This document outlines eight common drainers of employee engagement and provides recommended actions to address each drainer. The eight drainers are: 1) Ineffective Team Communication 2) Organizational Silos 3) Inconsistent Management 4) Leadership Vacuum 5) Lack of Empowerment 6) Misalignment of Total Rewards 7) Unclear Mission & Values 8) Resistance to Change. For each drainer, it identifies common challenges and provides three recommended solutions/actions to help improve employee engagement in that area. The overall document is meant to serve as a playbook for organizations to identify key engagement issues and take focused action to enhance engagement.

1. ACTION PLANNING
PLAYBOOK:
How to Move the Needle on Common
Drainers of Employee Engagement

2. Table of Contents
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I. Ineffective Team Communication
II. Organizational Silos
III. Inconsistent Management
IV. Leadership Vacuum Lack of Empowerment
V. Lack of Empowerment
VI. Misalignment of Total Rewards
VII. Unclear Mission & Values 18
VIII. Resistance to Change
PART 1.
PART 2.
WHY YOU SHOULD BE MORE FOCUSED IN
ACTIONING EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK
EIGHT COMMON DRAINERS OF EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT & RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k

3. PART I
WHY YOU SHOULD BE MORE
FOCUSED IN ACTIONING
EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK

4. #1 - Ineffective Team
Communication
#2 - Organizational Silos
Eight Common Drainers of Employee Engagement
Historically, businesses tend to collect all of the engagement data they can
by asking as many questions as possible in an effort to cover all of their
bases. As a result, companies have a tendency to collect too much, making it
difficult to take action. Compounding the issue, executives can have
unrealistic expectations requiring HR organizations to take action on all low
scoring areas for improvement.
The answer? Our research indicates that you should follow a process that
drives more specific focus. An approach that will assess key areas of
engagement highlighting the most relevant issues. With more focus on
trending topics, you will be able to scratch past the surface, drill down to the
root issue and create an action plan based on real data.
After reviewing more than 10,000 customer surveys, we have identified
eight common challenges with engagement that many companies face.
Communication is frequently the
lowest scoring indicator in
engagement surveying. Our data
shows that this is due to basic
communication needs that aren’t
being met at the employee level,
e.g., regular 1.x1’s, frequent
leadership updates, etc.
One of the most common
symptoms of rapid growth and
business expansion is organizational
silos which are typically the result of
information barriers, poor leadership
modeling and a lack of cross
departmental integration.
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k 4
WHY YOU SHOULD BE MORE FOCUSED
IN ACTIONING EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK

5. #5 - Lack of Empowerment #6 - Misalignment of Total
Rewards
Micro-management, ineffective
decision making and project delays
are the hallmarks of a company that
struggles with empowerment.
These symptoms stem from a few
common problems: a culture of a
consensus, lack of accountability
and a diminishing management
style.
Reward is another area of
engagement that is often
misunderstood. Employees often
vocalize unhappiness with reward
programs and companies assume
that costly changes need to be
made without a true understanding
of what matters most to employees,
e.g., work life balance, etc.
#7 - Unclear
Mission & Values
Organizations typically struggle with
their mission statement and values
when they are outdated or poorly
articulated, when the values are not
modeled by the organization, and
when the values are not integrated
into their people processes.
#8 - Resistance to Change
Companies that resist change often
struggle to push the envelope in
their industries. Typically, this stems
from not having a way of capturing
employee feedback and ideas,
which they can then prioritize and
implement.
#3 - Inconsistent Management
Inexperienced managers, infrequent
1x1’s conversations and
organizational politics are all
characteristics of companies with
managerial challenges. Typical
issues include a lack of manager
capability, time pressures impacting
manager performance and a lack of
developmental support.
#4 - Leadership Vacuum
Growth and expansion can result in
companies struggling with
leadership alignment creating a
perception of disorganization.
Businesses with leadership issues
can have information blockages
frustrating employees at lower
levels and impacting performance.
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k 5

6. PART 2
EIGHT COMMON DRAINERS OF
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT &
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS

7. COMMON DRAINER 1
INEFFECTIVE TEAM
COMMUNICATION

8. #1 - INEFFECTIVE TEAM COMMUNICATION
Common Challenges & Recommended Actions:
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k
Problem 1: Inconsistent Manager 1x1s - managers do not make time to
communicate corporate messages and engage with their direct reports.
Problem 2: Poor Communication Strategy - organizations do not have
a strategy for what should be communicated and how.
• Solution A - Set clear expectations around 1x1s, role
modeling them at a leadership level and embedding
them in performance management.
• Solution B - Use regular pulse surveys to check which
managers are not meeting your standards around 1x1s.
• Solution C - Create manager toolkit with additional materials
on corporate communications and use 1x1s as a channel to
reinforce key corporate initiatives.
• Solution A - Get feedback from employees on the types
of communication that are lacking and their preferred
method of communication.
• Solution B - Create a communications strategy, including
guidance around minimum standards and a simple
corporate cadence.
• Solution C - Assign resources to internal communication, set
clear responsibilities and assign a leadership sponsor.
Problem 3: Unreliable Communication Cadences - organizations do
not have a regular rhythm for communicating with their team.
• Solution A - Create a regular cadence of company-wide
town-halls that fits with your corporate calendar.
• Solution B - Implement a weekly communication plan at
the departmental level to ensure key information is
shared.
• Solution C - Implement a work social platform to disseminate
important messages outside of your regular cadence.
7

