ENGAGE2015: Cushing Anderson, Program Vice President of Project-Based Services at IDC, on developing your approach to employee communications and engagement. For more on the conference, visit http://www.guidespark.com/engage2015/. Follow GuideSpark on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook for up-to-date news.

1. Forging an Authentic Connection:
The value of “Purpose-Driven Engagement”
Cushing Anderson
Program VP

2. Forging an Authentic Connection:
The value of “Purpose-Driven Engagement”
§ Business and social trends are converging:
• Business imperatives
§ corporate social responsibility and
§ economic buying decisions that consider “social impact” or “sustainability”
• Employees
§ increasingly expressing a desire to do meaningful work at firms that are
socially responsible
§ Opportunity to connect business’s strategy and employees.
• Progressive organizations can dramatically increase both employee
productivity and corporate success at the intersection of these two
trends.
§ “Purpose-driven engagement”: a reinforcing bond between an
enterprise’s strategy and its workforce an aligned, productive and
innovative organization.
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IBM, GE,
Home
Depot

3. Examples?
The Imperative: § The case for change, the impact on
employees
§ Successful companies make frequent
changes – to products, target clients,
processes, and organization.
§ Allows the enterprise to iterate
rapidly, learn what works, and quickly
adjust to changing market conditions.
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Oracle Team
USA, Autos,
Airlines

4. The Imperative:
Frequency and Size of Change
33
% Sales Growth
% Growth of Fastest-growing
products
% Employee productivity
increase
% Profit Margin
% Revenue from new products
Employee Retention
Small Big
Frequent 24 21
Infrequent 20 17
Small Big
Frequent 27 24
Infrequent 26 24
Small Big
Frequent 22 16
Infrequent 17 15
Small Big
Frequent 30 23
Infrequent 25 20
Small Big
Frequent 25 20
Infrequent 19 16
Small Big
Frequent 66 58
Infrequent 71 81
Source: IDC Thought Leadership Practice Survey, December, 2014, n= varies by question from 1067 to 528
% change is cumulative change over prior 3 years; Retention rate is cumulative retention rate over prior 3 years
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5. Another Challenge:
Engagement keeps changing
What is “engagement”?
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6. Evolution of
Engagement
Evolution of
Work
Another Challenge:
Engagement keeps changing
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Evolution of Work and Employee Engagement
1920s 1950s 1970s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Age of
Manufacturing
{Ford}
Age of
Distribution
{IBM}
Age of
Information
{Microsoft}
Age of
Experience
{Apple}
Employee
Morale
Loyalty to
reduce turnover
Reduce stress
to reduce
turnover Incorporate “non-
traditional” work
schedules
Engage “Preferred self” to
activate full performance
Provide developmental
opportunities
Mentally and
emotionally invested
in their work to
increase
performance

7. Authentic Engagement
The Issues
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§ Core values are not commonly understood -
nor are they “core” to the employee
§ Accountability and transparency: Employees
want to see management setting the tone by
aligning values with actions.
§ Workforce mobility + Severe skills gaps
§ But engagement does not come from a “fun”
work environment.
Success is a product of purpose Not
Google Effect

8. Authentic Engagement
The Formula
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Culture of
Purpose
Culture of
Engagement
Purpose-
Driven
Engagement+ =

9. Creating a Culture of Purpose
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§ Organizations must
define a purpose that
operates on several
levels
• STRATEGIC & TACTICAL:
descriptive (what we do)
• MISSION: aspirational
(what we want to do)
• PURPOSE: inspirational
(why we do it)
What we
do
Culture
of
Purpose
Why we
do it
What we
want to
do
CVS Health

10. What we
do
Culture
of
Purpose
Why we
do it
What we
want to
do
Creating a Culture of Purpose
3 Steps
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Identify purpose1
Communicate it with
conviction2
Create awareness
among employees3

11. Creating a Culture of Engagement
40© IDC Visit us at IDC.com and follow us on Twitter: @IDC
Alignment
Culture of
Engagement
Opportunity
Involvement/
Contribution
Empowerment

12. Creating a Culture of Engagement
4 Steps
1. Cultivate a culture of contribution and
collaboration
2. Develop structures, processes and incentives
that support both purpose, and employee
embodiment of the purpose
3. Embed purpose in every
aspect of the business
4. Communicate strategic
intent and operational alignment
continuously
41© IDC Visit us at IDC.com and follow us on Twitter: @IDC
Alignment
Culture of
Engagement
Opportunity
Involvement/
Contribution
Empowerment
1
2
3
4
P&G Pampers

