1. Start career development on day one.

Introduce a robust on-boarding program that integrates new hires into their new job and the organization and lays the groundwork for success and growth. Career support should be part of that robust program. Start career discussions very soon, even before the first day, if possible. Make sure new employees get acquainted with the key jobs, career paths, and available career resources. You assessed their capabilities during the selection process, don’t lose that assessment. Use it as a starting point for further assessment and discovery about their talents and career goals in the first few months of employment. Maintain an ongoing dialogue with the employee to keep apprised of how things are going, what’s working, what’s not working. Modify the support provided to leverage the talent, to give them confidence, to make them successful.

2. Match career paths with the unique capabilities and aspirations of individuals.

Map out several possible career paths in the organization that will allow professional growth. Help your people find their way to the path that’s the best fit. Getting a good fit starts with an assessment of performance over time and an estimate of potential. Accurately make those assessments and provide people with the candid feedback that will help them realistically assess their career options. Remember potential is not the same as performance. Teach your managers the difference and help them learn to accurately assess both performance and potential. This is important for career coaching, development and support. Your professionals on a technical career path are different from those on a general management career path. They need to be treated differently, and developed differently and supported differently.

3. Give Managers the skills they need to provide career support.

You need to help your management team continuously with growth and learning. Devote as much energy to training the skills of managing and developing people as to technical skills training. The best managers are expert coaches. They have finely tuned listening skills, they have meaningful conversations that help employees understand what needs to be accomplished, how behaviors impact others and what’s possible to achieve in the future. These conversations raise self-awareness in others. They ask questions that encourage involvement and promote a sense of ownership. They motivate, get others fired up to set and meet challenging goals. All these management behaviors benefit employees while also engaging employees and driving organizational performance. Such behaviors should be taught and practiced in your management development programs. Ensure those managers are very knowledgeable about the key jobs, career paths and the available career resources so they can readily answer questions and point employees in the right direction. Educate managers about the value of moving talent across organizational boundaries for development. Reward managers who promote their best talent as candidates for developmental assignment. Counsel those who resist and are protective of talent.

4. Dedicate organizational resources to career development.

Career support is an important driver of employee engagement and warrants formal structure, staffing and budget. Formal structure means space, technology, and resources. Consider establishing a career center, providing career counseling services, establishing a library of related materials, book articles, web resources, overviews of the most significant jobs and career paths in the organization, as well as a directory of career support services. Conduct career development seminars, webinars and brown bag lunch sessions that feature executives speaking about careers in the firm and outside experts speaking about general career growth and development strategies. Partner with local educational institutions. Encourage and prepare all managers to have meaningful career discussions, especially with motivated top performers. Remember, things that are important get funding!

5. Recognize and reward employee initiative.

Empowerment is preferable to dependence and that principle should guide your career support initiatives – design them to enable individuals to climb into the driver’s seat and take control of their destiny. Highlight educational achievements in the employee newsletter, on the intranet, etc. Run personal interest stories that provide some personal details about the sacrifices individuals made to achieve their goals. Celebrate initiatives, celebrate great effort and hard work. Doing so will inspire others, help drive a high-performance culture and positively impact employee engagement.

6. Employ technology to remove friction from the career support process.

Explore how talent management software suites can empower managers and employees. These web-based applications can support all phases of talent management: recruitment and selection, performance management and alignment, learning and development, compensation and total rewards, and deployment and succession. Studies show that organizations that use these tools have more effective talent management practices that translate into improved organizational performance. From the employees’ perspective, tools enabling them to be able to maintain personal profiles, view available positions in the organization, create and align performance goals, find and register for internal development opportunities, launch online learning applications, manage learning transcripts, apply for tuition reimbursement and create development plans in their current role and prepare for future roles. Managers benefit as well from the ability to track employee progress against performance and development goals. Technology is your friend. Embrace it – it can greatly enhance your career management efforts.

The post Six Savvy Action Plans to Increase Engagement Through Professional Growth appeared first on TalentMap.

The difficulty of employee engagement survey action planning might come as a surprise. It takes a champion or three to make it happen. A good many champions of employee engagement have wrestled with some of the best oppositional managers. These naysayers are everywhere.

