Employee listening strategy for HR pros: From concept to ... · Designing the listening strategy framework Guiding principles: A framework to inform decisions about measurement of

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February 20, 2019

Welcome to today’s presentation

Employee listening strategy for HR pros:

From concept to implementation

© 2019 Willis Towers Watson. All rights reserved.


Meet our experts

© 2019 Willis Towers Watson. All rights reserved. Proprietary and Confidential. For Willis Towers Watson and Willis Towers Watson client use only.2

Aage SeljegardDirector, Employee Insights

Sean ConnellySenior Director, Employee Insights

Don’t forgetJoin us again in

April 2019

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Objectives and discussion


Questions and answers

Client examples

Framework for developing a listening strategy

What is a listening strategy? Trends in the marketplace

4

2

3

1



Listening strategiesTrends in the marketplace1


Evolution of employee listening

The employee engagement survey space has changed

The annual survey event is evolving into an integrated and continuous listening strategy

This does not replace, but builds upon, the annual survey with agile listening tools, such as strategically deployed

pulse surveys, focus groups, jams

Pulse surveys are typically shorter/more focused and/or deployed to a smaller group of employees

There is also increasing focus on the end-to-end employee experience


On-Boarding SurveysRunning Continuously

Annual SurveyCornerstone “Event”

Targeted Pulse SurveysDeployed as Needed

Annual SurveyCornerstone “Event”

Exit SurveysRunning Continuously


We consider the Listening Strategy across the Employee Lifecycle

6© 2019 Willis Towers Watson. All rights reserved. Proprietary and Confidential. For Willis Towers Watson and Willis Towers Watson client use only.

• New joiner pulse

surveys

(cohort tracking)

• Individual

engagement reports

• HiPo assessment

• Peer recognition

content

• Cohort pulse and

integration

• Performance on

new joiners

• Social media

• User interaction and

metrics on external

websites

• Understanding of

talent pool through

Talent analytics

• 360 feedback

• Leadership and HiPo

assessment

• L&D feedback

• Online metrics

• Engagement surveys

• Pulse surveys

• Social media

• Exit interviews

• Leaver pulse

• Regrettable losses

• Assessment and

selection feedback

• Conversion rates

• Time to hire

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Listening strategiesA planning framework2


Designing the listening strategy framework

Guiding principles: A framework to inform decisions about measurement of the

employee experience


WHATWHY HOW

What is the

business strategy?

What to measure? How to measure?

Connection to

people strategy

• Enable business and

ignite talent pipeline

• The desired employee

experience

Identify issues to

assess, such as:

• Engagement, turnover,

onboarding/exit,

Union Vulnerability

• Rewards

preference/perceptions

Matching the purpose to

the approach

• When/how often should

each aspect of

experience be

measured?

• How do we capture the

feedback on

experiences? What

channels do we use?

• How do we centrally

coordinate activity while

providing flexibility?

Governance and Communication

WHO

Who do we ask & who to

share results with?

Targeting populations

• Which

employee/populations do

we target for feedback on

their experience?

• Who will utilise/own the

data?

WHEN

When to measure &

how often?

Sequencing of research

and messaging

• Engagement survey

• Engagement survey

follow-up (issue or

group based)

• Onboarding/exit

• Ad hoc issues


The Why: Defining the strategy development effort


Critical input from leaders that

should shape the listening strategy:

What are the key priorities for the business over the next

few years?

• What must we get right to ensure success?

What are the greatest external challenges facing the

business over the next few years in meeting its goals?

• What are the associated internal challenges?

• What employee-related issues do leaders foresee

associated with these challenges?

What is the leadership style that will be most effective in

engaging employees?

• Do leaders have the skills and support to attract,

retain and engage employees? To drive their

effectiveness and productivity?

What is the

Employee

Experience that

will drive the right

culture to support

the strategy

What are our key

priorities today and

over the next few

years?


The What: Capturing the moments that matter

Events involve employees in systems and practices that support or degrade impact

Event triggers

…drive experiences

through organizational

systems and practices

Work systems and people practices

…create the overall Employee Experience

Outcomes

…drive future behaviours

Impact

Hire and Entry

Performance Review

Promotion Decision

New Manager

Organizational

Restructuring

Attraction

Engagement

Retention

Ownership Mentality

Business Alignment

What feedback is gathered

during or after these events?

How are you understanding

perceptions and reactions?

Where are these

outcomes measured?