9. COMMON DRAINER 2
ORGANIZATIONAL
SILOS

10. Common Challenges & Recommended Actions:
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k
Problem 2: Information Silos Between Teams - information does not
flow across teams, either because of inefficiency or willful
miscommunication.
Problem 1: Poor Leadership Role Modelling - personal agendas on the
leadership team or a lack of clear company direction prevent teams
from working together.
• Solution A - Include regular departmental updates as part
of your company-wide meeting cadence.
• Solution B - Implement a knowledge management system
including transparent departmental and individual goals.
• Solution C - Host regular team stand-ups which can include
cross-functional team members to stay updated.
• Solution A - Periodically review company direction as a
leadership team and prioritize individual projects against
the overall direction.
• Solution B - Ensure early alignment in the leadership team
around any cross-functional projects.
• Solution C - Implement leadership behaviors which include
collaboration and embed them in your performance
management process.
Problem 3: Lack of Team Building - team building activities are
ineffective, insufficient or do not encourage cross-team relationship
building.
• Solution A - Implement company-wide team building
activities which encourage cross-team networking.
• Solution B - Host open internal knowledge-sharing events
and include an element of networking as part of them.
• Solution C - Implement a work social platform to enable people
to make connections informally across teams and regions.
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#2 - ORGANIZATIONAL SILOS

11. COMMON DRAINER 3
INCONSISTENT
MANAGEMENT

12. Common Challenges & Recommended Actions:
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k
Problem 1: Lack of Manager Capability - many people start managing
without sufficient support and training to do their jobs well.
Problem 2: Time Pressures Impact Manager Performance - managers
are too busy delivering their job responsibilities to truly manage.
• Solution A - Define what it takes to be a great manager in
your organization by capturing the behaviors of your best
managers.
• Solution B - Get feedback on managers using light weight 360
feedback tools.
• Solution C - Implement Manager 101 development and
other training programs for new managers based on trends
in 360 manager feedback to offer regular peer support and
independent problem-solving.
• Solution A - Review manager responsibilities at an individual
level to ensure they are reasonable.
• Solution B - Train/Performance Manage your managers
around effective delegation.
• Solution C - Implement minimum expectations for managers
around the time they spend with their team and hold them
accountable for reaching these minimum standards.
Problem 3: Lack of Support from Leadership - leaders do not provide
sufficient support to managers to coach them towards high
performance.
• Solution A - Use engagement data to identify where
leaders are needing support and training.
• Solution B - Get leaders involved in manager development
through mentorship and informal management 101
sessions.
• Solution C - Ensure coaching and development are enshrined
in your leadership capabilities and hold leaders to account for
delivering them.
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#3 - INCONSISTENT MANAGEMENT

13. COMMON DRAINER 4
LEADERSHIP VACUUM

14. Common Challenges & Recommended Actions:
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k
Problem 3: Direction & Consistency - different leaders are pursuing
individual goals rather than overarching goals.
Problem 1: Communication & Transparency - leadership team does not
share sufficient information about company direction and performance
with the team.
• Solution A - Host a leadership meeting to align
departmental objectives with company objectives.
• Solution B - Identify pressure points in the leadership team
and facilitate discussions between key individuals to
mediate.
• Solution C - Use engagement surveys to measure and identify
pockets of misalignment.
• Solution A - Create a simple one-pager as a leadership
team documenting company strategy and overarching
annual goals.
• Solution B - Hold regular (monthly) all hands meetings to
review company strategy and goals, highlighting successes
leaning into issues and sharing feedback / engagement
results.
• Solution C - Implement regular briefings from the C-Suite, for
example, newsletters, emails or webcasts.
Problem 2: Performance Issues - leaders may be new in their role or
have not received the right development to perform well at this level.
• Solution A - Define leadership principles/capabilities to hold
leadership accountable for performance.
• Solution B - Implement Executive 360 surveys to identify
individual and collective development areas.
• Solution C - Work with a leadership coach to run a targeted
leadership development program.
13
#4 - LEADERSHIP VACUUM

15. COMMON DRAINER 5
LACK OF EMPOWERMENT

16. Common Challenges & Recommended Actions:
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k
Problem 2: Culture of Consensus - a culture of consensus squashes
individual ambition and innovation.
Problem 1: Lack of Accountability - a lack of individual accountability
prevents individuals from taking ownership of solving problems.
• Solution A - Ensure that one of your organizational values
reflects individual empowerment.
• Solution B - Implement task forces to work on cross-
organizational issues, led by volunteers from different
teams with a passion for the topic.
• Solution C - Clarify and simplify decision-making hierarchies,
removing non-essential stakeholders from the process.
• Solution A - Start with senior management, splitting key
opportunities and problems out amongst the leadership
team and committing to a timeline to solve them.
• Solution B - Implement clear role descriptions with
stretching objectives at all levels, encouraging individuals
to draft their own goals.
• Solution C - Encourage a culture of accountability by
implementing regular manager 1x1's to recognize people who
achieve their goals and performance manage people who do
not.
Problem 3: Individual Manager Capability - managers lack the
capability to set great goals and managing individuals to deliver
against them.
• Solution A - Implement core manager capabilities which
include setting clear direction and managing performance.
• Solution B - Management development focused around
setting clear goals and providing space to deliver on them.
• Solution C - Use performance management processes to hold
managers to account for the performance of all individuals in
their team, not just their personal performance.
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#5 - LACK OF EMPOWERMENT