Getting management to roll up their sleeves post-survey may seem far more taxing than it was, on reflection, to sell your executive leadership team on the merits of an employee engagement survey. In those earlier days, you could point to supportive literature more plentiful than there are days in a decade; scientific studies, academic papers, strategic business reports all praising this tool of the HR trade.

Deciding on strategy, selecting the right kinds of questions, developing formats and rolling out the survey, well, all that seemed relatively easy too.  Comparatively speaking. Again, all kinds or viable resources showed you “how to” design and execute employee surveys, topic by topic, step by step.

Now, the survey’s behind you and results are in. Employees have had their say. They’re ready and eager for change.  You’re ready and eager to move into action. But your real change agents – team leaders, supervisors, front-line and middle managers, even some senior executives aren’t all on board.  Questions and objections surface like oil on vinegar. What do these numbers mean to me? My team? My department? My division? What am I meant to do with this information? Where do I start? We don’t have time for this kind of thing. It’s not relevant to what we do.  Meetings are too time-consuming; productivity will suffer.

Unfortunately, there’s a dearth of information to guide you through next steps.  Nothing as prolific as the resources that helped get you to this point. That’s where post-survey consulting and professionally facilitated action planning workshops can ease the transition from thought to action.

TalentMap has observed three common post-survey difficulties and recommends you prepare for these hurdles before they become full-stop obstacles.

1. Differing views and priorities

You can anticipate three distinct management responses post-survey

• Those who buy-in completely and unequivocally
• Those who don’t (surveys are a waste of resources, why do we even bother)
• Those somewhere in between who cite time as their chief concern.

Your number one job is to find who sits where and to coach them accordingly.

2. Inexperience

Your executive leaders usually have the advantage of high-level presentations and reports that delve into findings and pinpoint actionable areas. For the rest of management that’s not necessarily the case. Turning employee engagement survey action planning loose on the whole organization means making sure basic knowledge and skills are covered and in place across all levels of management, from how to read and interpret, understand and communicate survey findings to running effective meetings and smoothing the way for change.

3. Trade-off thinking

“Yeah but… if we do this we’ll forfeit that.  It’s either our regular work or employee engagement.” You know both co-exist quite nicely and lead to improvements. It’s a question of sharing this knowledge convincingly and demonstrating how to get there.

Don’t sweat these difficulties. Just know what to expect and plan your next steps. Prepare to wrestle down objections and step into the fray ready for action – with TalentMap coaching from your corner.

The post Plan for Engagement Survey Action Planning Difficulties appeared first on TalentMap.

One of the most perilous is leadership’s big silent hush following an employee feedback survey.

That quiet inaction can be a real killer.

The whole purpose behind polling is to uncover information for future action planning. Earliest accounts of statistical gathering date back to ancient Babylonian times.¹ You’d think, we’d have learned how to act on data by now.  Sorry to say, that’s not always the case.

In 2016 Digital Content Next reported 87% of news organizations monitor website metrics like page views or unique visitors – according to 525 editors and directors from U.S. newspapers, television and radio stations, and news websites.  But in many newsrooms, that’s where it stops.²

Track Records Talk

Don’t ask questions if your organization isn’t ready to hear the answers.

And definitely, don’t ask questions if your organization isn’t prepared to make plans and take action.

Numerous employee engagement studies indicate a lack of engagement survey follow-up is one of the biggest mistakes organizations make. Employees need to know their opinions matter and expect to see management act on survey results. Putting survey results on the back burner or disregarding them altogether leaves employees stewing over why they even bothered. That deafening silence is organizational self-sabotage.

What, exactly, does survey action planning look like?

• A process in which a manager discusses survey results with their workgroup. Then the group collectively selects specific issues to work on and improve (Gallup)
• Practical and manageable steps using one or any combination of approaches: Bottom Up, Top Down, Cascading, Process Owned, Survey Action Team led (CEB/Gartner)
• A series of steps, tasks, and processes that require effective coordination of people, politics, and resources; the strategic link between action and performance sits at the core, from which everything else emanates (TalentMap).

Though descriptions and methods may vary slightly, a strategic, organization-wide step-by-step process – more monumental than the survey itself – is commonly viewed as a fundamental factor. Anything less, is less than effective.

Make it Happen

More often than not, HR people find themselves spearheading efforts as change champions. This stewardship involves rallying the ranks (leaders and all); making sure the entire employee population understands their roles and responsibilities in the action planning process. It means showing employees their insights don’t vanish into thin air but rather, make things happen visibly and measurably through post-survey action planning and implementation.

