42. Expand Communication Responsibilities Enlist champions beyond âtraditionalâ functional leaders. Align championsâ voice, face and presence with all survey communications. Engage front-line supervisors. Use an employee support team to âmarket testâ messages, presentations, discussion questions.
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44. They need to hear: Hereâs whatâs going well. Hereâs whatâs not going well.
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46. Team members have high interest levels in all business topics listed
61. Provide On-the-Job Coaching and Tools Spectator-Free Workplace⢠Coaching resources: 4R training, podcasts, e-mail newsletter. Go to Dulye.com/blogto subscribe
63. Provide On-the-Job Coaching and Tools Spectator-Free Workplace⢠Tweets Visit twitter.com/dulye to follow Linda Dulye on twitter. Twitter.com/dulye to follow us
67. No Flying Solo ME Break hierarchical practices WE Use team-led action planning
68. Team-Led Action Planning: 5 Steps to Collaboration Value of collaboration must be emphasized. Senior leaders announce follow-up plan Priority improvement areas communicated Front-line employees canvassed for involvement Diverse action teams formed Teams partner with management on improvement actions
69. Team-Led Action Planning Response to measurement should be prompt, not procrastinated. Provide an opportunity to be part of the change, not a spectator. Sort and assign prioritiesâenterprise, dept., site Engage teams in corrective actions Form at various levels Support with Senior Leader âsponsorsâ Coordinate through functional partnerships
70. Employee Action Team Stats Operational work teams that get involved in large and small scale improvements â not functional advisory councils. Ad-hoc, employee-driven workgroup Sized for the project: 10 â 12 members (enterprise-level) / 6 â 8 members (department or site) 80% associates / 20% supervisors Diverse (tenure, division, gender, level, responsibility, area) Selected from bottom-up nominations Defined responsibilities, schedule Approved, paid time on the job: 3 â 5 hours / weekly
78. Apply PDCA Principles to Follow-Up Donât wait 12 months to assess follow-up rigor and effectiveness Seize existing forums and practices to conduct progress checks X X PDCA = Plan. Do. Check. Act.
87. Showcase Best Practices Low cost recognition techniques can go a long way to motivate. Team Exchanges (teleconference sessions) featuring: Enterprise wide participation Employee-led testimonies Executive âguest appearancesâ and recognition
88. Show Time Inside and Outside the Company Use multiple platforms to recognize the contributions of those who have gone beyond the survey to improve your organization. Presentations at: Town Hall Meetings Leader off-sites Global and local business reviews Industry conferences External publicity Executive tours Customer visits
90. Thermo Fisher Gold Quill Winning Example Survey-driven priority: 2-way, leadership communications Response: Global Town Hall Meeting Program Action Team-led process at company and site level Pulse Process: Quarterly checks integrated into Town Hall Meetings Pulse Tool: Online and paper feedback form, available in 10 languages Program supported by partnership: Site Leader / Process Improvement Dept. / HR or Comm. Dept.
91. Thermo Fisher Results: 12 Months Later If you have implemented the new Town Hall meeting process, where have you noticed the biggest improvements?
92. Other Stats: Cost Effectiveness / Value Based on your three most recent Town Hall meetings, rate the following statements:
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95. The entire contents of the presentation are proprietary to Dulye & Co. This material may be not be copied or reproduced for any purpose. Any reproduction or disclosure requires the prior consent of Dulye & Co.For more information, please contact Roger Gibboni, Business Manager, at 845-987-7744 or rgibboni@dulye.com. Thank You!
Hinweis der Redaktion
Eric
Hello Everyone!Iâd like to welcome each of you to todayâs webcast on âBeyond the Employee Survey: Proven Methods for Measuring What Matters in your Organizationâ. My name is Eric Hansen and I am the CIO and Social Media Strategist of Dulye & Co., but today Iâm delighted to be representing my work as the head of our Measurement Team.At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Throughout the session, you have an opportunity to submit questions -you can do this by utilizing the question function on your screen. We will also take live questions at the end of the presentation. Use the âRaise Handâ icon to signal that you would like to ask a live question. If we donât get to all of your questions, due to the size of this audience, I will email a response directly to you.You will be receiving Linda and My final charts from todayâs session in a follow-up email from me.
ERICNow I would like to introduce our main speaker for today: Linda Dulye. Linda Dulye is President of Dulye & Co ., internationally-recognized as a leader in using 2-way communications, measurement and employee engagement teams to build Spectator Free Workplaces at some of the worldâs most admired companies. A former communications leader for 20 years at Fortune 100 companies including General Electric and AlliedSignal, Linda uses a business process approach for improving communications effectiveness.Industry Week magazine called her approach a best practice, and her firmâs unique methodology earned nomination to Fast Companyâs Fast 50 Roster for change leadership. Linda earned All Star Speaker ratings at the 2009 IABC World Conference and will be returning as an all-star featured speaker in 2 weeks when the 2010 IABC Global Conference kicks off in Toronto. Earlier this month Linda was a featured speaker at the Ragan Conference on Breakthrough Strategies and Practices for Internal Communicators.And lastly Linda is the founder of the Dulye Leadership Experience, a Transformational Leadership Development Program that each year prepares a select group of college seniors for the realities of the workplace and the program is now entering its fourth year at Lindaâs and my alma matter, Syracuse University.