Are you achieving high

performance levels?

Employee

Performance

Business

Performance


The How: Effectively combining measurement methods

A perspective on feedback tools, which likewise can vary for types of indicators


1. Establish a strong foundation

Company wide census survey “event”

Only way to get deep understanding and comprehensive insights across whole business on strategic indicators

Only way to drive change at all levels of the company

Best input to do predictive modelling

2. Supplement with agile (pulse) surveys

Wherever I want it, whenever I want it

Group, business, or team pulse for episodic or interaction indicators

3. Automate life-cycle “check ins”

Targeted surveys tied to milestones (e.g., exit, entry, anniversary) generate unique insight into specific episodes

Ideally “always on” triggered by routine activity

4. Add other listening tactics

Qualitative, unstructured, chats, jams, social media

Primarily episodic in nature


The How: Matching the purpose to the approach

Different goals align with different methods

Listening tool… Best for issues that… Where you need… Goal examples…

Large-scale company

wide “event” survey

Change more slowly Broad data and

rich insight

Improve culture & performance

Increase engagement

Tailor company programs

Show we care

Company pulse survey Change more quickly Narrow/focused data Measure general progress

Business pulse Change more quickly Narrow/focused data Support specific change

Measure progress on issue

Local pulse Change more quickly Narrow/focused data Drive team effectiveness

Monitor sentiment/well being

on-boarding/exit Change with employee milestones Event-focused data Reduce turnover

Improve on-boarding

Mood/Sentiment Change frequently Interaction-based warning

system in customer

research

Customer research - Plug the leak

before it gets worse

A component of Employee Wellbeing

Always on/Social Media May change quickly, thus requires

regular monitoring

Unstructured data Uncover problems early

Surface improvement ideas



The Who: Identifying critical segments


What segments of

the workforce

should we focus

on first?

Which groups are

most important to

the success of the

business?

Critical segmentation questions

that shape the listening strategy:

Which key employee groups are most important to the

success of their business/function?

• Do leaders have what it takes to attract, retain and

engage them? To drive their effectiveness and

productivity?

Which talent groups are most critical to various

businesses and/or horizontally across the organization?

Which roles are pivotal, such that performance is of

higher importance?

Do specific talent groups have any unique moments or

trigger events?

Do talent groups interact with organizational systems

and practices in unique ways?


Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2019

2020

2019

On-Boarding and Exit Surveys are deployed continuously year round.

The When: Creating an agile roadmap


Legend: *Change Readiness survey may fall within larger annual survey

Virtual Focus

Groups

Annual Census

Survey

Pulse

Survey

Area Specific

Survey

Critical

Roles SurveyLeadership

Alignment

SurveyChange

Readiness Survey


Developing “rules” for application of measurement methods

Governance and Communication

A governance system needs to address the following considerations:

• Position all survey events in the context of the new listening strategy – how do all events align/compliment one

another? What is the purpose of each survey?

• Define ownership of survey process – centralized vs. decentralized approach to measurement

• Identify “owners” of employee feedback – what are the expectations that come from receiving results? (for

example, who will drive action vs. being kept informed?)

• Coordinate efforts to ensure feedback is not redundant and employees are not over-surveyed (for example, where

does it make sense to survey subsets of the population?)

• For each event, identify who is responsible, accountable, communicated and informed of

key objectives

The communications strategy needs to set the right expectation

• Understanding key stakeholders and what we want them to understand, believe and do

• Developing an integrated change communication strategy that considers current context and desired results

• Delivering on the plan through a variety of media and activities throughout the year



Listening strategiesClient examples3


Listening strategy: A cadence to consider

Deep insights

into the

organization

Following-up on insights

and going deeper

into issues

Ensuring ongoing

action planning

Assessing

progress/identifying

new issues

Establish

FoundationOngoing Pulsing

Refresh

Foundation

Annual

Engagement

Survey

All employees

Operations/

Complexity

Customer-facing

employees

Engagement

Survey

Follow-up

Growth areas

Engagement

Survey - Low

Performing Store

Follow-up

Employees from

bottom decile sites

Safety/Well

being

Survey

Random

sample of

employees

Engagement

Survey –

Issue-based

Follow-up

All employees

Rewards

Survey

Random

sample of

employees

Annual

Engagement

Survey

All employees

March 2019 May 2019 July 2019 September 2019 November 2019 January 2020 March 2020

Onboarding

Survey

Exit

Surveys

Pop-up

survey (e.g.,

appraisals)