“Show me the money!” Tom Cruise’s Jerry McGuire character demanded.

“Show me you heard!” is the call of your employees.

¹ The Rise of Survey Sampling 2009 – Jelke Bethlehem – Statistics Netherland Discussion Paper 

² https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2016/08/29/survey-finds-newsrooms-are-monitoring-metrics-not-acting-on-them/

The post Engagement Survey Follow-up Actions Speak Louder Than Words appeared first on TalentMap.

To identify employee engagement action planning priorities, consider the following questions:

1. What areas of improvement will result in the most strategic gains for the organization?
2. Do any areas of improvement already align with the organization’s current strategic direction?
3. Is the change being considered reasonably weighted between its positive impact and its cost to implement?
4. Will the organization see a real change by investing the least amount of funds possible?
5. Or will the change be very expensive and not do much to enhance engagement?
6. Is the organization willing to deliver on what it is promising?

Here are a few examples of quick wins:

• Arranging for all employees to meet one-on-one with their managers every two weeks so that they get the opportunity to be heard
• Making room in the budget to invest in employee learning activities
• Creating stronger onboarding processes to improve employee engagement for new employees
• Having the CEO conduct systematic fireside chats or informal meetings with employees to discuss and clarify the mission, vision, and goals of the organization.

Responding to Change

Some people get uncomfortable about the very idea of change. Change can be scary and disruptive to work. But with the right approach and the right attitude, change presents a wealth of opportunities.

Making change is a challenge. Can you rise to the occasion? Instead of seeing an obstacle, think of it as an opportunity. Plus, when people are onboard with the new ideas, they’ll be more willing to support the change. Remember the following points to help transitions go more smoothly:

• Be flexible: The better the organization and its employees can adapt to change, the greater your chances of being successful in the new situation. Perhaps certain processes are being adjusted or even scrapped altogether? Focusing on how the new processes build off of the familiar ones, and how they improve the workplace is helpful. Encourage employees to realize that this is an exciting learning opportunity and that the changes they make will have a big effect on the organization’s performance.
• Learn from mistakes: If the organization is trying new things, expecting everything to go off without a hitch is not realistic. People make mistakes, and that’s okay. In organizations that embrace learning employees are encouraged to think about their decisions and actions, and then share any lessons they learn with others.
• Celebrate success: Whenever you reach a goal, a milestone, or learn something new, celebrate it! All the effort involved in the survey process, action planning, and putting changes into action is a huge undertaking, so recognize the good work.

Monitoring, Following Up, and Sustaining Change

Your organization intends to make change that will last so that you’ll have better outcomes on the next engagement survey and improve the organization’s overall performance. Answering these questions will help keep your efforts on track:

• Will the team benefit from the support of an objective third party? Bringing in an outside expert such as your survey partner can help to focus the group.
• Does the plan detail the responsibilities and accountabilities for employees, management, and executives? Make sure accountabilities are clear.
• Does the plan include a clear strategy for how to measure improvement and change?
• If differences come up, how will the team reach a consensus?
• Is every member of the team getting an equal opportunity to give input?
• Has the organization identified benchmarks and set targets for surpassing those benchmarks?
• Are you making reasonable promises (under-promising) with the intent to surpass expectations (over-deliver)?
• Have you set clear goals for improvements?
• Are the action plans aligned with your operations planning, budgeting, and personal goal-setting processes?
• Are you committed to the model of: survey, analyze, take action, and repeat?

End-to-end support

Employee engagement is not a one-off project – it is an investment in the organization’s future success. But if you’re wondering how your busy organization will make time for this investment, you’ll likely benefit from a professional survey partner who will see the project through and make sure you have the tools to make it part of your regular practice. Full-serve consulting support gives the process credibility and gives you the most value.

When you choose to work with an experienced survey partner, you get the following benefits:

• A proven survey instrument and an external benchmark against which survey results can be compared
• Knowledge of best practices for the survey process and subsequent employee engagement
• Post-survey support and experience in employee engagement action planning, so your team isn’t left scratching their heads, wondering what to do next
• The know-how to keep the survey project on budget and moving on time

Knowing what to do with the survey results can be daunting but with end-to-end support, you won’t let any lag time creep in between doing the survey and taking concrete action. Getting support after the survey keeps the momentum going.

