This document provides an overview of employee engagement from Toronto Training and HR. It defines engagement and disengagement, discusses triangulation theory and the needs that must be met to improve engagement. It also examines the pain of poor engagement, challenges in increasing engagement, and interconnected elements of wellbeing. The document poses questions to consider regarding engagement and provides case studies. The conclusion reiterates the importance of engagement and poses additional questions.

1. Cranking up employee engagement
by Toronto Training and HR
March 2011

2. Contents
3-4 Introduction to Toronto Training and
HR
5-7 Definitions
8-9 Triangulation theory
10-11 Needs that must be met
12-13 Drill A
14-15 Pain of poor engagement
16-17 Impact on engagement
18-19 Challenges faced by organizations
seeking to increase & sustain
engagement
20-21 Wellbeing; interconnected elements
22-25 It’s not rising despite our best
efforts!
26-29 Improving the employee
engagement equation
30-42 Questions to ask
43-44 Drill B
45-48 Case studies
49-50 Conclusion and questions
Page 2

3. Page 3
Introduction

4. Page 4
Introduction to Toronto Training
and HR
• Toronto Training and HR is a specialist training and human
resources consultancy headed by Timothy Holden
• 10 years in banking
• 10 years in training and human resources
• Freelance practitioner since 2006
• The core services provided by Toronto Training and HR are:
- Training course design
- Training course delivery
- Reducing costs
- Saving time
- Improving employee engagement & morale
- Services for job seekers

5. Page 5
Definitions

6. Page 6
Definitions 1 of 2
ENGAGEMENT
Commitment to excellence and continual striving
to improve
Increased loyalty and reduced absenteeism
New ideas, suggestions and innovative approaches
that control and reduce costs, solve problems and
generate new products and services
Higher levels of discretionary effort and enhanced
focus on company goals and objectives
Improved teamwork and communication

7. Page 7
Definitions 2 of 2
DISENGAGEMENT
Making errors missing deadlines, low morale…
Constantly watching the clock
Complaining
Turnover, absenteeism, and “presenteeism”

8. Page 8
Triangulation theory

9. Page 9
Triangulation theory
THREE CORE DRIVERS
1.Organizational maturity
2.Cultural reality
3.Employee job satisfaction (internal and external)

10. Page 10
Needs that must be met

11. Page 11
Needs that must be met
Fit
Support
Value
Inspiration
Clarity

12. Page 12
Drill A

13. Page 13
Drill A

14. Page 14
Pain of poor engagement

15. Page 15
Pain of poor engagement
EMPLOYEE DISENGAGEMENT
Lowers results, cuts profits, reddens finances,
sickens well-being, undermines relationships,
crumbles organizations, poisons community,
starves performance, undervalues individuals,
fragments teams, crashes careers, saps energy,
corrodes connections, erodes employees, scares
stakeholders, deadens days, weakens weeks,
mangles months, irritates customers, loses
purpose, and frays meaning

16. Page 16
Impact on engagement

17. Page 17
Impact on engagement
Layoffs and downsizing
Salary reductions
Hiring freeze
Salary freeze
Reorganization/restructure
Postponement of projects
New business ventures

18. Page 18
Challenges faced by
organizations seeking to
increase & sustain
engagement

19. Page 19
Challenges faced by organizations
seeking to increase & sustain
engagement
Leadership & communication
Productivity & performance
Health & wellbeing of employees
Engagement, motivation and morale
Attrition and absenteeism
Support
Value
Inspiration
Clarity

20. Page 20
Wellbeing; interconnected
elements

21. Page 21
Wellbeing; interconnected
elements
Career wellbeing
Social wellbeing
Financial wellbeing
Physical wellbeing
Community wellbeing

22. Page 22
It’s not rising despite our
best efforts!

23. Page 23
It’s not rising despite our best
efforts! 1 of 3
The engagement program includes cognitive
behaviors only
The program is not a permanent part of the
corporate culture
Motivational programs are confused with
engagement
Thinking reward programs are rewarding
Employees aren’t inspired to make discretionary
effort

24. Page 24
It’s not rising despite our best
efforts! 2 of 3
Employees aren’t inspired to make discretionary
effort
No results-driven structure is in place to
continually inspire engagement
Minimal trust on the team
Leaders give off the vibe that employee
engagement is a profit strategy

25. Page 25
It’s not rising despite our best
efforts! 3 of 3
Teams have not been taught how to think
collaboratively
Engagement happens in silos instead of all-
inclusive
Inconsistent, sporadic administration
Performance declines in other areas of the
business

26. Page 26
Improving the employee
engagement equation

27. Page 27
Improving the employee
engagement equation 1 of 3
Understand how it’s doing in each of the above
three drivers. There are no shortcuts for finding
facts. Determine the dollar risk for doing nothing,
to prove to all stakeholders the value of taking
action
Institute strategic planning and implementation
planning. If resources are not available internally,
an external expert can pay for themselves fast

