Presentation given at the 2013 Illinois SHRM State Conference by Paul Hebert, VP Solutions Design at Symbolist. This presentation was a discussion on how current technology-enabled HR systems for recognition and rewards may actually be causing lower engagement by creating psychological distance between people and creating a technology crutch for what is essentially a human and relationship issue in the work place.

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Breaking News!
2013 Global Assessment Trends
Report - Engagement one of
1
King’s College London - of
organizations say Engagement
in 2013.2
Benefits Research 2013 -
cited Employee Engagement as
top issue shaping benefits.3
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1 http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/news/1076406/engaging-workforce-priority-hr-2013-report?elqTrack=true
2 http://www.mybinc.com/blog/employment-engagement/#.Ueq3T411_jI
3 http://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/benefits/staff-motivation/engagement-is-leading-focus-for-employers/101812.article
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Shocker…
Employee
Engagement
is decreasing…
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2010 global engagement score was
(down from 20091)
of employees are now
disengaged or under engaged2
Number of fully engaged employees
dropped to 2
North America sees
since 2008 3
Humanize Employee Engagement
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1. http://www.aon.com/attachments/thought-leadership/Trends_Global_Employee_Engagement_Final.pdf
2. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/10/prweb8866720.htm
3. http://www.hrreporter.com/articleview/18033-north-america-sees-lowest-levels-of-employee-engagement-since-2008-aon-hewitt
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Paul Hebert
VP Solutions Design
Symbolist
www.symbolist.com
@IncentIntel
@TheSymbolists
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6http://www.gomadthinking.com/employee-engagement-a-priority-for-2013/
Access to needed
resources, tools,
and support
An energizing environment
that promotes physical, emotional
and social well-being
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Tools
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Engagement is a issue…
you have human in your
department name…
it is
problem
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It’s Not Your Fault 108/19/2013

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it really IS
your fault.
Unfortunately…
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Why is it your fault?
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What have
you been
working on?
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…
HRIS…
Talent Management…
Rewards and Recognition
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I’m sorry Dave,
I'm afraid I can’t do that.
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Remove humans remove compassion
• Quote on inner machiavelli
• Ethics
• Etc.
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People who use social networks like Facebook or
Linkedin are to know their neighbors
and to provide them companionship.
Humanize Employee Engagement
17http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/does-technology-reduce-social-isolation/
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"Took all my pills be dead soon bye bye everyone."
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Some of those
people lived within
walking distance of
Simone.“
"Everyone just carried
on arguing with each
other on Facebook like
it wasn't happening.
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A 2010 study found that while
nearly report
reading posts from a close friend
that seemed like a cry for
emotional help…
to see the distressed friend.
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20http://m.theepochtimes.com/n2/technology/social-networking-isolation-college-students-facebook-myspace-twitter-44049.html8/19/2013

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The happiest participants
spent
and
than the unhappiest
participants
Happiest participants had
and one third
as much small talk as the
unhappiest participants.
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21http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100304165902.htm
The happy life is social
and conversationally
deep rather than
solitary and superficial
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Low Social Interaction Is Like…
• Smoking 15
cigarettes a day
• Being an alcoholic
• Worse than not
exercising
• Twice as harmful as
obesity
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22http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100727174909.htm8/19/2013

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Social connections – friends, family,
neighbors or colleagues –
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23http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100727174909.htm8/19/2013

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While online tools help
people communicate with
one another, without the
visual cues of actual
human contact these
digital relationships carry
misunderstandings and
cause confusion.
Students report that at
least they
are uncertain whether the
sender is joking or serious.
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In the real world,
These are the cues we
use to gauge whether
someone is listening to
us, agrees with us, is
attracted to us, or wants
us to shut up.
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When Animal Kingdom opened in Orlando the first visitors
complained that the real animals were not as "realistic" as the
animatronic creatures in other parts of Disneyworld.
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The need to find another human
being to share one’s life with has
always puzzled me.
Maybe because I’m
so interesting all
by myself.
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Technology
doesn’t
handle
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I was the
choice.
It calculated I had a
45% chance of survival,
Sarah only had 11%
chance.
That was
somebody's baby.
A would have
known that.8/19/2013