LINDAâŚThanks Eric.Let me briefly acquaint you with Dulye & Co. and our focus. We are a team of seasoned professionals who are organizational change expertsâall with extensive background working for and in Fortune 500 and large organizations, prior to joining Dulye & Co. We harness our collective expertise to design and implement Spectator Free Workplace solutionsâthese are practices that engage an entire workforce, not just select groups, in achieving business goals. Our focus is in 4 key areas:-training and development program for leaders at all levels-2-way, workforce communications programs -Employee engagement practices-Non-intrusive, measurement tools and practices that deliver a steady stream of data to guide strategies, decisions and action plans.Aspects of these 4 elements are featured in todayâs webinarâincluding practices that earned 3 Quill Awards from the International Association of Business Communicators: a 2008 gold quill for work with Rolls Royce, a 2009 silver quill for work with ThermoFisher Scientific, and a 2010 Gold Quill, which we will receive in a few weeks at the IABC global conference again for our work with ThermoFisher Scientific.
LINDAAs I mentioned, Rolls Royce and ThermoFisher Scientific are among the diverse client group that Dulye & Co. has partnered with over the past 12 years. You can see by the logos on this chart, we work with large organizations across a spectrum of industries including high tech, manufacturing, retail, aerospace, aviation, health care, insurance, government and other industries. Our programs have been developed and implemented at the corporate level and for specific divisions and locations. All are designed with a common dynamic: metrics and measurement to track effectiveness and results. We strongly believe in the power of data.
LindaSo what outcomes do Eric and I hope to achieve today.We hope to help you go beyond simply surveying to leading robust, internal measurement programs in your organizations.To do that, weâll help you to shift paradigms that constrict measurement for achieving full potential.Weâll offer techniques for innovating beyond the survey period that will help you to engage your workforce at all levels and demonstrate real value on your measurement investment.Weâll help you to expand ownership of the data beyond the executive level or company HR or Corp Comm ranks.And will illustrate how to move ahead using some tried and tested tools from our clients and a no nonsense success formula of 2 imperatives and 6 elements which added together will help you to achieve a spectator free measurement program and raise the bar on performance by going beyond the survey.
LINDANow for the 2 imperatives.To achieve a robust, internal measurement program that goes beyond simply surveying, you must commit to go broad by inviting feedback from all demographic levels and cuts in your organizationânot just a select group.And, you have to accept the reality of the data or feedback received. The real, unvarnished viewsâas they are, not as you or your executives would hope it to be.Secondly, you must deal with the responsibility to share and use the dataâat all levels of the organizationâto improve. That means being inclusive in discussing results, and expanding responsibility for using results to make improvements to front-line associates. It means being able to confidently and openly say that management doesnât have the only ideas for survey follow-up.
LINDAThe benefits of a strategic measurement program include the four outcomes posted here:-You get a steady flow of data about the thoughts and actions of your workforce. You gain insight into how organizational and communication practices are affecting workforce performance.-A strong measurement program also delivers ultimate engagementâthat is, the active involvement of all levels of your organization not just in answering a survey, but in understanding and addressing the results. -You can demonstrate value. Todayâs business climate demands measured and measurable value from operational and organizational programs. That imperative applies to engagement and communications programs. If you want and expect participation and engagement, then you must demonstrate value and ROI --just like your counterparts in R&D, Sales or Operations. After all, budgets will only get tighter and expectations will only increase.-Finally, you get what you measure. If you donât measure meaningful performance impact, donât expect your plans to qualify as a strategic imperative. It will be relegated to nice to do, but not essential. And nice to do rarely pops up on executivesâ radar screens or funding approvals.
LINDAOur Spectator-Free measurement model, as you can see, has 6 key elements that will take you beyond the survey to a closed loop measurement process.The 6 Cs that are catalysts for boosting performance, are:Calibration: Evaluating the underlying purpose and approach to your measurement.Communication: The actions taken to share quickly and broadly survey results and next steps.Coaching: The use of data to improve leadersâ attitudes and actions for engaging a workforce to do more than complete a survey.Collaboration: Partnerships with front-line employees for innovating new ways to improve low performance areas cited by your data.Continuous Improvement: Keeping a steady stream of data pulsing to ensure that follow-up action plans are happening and positively contributing.Celebration: Recognizing the involvement and contributions of front-line employees as owners of the measurement programâending the era of survey results being managementâs problem to fix.
LINDALetâs start heading down the 6 C road, by focusing first on calibration.What is the driving force behind a measurement program at your company?