17. COMMON DRAINER 6
MISALIGNMENT OF
TOTAL REWARDS

18. Common Challenges & Recommended Actions:
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k
Problem 1: Ineffective Reward Programs - many reward programs do
not sufficiently engage the workforce.
Problem 2: Lack of Recognition - high-quality work is not recognized
by management and leadership.
• Solution A - Implement a reward focused survey to
measure what issues are trending with employees and what
changes would drive the biggest impact
• Solution B - Conduct a conjoint analysis to understand what
your current employees value most and rebalance your
existing reward spend to reflect that.
• Solution C - Conduct a salary benchmarking exercise to ensure
your salaries are in step with the local market.
• Solution A - Implement a company-wide recognition
program to celebrate overachievement and exemplary
behavior.
• Solution B - Ensure managers take time to provide regular
praise to individual team members for great work.
• Solution C - Make time to celebrate company-wide
achievements and recognize individual contributions to them.
Problem 3: Poor Culture of Work-Life Balance - high stress in the
workplace or a culture of busyness impacts overall engagement.
• Solution A - Create and communicate company guidelines
around work-life balance and flexible working.
• Solution B - Ensure leaders and managers role-model
positive work-life balance behaviors.
• Solution C - Hold team-wide efficiency hacks to identify and
replace inefficient or unimportant processes and tasks.
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#6 - MISALIGNMENT OF TOTAL REWARDS

19. COMMON DRAINER 7
UNCLEAR MISSION
& VALUES

20. Common Challenges & Recommended Actions:
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k
Problem 1: Poorly-Articulated / Outdated Mission & Values - many
organizations have a fuzzy articulation of their mission and values, or
have not kept them alive with recent developments.
Problem 2: Lack of Values Role Modelling - sometimes organizations
tolerate behaviors that are not in line with their values from leaders or
other employees.
• Solution A - Conduct mission and core values survey to
understand what aspects of values resonate with employees.
• Solution B - Create a mission, vision and values document at
the leadership level and share with the team.
• Solution C - Implement an employee recognition program
centered around the values.
• Solution A - Ensure your values are embedded in your
performance management approach.
• Solution B - Implement a digital suggestion box for employees
to report behaviors misaligned with your values.
• Solution C - Use your regular company meetings to recognize
values-driven behavior.
Problem 3: Values Not Integrated into People Processes - values are
often not truly integrated with key people processes, especially
recruitment, reward, development and performance management.
• Solution A - Ensure an assessment against your values is a
key component of your recruiting process.
• Solution B - When communicating corporate decisions,
ensure you include how they align with your values.
• Solution C - Ensure performance, talent and promotion decisions
are informed by an assessment against your values.
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#7 - UNCLEAR MISSION & VALUES

21. COMMON DRAINER 8
RESISTANCE TO
CHANGE

22. Common Challenges & Recommended Actions:
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k
Problem 2: Poor Innovation Inside Teams - individual teams are
stuck in delivery mode and do not prioritize driving innovation.
Problem 3: Unstructured Corporate Innovation - organizations do not
implement a structured process to generate innovation from across
their teams.
• Solution A - Ensure teams have regular breakouts (often in
the form of away days) to step back and innovate.
• Solution B - Encourage employees to devote a proportion
of their week to new initiatives rather than delivery.
• Solution C - Use local reward and recognition programs to
incentivize innovation inside teams.
• Solution A - Host a workplace hackathon to generate great
creative ideas.
• Solution B - Choose a member of the executive team to
champion innovation and hold regular open innovation
sessions.
• Solution C - Conduct regular market and competitor analysis to
ensure you are staying up to speed with the competition.
Problem 1: Blockers to Employee Feedback - many organizations do
not implement effective solutions following employee feedback.
• Solution A - Implement pulse surveys to drill down on areas
of concern from initial employee feedback.
• Solution B - Implement open focus groups to discuss
details from your employee feedback and create cross-
functional working groups (sponsored by an executive).
• Solution C - Communicate changes made as a result of
employee feedback and celebrate success.
21
#8 - RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

23. ACTION PLANNING PLAYBOOK
getworkify.com
+1-855-662-7632
linkedin.com/company/workify-inc/
Keep in touch:
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k

24. Workify is an all-in-one employee feedback platform with
native, advanced analytics and business intelligence
capabilities that help world-class companies drive better
business results.
About Workify
A c t i o n P l a n n i n g P l a y b o o k