Post acquisition, the IT SME was looking to grow but was hit by recessionary forces. Employee motivation levels were low and attrition had reached crisis proportions. An analysis of internal enterprise social networks provided interesting insights to solve this very complex problem.

1. Enterprise Social Network Analysis – A Case Study KarthikeyanIyer Founder Director, Co-Crafter, Crafitti Consulting Karthikeyan.iyer@crafitti.com +91-9740533255

2. Context Predominantly, HR processes have been focused on the individual as the key unit. However, increasingly the network (teams) aspects of innovation are playing a critical role in new-age organizations that display learning, collaborative or emergent behavior. Organizations are using a lot of tools to facilitate this process – for instance knowledge management systems, collaboration portals and suites etc. But these are more focused on artifacts and not so much on how people connect and interact with each other. This is an exciting area for HR to play a role in innovation. May 24, 2011 2 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited

3. Crafitti’s Research A major area of Crafitti’s research is Enterprise Social Networks and their impact on business. These are formal and informal networks within an enterprise and they are dynamically formed, sustained and destroyed. People connect with each other at multiple levels and for multiple purposes. People also connect with others outside their enterprise. They act as mavens, connectors or salesmen (Tipping Point Model). Concepts like centrality and structural holes (from Social Network Analysis) can be used in organization design. The concept of “Wisdom of Crowds” also comes into play (e.g. how promising projects at Google bubble up to the surface). May 24, 2011 3 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited

4. The context in which the Enterprise Social Network Survey was conducted One of our customers, an SME in the software services space, had been recently acquired. With a deepening recession, the company was facing multiple challenges in the post-acquisition context Crafitti was engaged to facilitate a post-acquisition strategy for the company One of the most difficult challenges was on the employee side – getting leaner by reducing the team size but at the same time control the downward spiral of employee motivation, confidence and morale. A first phase of team reduction had not gone well with the employees. Attrition had risen to alarming levels. May 24, 2011 4 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited

5. Network Effects in an Enterprise Social Network context Multiple types, levels and strengths of relationships between employees Role based (team leader-team member, peer-peer) Propinquity (in the same team, same location) Homophily (similar academic background, shared industry experience) Relationship (friendship, marital) Key influencers or opinion leaders Employees who are most-approached, based on formal role definitions or based on perceived value Employees who are well connected to other employees in the network Employees who are frequent or strong communicators – impacting the spread of information in the network May 24, 2011 5 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited

6. Three types of people create Idea Tipping Points Connectors are those with wide social circles. Mavens are knowledgeable people. Salesmen are charismatic people with powerful negotiation skills. They exert "soft" influence rather than forceful power. The PROCESS of TIPPING POINTS The Law of the Few: Find out Connectors, Mavens and Salesmen – a few of these is what one idea needs to become an epidemic Stickiness: Ideas or products found attractive or interesting by others will grow exponentially for some time. The Power of Context: Human behavior is strongly influenced by external variables of context. May 24, 2011 6 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited

7. Competent Jerks and Lovable Fools Increasing competence Increasing Likability Source: Casciaro & Lobo, HBR May 24, 2011 7 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited

8. Net Promoter Score May 24, 2011 8 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited How Likely is it that you would recommend [brand or company X] to a friend or colleague? Extremely Likely Not at all likely Neutral 5 0 10

9. The Questionnaire May 24, 2011 9 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited

10. The Network May 24, 2011 10 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited The survey was answered by close to 80% of the total employee strength. Based on the inputs, the following employee social network emerged

11. What the symbols mean May 24, 2011 11 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited More than 2 years in the company More than 10 years in the company SHAPE Less than 10 years in the company More than 5 years in the company Passively satisfied Promoter Detractor COLOR NODE SIZE Frequency of communication about company SIZE In-degree – Number of people reaching a person for work related value LABEL SIZE

12. The Network May 24, 2011 12 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited Project cluster Connectors Maven Testing team Geographic clusters

13. Some surprises from the analysis of the Enterprise Social Network May 24, 2011 13 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited Many of the key opinion leaders were net detractors, leading to accelerated decline in the team morale Some of the youngest employees were net promoters but were invisible to the leadership Many of the perceived key opinion leaders (role based) were actually not key opinion leaders (as per the network)! To generate a tipping point for positive employee morale, net detractors had to be first converted to net promoters.

14. Emergent Action Based on the enterprise social network analysis, the following HR retention and morale improvement action plan was implemented: Young promoters were given additional responsibilities as cross-functional connectors between teams Concerns of key opinion leaders were understood in detailed one-on-one meetings. Action plans were created to address these concerns. Interestingly, one of the top recurring concerns of employees was the fact that the ground realities (as thrown up by the network analysis) of power and importance vested in a person by the network were not being reflected in the hierarchical role definition. Correspondingly, role definitions were reworked. Senior promoters were counseled to accept greater network responsibility as mavens, connectors or salesmen. The analysis also helped in clearly identifying the employees that need to retained. May 24, 2011 14 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited

15. Results Prior to this intervention, the company was receiving 10 resignation letters on an average every week! For an organization with just 150 employees this was disastrous, putting immense pressure on recruitment cycles, project delivery and most importantly team morale. Post intervention based on employee social network analysis, the attrition was immediately stemmed. Earlier, the company was letting go of employees who had a positive impact in the social network, thereby unwittingly accelerating the process of iteration Post intervention, key opinion leaders and net promoters were retained with a direct impact on overall employee morale May 24, 2011 15 © Crafitti Consulting Private Limited