The post Employee Engagement Action Planning: ‘Quick Wins’ That Can be Implemented After Your Survey appeared first on TalentMap.

There’s no universal solution when it comes to post-survey action planning. Essentially tactics fall into three distinct categories. Many organizations have success mixing methods. Choosing the right approach depends on your organization’s corporate culture, leadership style, the abilities of your different managers and a compendium of other circumstances.

1.Strategic Breakthrough

Imagine yourself (read CEO) and your fellow gardeners (executive team) surveying the vegetable patch you’ve worked so hard to grow (the organization). You’ve been monitoring soil conditions, plant growth, where the sun falls and for how long from your different vantage points and decide it’s time for radical layout changes. The expectation is a better yield.  Question is, what do you pull, leave or move?

The strategic breakthrough approach to post-survey action planning lies expressly with your organization’s top leaders, usually when a significant organizational transformation is in the wings. A sophisticated analysis of employee survey data identifies critical strategies likely to yield the greatest employee engagement impact on performance. Strategic breakthrough action planning serves as the catalyst for change.

2.Top Down

This time imagine yourself (again read CEO) with a watering can in hand standing above a garden plant (your organization). As you tip the can water cascades across the top leaves and branches (executive/senior management and their divisions). Droplets continue to trickle…down the stem of the plant…to other branches… blending one into the next (lower level management/departments) eventually reaching the roots (your front line).

Essentially top-down post-survey action planning originates from the perspective of senior leadership but encompasses participation from your entire organization. Action plans align with high-level strategic goals. Each level of the organization thereafter responds to the dribble-down from preceding management ranks, fine-tuning their own work-group employee engagement action plans within the context of the broader organizational picture. Each decision and action trickles into the next, and so on.

3.Bottom Up

This time imagine placing a hose at the base of a tree. Water absorbs at the roots climbs up the trunk and onward to the tree top.

In the bottom-up approach, post-survey action planning originates from the front lines or grassroots of your organization – where employees interact with customers. Survey action plans are tailored to fit employee engagement touchpoints specific to each workgroup, department, and division, feeding across and up your organization.

Years of observation and research has convinced TalentMap the bottom up approach builds buy-in far greater than other approaches.  The key operative is for senior management to contribute in a visibly participatory, supportive manner. Here’s how to build better buy-in from the bottom up:

Here’s how to build better buy-in from the bottom up:

Ask your CEO to present complete organization-wide results as well as drilled down department or workgroup results to front-line, mid-management and senior leaders in a collective setting.

• Pay attention to how information is delivered so that no one is slighted or put off
• Don’t bring attention to any highlights or key actionable items, leave these observations and decisions to the bottom-up process
• Set the stage for what deliverables are expected: What an action plan looks like, what it should include, i.e. a handful of quick wins (actions that require no resources, are easy to implement and generate immediate results), one or two long-term, high-impact actions, alignment with corporate/organization goals.

Outline training and support mechanisms to help workgroup leaders and managers

• Establish communication methods and schedules to share results
• Support weak managers (those flagged by survey results with lower scores)

A unique Jumpstart Engagement Workshop that uses a range of techniques to kick start bottom up action planning is available from TalentMap. During this one-day session, groups of 25 to 50 managers and employees investigate how to generate, prioritize and plan viable action plans.

As action plans are completed at workgroup levels and roll up the organization, collect and review plans with senior management to spot trends and identify resources.

• Work with your leadership team to select one to three actionable items from this bottom-up process.

Communicate at every turn so employees know they’ve been heard, understand their input is driving change and see concrete evidence of that input leading to positive results.

• Make it clear your leadership team is committing resources and personal effort to see actionable items through to fruition
• Provide details about the selected actions, resources, and timelines
• Issue updates and outcomes that link back to survey results; employees need to see this connection to become more engaged
• Showcase success stories: invite workgroup managers or designates to share their employee engagement survey initiatives at department meetings, in employee newsletter articles, intranet posts, and other forums. This small bit of fanfare can have a big impact, “as a powerful way to recognize staff and build a culture of improvement.”¹

Consider issuing a pulse survey six months into action planning to gauge i) whether employees recognize these developments are connected to their employee survey feedback and ii) how they perceive developments. Are improvements occurring? Is engagement on the rise?

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