Willis Towers Watson Webcast: The Latest In Employee Listening

Willis Towers Watson Webcast: The Latest In Employee Listening

© 2016 Willis Towers Watson. All rights reserved.

Key contacts

2© 2016 Willis Towers Watson. All rights reserved. Proprietary and Confidential. For Willis Towers Watson and Willis Towers Watson client use only.

Adam Zuckerman

Employee Engagement

Practice Leader

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-

zuckerman-50263220

Chris Pinc

Director, HR Software

Product Management

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-pinc-

a6521914

Agenda

© 2016 Willis Towers Watson. All rights reserved. Proprietary and Confidential. For Willis Towers Watson and Willis Towers Watson client use only. 3

Willis Towers Watson HR Software

Background: The changing landscape

Matching purpose with approach

Four parts to an effective listening strategy

A strong foundation - Demonstration

Strategic pulse surveys - Demonstration

Automated lifecycle “check-ins” - Demonstration

An “always on” open funnel

The employee listening strategy: Putting it all together

Willis Towers Watson HR Software: Overview


Upcoming Events


Event Dates Location Details

HR Technology Conference and

Exposition October 4-7 Chicago, IL Booth #622

HR Tech World Congress October 25-26 Paris Booth #219

Background


The changing landscape

How do we decide which combination of tools to use, and when?

It’s never been

easier to do a

bad survey

Traditional Approach

Annual surveys that systematically

gather employee input

What Critics Are Saying

Content is too long, process is too

slow, value is uneven

New Technology Options

• Targeted pulse surveys

• “Always on” surveys and daily polls

• Social media scans, online chats/jams

• And much more

Matching the purpose to the approach


Different goals align with different methods

Reason Key Considerations Ideal Method

Improve culture Relatively stable, need data for thorough understanding Periodic event

Increase engagement Relatively stable, need data for modelling drivers Periodic event

Tailor company programsImpractical to take frequent action, need broad and deep

perspectivesPeriodic event

Show we care Must be as inclusive as possible Periodic event

Monitor sentiment /

improve team well-being /

effectiveness

Highly variable, timeliness is critical

Pulse survey (ad hoc)

or separated event

(cyclical)

Support specific change Highly variable, timeliness is critical Pulse survey (ad hoc)

Monitor morale/sentiment Highly variable, timeliness is critical Pulse survey (cyclical)

Measure progress on key

issues since last event

Critical to guide course correction, distance from event needed

for initial actions to have an impactPulse survey (periodic)

Improve on-boarding Tied to specific event Action triggered

Reduce turnover Tied to specific event Action triggered

Coalmine canary Ideal for an “open funnel” Always on

Suggestion box Ideal for an “open funnel” Always on

How to create an effective listening strategy


Establish a strong foundation

Large-scale “events” enable predictive modeling, deep understanding, momentum for change

Must allow one to quickly understand findings, identify priorities, and take action / track progress

Supplement with strategic pulse surveys

Focused pulse surveys provide a timely picture of key issues and actions needed

Technology must serve purpose: What are we asking, why, and what will we do with it?

Emerging practice: Separate high-level versus local reporting and action planning

Automate life-cycle “check ins”

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

Ideally these are “always on” processes triggered by routine activity

Set-up a background “always on” mechanism

Gather suggestions for improvement and surface problems with a digital suggestion box

Findings must be frequently reviewed, but little effort needed to design and manage process

Four key components



Large-scale surveys remain a cornerstone

A tailored survey of roughly 50

questions annually

Enables managers to:

Benchmark work experience,

culture and state of engagement for

their part of the business

Find strengths/opportunities based

on engagement drivers, norms, and

historical trend

Identify and record actions for

improvement

Enables senior leadership to:

Address culture/strategy alignment

Act on systemic engagement

drivers

Inform re-design of companywide

programs

Create companywide momentum

for change



Reasons why event surveys fail – and how good software helps avoid them

Issue How to Avoid

Managers have no time/interest

to read complicated reports

Software must be highly intuitive with

engaging, mobile-enabled experience

Managers don’t know

what actions to take

Software should include specific

action suggestions

Company re-organizes and

results become irrelevant

Software should make it easy to revise

findings after organizational changes

Cannot track who’s doing what, hold

people accountable or share learnings

Software must enable monitoring of action

across company with diagnostic reports

Managers have difficulty

identifying issues

Software should automatically identify

strengths & opportunities for each manager

Too long to analyze results

& distribute reports

Software must allow for fast turnaround of

results AND speed up “time to action”

Open-ended comments can yield great

insights, but it’s too hard to analyze them

Software must be able to analyze free text

responses automatically

Supplement with strategic pulse surveys


Clarifying measurement objectives before deploying

Pulse surveys are less comprehensive but more timely

Agile assessment of issues as they unfold

Specific feedback on particular issues

Ability to identify cyclical trends over time

Team Sentiment Check

Measure mood/sentiment at regular intervals

Understand cyclical issues

Progress Check

Measure progress since prior survey on priority issues

Inform actions and course-correct

Initiative Check

Gauge understanding and support of major changes

Inform communication and change activities

Relationship Between Census Surveys and Pulse Surveys


Emerging approach: Separating high-level vs. local reporting and action planning

Two factors that make an “event” survey such an “event”:

Specifying reporting needs at all levels of a large complex hierarchy

Level-by-level results cascade / roll out

Most meaningful action is often taken by:

Senior leadership on systemic engagement drivers, culture issues, or companywide programs OR

Immediate managers on local drivers of engagement, enablement, and well being

Therefore, focus where the most value is and report:

Global roll-ups to the top 2-3 levels of leadership, AND

Immediate team reports to managers at all level, BUT NOT

Mid-level roll-ups to mid-level managers

Relationship Between Census Surveys and Pulse Surveys


Executing a “separation” approach: A quarterly census

Global Roll-Ups to

Senior Leadership

Q1

Team Reports to

All Managers

Team Focus: Content geared to sentiment and local drivers of engagement, enablement,

and well being, e.g., empowerment, working relationships, work/life balance, etc.