LINDASo what drives your current survey. Is it routineâŚsuch as, we always have an employee survey in April?Is it statusâsuch as, we need to have this survey to qualify for the Great Place to Work competition?Is it funding--as, we need to do a communications assessment so that we can get money to do some cool things in next yearâs budget.Is it driven by business strategy? Or current business performance?What is it?In order to go beyond the survey, you need to calibrate what triggers your measurement? And it needs to be an honest evaluation that unveils outdated routines, personal agendas, politics or built-in biases.How do you get started?
LindaBefore you decide to dust off the 2009 survey file and repeat status quoâhereâs how to take aim at routine and calibrate the effectiveness of your measurement program.Donât go solo in your assessment project. Use an experienced third party, neutral group. That can be a firm, like Dulye & Co. which specializes in organizational measurement programs.Or, it can be a multi-level, cross functional teamâwhat we can a Tiger Teamâformed specifically for this task. For those of you with Lean or Six Sigma programs, you could enlist a black belt to lead the charge.The punch line is donât do this alone. Go beyond survey response rates in the calibration process. Indeed participation matters, but measurement outcomes carry more weight. Examine how priorities from survey results were determined, how priorities translated into corrective actions, and how improvements were ultimately made and sustained.Your assessment should determine: did we go broad in the communication of results; did we get inclusive in the follow-through on results. Did we achieve lasting and value-driving change to the company?Or, did we repeat routine and check the box? Your assessment will answer if and how successfully you are using measurement as a strategic driver for organizational change and improvement.
LindaThe next several charts provide a checklist for your calibration team.Identified are key areas to assess current practices. First up, as you see here, are core triggers of your measurement program:Whatâs driving it? A calendar? A business cause? A leader returning from an Executive Study Course with a to-do list? An article in the Wall Street Journal? Sound implusable? Weâve heard these stories before.Whoâs driving it? One or many people? Who funds it? One resource? Many resources?How deep is ownership of the program? Does it rest with one leader and one department? Is it shared across multiple levels and departments?Whatâs the presiding paradigm? Routine or business rigor? Honest answers to these questions will help you to understand the dynamics and design of measurement at your organization.
LindaMore checklist questions for your calibration team. These evaluate measurement activity. -Who builds the measurement tool and ultimately road tests it. Is that the sole responsibility of one functional group? Or does a cross-functional team develop, review and refine metrics?Do you identify questions that once worked but now may be ambiguous due to restructuring or other initiatives that have changed the organization? Road testing questions for comprehension at all levels is essential. Our most successful technique involves an ad-hoc team of front-line employees. Youâll hear more about this later. -Concurrent to building the measurement tool, how do you climate setâand ready the workforce to actively participate in the measurement process.- How well informed are employees to openly and constructively respond once theyâve been asked to take 15 minutes out of their work day to answer survey questions. Is there no fear for candor or is there concern that someone will track my answers.How have your measurement techniques advanced to go broad and promote inclusiveness?
LindaAn area of review for your calibration team are techniques used to engage participation and response rates.How easy is participation? Do you offer multiple ways to take a surveyâpaper, online, broadband, other media? Or just one? Do you offer multiple languagesâand if so, how many are translations determined?How is participation verbally encouraged by immediate managers and supported by time, media and other resources?Do you simply repeat survey routines of by-gone eras or do you continually improve the process?And finallyâŚ
LindaCalibrate beyond the actual survey period. Assess results communication and follow-up actions. Is a standardized action planning process used companywide, or is follow-up scattered and subjective?Is there a standard practice for tracking, reporting and rewarding follow-up in a way that goes broad and inclusive?What and who determines success? And where does accountability reside? With a few or many?Youâve been armed here with a calibration checklist that will help you to go from survey activity to measurement program by assessing:Stakeholders and partner rolesMetrics and questionsOutcomes and AccountabilityScope of communication and measurement activityDistribution and collection practices, resource partnersDedicate time, several months before your next baseline survey to calibrate, rather than repeat. Our next 5Cs will offer ways to upgrade your program by going broad and being inclusive.
LINDAOn to communication.Survey results are the catalyst for open, robust, 2-way communications.They are not for executive eyes and ears only.Your entire organization should be part of active communication about strengths, weaknesses and trends that emerge from the dataâand next steps for working the data.ButâŚ
LindaIf the end result of your measurement practice is to spend hours packaging data for executive consumption only, thatâs not good enough.Weâve often seen high-level executive briefings occur with shrouds of secrecy and then data binders overflowing with rich survey results get placed in locked cabinets or security protected portals never or sparingly to be shared. Open, two-way communications about measurement results and follow-up is essential for eliminating spectators from your program. And the communication canât just come from the folks in HR and Corp Comm departments. Find and engage resources at every management levelâand ensure their success in building knowledge of survey outcomes and follow-up.
