Employee Communication & Engagement (ECE)

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Richard Swartzbaugh

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Executive Summary
Employee Communication & Engagement (ECE) are essential elements of a Talent Management
System (TMS).
Talent Management is a set of integrated organizational HR processes & practices designed to attract,
develop, motivate, and retain productive, engaged employees, in support of becoming the “Provider of
Choice” & the “Employer of Choice” in the markets we serve. Talent Management Systems (TMS’s)
typically work in four key stages: define, implement, measure, & improve, and many:
 Support for the organization’s corporate strategy and business unit strategies;
 Rely on promotion & engagement from executives & other business leaders, and support from
front-line staff;
 Factor in critical external influencers (industry standards, legislation, economic conditions,
demographics);
 Prioritize the development, placement & ongoing engagement of high potential employees in
alignment with the talent needs of the organization, and the personal needs & strengths of high
potential employees;
 Integrate talent processes across the enterprise in a synergistic, sustainable, & strategic fashion;
 Measure the business impact of the strategy via leading indicators such as employee engagement
and key business metrics;
 Enable the strategy via learning, process, technology;
 Build a culture that embraces transformation change to induce, facilitate, & sustain innovation &
continuous improvement as the organization progresses as an “Employer of Choice,” and
“Provider of Choice.”
Employee Communications & Engagement (ECE)

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Executive Summary
With few exceptions, many leaders agree that highly engaged employees outperformed poorly
engaged employees. Yet despite the research, the surveys and the focus on engagement, most senior teams
report being frustrated at the lack of progress when it comes to building a culture of engagement.
Through a customized Employee Engagement Program, we will tailor an approach, tools, and
methodologies for measuring engagement, articulating the concepts across the Company, clarifying
accountability related to engagement and finally, making a meaningful and sustained impact on people’s
commitment to the success of the Company, and their own personal success at the same time. Most
successful employee engagement initiatives use a multi-faceted approach:
- Adopt and communicate a clear and practical working definition of employee engagement (not to
be confused with mere job satisfaction);
- Demonstrate Senior Team commitment — in deeds and in words — to building a culture of
engagement;
- Develop a well-planned organizational cascade strategy;
- Run an engagement survey on a regular cycle with a focus on continuous improvement of internal
results (not a report card against external benchmarks) and achievement of strategic priorities;
- Communicate findings and organization-wide action plans in an open and honest fashion;
- Establish roles for executives, managers, and individuals in making the engagement of each
employee a daily priority;
- Develop Engagement Champions throughout the organization to support the initiative in between
survey cycles;
- Equip managers to involve their team in understanding the findings and increasing team
engagement.

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Executive Summary
- Creating a Culture of Engagement. For engagement to take root in your organization, it cannot be
a measurement activity or something that happens as and when the workload permits. It has to become a
way of getting the work done;
- Engagement Champions - Engagement Champions will help keep your engagement initiatives
alive and your culture on track;
- Engagement Resources - These three engagement resources explore the specific roles and
responsibilities of the workforce, best practices in bringing all employees along as you build a high-
performance organization, leadership development, and much more;
- Development Solutions to Engage at Every Level - While measuring engagement levels inside the
enterprise may be an important step, we cannot expect the scores to improve without some deliberate
focus on developing people;
- The X Model of Employee Engagement - Employee engagement is the alignment of contribution to
the success or the organization and personal satisfaction at work.
Employee Communication & Engagement (ECE):
 Focuses on enhanced business outcomes:
 Highly engaged business units have less absenteeism, lower turnover and greater productivity,
a more aligned organization, and lower risk management
 Result in greater profitability
 Outperform peers measuring earnings per share
 Enables high quality, timely organizational communication through an Employee Engagement &
Communication (ECE) Platform (ECE) platform;
 Continuously improves (modernize, streamline, measure).

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1. Employee Engagement
© 2018 Blessing White, Lominger. © 2018 Dynamic Signal*
Our employee engagement model focuses on the alignment of maximum job satisfaction (“I
like my work and do it well”) and maximum job contribution (“I help achieve their goals
supporting Customers.”) Employee engagement is about creating a culture treating everyone the
way we like to be treated, where our leadership teams “walk the talk,” each and every day,
7/24/365. No more, no less. Engaged employees should use their talents and discretionary efforts
to make a difference, each and every day in the lives of our customers. If you remember only
one thing from today’s session, remember the “Golden Rule”: Treat Our staff & customers As
You Would Have Them Treat You.