Organizational Focus: Content geared to culture, systemic drivers of engagement, and

companywide programs

Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2

Team Reports to

All Managers

Team Reports to

All Managers

Team Reports to

All Managers

Team Reports to

All Managers

Team Reports to

All Managers

Global Roll-Ups to

Senior Leadership

Automate life-cycle “check-ins”


Example Exit Survey Quarterly Executive Summary

Career development/advancement 35%

Management/leadership 29%

Working culture 24%

Respect and inclusion 6%

Job security 6%

Efficiency/bureaucracy in my role/company 35%

The location (e.g., journey to work) 12%

My manager 0%

Base pay and discretionary bonus/incentive 12%

Most

selected

2nd-most

selected

3rd-most

selected

4th-most

selected

5th-most

selected

I was not achieving my career

aspirations83%

I was not being developed to my

full potential67%

There were insufficient

opportunities to increase my

eligibility for a better job50%

XYZ did not take steps to improve

efficiency quickly enough83%

My operating unit/department was

inefficient 50%

Too many approvals were needed

for routine decisions33%

Priorities were changed so

frequently I had trouble getting my

work done33%

Respondents were asked to answer at least one follow up question, and not more than three, for each macro reason given.

Set-up a background “always on” mechanism


Create an open funnel to surface problems early and gather improvement ideas

It can be valuable for employees to have

place to go at any time to submit:

Suggestions for improvement

Concerns / problem areas

This would be an application appropriate for

an “always on” survey

Data capture should be tied to a company

portal or intranet site

Example questions include:

What suggestions do you have for how we can improve this company?

What concerns do you have about our ability to succeed, and how can we address them?

Regular monitoring and routing of input is necessary

Instructions should clarify that serious ethical concerns should be submitted to an ethics hotline

The employee listening strategy


Putting it all together: An Example

16

Exit/Entry Surveys Running Continuously

Lifecycle

Surveys

January 2016Cornerstone “Event”

January 2017Cornerstone “Event”

April 2016Team Survey

July 2016Team Survey

October 2016Team Survey

June 2016Progress Check

September 2016Initiative check

Upcoming Events


Event Dates Location Details

World at Work Total Rewards

Conference June 6 – 8 San Diego, CA Booth #507

SHRM Annual Conference June 19-22 Washington, D.C. Booth #3017


Discussion and Questions

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Why listen to employees?


“Why are we gathering employee input in the first place?”

Improve culture Support change

Increase engagement Monitor morale/sentiment

Show we care Improve a leader’s effectiveness

Tailor companywide programs Surface problems (coalmine canary)

Reduce turnover Gather improvement ideas (suggestion box)

Improve on-boarding Improve a team’s well-being / effectiveness



Why survey joiners and leavers?

Why survey joiners?

Understand what attracts employees and identify actions to improve attraction proposition

Assess joining ‘experience’ and match with employer brand and promises made to joiners, identify

where it can be improved to ensure joiners’ expectations are met

Poor onboarding is a considerable productivity cost and puts at risk substantial investments in

attraction and hiring top talent

Identify trouble spots early before they lead to performance issues or turnover risks

Improve time it takes for new recruits to begin adding value to business

Why survey leavers?

Identify reasons for leaving in different parts of the business to target specific interventions

Reduce employee turnover, thus recruitment spend and costs to business

Identify potential targets for re-recruitment (alumni network)

Tie in with existing employee survey research to help improve employee engagement levels and

provide a deeper understanding of disengagement



Example on-boarding and exit survey process map

Employee

Employee joins

or resigns

Manager/HR

HR or manager

updates HRIS

HRIS

HRIS

automatically

transfers key

data to WTW

On a regular, scheduled

basis, (eg daily) WTW

sends survey invites and

demographics

Survey Invitation

WTW merges survey

responses and

demographics

Database

Report Tool

Reporting tool

populated and

available for

review/analysis

WTW Entry/Exit Intelligence Key Survey Features:

Concise. Quick and easy technology for employees, HR and

leaders

Focused. Only asks questions meaningful to a particular

employee, with questions branching and probing deeply into

critical areas

Deep. Solicits employee comments to bring meaning to survey

responses

WTW Entry/Exit Intelligence Key Reporting and Action

Features:

Real Time. Results roll into an interactive tool that gives you

power to segment and report

Rich. Statistics are connected to an interactive comments tool

that reveals information about specific areas

Smart. Links to other employee life-cycle data (eg

engagement), provide full understanding and the right focus

for action

Capture Report and Act

Willis Towers Watson Webcast: The Latest In Employee Listening

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