13. How do you create “Opportunities” for
your employees?
Creating a Culture of Engagement
Opportunity
§ Delegate –Delegate tasks, accountability and responsibility. This
promotes the development of management and leadership skills at every
level.
§ Embrace Change –Allow latitude for employees to make reasonable
mistakes in pursuit of improvement and innovation without fear of
punishment. Management must help employees and teams move past
failures towards future success.
§ Promote Internally First – Engagement,
performance and success must be rewarded
with appropriate opportunities.
§ Train – Opportunity often requires a
change in skills. Training can support either
professional or personal developmental needs.
42© IDC Visit us at IDC.com and follow us on Twitter: @IDC
Adapted from http://www.hamistergroup.com/index.php/insights/entries/creating-a-culture-of-opportunity
Alignment
Culture of
Engagement
Opportunity
Involvement/
Contribution
Empowerment

14. Creating a Culture of Engagement
Alignment
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Obvious
Contribution
Alignment
Specific
Contribution
Meaningful
Contribution
Organization Process Function
Role

15. Creating a Culture of Engagement
Alignment
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§ Alignment makes goals more
tangible and meaningful to
employees.
§ This helps management remain
visible and accountable
Obvious
Contribution
Alignment
Specific
Contribution
Meaningful
Contribution
Organization Process Function
Role
NASA,
Virgin Group

16. Creating Alignment
Requires Communication
45
When ideas are communicated effectively, people follow
and change.
— Nancy Duarte, Writer
You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them
across, your ideas won't get you anywhere.
— Lee Iacocca, American Businessman
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17. Creating Alignment
Requires Communication
46
Complete
Concise
Considerate
Concrete
§ Solves a problem
§ All the information needed
§ Doesn’t need to be “short”
§ But must be on point
§ Relevant
§ Contextual to needs of receiver
§ Specific
§ Timely
Continuous*
Consistent*
What’s Missing?
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Source: Scott M. Cutlip Effective Public Relations (1953)
*Me (just now)

18. Purpose Driven Engagement
Creating
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§ Identify purpose
§ Communicate with conviction
§ Create employee awareness
§ Cultivate contribution and collaboration
§ Support employee self-fulfillment in pursuit of purpose
§ Embed purpose everywhere
§ Communicate strategic intent and operational alignment continuously
§ Reinforce the relationship of every role to purpose of organization
§ Develop the skills needed to be successful in every employee
Key steps in to creating purpose driven engagement:
Create Purpose
Create Engagement
Create Alignment & Opportunity

19. Communicating Changes
48
Purpose Driven Engagement Maintaining
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§ Communication relating to changes often requires more
volume, through more channels, than enterprises plan for.
Push Strategy Push & Pull Pull Strategy

20. Purpose Driven Engagement Maintaining
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Communicating Changes
Push Strategy Push & Pull Pull Strategy
Regular newsletters,
posters, daily or
weekly briefings
"Blanket Coverage
means even the most
disengaged
employees will get the
message."
Regular, official
communication from
the top
Informed and
responsive middle
management or
centralized change
team
Answering ad hoc
questions and
concerns as they
arise
FAQ sites, keeping
middle managers
informed to act as
information conduits
for their teams
"If employees want
information they will
seek it out."
US Navy

21. Purpose Driven Engagement Maintaining – more
complicated
50
Push
Learning
Peer
Learning
Personal
Learning
Provide Promote
Pull
Learning
Courses
Personal
Forces
Personal
ChoicesResources
Goal:
Performance
LearnerCommitment
Business Value Source: Adapted from Jane Hart,
c4lpt.co.uk
Organizational
Purpose

22. Essential Guidance
§ The rate of change is accelerating and
will impact your employees and your
performance
§ Authentic engagement with the
enterprise mission can create
an aligned, productive and
innovative workforce
51
To improve is to change;
to be perfect is to change often.
— Winston Churchill
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23. Questions
52
For more information on the IT Education and Certification program and
published research please visit:
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=IDC_P41
Cushing Anderson
Program VP
Canderson@idc.com
508-988-6713
Or follow:
@CushingAnderson
@IDCwwservices
@IDC
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