Pop-up

survey (e.g.,

careers)

Ongoing: New hires at 90 days

Ongoing: All exiting associates


Continuous listening strategy

An agile approach to employee listening

Integrate with existing

strategic initiatives

Identify key milestones within employee

lifecycle or strategic project

Gauge progress real-time

Gather feedback / input on key areas –

either broad or targeted

Direct future

decision-making

Use analytics / advanced reporting

capabilities to understand realities

and make decisions

Performance management

Values roll-out

Onboarding of new employee

Ask employees about effectiveness

of their managers

Ask managers how values are

resonating with employees

Ask employee about initial thoughts

on culture / expectations

Inform ongoing training strategy and

manager development

Identify critical change levers to more

effectively bring values to life

Understand opportunities for

improvement within onboarding process

Strategic initiative Insights Business value

New company strategyAsk leaders about the strategic

direction and ability to drive change

Tune messaging for broader company

rollout, setting leaders up for success


Continuous listening strategy

An agile approach to employee listening

Performance

Management

Company values

Onboarding of

new employeeNew brand

Key initiative

check-in 1Senior

Leadership

All

management

All employees

Key initiative

check-in 1

Targeted Pulse Surveys


In our experience, there are some golden rules when it comes to

successful listening strategies

Identify the key stakeholdersGain and sustain leadership support and

ownership for the process

Make linkages to strategy and business outcomesMeasure what matters and what can be

acted upon

Emphasize confidentiality Ensure voluntary participation

Use internal and external benchmarksAnalyse employee survey scores

in the context of comparative data

Alignment on internal communicationDevelop clear positioning and consistent

messages, share survey insight quickly

Have a clear approach on action planning and implementationPlan for action and hold leaders accountable


Listening strategiesQuestions & answers4


How will this impact your organization?

Alignment

Communications

Process

People

Technology

Stakeholders


Questions?


Contact us

Aage SeljegardDirector, Employee Insights

Aage.Seljegard@willistowerswatson

Sean ConnellySenior Director, Employee Insights

[email protected]

mailto:Aage.Seljegard@willistowerswatson

mailto:[email protected]


SHRM and HCRI credits


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Willis Towers Watson is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development

Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CPSM or SHRM-SCPSM.

The use of this seal confirms that this activity has met HR Certification

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AppendixA


What do we want to measure?

Measurement objectives for 2019 and beyond

Pay & BenefitsSpecific BU

Surveys

Change

Readiness

Corporate

Function

Effectiveness

Culture

Assessment for

M&A

Leadership

Alignment

(AVP+)

Engagement Exit

Inclusion &

DiversityOrg Design

Program

Effectiveness On-boarding

Performance

Management

Progress Check

(CIBC Mellon

Overall)

Safety Culture HIPO

2019

2019 2019

2019 2019

2019

2020

2020

2020


Next steps: 2019


What

(Action/Activity)

Purpose/survey focus Measurement

frequency

Population

(Who is the

survey going

to?)

Who do we

share results

with?

(stakeholders

involved)

Action planning

expectations

(stakeholders

involved)

Open-ended

comments

using VERA

Annual Census

Survey

• Measure engagement

• Overall progress across broad areas

impacting the employee experience

• Annually Everyone Everyone All people

managers who

receive site access

/ reports

Yes

Pulse

Survey

• Measure change in engagement

• Check-in on progress made in specific

areas (hot spots)

• Support course corrections

• Shorter in length vs. annual survey

• Annually (roughly 6

months after

census survey)

Everyone Everyone No formal action

planning

-- Managers and

employees provide

input

Yes

On-boarding

Surveys

• Mitigate turnover of new hires

• Foster a “sense of community”

• Accelerate employee effectiveness / ability

to contribute

• Ongoing All new hires Leadership

Team, potentially

broader VP level

HR and business

leaders

No

Exit Surveys • Better understand and address why

employees are leaving the org

• Mitigate turnover, avoid regrettable losses

• Ongoing All voluntary

departures

Leadership

Team, potentially

broader VP level

HR and business

leaders

No

Program

Effectiveness

Survey

• Assess if programs (i.e. job shadowing,

development…) are producing the

intended results

• Drive improvements across each cycle

• Ad-hoc, following

completion of each

cycle

• 2-3 times / year

All those involved

in the cycle

HR HR No

Specific BU survey • Dig deeper into issues; more focused on

probing than “moving the needle”

• Support course correction with additional

insights

• 2-3 months after

annual survey

TBD (Assumes 2-

3 groups)

BU leadership of

respective groups

BU leadership with

HR support (to

align with annual

census)

No


Next steps: 2020 and beyond

What

(Action/Activity)

Purpose/

survey focus

Measurement

frequency

Population

(Who is

the survey

going to?)