LINDAEngaging senior leaders requires honest, 2-way discussion of survey results. Although leaders may want to hear: youâre great. Everythingâs great. We got really good numbers on the survey. Those doing the measurement debriefâwhich Iâm sure includes most of you on this webcastâneed to tell it like it is.Straight talk about whatâs going well, based on the measurement data, and whatâs not going well. We have a saying at our firm that bad data is good data if it truly represents what your workforce is thinking and feeling.We recommend using face-to-face or voice-to-voice platforms to start open, unfiltered measurement communications with your executives. Engagement by email falls short.Let me show you a tool that we use to get constructive dialogue going.
LINDAHereâs the tool. Itâs a summary results template that we include in every measurement report and every leader briefing that we conduct.It crisply captures the highs and lows of survey results in general terms. It prompts interest and curiosity for getting into the specifics offered with demographic data slices and comparisons. This summary tool coupled with built-in talk time during an executive briefing plus a third party, objective discussion facilitator can get leaders comfortable and capable of talking about all results, not just those falling in the left column on this chart.Just like this chart, there needs to be a balance in measurement communications. If happy talk dominates 90% of the survey debrief session, most likely youâve surrendered to fear or filters.One last recommendation. Conduct cross-department, group briefing sessions with executives rather than one-on-one meetings. The group discussion broadens perspectives, saves time and crisply compresses debrief period into a matter of days rather than weeks. Swift results communications bolsters the credibility of the measurement program.
LINDAMoving to supervisors and managers, we recommend using recurring briefing sessionsâconducted either in person, by videocast or teleconferenceâto engage local and department managers on results and beyond.The example here represents a series of briefings that we lead with a client. After conducting an initial briefing session on the measurement results, recurring briefing sessions were held to discuss progress updates on measurement programs. These updates were conducted by at least one senior leader-champion. At one client with a 6,000-person division, updates were integrated into an existing monthly business review process that involved supervisors, middle and senior leaders from multiple locations. The meeting agenda was expanded to include 5-10 minute updates about survey results, follow-up plans, including messages and actions for managers to introduce employee action teams. Ongoing discussion of the measurement program kept it from fading into a fadâand bolstered managersâ support of the ever important action planning phase of measurement programs. Additionally, supplemental information was posted regularly on a manager access web portal.
LINDAThe most effective way to communicate about surveys and survey results to employees is through their managers. Be sure that your survey communications plan targets and equips managers to be knowledgeable and capable communicators about your measurement program. As I previously mentioned, we believe in the power of manager-led conversations via team huddles as a primary communication channel. Key messages are then reinforced through multiple company outlets, such as emails, newsletters and intranet sites.When communicating survey results, be direct and open. Avoid complex charts with lines of 12 point percentages and ratings. Package results for visual consumption. We use color-coded bar charts, timelines and graphs. We clearly identify high performing areas, as well as average and low performing ones. Youâll see example from Eric shortly.Do not sugar coat measurement messages. Credibility is earned by presenting the reality of whatâs going well and whatâs not.Avoid stutters in survey communications. Weâve seen situations where employees learned about survey results 3 to 6 months after executives were briefed. And the measurement communication offered little detail about follow-up actions. The lag time should be brief, and the information shared should always include the process and schedule for follow-up to the survey.OK Eric, why donât you show you some portable communication tools that we use for educating and engaging employees.
EricThanks, Linda. Iâm going to review three examples of how we communicate the results of employee feedback in ways that are clear and simple.This first one is a color-coded bar chart comparing interest levels versus knowledge levels employees reported on various business areas.The key takeaway for employees is the gap between the two and the differences in color helps to underscore that opportunity for some communications quick hits or maybe a more significant project.The second element of color on this chart, the red-yellow-green bar at the bottom provides instant context for that itemâs score â this is especially useful for the employees who doesnât encounter regular measurement reports.
EricKey points:On this chart, we the same color-coding technique being used to demonstrate demographic differences in the data.This chart shows some slight differences in response, by job tenure.Notice that the colors complement each other, which shows they are part of the same item, but are different enough to clearly communicate a difference.The legend on the right hand corner deciphers the color-coding for the employee reviewing this chart.A lot of companies spend vast amounts of time preparing complicated complex charts. Our litmus test is if you canât understand the chart in 15 â 20 seconds, then itâs too complicated. So we take the energy typically used to make a chart look complex and use it to simplify.
EricIn addition to showing results, itâs also important to clearly communicate to employees and associates the milestone schedule for closing data collection, sharing the results with an action plan, doing a follow-up Pulse Check â the first calibration of the new action plan â and then sharing the results of that Pulse Check along with any course corrections that will result.
EricIâd like to close out this section on communication with an example of how we communicate a trickier subject, which is all those written comments that make up your qualitative data set.The first thing we do is pull out representative quotes that demonstrate the overall flavor or tone of a larger category that emerged from the data.Itâs vital that this or any comment is displayed verbatim, no edits whatsoever â spelling errors, grammar issues and all. Cleaning up these comments sends the wrong message to employees and can numb their impact on senior leadership as well.Lastly, it helps to quantify the various categories that emerged from your qualitative data. This provides instant context for employees and saves them from slogging through a bunch of comments to get the big picture.Use this technique whether youâre sifting through 100 comments or 10,000 comments.