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http://www.blessingwhite.com/BlessingWhite_engagement_model/BlessingWhite_engagement_model.html
1. Employee Engagement (Continued)
© 2018 Blessing White, Lominger

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© 2018 Bersin by Deloitte

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Help employees cope.
© 2018 Bersin by Deloitte

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© 2018 Brandon Hall Group © 2018 Dynamic Signal

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© 2018 Dynamic Signal

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Organizational Health
Overview
Organizational health is about making
a company function effectively by
building a cohesive leadership team,
establishing real clarity among those
leaders, communicating that clarity to
everyone within the organization and
putting in place just enough structure
to reinforce that clarity going forward.
© Patrick Lencioni, Alignment. The Table Group. 2018

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Discipline 1: Build a Cohesive Leadership Team
 The leadership team is small enough (three to ten people) to be effective.
 Members of the team trust one another and can be genuinely vulnerable with each other.
 Team members regularly engage in productive, unfiltered conflict around important issues.
 The team leaves meetings with clear-cut, active, and specific agreements around decisions.
 Team members hold one another accountable to commitments and behaviors.
 Members of the leadership team are focused on team number one. They put the collective
priorities and needs of the larger organization ahead of their own departments.
Discipline 2: Create Clarity
 Members of the leadership team know, agree on, and are passionate about the reason that the
organization exists.
 The leadership team has clarified and embraced a small, specific set of behavioral values.
 Leaders are clear and aligned around a strategy that helps them define success and differentiate
from competitors.
 The leadership team has a clear, current goal around which they rally. They feel a collective
sense of ownership for that goal.
 Members of the leadership team understand one another's roles and responsibilities. They are
comfortable asking questions about one another's work.
 The elements of the organization's clarity are concisely summarized and regularly referenced
and reviewed by the leadership team.

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Discipline 3: Overcommunicate Clarity
 The leadership team has clearly communicated the six aspects of clarity to all employees.
 Team members regularly remind the people in their departments about those aspects of clarity.
 They leave meetings with clear and specific agreements about what to communicate to their employees, and they
cascade those messages quickly after meetings.
 Employees are able to accurately articulate the organization's reason for existence, values, strategic anchors, and goals.
Discipline 4: Reinforce Clarity
 The organization has a simple way to ensure that new hires are carefully selected based on the company's values.
 New people are brought into the organization by thoroughly teaching them about the six elements of clarity.
 Managers throughout the organization have a simple, consistent, and nonbureaucratic system for setting goals and
reviewing progress with employees. That system is customized around the elements of clarity.
 Employees who don't fit the values are managed out of the organization. Poor performers who do fit the values are
given the coaching and assistance they need to succeed.
 Compensation and reward systems are built around the values and goals of the organization.
Meetings
 Tactical and strategic discussions are addressed in separate meetings.
 During tactical staff meetings, agendas are set only after the team has reviewed its progress against goals. Noncritical
administrative topics are easily discarded.
 During topical meetings, enough time is allocated to major issues to allow for clarification, debate, and resolution.
 The team meets quarterly away from the office to review what is happening in the industry, in the organization, and on
the team.

