This document outlines a webinar discussing the role of senior leadership in improving employee engagement, emphasizing the significance of effective communication, trust, and goal-setting. It shares insights on the behaviors that contribute to successful leadership, highlights employee feedback on organizational culture, and provides tips for facilitating communication of results to senior leadership. The document concludes with upcoming webinars related to employee engagement and organizational practices.

1. IMPROVING EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT WHEN SENIOR
LEADERSHIP IS THE PROBLEM
Monthly Webinar Series
April 30, 2015

2. 2
Topic Agenda
Item Time
(min)
Introduction 2
The Importance of Senior Leadership in
Engaging Employees
5
What do the Best Leadership Teams do
Better?
15
Tips on Breaking the News 10
Q&A 5
Norm Baillie-David
SVP Engagement - TalentMap
Monica Helgoth
VP Engagement - Western Region
Agenda

3. 3
15 years in business
7,000+ employee engagement surveys
since inception
1,000,000+ employees surveyed
500+ employee engagement surveys
annually
Only 1 Focus
TalentMap by the Numbers

4. 4
Sample Clients & Benchmark
Award Programs Technology & Engineering Not‐for‐Profit & Association
Financial Services
Health Sciences
Other

5. The Importance of
Senior Leadership in Engaging
Employees

6. 6
From the foreword
to The Pogo Papers,
Copyright 1952‐53

7. Compensation
Work Environment
Performance Feedback
Professional Growth
Work/Life Balance
Information and
Communication
Teamwork
Innovation
Investor Focus
Immediate Management
Senior Leadership
Organizational Vision
Strong
Engagement
Driver
Weak
Engagement
Driver
Worse Than
Benchmark
Better Than
Benchmark
The Engaged Organization
7
11
2
9
9
9
20
16
89
98
91
91
91
80
84
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Engagement
I am proud to tell others I work
for my organization.
I am optimistic about the future
of my organization.
My organization inspires me to
do my best work.
I would recommend my
organization to a friend as a
great place to work.
My job provides me with a
sense of personal
accomplishment.
I can see a clear link between
my work and my organization's
long-term objectives.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral
Favourable

8. Work Environment
Performance
Feedback
Professional
Growth
Work/Life Balance
Information and
Communication
Teamwork
Innovation
Client Focus
Immediate
Supervisor
Organizational
Leadership
Organizational
Vision
Strong Engagement
Driver
Weak
Engagement
Driver
Worse Than
Benchmark
Better Than
Benchmark
The Engagement Challenged Organization
8
13
4
20
10
18
10
14
18
10
22
22
26
6
24
69
86
58
68
56
84
62
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Engagement
I am proud to tell others I work for
my organization.
I am optimistic about the future of
my organization.
My organization inspires me to do
my best work.
I would recommend my
organization to a friend as a great
place to work.
My job provides me with a sense
of personal accomplishment.
I can see a clear link between my
work and my organization's long-
term objectives.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable

9. Engaged....
9
3
2
4
2
4
97
98
96
98
96
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Senior Leadership
Sets ambitious, but realistic goals.
Clearly communicates their goals.
Acts consistently; they do as they
say.
I have trust and confidence in their
ability to achieve our organization's
goals.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable
26
34
23
23
25
32
30
38
27
33
42
36
40
50
42
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Organizational Leadership
Sets ambitious, but realistic goals.
Clearly communicates their goals.
Acts consistently; they do as they
say.
I have trust and confidence in their
ability to achieve our organization's
goals.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable
Not so much

10. 45%
60%
26%
Client 2013
Client 2014
Benchmark
10….guess which one has issues with senior leadership?
Are you looking for or thinking of accepting a
job with another employer (% Yes)?
6%
7%
24%

11. What do the best leadership teams do
better?
11

12. Among employees providing positive comments:
“Overall I am very satisfied with the company culture and think this is a great place to work. The
company has fostered a team environment and is supportive of its employees.”
“COMPANY is a great place to work. Strong communication of the firm vision is what drives and
motivates employees to continue performing their best.“
“Stay transparent with the organization's objectives and developments. “
“The Executive group is a large reason why I am still employed with COMPANY. I feel they walk the
walk and are supportive in most everything we do.”
“The culture at COMPANY is unlike anywhere else I have ever worked. It really is like one big family.”
EXAMPLE POSITIVE COMMENTS