LindaBack to New York.Letâs move on to the 3rd C and that involves coaching leaders to go beyond exclusive measurement practices and invite the active involvement of your workforce.
LINDAPerhaps these quotes sound familiar to you. Weâve often heard them when executivesâwho arenât comfortable with unfiltered data debriefsâwant to skim over the weak performing areas to focus only on whatâs going well.Weâve also heard them from leaders who want to wear the know-all hat around their organizations.Measurement should promote learning. It should stimulate curiosity and improvement.You wonât be able to go beyond the survey if these perspectives preside.
LINDA: Remember the mantra: Data is a gift. It can help you to influence and shift perspectives. Our 3V Monitor will help you build a constructive view of survey dataâone that allows no finger pointing of blameâby using data as a personal and professional coaching tool for leaders.The 3Vs that you see on this chart represent the cues that weâhuman beings--use to process information. These are the cues imbedded in the words and actions an organization. To use the 3V monitor, start by sorting quantitative and qualitative data according to each V. Youâll have data about the visuals of the organizationâthat is, what is seen by associates such as leadership behavior, associate behavior, recognition practices. Gather strengths and weaknesses.Next, conduct a similar analysis using the second of the 3 Vsâthe vocals of the organizationâso, the voices and conversations of an organization. Do leaders sound confident? Appreciative? Do they motivate or deflate? Do employees vocalize support? Do positive or negative tones prevail? Does silence occur when opinions are requested? Youâll find gems in the qualitative data.Finally, sort data about the verbals of the organizationâthe actually messages that are sent in conversations and meetings. Are they clear? Are they timely? Do they conflict between managers and departments? The 3V monitor will offer tremendous education into the workplace and the workforce of your company.
LindaBeyond awakening leadersâ curiosity and openness about measurement, itâs equally important to coach them on how to genuinely create an inclusive environment for employees in the follow-up actions to a survey.Successful measurement programs provide coaching to help leaders communicate resultsâgood and bad--and invite help from levels below to improve weaknesses cited by data. You can use inhouse resourcesâor imported ones, from companies like Dulye & Co. who specialize in this area. Identify your resources and import them to help managers know how to speak less, listen more, extend responsibility to the workforce and hold people accountable for using data and improving from it. A tool that we recommend is a personal version of the 3V monitor that I just showed you. We customize and create personal communication plans. The personal 3V assessment evaluates a leaderâs visuals (or body language), vocals (or voice, tone, phrasing, and pausing) and his or her verbals (actual key messages)âand provides a few specific corrective actions for each V. Recently, we used this approach with senior leaders at one of our clients who were embarkingâseparatelyâon a multi-site road show. We relied on a steady stream of measurementâin this case being captured daily at each site visitâto coach them on their 3Vs. The leaders were making real-time adjustments in their messages, their techniques for asking questions, even in their wardrobe. This is an effective way to humanize managers.Make coaching interactiveâwhereby you give and get feedbackâand integrate, not interrupt. We call that just-in-time coaching. Weâve found ways to create, for example, a 3 minute, mini-tutorial that blends into a clientâs senior staff meetings. Eric, why donât you talk about some other approaches to coaching that we used.
EricWhen it comes to coaching, donât presume there is a direct correlation between title and communications proficiency with your business leaders. We certainly donât, and weâve trained more than 10,000 managers with a 4R training program that we call Communicating for Results and Relationships. Coaching focuses on how to effectively relay and relate messages---and then how to switch to listening mode to encourage and receive constructive feedback, and respond to it promptly.Done rightâthe 4Rs drive effective 2-way communications, which is a requirement for an effective measurement program that goes beyond the survey.If you or your workforce have an iPod or iPhone, we also have a free, weekly podcast that offers on-demand spectator-free workplace coaching in a friendly, radio-style format.And thereâs our original coaching powerhouse, the free monthly e-newsletter, The Spectator-Free Workplace, which shows up in subscribersâ inboxes packed with coaching tips, tools and resources. We know that while many of you participating on this webcast are HR and communications professionals, we design all our spectator-free workplace content to be easily handed off to a functional manager or line of business leaders.Visit Dulye.com/blog to subscribe, and if youâre interested in learning more about the 4Rs simply contact anyone on the Dulye & Co. team.
EricAnother example of a coaching tool that you can import to supplement your in-house coaching, our website dulye.com features a wealth of content updated weekly with case studies and blog posts on the latest communications trends as well as time tested methods.
EricWeâre also on twitter in order to participate in the ongoing discussion about workplace improvement, employee engagement and recently a little college sportsSo to follow us, just visit twitter.com/dulye
EricAnd Iâm very pleased to share with you our latest coaching tool.We also have an iPhone app available free in the iTunes App store. It provides one touch access to all our Spectator-Free news and podcasts, but it also allows you to send Linda and the Dulye & Co. team questions in real-time as they arise in the workplace.Visit dulye.com and click on the iPhone icon at the top, or search for âdulyeâ in the iTunes store.We launched a mobile application so youâd never be more than a finger touch away from a world-class communications resource â itâs like having a consultant in your pocket!
