This whitepaper provides an overview of the Engagement Diamond and the Cycle of Engagement as the key mechanisms to engage, communicate and act to get more from your team, branch, department, organisation or board

1. Engage, Communicate & Act:
Getting the most from your Team
Sean Fletcher Principal Consultant

2. The Presenter
• Sean Fletcher is the Principal
Consultant at Strategic Teams
based in Perth, Western
Australia.
• He is also a training
consultant with WALGA and a
former local government CEO.
• Sean holds qualifications in
management, and regional
development. He is also a
member of the LGMA.
2

3. Agenda
• Introduction
• Our most important resource
• What is employee engagement?
• What does engagement look like?
• The Engagement Diamond
• The key elements
• Examples of engagement tools
• The implementation process
• What to do next!
• References
3
Elected Members: Avon Region Western Australia

4. 4
Introduction
"Presented as food for thought are key
issues regarding how to engage
employees to achieve better outcomes "

5. Our Most Important
Resource
• Employees (or volunteers, board members and
so on) are the most important resource we have
• Nothing we do, or wish to achieve in the
workplace can be done without them
• Like engaging customers, or members of the
community, employees must also be engaged
5

6. What is Staff
Engagement?
Engagement itself, is a
many varied mechanism
that can be used to
encourage and involve
employees in the seeking of
better outcomes on an
ongoing basis.
6

7. What Does
Engagement
Look Like?
Zinger:
"Good work done well with
others every day".
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8. 8
The Engagement Diamond
"We believe there are four key elements
that are emerging regarding employee
engagement "

9. 9
Embrace
Leadership
Keep Staff
Informed
Promote
Collaboration
Support
&
Develop

10. The Key Elements
1. Embrace Leadership
There must be commitment from the leadership
of the organisation regarding an appropriate
employee engagement process
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11. The Key Elements
2. Staff Are Informed
It is essential that employees know how the
organisation works, what is happening, and that
they keep each other informed on what they
themselves are up to
11

12. The Key Elements
3. Promote Collaboration
Employees need to be encouraged to work
together and not against each other - to be a
team
12

13. The Key Elements
4. Support & Development
Employees must be aligned to the organisation
through an appropriate suppor t and
development process
13

14. 14
Examples
of
Engagement Tools

15. Key Concepts Context Tools e.g.
• Promote Citizenship
Behaviour
• Foster a sense of
Community
• Seek Buy-in
• Be ethical i.e. act
with respect,
openness and
honesty
• Staff need to be
empowered to:
• Manage their
own behaviour
• Make decisions
• Support one
another
Embrace Leadership
• Promote happiness
• Encourage pitching
of proposals to the
executive
• Foster staff
presenting at events
• Facilitate access to
mentors, coaches,
subject matter
experts

16. Case Study - The Happiness
Dividend
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KPMG And The Happiness Dividend
Achor (2011) tested his findings that the single greatest advantage in the modern economy is a
happy and engaged workforce during KPMGs* most stressful time of the year: January to April.
Half of the managers in the study were provided a three-hour introduction to positive psychology
research and how to apply its principles at work
Anchor and his team then provided training suggesting five key habits including write down three
things you are greatful for each day, take two minutes to write about one positive thing thing that
happened in the last 24 hours, exercise for ten minutes a day, do meditation for two minutes a
day, write one quick email first up each morning praising /thanking one team member
Testing was done throughout the trial period with every positive metric showing a significant
increase on scores prior to the training commencing and compared to the control group
Achor concluded that not only can a company influence the happiness of its employees with a
short intervention and low investment of resources, but the effects are sustained even in times of
great challenge
*New Jersey and New York offices

17. Key Concepts Context Tools e.g.
• Tell employees
what's happening
• Tell employees how
the organisation
works
• Need to cater to the
different
generations in the
workplace
• Staff need to know
what is happening
in the organisation
and how the
business works
• They also need to
keep each other
informed
Keep Staff Informed
• Staff meetings
• Newsletters, Email
• Briefings and
workshops
• Surveys
• Intranet, Wiki, Texts
(SMS)
• Social Media, Blogs

18. Case Study - Performance of
the Organisation
Shire of Lake Grace - Performance of the Organisation
As the former CEO at the Shire of Lake Grace, the author implemented a
change management process with the aim of improving the work culture
through:
• Aligning the staff to the organisation through a complete review of
everyone's skills, knowledge, capability and expectations
• Providing information to all staff on the performance of the organisation
at a BBQ breakfast each quarter
Feedback from the quarterly information sessions became a key part of
employees committing to the organisation that contributed to turnover rates
reducing from 40% down to 18% over two years
18
*The Shire of Lake Grace is a local government in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia covering 11,000km2