13. Visibility, Connectedness and Empathy
“Need more confidence that the organizational leadership is truly listening and doing everything
within their power to support us”
“They make decisions in a vacuum. They have no idea what’s going on on the front‐lines. We never
see them”
Set, Communicate and Follow‐up Clear and Realistic Goals:
“Ambitious goals; perhaps not realistic ‐ involve staff when establishing goals that impact practice
rather than deciding and telling them”
Decisiveness on Clear Priorities
“Improve priority setting, as it seems everything is a priority.”
“I would like to see more decisiveness. Projects are being delayed because either a decision is not
made or work is being completed by the wrong person.”
Articulate and Communicate a Clear and Compelling Vision
“I can't say that leaders of the organization have painted a picture of the future of our agency. Most
of their actions seem to be reactive to issues/funding changes that come up. It doesn't seem like
there's a proactive approach to planning the future of the organization from my perspective.”
EXAMPLE COMMENTS: REQUIRE IMPROVEMENT

14. LEADERSHIP PRACTICES THAT ENGAGE
14
Building trust and honest communication
• Transparency, especially in difficult times
• Frequent and forthright – answer employee
questions
• Admit when you don’t know
• Senior Leaders take ownership of the people
agenda (as opposed to it being “HR’s” problem)
• People priorities are clearly embedded in
business strategy
• People take precedence, sometimes over short-
term gain
• Talent is more built than bought (75% internal,
25% external)

15.  Effectively communicate the organization’s goals and
objectives
 Consistently demonstrate the organization’s values in all
behaviours and actions (“they walk the talk”)
 Appropriately balance employee interests with those of the
organization
Consistently demonstrate empathy and caring for
employees
Ensure presence and visibility – in person or virtually
Connected with Employees
15

16.  Effectively communicate goals and objectives
 Ensure goals and objectives are aggressive, yet attainable
 Empower managers and employees and instil a culture of
accountability
Performance Focused
16

17.  Fill employees with excitement for the future of the
organization
 Ensure employees understand how they contribute to the
organization as a whole
 Consults widely, but decides quickly. Inclusive decision-
making
Genuinely future and development oriented
17

18. Tips on “Breaking the News” to Senior
Leadership
18

19. UNDERSTAND STAGES OF RESULT
ACCEPTANCE
19

20.  Meet with CEO alone first (if possible).
Discuss how to broach the subject with the
executive team.
 Sometimes, leaving them the report and
having them come to their own conclusion is
most effective.
 Avoid any comparison/contrast between VP
areas of responsibility. Position it as a
common issue – not isolated to certain
executives only.
 Are you the best placed to deliver the
message? Your survey provider can help
ensure no loss of face.
 Avoid inclination for “told you so” or
vindication.
 Understand that many execs are probably
not aware of how they are truly perceived.
Some Practical Tips
20

21.  Allow the leadership (as a group) to come to the
acceptance stage. Facilitate conversations if possible.
Allow for introspection.
 Focus on helping them identify specific behaviours.
 Bring forward other experiences/best practices (e.g. this
presentation). What have other senior leadership teams
done? What do they do that we don’t?
 Objective: commitment to behaviour change and
accountability.
Moving to Action
21

22.  Trust, confidence and positive perception of senior
leadership is crucial for high levels of engagement.
 Behaviour change will yield a positive ROI.
 Anticipate stages of result acceptance, particularly denial
and rationalization.
 When ready, facilitate the move to action. Focus on
emulating positive behaviours.
Final Thoughts
22

23. Event Format Topic Date
Conference Board
“Engagement 2015”
Calgary NEW Research: 10 Years On – What Do
We Really Know?
May 25th
TalentMap Specialty
Webinar
Live Webinar Employee Engagement: Maintaining
Momentum – Part 2
May 28th 12:00pm
EDT
TalentMap Monthly
Webinar Series
Live Webinar
with special
guest
How Edmonton International Airport
Improved Employee Engagement – from
Survey to Implementation and Beyond
June 25th
12:00pm EDT
TalentMap Monthly
Webinar Series
Live Webinar Engaging your Employees through a
Compelling Organizational Vision
July 30th
12:00pm EDT
Upcoming TalentMap Learning Sessions

24. THANK YOU!
QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
24
Monica Helgoth
VP Engagement – TalentMap West
mhelgoth@talentmap.com
1‐888‐641‐1113, x515
Norm Baillie‐David
SVP Engagement
nbaillie‐david@talentmap.com
1‐888‐641‐1113, x504