EricSo to finish up the Coaching section: an effective coaching program mixes in-person with online resources.But, just because youâve built it, doesnât mean managers will use it.Our most successful partnerships happen when we bring the coaching and training to managers in a convenient way that doesnât add another meeting or calendar commitment.When large scale management events happenâlike national sales meetings or functional conferences or division performance reviews, negotiate a 15 to 30 minute slot to train on a particular skill and to promote the portfolio of services built in your coaching portal.Then focus the last minute or two walking them through the online component to your coaching or communications program. Often times, itâs not that accessing the resources is difficult, itâs just that nobody took the two minutes for a quick demo. This can make all the difference and is a true grass-roots approach to compliance and adoption.
LINDAOur 4th C for going beyond the survey is collaboration.Measurement shouldnât be a solo exercise. Rememberâweâre showcasing a spectator-free model in this webcast.Iâll cover one of our most successful practices for fostering high engagement after surveys have been collected.
LINDAIn many organizations, collaboration, requires a major paradigm and practice shiftâŚFrom flying solo, where measurement practices are managed from the top of the organizational pyramid. Thatâs the Me way of doing things.To building an inclusive measurement system, where ownership is extended to all levels, particularly the front line. Thatâs the we way of doing things.So now that weâve helped you to coach leadersâin our previous segmentâto be interactive and connect with their front-line supervisors and employees. Weâll show you how to get the front-line involved through team-led action planning.
LindaHere are some action team stats and facts. As I mentioned, these are not intact work teams but a collection of employees who donât regularly work together. Most likely, they donât know each other. Thatâs the adhoc dynamic.Team size varies by the project. An enterprise-wide project would likely involve more members than a project focused on a particular site or department.Keep membership primarily at the associate or individual contributor level. We recommend 80% of the team members be non-managers, front-line employees, both hourly and salaried. And the remaining 20% be first-line supervisors. Ensure diversity by a variety of demographic factors, relevant to your workforce. Members should be volunteers, identified by peers or self-nominations, not political appointments. We generally conduct a one to two week period for collecting nominations. Final selection of team members should include several senior leaders (not just the team sponsor) plus some middle managers.The team should hold weekly work sessions during regular business hours, not on unpaid time after work. Team work schedules should be developed with specific milestones and tasksâand they should be shared widely across the organization so both the team memberâs direct manager as well as their co-workers can see whatâs happening.
LINDACollaboration doesnât come naturally or easily. And in many organizations, the mode of working that I just outlined is very new. Adaption of these techniques is what functional leadersâlike the communication and hr professionals on this webcastâshould do.Help leaders learn to let go and trust the thinking and recommendations of action teams. Help them to openly discuss the issues and problem areas cited by measurement dataâand make it safe for others to talk about them as well.You should attend some action team meetings. Listen and learn from the viewpointsâand resist from managing the problem solving process.Also, provide platforms to showcase teamsâ progress and accomplishments. Let the team do the writing or talking. You can provide the air time or web time or print space in the organizationâs media that you manage. Have the team integrate into existing platforms before starting something new. Let me hand off now to Eric who will take you through the 5th C of our model: Continuous Improvement.
ERICMeasurement is inextricably linked to continuous improvement, so letâs talk about where all the fuel from your measurement program is going.
ERICFirst, you canât wait 12 months to assess the follow-up to the improvement plans that come from collaboration through action teams and senior leaders.You need a steady stream of data that will help you keep accountability, momentum, direction and progress in check. Iâll show you some tools that we use with Dulye & Co. clients to plan and pulse engagement long after the survey period.These tools ensure follow-through of the Plan-Do-Check-Act model that underlies continuous improvement. A measurement program that goes beyond the survey must adhere to continuous improvement principles.
ERICSo after we conclude one of our larger baseline measurements the report contains a 3-pronged action plan and the third prong is about continuing the measurement process.In the above example weâre recommending a follow-up measurement to one just preformed in order to track against the rich baseline data just collected, a smaller Pulse Check style measurement to capture timely data over the next weeks and months, and finally a Text-message based measurement initiative to reach a key population of the workforce that types more often with their thumbs than finger tips.The key takeaway here is that this plan becomes the foundation for a program that helps calibrate the actions resulting form your baseline measurement.
EricSo, letâs put the plan-do-check-act model into actionâŚYou are going to be sourcing pulse check feedback from multiple areas because some of these action plans will take a year to fully implement, not everything can be done in 2 months â and you canât wait until the next survey, or full implementation of the plan. Snapshots, monthly, weekly, quarterly will tell you whatâs working and whatâs not.Looking at this, you may think âsurvey fatigueâ, but we can say with confidence that survey fatigue is a symptom of when the value of a measurement program hasnât been communicated, and results have not been shared with those who provided the many inputs. And we develop all of our Pulse Check measurements as low-hassle, ultra convenient and non-intrusive data collectors.