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Getting Started Roadmap

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Time for an engagement review?
Take the time to check-in with an employee:
 Ensures everyone is on the same page;
 Strengthens work relationships;
 Serves as a key engagement driver.
Engagement reviews enable you to:
 Learn/confirm the employee’s point of view on job satisfaction and personal success;
 Answer questions and provide clarity on what maximum contribution looks like;
 Demonstrate your support;
 Begin a regular, ongoing engagement dialogue.
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Tips for a meaningful discussion:
 Set a positive tone of partnership. This is not the time to provide performance feedback,
conduct a career coaching conversation, or share all your thoughts on what the employee
should do. Those conversations may come after the engagement review.
 Talk about the importance of the employee’s job and how it fits with the organization’s larger
goals.
 Discuss your employee’s top priorities. Many managers find gaps in perception, which can
have a negative impact on engagement.
 Ask “What support do you need from me?” and “What kind of feedback is most useful to
you?”
 Talk about ways to use the employee’s talents (the ones that this person enjoys using).
 Ask about job conditions – What gets in the way of great accomplishments? What gets in the
way of a great day at work? What does the employee enjoy most?
 Discuss how you work together. It’s not enough to agree you should meet “regularly”.
Clarify what that term means to you both.
 Agree to meet again. You can’t have one discussion and check off the box that you’ve
addressed your employee’s engagement successfully. Engagement levels are dynamic. Things
change.
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Employee engagement is the responsibility of the entire workforce. Engagement is fundamentally an
individualized equation. It reflects each person’s unique relationship with work. Individuals must:
Own Their Engagement:
 Employees cannot expect the organization to provide an exact set of tasks or conditions to fit their
personal definition of meaningful or satisfying work;
 Employees are ultimately responsible for their personal and professional success.
Be Clear on Their Core Values & Goals:
 If employees do not know what is important to them, they will not find it in their current job – or
potentially in any other.
Take Action:
 Employees need to take the initiative to build their skill sets, articulate their interests, satisfy their
core values, and identify ways to apply their talents to achieve the organization’s goals;
 Employees need to initiate conversations about re-shaping their jobs, clarifying their work priorities,
or getting the support they need from their managers.
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Managers matter. With many “right answers” and different ways to achieve success, managers
work in the “sweet spot” where employee engagement happens – or doesn’t. However, their sphere
of control is limited. They can’t change direction if the organization is floundering, and they can’t
actually make employees become engaged. Managers must:
Take Control of Their Own Engagement:
 Disengaged managers cannot help others become more engaged;
 Managers are individual employees first, managers second.
Facilitate Team Member’s Unique Engagement Equations Through Coaching:
 Understand each team member’s unique interests, talents, and aspirations;
 Align individuals’ passions and proficiencies with clearly articulated organizational priorities
and projects;
 Keep the dialogue going by providing feedback, course corrections, and development
opportunities to ensure high performance.
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Build Relationships:
 The more employees feel they know their managers as people, the more engaged they are likely
to be;
 Share personal motivation for work, challenges, appropriate weaknesses, the reasons why they
came to the organization – and why they stay;
 It doesn’t necessarily mean a managers should be their best friend.
Appreciate Team Dynamics:
 One team member’s engagement level impacts the rest of the team for good or bad;
 Deal quickly with potential problems;
 Capitalize on the enthusiasm and work ethic of engaged team members.
Build a Culture That Fuels Engagement – Supporting Customers & Staff:
 The collective words and actions of all leaders shape organizational culture.
 Managers must drive results and engagement by weeding out any business practices that
undermine high performance and a thriving workplace.
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Executive behavior sometimes matters more than manager’s actions. After all, executives have
the farthest reach. They set the tone for the organization. They may not be able to prevent external
forces from affecting their workforce, but they need to be able to reframe the conversation and shape the
response. They’re still individual employees and they still have a set of direct reports. So they shoulder
the responsibilities described above – plus more. Executives need to:
Commit:
 “Walk the Talk” and live the organization’s Mission, Vision, and Values;
 Reflect regularly on why they joined and why they stay;
 Provide a regularly / clearly communicated strategy that builds workforce confidence.
Pay Attention to the Engagement of Your Direct Reports:
 Don’t assume that higher-level managers can engage themselves without executive support;
 Don’t assume that your people want more scope, more power, and more money.
Build a Culture That Fuels Engagement – Supporting Customers & Staff:
 Executives must drive results and engagement by weeding out business practices that undermine
high performance and a thriving workplace.