Who do we share

results with?

(stakeholders

involved)

Action

planning

expectations

(stakeholders

involved)

Open-ended

comments

using VERA

HIPO / Critical

Role Survey

• Assess engagement of

employees categorized as

high potential or contributing

within critical roles

• Support interventions to

mitigate turnover among this

group / succession planning

• Annually All

designated

employees

Leadership Team,

potentially broader

VP level

HR and

business

leaders

No

Leadership

Alignment

Survey

• Alignment around strategic

goals and direction

• Support effective leadership

execution and planning

• Annually (TBD) AVP+ Leadership Team,

potentially broader

VP level

HR and

business

leaders

No

Change

Readiness

Survey

• Assess the organization’s

ability to manage change

• Identify additional

interventions needed in

support of multi-year strategic

projects

• Ad-hoc (may

embed within

annual census

survey)

Everyone Leadership Team,

potentially broader

VP level

HR and

business

leaders

No



Executive Sponsors:

• Ensures sufficient resources

• Accountable for results

• Ongoing communication and encouragement

• Briefed quarterly and gains input from other stakeholders when needed

Core Team:

• Create listening strategy, including guiding principles (gains approval)

• Super-users of core technology or data/results coordinators from other technology/groups

• Analyzes results? Synthesizes results?

• Develop communications (highlighting results and communicating action plans to various teams/levels in the organizations)

• Bi-weekly meetings with heavy involvement monthly

Listening Champions (includes various representatives):

• Validating the strategy

• Driving execution at the business area level

• Provide continuous feedback

• Meet quarterly and come together as needed

Business Area Leaders:

• Support execution of the listening strategy (take those surveys!)

• Aware of results and take action as appropriate

• Ensure focus and sustainability at the local level and drive engagement and productivity

• Attend bi-annually with Executive Sponsors (with pre-read, WebEx or live meeting)

Listening team roles: Sample

Executive Sponsors

[Discuss]

Core Team

Listening Champions

HR

COEs

Communications

Business Area

Business Area Leaders


Governance discussion

Need to create team to review survey requests

• Not everyone will be allowed to run a survey

• Set up a governance group to review and coordinate survey requests

Discussion on Governance team - Who might be on it:

• Impact planning group

• Initiative-based group involving the business owners

• Internal communications

• Talent acquisition (onboarding surveys)

• Project manager

• Operations

For each survey:

• What is the objective?

• What will the follow-up be?

• What is the information used for?

Frequency

• How often to review ongoing survey data?

• How much surveying is too much for an associate?


Example of focus areas: Issues to consider for research

Focus area Potential Issues to Measure Recommendations to Consider

Onboarding • Reason for joining

• Understanding of the role

• Perception of role vs reality

• Candidate experience

• Continuous survey over course of

year

• 15-20 questions

• Review data quarterly

Exit – Turnover analysis • Reasons for leaving • Continuous survey over course of

year

• 15-20 questions

• Review data quarterly

Engagement (big survey) • Sustainable Engagement

• See categories from previous Engagement Surveys

• Replicate past Engagement surveys

• Consider fewer questions

Engagement pulses where

there are issues (event

driven, what is coming)

• Get closer to events that drive engagement – measure

engagement changes following business

news/changes

• Testing if employees are ready for an upcoming

initiative

• Pre/post associate readiness

• Specific issues for populations (e.g., empowerment,

company direction, progress against goals)

• More frequent pulse surveys on a

variety of issues:

• Lower performing sites

• Key issues identified in

Engagement survey

• Safety

• Job Complexity

Low performing/high

performing sites

• Predictive metrics

• Causality

• Progress against action planning goals

• Issue for Pulse Survey

• Up to twice a year

Safety • Safety culture • Issue for Pulse Survey

• Once a year

Job complexity • Perceptions of complexity of the operations

• Ideas/opportunities to simplify operations

• Issue for Pulse Survey

• Once a year

Documents

Employee listening strategy for HR pros: From concept to ... · Designing the listening strategy framework Guiding principles: A framework to inform decisions about measurement of