ERICHereâs an example of a simple 5-question Pulse Check form that employees complete online. Itâs short and automatically resizes to fit smaller screen sizes when accessed from an iPhone or BlackBerry â thatâs a convenience more people are coming to expect in return for their feedback.Youâll notice we use a simple 4-point rating scale and also include some demographic questions at the end.
ERICRecently we setup a measurement portal for a client that allows them to view online reports, like the one pictured above, for measuring effectiveness of a series of small-group conversations with senior leadership.The convenience has to cut both ways, for the one providing feedback, and the person interested in the data.These online dashboards are updated in real-time and are accessed through a simple link to a secure portal we created to view each of the dozens of reports that are live within 12-24 hours of receiving the data.Although the report is accessed online, the measurement is taken using a paper pulse check form that is then faxed to us for analysis â so thereâs a really powerful mix of paper and online methods going on here in order to meet the expectations of all your measurement stakeholders.Why is this important, because continuous improvement requires everyone get on board â and that usually means convenience for all concerned.
ERICPerhaps the ultimate in non-intrusive measurement is passive measurement, meaning you donât actually have to ask for any data.The above examples are taken from an ongoing weekly analysis of a clientâs SharePoint communications portal, where we identify content thatâs hitting the mark and use that to fuel the continuous improvement of their strategic communications.If youâre programs are leveraging email and/or intranet-based communications, incorporating the analytics data and web traffic stats is a real source of value for continuous improvement.
EricOkay, before your eyes roll a full 360 from all the tech talk, letâs close out this section by shifting gears to low tech.There are plenty of powerful, face-to-face techniques that we use with clients to go beyond the survey:Hall talk includes providing a group of discussion leaders some discussion starters to use in their informal interactions with employees.Management huddles are quick, 15-minute stand-up meetings where managers cover 3 key messages and solicit feedback from the group and then use that feedback to fuel the next huddle.Leadership listening sessions involving getting a member of the senior leadership team out with a small to mid-size group of employees and leaving the powerpoints at the door. One of the action teams we work with instituted this into a monthly breakfast with Barbara event and use the feedback as part of their measurement program.
EricLetâs move on to our 6th and final C: Celebration.Recognizing the contributions of othersâespecially associates and front-line managers who you are bringing into the fold of this much more inclusive and collaborative measurement programâis essential.What are some practices that weâve used with success.
ERICThis client example leverages both collaboration and recognition through cross-site dialogue and best practice swaps.Twice a month Dulye & Co. facilitates a webcast that pulls together representatives from a national network of action teams representing more than a dozen business sites, with company executives, local site management and other guest speakers to share success stories, best practices and big picture improvement opportunities for that organization. During these webcasts, action team members have direct conversations with business presidents--they get to discuss whatâs happening with the company and customers, and well as hear, first-hand, compliments about the local solutions that teams have introduced.Since these guest appearances happen on a rotating basis, the âcostâ in time is very low, but feedback data from these webcasts show the practice is high impact and motivating to employees.Itâs not often this kind of collaboration happens across the entire enterprise, but it regularly surfaces what were only previously thought of as isolated issues.
LINDAThanks Eric. Other great ideas for recognizing progress appear hereâall of them successfully used by our Rolls Royce client.Among them are employee-led presentations at company town hall meetings, leader offsites, and quarterly business reviews.Hourly and non-exempt, action team members also have been featured speakers at major industry conferences and customer forums. As you can see from the visual on this page, team members have been featured in external publicity. You see Brad and Maurice on the cover of Incentives business magazine. Both are hourly workers who served as team co-leaders.And these employees have been tapped to be tour guides for visits by VIPs from their corporation, outside industry, customers and local community. All of this recognition gives authenticity and credibility to the programâand simultaneously serves as tremendous motivation to the front-line folks that youâve asked to own the program.
LindaHereâs how our Thermo Fisher Scientific client put all 6 Cs together in a measurement program that has changed engagement and leadership communication practices âas well as earned a 2010 Gold Quill. A company wide employee survey indicated improvement was needed in leadership communicationâspecifically, communicating the big picture of company goals and performance, and customizing the message for nearly 200 global sites.A high priority area identified by data plus the need for cost efficiencies, were Town Hall Meetings. As you know, these meetings are a large overhead expense. At ThermoFisher, Town Halls were generally held quarterly but without any performance guidelines, standards or shared requirements. That needed to change. The improvement program was jointly sponsored by corporate and site line of business leaders, HR and Communications managers, and process improvement managers. An employee action team process began, first in pilot fashion at 2 sites, and then expanded globally. Action teamsâwith the help of senior leader sponsors and process improvement facilitatorsâcreated solutions that worked all 3 Vs: visuals from leaderâs communications style to meeting logistics; vocals from audio capabilities, real-time questions from employees and the sound of leadersâ voices; and verbals from senior leaders key messages at the Town Hall meeting to supervisors messages long after the meeting at team huddles. Leader coaching occurred in several formats including global webcasts, discussions at leader forums, 1-on-1 sessions and an online portal with standard tools and guidelines.Solutions have been tracked and pulsed for their effectiveness using online and paper tools, specifically pulse checks integrated into town hall meetings and leadership forums, and hall talk checks by action teams.
