Org Development and Culture - Employee Engagement

Question 1

What is the purpose of assessing employee engagement initiatives?

Answer 1

• To determine if the right strategy is driving the right issue
• And whether strategies are achieving learning, performance, and business objectives

Question 2

4 best practices that organizations use to determine the value of engagement efforts

Answer 2

• Define engagement in realistic, everyday terms
• Coach managers and hold them accountable for employee engagement
• Invest time and resources
• Use ongoing measures

Question 3

3 most common ways to measure employee engagement

Answer 3

• use an employee engagement survey provider
• measure employee engagement internally
• use a hybrid approach

Question 4

What are some examples of “always on” measurement for employee engagement?

Answer 4

• pulse survey tools
• open anonymous feedback systems used to rate managers, execs, or issues in real time

Question 5

What is the value of always-on employee engagement measurement?

Answer 5

• creates a “listening environment”
• gives leaders critical insight in what’s working and not working operationally

Question 6

What is the primary purpose of measuring engagement?

Answer 6

Not just to have an index but to address the broader challenge of building culture

Question 7

What’s the best way to construct a strategy for measuring engagement?

Answer 7

Using multiple assessment tools, methods, and processes

Question 8

Characteristics of the best assessment system

Answer 8

• progress-oriented
• trustworthy
• easy to work with
• individualized
• balance between “nudges” and “nagging” in reminding employees to participate

Question 9

In a typical engagement eval process, orgs deploy annual surveys to create a benchmark. What are the pitfalls with this approach?

Answer 9

• no strategy or decision-making for aligning, leveraging, using, and sharing engagement data
• poorly constructed survey instruments
• concerns about confidentiality or anonymity
• failure to communicate results
• failure to support managers to act on results
• poor follow-up and follow-through with recommended actions

Question 10

What does it mean to define engagement in realistic, everyday terms?

Answer 10

Make it meaningful for day to day experiences; describe success using powerful and emotive language; woven into daily interactions

Question 11

What does it mean to coach managers and hold them accountable for engagement?

Answer 11

Managers are primary drivers of engagement; provide coaching to managers on building engagement plans, accountability, and measuring progress

Question 12

What does it mean to invest time and resources in employee engagement eval?

Answer 12

Invest in both internal and external processes to make sure the right criteria are targeted and that strategies are making the right impact on outcomes

Question 13

what does it mean to use ongoing engagement eval measures?

Answer 13

there is a regular cadence for collecting and analyzing ongoing measures rather than relying on a “rear view” annual engagement survey

Question 14

What services does an external employee engagement survey provider provide?

Answer 14

the provider designs the survey, manages the logistics and software, and reports results to the company on a high level

Question 15

What are the benefits to an internal employee engagement eval?

Answer 15

orgs own their data and can use prior year’s results to improve survey design

Question 16

What are some examples of engagement eval survey constructs?

Answer 16

• engagement factors
• org commitment
• job satisfaction

Question 17

What is a hybrid approach to engagement eval?

Answer 17

annual engagement is measured by the survey provider while pulse engagement surveys are given by the company throughout the year

Hybrid approaches include surveys, pulse polls, or questionnaires for specific employee segments (such as analyzing absenteeism in a specific dept)

Question 18

What is org culture?

Answer 18

a system of values, beliefs, and behaviors that influence how work is accomplished within an organization

Question 19

What is the foundation for an engaging culture? (3)

Answer 19

• a clear set of values
• a compelling mission
• strategies, policies, and performance-based practices that allow employees to reach their full potential at work

Question 20

What is the best way to create an engaging culture?

Answer 20

by helping leaders elevate employee engagement from an isolated, stand-alone program to a core business strategy

Question 21

Compensation and employee engagement

Answer 21

• An important factor, but doesn’t increase engagement as a stand-alone
• What’s more important is a total rewards package (compensation, benefits, work-life flexibility, performance, recognition, growth, and development)

Question 22

What factor in a total rewards package is one of the most impactful on employee engagement?