19. Key Concepts Context Tools e.g.
• Develop cross
organisation
teams
• Promote work
groups/teams and
• Promote project
teams
• Silos are still very
much in
existence
• Work today is too
complex for an
individual to
consistently
deliver outcomes
Promote Collaboration
• Walk the Talk:
attend project/
staff meetings
from time to time
• Ensure access to
collaborative tools
e.g. software and
hardware

20. Case Study - The Culture of
Helping
IDEO - The Culture of Helping
Amabile, Fisher and Pillemer (2014), surveyed and mapped the staff at an
IDEO* office revealing a dense network of mutual assistance, or collaborative
help underpinning the success experienced at this workplace.
In particular, they found:
• That helpfulness must be nurtured, not forced; and
• As this is discretionary behaviour, it must be inspired!
They concluded that by promoting collaborative help: employees will keep
finding ways to improve on what they do, serve customers better and more
effectively execute the organisation's strategy.
20
*IDEO is a design firm in the USA

21. Key Concepts Context Tools e.g.
• Employees need to be
aligned to the
organisation - but not
through performance
management
• Employees must have
room to breathe
• Employees must feel a
part of the
organisation
• Employees are
required to maintain
their skills and
knowledge, and
enhance them as well
• Downtime and work/
life balance are key to
preventing burnout
• The employee must be
matched to the role
Support & Develop
• Celebrate
achievements
• Implement a relevant
Training and
Development plan
• Tweak job
descriptions
• "Retool" Attraction &
Retention strategies

22. Case Study - Employer of
Choice
City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder - Employer of Choice
At the City of Kalgoorlie Boulder*, we developed and implemented an Employer of
Choice program to support and develop staff as a key attraction and retention strategy
The focus was very much based on a collaborative effort across the organisation with
key proposals focused on work/life balance and equity. These were reviewed with the:
• Staff Consultative Committee (SCC)
• Executive
• Council
• Other key stakeholders: unions, industry bodies and Fair Work Australia
The SCC then implemented a consultation process with all staff
The outcome included an ongoing program that has reduced turnover rates from 35%
to 16%
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*The City of Kalgoorlie Boulder is a local government in the Goldfields Esperance Region of Western Australia

23. 23
The Engagement Cycle
"The Engagement Cycle consists of four
very familiar planning steps"

24. Review the Plan
Develop the Plan
Plan the Plan Implement the Plan
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25. How To Use
The Engagement Cycle
Plan the Plan
• Who or what is the engagement plan for? Is it for
your team, branch, department, organisation,
group or board?
• Who is going to be responsible for the plan?:
• Team members
• Team leader
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26. How To Use
The Engagement Cycle
Develop the Plan
• Is a further proposal required to flesh out a framework to develop
the plan?
• Which of the four key elements are required i.e. Leadership, Keep
Staff Informed, Promote Collaboration, Support & Develop:
• All four elements; or
• Individual element; or
• Combination of elements
• How will the engagement team develop the plan?
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27. How To Use
The Engagement Cycle
Implement the Plan
• How will the plan be rolled out? What are the
milestones to implement the plan?
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28. How To Use
The Engagement Cycle
Review the Plan
• How effective is the plan? Will the plan be
audited? Are changes required? Will the team be
reconvened to implement the changes?
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29. 29
Where to Next?

30. Where to Next?
• Help us develop an ongoing effective
approach to employee engagement through
providing feedback, examples of experiences
etc.
• Download the Strategic Teams e-Book: The
Secret Art of Engaging Employees
• Review with your team the engagement
process
• Contact Sean Fletcher at Strategic Teams to
discuss how you can go about engaging your
employees effectively:
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E: seankfletcher@hotmail.com
W: SeanFletcher.simpl.com
M: +61 0429 651 101

31. References
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Research:
Achor, S 2011, The Happiness Dividend. 23 June 2011. HBR. Available from: <https://hbr.org/2011/06/the-happiness-dividend>. [20 March 2015]
Amabile, T, Fisher, C, & Pillemer, P, 2014, 'IDEO's Culture of Helping', Harvard Business Review. January - February 2014. pp 55 - 61
Harter, J 2015, Engage Your Long-Time Employees to Improve Performance. 16 March 2015. HBR. Available from: <https://hbr.org/2015/03/engage-your-
long-time-employees-to-improve-performance>. [20 March 2015]
Zinger, D 2015, Employee Engagement is the New Great. 17 February 2015. Blog Notions: HR Blog. Available from: <http://hr.blognotions.com/author/
dzinger/?_m=3l%2e000l%2e57%2eid0akw7oxf%2e44l>. [20 March 2015]
Images Page 32:
Business Woman and Young Business People Stock Photo: Image courtesy alexisdc at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Vehicles Moving Mulch Wood Pieces Stock Photo: Image courtesy Sailom at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Mixed Group in Business Meeting: Image courtesy franky242 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Yellow Trucks: Image courtesy Witthaya Phonsawat at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Doctor Team Making Discussion Over Phone: b. courtesy Photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Welder: Image courtesy bugpai at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

32. Engage!
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