
tax
as
much
as
Unilever
dares
to
vary
their
hypotheHcal
tax
rate.
On
top
the
hypotheHcal
rate
is
not
even
adapted
aUer
the
first
reconciliaHon!
-­‐
It
treats
people
with
different
backgrounds
differently
while
what
maXers
for
many
is
NOT
their
home-­‐country.
ParHcularly
global
professionals
are
not
self-­‐referencing
themselves
to
home
but
to
where
they
could
work
and
want
to
work.
(Score
=
87,
based
on
39
raHngs)
1)
More
transparency...
for
example,
expats
that
have
the
same
The
biggest
change
is
not
to
look
at
the
WL
and
same
family
size
get
different
housing
budgets,
and
this
color
of
the
skin
and
the
passport
a
someHmes
seems
unfair.
2)
COLA
calculaHons
are
just
wrong...
it
person
holds
to
determine
the
pay
and
assumes
an
'average'
basket
of
goods
in
my
country
of
origin,
but
the
package
a
person
would
get.
The
in
my
home
country,
that
average
basket
does
not
reflect
my
own
current
policy
says
that
a
person
from
a
third
world
country
deserves
only
a
third
reality.
Also,
this
calculaHon
is
too
low.
Currently,
my
full
Cola
world
lifestyle,
and
a
third
world
level
of
goes
into
paying
for
the
addiHonal
cost
of
gas
bill,
the
water
bill,
savings,
wherever
he
goes...while
and
cable.
None
is
leU
over
for
the
other
costs
that
can
be
somebody
from
a
first
world
country
considerably
more
expensive
than
at
home.
3)
The
policy
favors
deserves
a
first
world
lifestyle
even
if
he
economically
people
moving
from
high
cost
of
living
localiHes
to
is
assigned
in
a
third
world
country.
This
the
third
world,
and
penalizes
those
moving
from
third
world
is
the
height
of
insHtuHonalized
racism,
country
to
developed
places.
4)
The
health
insurance
should
in
a
company
who
prides
itself
of
cover
100%
dental
and
vision
5)
The
policy
does
not
address
promoHng
diversity.
The
next
one
is
to
pension
dispariHes
if
the
asignee
has
liXle
possibility
of
returning
improve
the
quality
of
the
service
providers-­‐-­‐from
being
stoic,
cold
to
home
country.
(Score
=
84,
based
on
53
raHngs)
messengers
and
policy
implementors,
to
sincere
assistance
providers.
(Score
=
81,
based
on
11
raHngs)

14. How
can
Unilever
Improve
its
IA
Policies?
%
of
Total
SuggesHons
SenHment
Advocacy
RaHng
-­‐0.6
59
71
Pay
20
34
-­‐1.5
60
67
Flexibility
Other8(Unclassified) 19 -­‐0.1
63
50
17 -­‐0.5
64
69
Housing
13 -­‐0.7
57
74
COLA
Simplify/Clarity 13 -­‐1.2
57
65
10 -­‐0.6
63
66
Support
Family 10 -­‐0.7 61 70
Education8 10 -­‐0.7
64
65
Tax 10 -­‐0.6
58
74
Transparency 9 -­‐0.6
57
66
Spouse/Partner 8 People
who
make
suggesHons
-­‐0.3
60
72
Foreign8Exchange 8
about
COLA
are
preXy
negaHve
in
-­‐0.8
58
68
Children 6 -­‐0.3
59
69
Processes 6 their
comments,
they
are
more
-­‐0.7
65
68
Medical 6 likely
to
have
low
advocacy
of
the
-­‐0.4
58
67
Transport 6
IA
experience
and
their
suggesHons
-­‐0.8
63
67
Service 5 -­‐1.0
57
68
Overall8Experience 5 are
rated
highly
by
others.
-­‐0.4
56
65
Bonus 5 -­‐0.4
56
67
Work8Level 4 -­‐0.6
54
75
Career 4 0.0
56
76
Home8Leave 3 -­‐0.2
69
64
Pension 2 -­‐0.1
66
72
Advice 2 -­‐0.3
62
67
Legacy 2 0.1
55
57
Contact8Points 1 -­‐0.6
43
71
Visas 1 -­‐0.4
77
68

15. The
Social
Media
Garden

16. Main
barriers
to
implemen=ng
social
media
70%$
Resources$
65%$ Business$$
Case$
Change$
Leadership$
Strategy$
Overall$Ra=ng$
Business$ Security$ Communica=on$
Benefits$ Trust$
Control$
Fear$
60%$ Employee$Engagement$
Employee$Abuse$
Culture$
Environment$ Knowledge$&$
Understanding$
55%$
Genera=on$Gap$
50%$
40%$ 45%$ 50%$ 55%$ 60%$ 65%$ 70%$
Personal$Involvement$with$Social$Media$$

17. Thank
You…