Answer 22

Recognition

Question 23

What are some examples of employee recognition?

Answer 23

• social reward systems (tools that give people points or ways to reward others)
• regular thank-you activities
• unspoken mantra of appreciating everyone from top to bottom

Question 24

What are common elements of highly engaged cultures?

Answer 24

• alignment of business and engagement strategies
• A philosophy that emphasizes a core purpose
• Formal programs and policies
• Open proactive, leader-driven communication about engagement
• promoting collaboration and inclusion
• A regular cadence for assessment and follow-up
• Leaders who are expected and empowered to build engagement
• Demonstration of the impact of engagement

Question 25

What are some barriers to alignment between business and engagement strategies?

Answer 25

Obtaining adequate time, money, and other resources for engagement efforts can be difficult, especially if TD doesn't demonstrate the link between engagement and strategic business outcomes.

Question 26

What are some barriers to an org philosophy that emphasizes a core purpose?

Answer 26

Viewing engagement as a stand-alone program or something to be measured once a year. Some organizations struggle to shift from being profit-driven to being mission-driven.

Question 27

What are some barriers to formal programs and policies?

Answer 27

Organizations may treat engagement as an afterthought or as an addition to other practices or programs rather than a formal effort.

Question 28

What are some barriers to open proactive, leader-driven communication about engagement?

Answer 28

Organizations may communicate only on a “need to know” basis and not give ample opportunities for employees to provide input or ask questions.

Question 29

What are some barriers to collaboration and inclusion?

Answer 29

Organizations may have a narrow focus on performance, rigid work schedules, unclear strategic direction, or redundant responsibilities that hinder collaboration and inclusion.

Question 30

What are some barriers to a regular cadence for assessment and follow-up?

Answer 30

- Poorly constructed, administered assessment tools - Unclear measurement goals; no plan for using results - Not communicating results in a timely, transparent manner - Not supporting leaders and managers to act on results can prevent effective assessment and follow-up.

Question 31

What are some barriers to leaders who are expected and empowered to build engagement?

Answer 31

- Struggling to define who is responsible for engagement - Failing to provide proper guidance to managers about their role - Failing to empower frontline employees to innovate or execute daily tasks

Question 32

What are some barriers to demonstrating impact?

Answer 32

- May not have standard measures of success in place for engagement initiatives - May be challenged to allocate enough resources for tracking the business value of engagement-related activities - May lack the right level of data or the right level of analytical skill needed to link engagement scores to business outcomes

Question 33

What does it look like for there to be alignment between business and engagement strategies?

Answer 33

- can articulate the relationship between the two - engagement is a key business driver and performance indicator - orgs invest resources

Question 34

What does it look like for an org philosophy to emphasize a core purpose?

Answer 34

- mission, vision, values take precedent - orgs integrate engagement into mission-focused business initiatives

Question 35

What do formal programs and policies look like?

Answer 35

- formal programs and policies promote employee engagement and communicate it as a priority - integrate it with leadership development and diversity programs - recognize and reward valued behaviors

Question 36

What does open, proactive, leader-driven communication look like?

Answer 36

- meet informational needs - encourage open, transparent dialogue with leadership

Question 37

What does a structure that promotes collaboration and inclusion look like?

Answer 37

- embraces and enables DEI and collaboration through work-life balance, flexible working arrangements, open workplaces, and supportive org structure

Question 38

What does a regular cadence for assessment and follow-up look like?

Answer 38

- measured and monitored on an ongoing basis to provide relevant, timely, actionable data

Question 39

What does it look like for leaders to be held accountable for building engagement?

Answer 39

- leaders have clearly defined performance measures and outcomes related to engagement

Question 40

What does it look like to demonstrate the impact of engagement?

Answer 40

- take time to understand the value of implementing targeted engagement initiatives - Leaders define every decision related to engagement by its business impact