Organizational tactics
Educate Yourself on Everyone’s Role in Employee Engagement.
Provide Tools & Training to Help Employees:
 Clarify their personal definition of success and take more control of their engagement.
Redefine Career Success:
 When employees see “career” as encompassing lateral & vertical opportunity, skill
development, stretch assignments and special projects – not just promotions or advancement
– the will find more satisfying opportunities with you, their employer.
Emphasize development and growth opportunities:
 Employees want to use – and build on – their talents.
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Hold Managers Accountable for Development & Results:
 Managers need to provide opportunities for team members to build expertise and skill,
challenge themselves, and become more valuable to the organization for the long term.
Provide a Clear Line of Sight to Organizational Goals:
 Encourage leaders to talk to their teams about the organization’s direction and its impact on
each person’s short-term priorities.
Encourage Accountability for Engagement at the Top:
 Education is key for successful engagement initiatives;
 It is critical to define engagement, discuss its impact on the bottom line, and clarify roles.
Help Leaders Develop Authentic Leadership Skills:
 Communicate often, through the medium that fits their style and reaches every part of the
workforce;
 Take the time to explain business rationale, the decision-making process, and their personal
motivation for key actions.
Audit Workforce Practices for Which You are Responsible, Provide Feedback & Support.
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© 2018 Bersin by Deloitte. © 2018 Gallup. © 2018 Conference Board.
Employee Engagement Survey Questions 2019
# Questions
Agree or
Strongly
Agree
Disagree or
Strongly
Disagree
Q1 I know what is expected of me at work.
Q2 I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
Q3 At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
Q4
In the last seven days, I have received feedback, recognition, praise for
doing good work.
Q5 My supervisor, or someone at work seemed to care about me as a person.
Q6
There was someone at work who encourages or praises for doing good
work.
Q7 At work, my opinion counted and my voice is heard.
Q8 Our employees (fellow employees) were committed to doing quality work.
Q9 I had a friend at work.
Q10
In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about goal-
setting, and my progress.
Q11 In the last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
Q12
The management team (Supervisors, Managers, Department Heads,
Executives) "walk the talk" by following through on commitments and live
our Company’s Mission, Vision, and Values.
Q13 I am proud to work for this Company.
Q14 Overall, I am satisfied with my job.
Q15 Overall, I enjoy working for my immediate supervisor.
Q16 My job gives me a feeling of accomplishment.
Q17 My job is interesting.
Q18 I am motivated to contribute more than what is expected of me in my job.
Q19 I am not currently planning on leaving the Company.
Q20
I would feel comfortable referring a good friend to the Company for
employment.
Employee Engagement Survey Questions 2019
# Questions
Agree or
Strongly
Agree
Disagree or
Strongly
Disagree
Q21 I value my work relationship with my Supervisor.
Q22
The Company demonstrates a commitment to workplace safety &
health for our employees.
Q23
The Company has an open-door policy that encourages two-way
communication & a collaborative work environment.
Q24
The Company communicates & keeps me informed and updated
regarding issues that affect me and the Company.
Q25
The management team at our Company demonstrates a
commitment to continuous improvement.
Q26 The Company follows fair employment practices.
Q27
My compensation (pay) is fair given the work I perform and the
city in which we work.
Q28
The Company’s benefits provide the coverage needed for our
employees and their dependents, at a fair price.
Q29
The Company’s benefits for our employees and their dependents
are affordable.
Q30 The Company treats me with dignity and respect.
Q31
The Company’s overall reward and recognition systems fairly
recognizes & compensates me for my contributions.
Q32
The Company provides knowledgeable and caring Community
leadership.
Q33 The nature of my job is stimulating and challenging day-to-day.
Q34
I have a good understanding of how my job performance affects
the Company’s performance and understand that my work
contributes to the Company’s overall performance and success.
Q35
This Company provides me future opportunities for career
growth, including opportunities for internal promotion.
Q36
My coworkers/team members significantly influence my level of
engagement.
Q37
My Company makes efforts to develop my skills, including
providing on-the-job training opportunities.

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1. Exit Survey
Employee Exit Survey Questions 2019
# Questions
Agree or
Strongly Agree
Disagree or
Strongly
Disagree
Q1 I knew what was expected of me at work.
Q2 I had the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
Q3 At work, I had the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
Q4
In the last seven days, I received feedback, recognition, praise for
doing good work.
Q5
My supervisor, or someone at work seemed to care about me as a
person.
Q6
There was someone at work who encouraged or praised me for
doing good work.
Q7 At work, my opinions counted and my voice was heard.
Q8
Our employees (fellow employees) were committed to doing
quality work.
Q9 I had a friend at work.
Q10
In the last six months, someone at work talked to me about goal-
setting, and my progress.
Q11 In the last year, I had an opportunity at work to learn and grow.
Q12
The management team (Supervisors, Managers, Department
Heads, Executives) "walked the talk" by following through on
commitments and lived our Company’s Mission, Vision, and
Values.
Q13 I was proud to work for this Company.
Q14 Overall, I was satisfied with my job.
Q15 Overall, I enjoyed working for my immediate supervisor.
Q16 My job gave me a feeling of accomplishment.
Q17 My job was interesting.
Q18
I was motivated to contribute more than what is expected of me in
my job.
Q19 I am leaving Vista Cove because:
Q20
I would feel comfortable referring a good friend to the Company
for employment.
Employee Exit Survey Questions 2019
# Questions
Agree or
Strongly
Agree
Disagree or
Strongly
Disagree
Q21 I valued my work relationship with my Supervisor.
Q22
The Company demonstrated a commitment to workplace
safety & health for our employees.
Q23
The Company had an open-door policy that encouraged two-
way communication & a collaborative work environment.
Q24
The Company communicated & kept me informed and
updated regarding issues that affect me and the Company.
Q25
The management team at our Company demonstrated a
commitment to continuous improvement.
Q26 The Company followed fair employment practices.
Q27
My compensation (pay) was fair given the work I performed
and the city in which we work.
Q28
The Company’s benefits provided the coverage needed for
our employees and their dependents, at a fair price.
Q29
The Company’s benefits for our employees and their
dependents was affordable.
Q30 The Company treated me with dignity and respect.
Q31
The Company’s overall reward and recognition systems fairly
recognized & compensates me for my contributions.
Q32
The Company provided knowledgeable and caring Community
leadership.
Q33
The nature of my job was stimulating and challenging day-to-
day.
Q34
I had a good understanding of how my job performance
affected the Company’s performance and understood that my
work contributes to the Company’s overall performance and
success.
Q35
This Company provided me future opportunities for career
growth, including opportunities for internal promotion.
Q36
My coworkers/team members significantly influenced my
level of engagement.
Q37
My Company made efforts to develop my skills, including
providing on-the-job training opportunities.
© 2018 Bersin by Deloitte. © 2018 Gallup. © 2018 Conference Board.