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you are
OK… They did not need to ask permission from anybody
to do so.”
Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines
“Colleen [Barret] is primarily responsible for the humanistic
culture we have at Southwest… she ascertained that
that would evolve in
a given station.
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Products
Manufacturing
Efficiency
Analytical
Services
Flows
Effectiveness
Cross-functional
Silos
Hierarchical
Individual
Isolation
Heuristic
Intrinsic
Social
Relationships
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http://www.slideshare.net/missrogue/happiness-as-your-business-model-414463?from_search=9
• Interacting with others
• Connecting with people
• Connecting people
• Giving/Generosity
• Feeling loved
• Emotional security
• Acknowledgement and Support
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Passive Activism
People no longer need to take to
the streets to protest. They can do
so within the comfort of their
homes. Is it good to have passive
activism or is it just
adding unnecessary noise and
mislabeling comfortable
complacency?
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/10/30/are-new-technologies-making-us-happier/
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Can we culture
through our programs…
And yet
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Microwaved
coffee cools
faster
than
brewed
coffee…
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We’ve for what we think is a
better experience – we like the speed of microwaves but at
the expense of good tasting food.
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The simple truth is that
technology is still a poor
substitute for human interaction.
Google—the company where
Mayer grew up—believes that
people needs to be together for
maximum productivity.
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Franz Boas, founder of American anthropology,
maintained that the shared language of a community is
the most essential carrier of their common culture.
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Oral communication unites people in
groups. Writing and reading are solitary
activities that throw the psyche back on itself.
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As Aristotle explained, “When the
storytelling in a culture goes bad
the result is decadence.”
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“When data is
ubiquitously accessible,
than the ability to place
these facts in context and
Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind
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Idle chatter can be the social glue from which networks of
trust and norms of reciprocity and potential social capital
can emerge.
Howard Rheingold
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The key to successful communicating is realizing
that communication is an opportunity to
motivate and inspire, and all communication
emotional connection to make an impact.
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Creates psychological distance and
negative physical affects
Decreases communication clarity
Creates - faux relationships -Being
there and not being there
Removes context around
information reducing meaningful
knowledge transfer
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1. Those who can do…
2. Aesop, Andersen and
Grimm…
3. In Your Face…
4. Tech.2
5. Symbolize
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Aesop, Andersen, Suess
and Grimm…

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“Ladies &
Gentlemen
serving
Ladies &
Gentlemen”

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Turnover
15%
Decrease

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Creates a “family
tree” for new
employees that
includes staff
photos and a map
of the office.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-
business/careers/career-advice/life-at-work/companies-
shift-strategies-to-retain-employees/article13368016/
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•Retention among frontline
staff soared from 3% to 67%
•The company had its 2 most
profitable quarters ever

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“You’re either a giver or a taker, givers tend
to get stuff back while takers fight for every
last nickel . . . they never have abundance.”

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Training
Storytelling
Face 2 Face
Technology
Symbols
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Image from MissBoomerang19 on diviantart.com http://missboomerang19.deviantart.com/art/Internet-Killed-the-Video-Killed-the-Radio-Star-361589295
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http://www.academia.edu/603616/The_limits_to_human_contact_How_communication_technology_mediates_relationships
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that
designs jobs, or work systems
or systems of employment or
democratic processes,
Don Tapscott
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• Decrease caring behaviors
• Decrease recognition flexibility
• Increase our use of it as a substitute for reality
• Decrease your organization’s ability to
communicate clearly
• Reduce the impact on future behaviors
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If an organization is nothing more than an instrument
or a machine, used to enrich the owners or top
managers of the organization, then we would be
justified to show it no more commitment than
necessary to obtain our paychecks.
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http://www.leadingwithlift.com/blog/2013/03/20/work-life-enrichment-and-being-willing-to-die-for-the-organization-that-would-kill-you-for-caring/#sthash.bsr9Acni.dpuf
If, however, you think of an organization as being made
up of the intersecting lives of human beings, each with
his or her own wants, needs, hopes, desires, fears, and
humanity…
a place where one can have a livelihood,
connect with a personal identity, and contribute to one’s
own growth and to society’s as well.
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A place with human
beings being human.
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brought to you by:
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Paul Hebert
@IncentIntel
Paul.Hebert@Symbolist.com
www.symbolist.com

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