28. Page 28
Improving the employee
engagement equation 2 of 3
Put in writing an employee engagement equation
and how it will be monitored and measured
Develop and mentor middle managers in the
leadership core competencies that are required to
implement this formula

29. Page 29
Improving the employee
engagement equation 3 of 3
Commit to monitoring potential negative signs that
indicate the organization is on the wrong track,
and take corrective action
Accept that employee engagement is a dynamic
process and a moving target requiring constant
attention, commitment and action

30. Page 30
Questions to ask

31. Page 31
Questions to ask 1 of 12
How do we turn a disengaged manager or
employee into an engaged manager/employee?
What shadow do you cast that gives positive
energy to those around you?
Do you get to do what you do best every day?
Do those around you understand what work you
most like to do?
Do you know what makes you feel engaged & can
you create that for yourself and other like-minded
people?

32. Page 32
Questions to ask 2 of 12
What can you do to make your top performers
not feel like leaving your company?
If you are really serious, how would you prove
that engagement is more than ‘lip service’?
Is everyone “engage-able”?
What things do people in your work group do that
make you feel connected to your company?
How can we expect recognition and respect
ourselves if we are not willing to respect and
recognize others?

33. Page 33
Questions to ask 3 of 12
What’s the one thing you’d like to change that
would make the biggest difference in your work
right now?
Where do emotions fit in “being engaged” ?
What makes you look forward to going to work
when you get up in the morning?
Can such tools as Myers Briggs personality types
help make engagement activities more effective by
giving insights into how different employee groups
prefer to receive/process data?

34. Page 34
Questions to ask 4 of 12
What would you do first if you were given a
chance to take over your boss’s job?
What can you do personally to improve your own
engagement?
What can you do to make your employees
happier?
Do you know how each member of your team likes
to be managed, and what switches them on at
work - and do you do everything in your power to
make these things happen?

35. Page 35
Questions to ask 5 of 12
Are certain people more inclined toward
engagement in general due to personality
characteristics and do such individual
differences effect what types of engagement
interventions will be effective?
What were you doing when you last felt
completely engaged?
As a leader, what has be successful for you
to effectively engage your employees?
How well are you listening?

36. Page 36
Questions to ask 6 of 12
Are certain people more inclined toward
engagement in general due to personality
characteristics and do such individual
differences effect what types of engagement
interventions will be effective?
Is engaging enough or do we need to
engage with passion to really make
a difference?
As a leader, what has be successful for you
to effectively engage your employees?

37. Page 37
Questions to ask 7 of 12
Is engaging enough or do we need to
engage with passion to really make a difference?
What mark would you give your organization?
Why is/isn’t it a 10 out of 10?
Do you say good morning to your work
colleagues when you get in?
How well are you listening?
How can leaders more effectively engage
employees by tapping into their truly
meaningful intrinsic motivation?

38. Page 38
Questions to ask 8 of 12
Have you ever asked your direct report(s)
to describe their engagement drivers?
What is the one thing about this organization
that has kept all these long-timers here?
If engagement is an outcome, what are its
precursors?
What are the sticky factors in this workplace
other than salary or current job role?
How are you being creative in engaging
your employees?

39. Page 39
Questions to ask 9 of 12
What are you doing to take care of your own
attitude of engagement?
Is engagement much beyond passion?
Is the bottom up approach the best for
engagement?
What keeps engaged employees motivated?
How are you being creative in engaging your
employees?

40. Page 40
Questions to ask 10 of 12
How do you effectively engage the people that are
important to your organization’s success but do
not actually interact with your customers, such as
back office staff?
What research methods can be applied to
generate more in depth understanding of
the engagement process?
Manager to employee: When you hear “employee
engagement” what do you think, feel, and what
images come to your mind?

41. Page 41
Questions to ask 11 of 12
What is the most frequent and rarest motivator to
employee engagement?
Will we have succeeded, when in 10 or 20 years,
organizations no longer “do” employee
engagement, instead it has become part of the
culture, an assumption that has led to highly
collaborative, self-generating organizational forms?
How can you create a culture where laughter and
fun supports hard work and productivity?

42. Page 42
Questions to ask 12 of 12
What would you need to see from management,
so you would know that they were as engaged as
they want you to be?
How do you help your manager engage you?
How can lifelong learning contribute to the
employee engagement in the workplace?
What is so obvious that it is invisible?

43. Page 43
Drill B

44. Page 44
Drill B

45. Page 45
Case study A

46. Page 46
Case study A

47. Page 47
Case study B

48. Page 48
Case study B

49. Page 49
Conclusion & Questions

50. Page 50
Conclusion
Summary
Questions