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Sample Employee Engagement Calendar of Activities
When What Who Event Information / Detail $
Q4-18
(1) Comp Committee Approval of Goals &
Metrics: Performance, Engagement,
Retention, Resources, Communications
Protocol & Content, Brand Ambassadors,
Industry Benchmarks, Technology Stack,
Product Roadmap, API, Seat License, SaaS,
Integrations, Plug & Play.
Senior Leadership Team, Comp
Committee Q4-2018 TBD
(2) Finalize Employee Communications &
Engagement (ECE) Program, Budget, Metrics Senior Leadership Team Q4-2018, for 2019 TBD
Q1-19 (3) Announce Program Kick-Off to Staff TBD, Richard, TBD Q1-2019 TBD
(4) Mother's Day (May 10th) Supervisor
Phone call, SMS, Ecard + flower to Mom in
Ofc
TBD
(5) Launch Survey TBD, Richard, Richard Q1-2019 TBD
(6) Service Award (Years: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50)
Managers, TBD, TBD, Richard Current Process & ADD Wall of Fame TBD
(7) Birthday Acknowledgement Managers / TBD Managers / TBD TBD
(8) Benefits Open Enrollment Payroll, Richard
Work Locations (Payroll)
Resource Center (Richard)
TBD
(9) Safety Program & Awards TBD TBD TBD TBD
(10) Employee Recognition Week TBD Potluck TBD
(11) Father's Day (June 21st) Supervisors Phone call, SMS, Ecard + Starbucks gift card TBD
(12) Employee of the Quarter & Potluck
Managers / TBD, TBD, TBD,
Richard
Wall of Fame TBD
(13) Customer Appreciation of Staff
Richard
TBD TBD

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Sample Employee Engagement Calendar of Activities
When What Who Event Information / Detail $
2019
(14) Annual Performance Review /
Discussion
Richard
1 page hourly; 2 page exempt; evaluate 1
page self eval for Dept Heads
TBD
(15) Annual Wage Increase (assume 3%
annual budget)
Richard
3% - 5% TBD
(16) 4th of July BBQ / Potluck (in July, not
on the 4th)
Richard
TBD
(17) Employee of the Month & add their
picture to the "Wall of Fame" (virtual &
hardcopy)
Richard
See Above Employee of the Month
procedure
TBD
(18) Review Quarterly Results with Staff &
Management.
TBD, Richard, TBD, Marcela 2019 TBD
(19) Labor Day Event (not on Labor Day) Human Resources, TBD Potluck TBD
(20) Finalize Communications Playbook Senior Leadership Team, IT Q1-2019 TBD
(21) Safety Program & Awards TBD
Community with lowest #/$ of claims, and
0 lost time
TBD
(22) Halloween Costume Party
Richard
Richard TBD
(23) Thanksgiving Event
Richard
Potluck & Gift Card TBD
(24) Holiday Party
Richard
TBD
(25) Employee of the Year TBD, TBD, Richard $1,000.00 TBD
Total #VALUE!

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Recognition programs are about recognition, and less about what’s being given as part of the
recognition:
 Quarterly Photo’s Added to the “Wall of Fame”
 Birthday with the Boss: each month, employees are invited to attend their choice of breakfast
or lunch with the CEO in one of the hospital’s conference rooms to celebrate their birthday; a
nice meal is served and each employee is given a Birthday acknowledgement
 Employee Service Awards & Banquet (Years: 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50)
 Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday buffets
 Perfect attendance recognition (special reception, certificate presented and drawings for
special prizes)
 Valentine’s Day Ice Cream Social/Late Night Sweetheart Breakfast for all Shift employees (AM,
PM, NOC) (administrative team cooks and serves employees)
 Free tickets to sporting events including baseball, arena football, and hockey games
 Employee bowling league and basketball team (jerseys/fees paid by hospital)
 Wall of Fame recognition (with photographs)
 Gift cards: Starbucks, Target, Visa, Home Depot
 Hospital Connection – daily briefings with staff for improvement of communication and
recognition of employees’ special achievements
Various Sources

Employee Communication & Engagement (ECE)

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