LINDAOngoing pulsing has uncovered that the fixes to the Thermo Fisher Scientific Town Hall Meeting program and associated senior leadership communication tools are working.This measurement completed by site leaders one year after the programâs start shows significant gains in employee engagement and live, 2-way communicationsâwhich were two, low-rated dynamics in the original baseline measurement.Even attendance at meetingsâwhich is not mandatoryâhas spiked.
LINDAHereâs more data to show the progress of the Thermo Fisher improvement program.Results from a pulse check of senior leadersâwhich was conducted during a leadership forumâ rate the value of the tools and process guidelines that define their new Town Hall Meeting and Leadership Communications program.94 Percent said that the 60 or 90 minute Town Hall Meeting that they fund is providing a valuable and valued return on the investment.94 Percent said the meeting forum generated a valuable source of feedback. No more periods of silence when the call for questions is sounded.When you can prove value like this, youâve moved from drone activity to a strategic initiative with ownership and engagement. You can access a case study of the award winning Thermo Fisher Scientific program on the Dulye & Co. website at www.dulye.com.
LINDAEric and I have covered a lot of ground in this webcast.As you maneuver through the 6 C model for going beyond the survey, our advise is donât try to tackle it all.Focus on one or two areas, get momentum, then expand.Think about what you should manage with internal resources and what you should import from a third-party expert like usâŚand Iâve listed our areas of expertise on the right side of this chart.Focus on what you do bestâand advance through internal and external partnerships.
LINDAEric, Iâll now turn it back to you to hear some of the questions that youâve been receiving from our webcast participants.(Eric now takes over)Hi Linda,Here are about 4 questions topics we can have ready to go. The first one is that email exchange about the scale, the others are from submitted questions by attendees.Bodie: Interested in best practices for measuring communication (such as videos and webcasts) delivered over the web.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Hi there âI see in your surveys you are using a 4 point scale, more or less. Which I like. However our OD folks typically insist that we have a 5 point scale and allow for âneither agree or disagreeâ â or those types of non-committal responses. What are your thoughts on this?Thank youJackieJackie BartolettiDirector, CommunicationsDisney/ABC Television Group818.460.6080/8460.6080~~~~~~~Hi Jackie, thanks for your question and participation today.If I had a dollar for every time I've debated this question with somebody, I could buy a clone of myself to debate it for me.Here's my perspective -- with an offer to schedule a separate online meeting or call to go more in-depth:The scale is a called a Likert scale and a 4-point Likert scale is called a "forced Likert."The primary argument for the 5-point Likert is that it captures data on situations where the question doesn't apply, or the respondent doesn't have feelings about something.And in a perfect world, the ideal respondent to a measurement can quickly recall her level of agreement for any array of prompts.But, we've found that after implementing all kinds of scales, the forced Likert does one thing very well: it serves as a quick internal pause for the respondent to really reflect on their feelings for that prompt.That quick pause can mean all the difference when a measurement faces the challenges of people rushing to fill something out, or people not wanting to assess their feelings to various metrics.It also helps in situations where you're asking questions about new things, that maybe respondents haven't considered before, and you don't want to give them a FastPass to the next item.Lastly, to mitigate what some perceive as the downside of this approach, we often include a statement that if a question doesn't apply to you, please leave it blank and skip to the next item.I'm a big fan of academic-style, rigorous research, but in the nitty gritty of the workplace where data collection is always less controlled than we'd like, the forced Likert as well as our other real-workplace optimized practices have proven more robust.Thanks for your question, please contact me if you're interested in setting a complimentary consultation, or if you have any other questions.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Gunther:Very interested in finding out what "closed-loop approach to measurement" is.Also interested in the link between survey data and communication programs. Q: How does this process scale down to smaller businesses (e.g. an organization that hasn't yet done an official employee survey)? I'm concerned especially with regard to the team implementing this process and trying to allocate resources while staying thorough.::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Tyler: Q: Please talk some more about presenting unvarnished raw results to leaders. I have experienced ridicule and derision after presenting unpopular results to execs.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Ann:Q: What time commitment should I plan for in coordinating Employee Action Teams. I only have 2 people (including me) in my department to run everything.
EricCLOSING COMMENTSThis concludes todayâs webcast. Thank you for your participation. As a reminder, You will be receiving Lindaâs final charts from todayâs program in an email from me.Thanks again for your participation, and we look forward to helping you with your communication challenges in the future. To end this call simply hang up your phone or close the webinar software.
