• Employee Engagement Surveys
• Post-Exit Interviews and Surveys
• Turnover Root Cause Analysis
• Emerging Leader Assessment and Coaching
• Career Management Program Design and Implementation
• Consulting Clients

Employee Engagement Surveys

Provides senior leaders with a way to measure not just employee satisfaction, but the degree to which employees are engaged, defined as:

a) satisfied with job/environment,

b) intend to stay with the organization, and

c) committed to give their best every day.

The survey consists of questions representing themes known to be key engagement factors: Team Performance, Pride in Personal Performance, Understanding How One Fits into the Organization’s Plans, Relationships with Coworkers, Relationship with Manager, Feeling Valued by the Organization, Trust in Senior Leaders, Work Satisfaction, and Intent to Stay.

Representative items are:

• I recommend this organization as a great place to work.
• I see career growth and advancement opportunities for myself in this organization.
• Our customers can depend on this organization to deliver excellent results.
• I have a close and trusting relationship with one or more coworkers.
• My direct manager shows appreciation for my contributions.
• The leaders of this organization are committed to making it a great place to work
• My job allows me to do what I do best.
• If I contribute to the organization’s success, I know I will be rewarded.

Announcing Our New Employee Engagement Survey Partnership with Quantum Workplace

We are pleased to announce that Keeping the People has formed an alliance with Quantum Workplace, Omaha, Nebraska to provide state-of-the-art employee engagement surveys and third-party post-exit surveying and reporting. This new partnership further enhances our levels of service to clients in several significant ways:

• Providing the largest up-to-the-minute database of employee engagement benchmarks in the U.S., generated by more than 4,500 surveys per year.
• Quantum’s sophisticated and graphically compelling online reporting technology allows for real-time monitoring of response rates and reports that are easy-to-navigate and view.
• Quantum’s Team-Plan software platform allows online post-survey action planning with suggested tactical steps personalized for each line manager.

We are excited to combine our years of consulting expertise with technology that is quick, cost-effective, and state-of-the-art.

To request a demo of our surveying and reporting capabilities contact Leigh Branham at 913.620.4645  to arrange an introduction.

Client Benefits of Employee Engagement Surveying

• Diagnoses issues across the organization and within different units and locations that must be addressed to increase employee performance, satisfaction, and retention.
• Leads to the development of on-target strategies for increasing employee engagement where needed.
• Defines what actions are needed to build or refine an “employment brand” that attracts and retains the right talent for meeting critical business objectives.
• Survey results provide scorecard for tracking annual progress in employee engagement levels, achieving/maintaining employer-of-choice status, and holding managers accountable for specific improvements.
• Can result in significant increases in customer retention, which is linked directly to improvements in levels of employee engagement, as the research shows.

Process Steps

1. Planning meeting with senior leaders/project team
2. Survey customization via employee focus group (optional)
3. Conduct survey via secure website, intranet, kiosks, or paper
4. eport preliminary findings
5. Second employee focus group to validate findings and gather recommendations (optional)
6. Final report presentation, with action recommendations, to senior leaders
7. Communication of results to all employees
8. Consultation/training of managers in delivery of results and action planning

Time frame: 14-16 weeks

Post-Exit Interviews and Surveys

The Need:

Organizations who care enough to find out the real reasons good employees leave can create on-target corrective and preventive turnover solutions.

The Solution:

Using an objective and confidential third party to conduct post-exit interviews and/or online or paper-and-pencil surveys two to six weeks after the employee’s departure allows organizations to gain rich and accurate understanding of the root causes of employee turnover.

Quarterly or twice-yearly reports allow organizations to stay on target in their ongoing talent retention efforts, and hold managers accountable for their pivotal role in retaining key employees.

Process Steps:

• Planning session with senior/HR leaders.
• Review of existing survey and development of new survey.
• Conduct post-exit interviews by phone or surveys by secure website or paper.
• Deliver quarterly or twice-yearly report of findings, including action recommendations to improve employee attraction, selection, engagement and retention.
• Conduct periodic review of process.

Turnover Root Cause Analysis

The Need:

Successful companies need workforce stability to maintain stable customer relationships and avoid the high costs of replacement, new hire training, lost productivity, and lost business. High workforce churn usually indicates problems with how the organization is perceived in the community and by prospective recruits–the “employer’s brand.”

The Solution:

A in-depth assessment of the real reasons for employee turnover, conducted by a third party consultant with world-class expertise, supplemented by interviews and/or surveys of representative employees, allows the organization to clearly define the issues it must address. It also helps organizations define their current vs. desired employment brand in the context of business strategy, then create a targeted strategy for improving in four key areas of talent management-attracting, selecting, engaging, and retaining.

Process Steps:

• Typically begins with review of current business strategy and talent needs.
• In-depth post-exit interviews with a representative sample of recent former employees whose departure was considered regrettable.
• Concurrent telephone or personal interviews conducted with highly-valued current employees representing key demographic groups, functions or departments. Respondents may include newly-hired employees, those who have left and returned, or even highly desired applicants who have turned down offers of employment.
• Focus groups with selected current employees.
• Gathered data is analyzed and synthesized to identify key themes from which corrective/preventive actions can be taken, and a comprehensive new employer-of-choice and branding strategy may be developed.
• Presented to senior leaders for approval and implementation

Emerging Leader Assessment and Coaching

The Need:

Leadership-or the lack of leadership-can make or break your business. Successful organizations need leaders and managers to perform at their best in the roles best suited to their talents. As an older generation of leaders starts to leave the workforce, new leaders must be ready to replace them.

The Solution:

An in-depth assessment of talent, personality, values, and previously unexamined career preferences allows emerging leaders to benefit immeasurably from enhanced self-insight and knowing that the organization cares about their personal growth and success. Senior leaders benefit by understanding the individual and knowing which future leadership roles will best fit the individual’s talents and personality.

Process Steps:

• Consultant meets with management to outline the process and assure realistic expectations.
• Consultant and individual meet to build trust, establish realistic expectations, and review the assessment and coaching process.
• Consultant and individual meet to begin in-depth interview and assessment process, which usually includes multi-rater feedback.
• Consultant presents written report of assessment results and feedback to individual and/or senior leaders, as appropriate
• If coaching is desired, the consultant and individual discuss various work-role options and create a written developmental and performance management plan with specific actions and accountabilities. The consultant and individual meet periodically to monitor progress and plan/practice positive behavioral changes. Coaching process may continue for several months up to more than a year to assure that desired behavioral changes are achieved.

Career Management Program Design and Implementation

Keeping the People helps clients clearly link career management efforts to corporate strategic drivers.

A successful career management initiative supports the employer’s key strategic initiatives. As examples, we have worked with companies that have used career management to drive an effort to retain key talent (General Dynamics-Pomona Division), and another where the goal was to promote internal candidates in lieu of a tendency to look outside the company for promotions (Con-Agra Foods of Omaha). Other clients include: American Edwards Labs, Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Bank of America, Bayer, Cisco Systems, and Federal Home Loan Bank.

• We understand what drives engaged, productive employees. For the last seven years we have studied employers that have developed highly engaged workplaces. One of the six universal engagement drivers is job enrichment and career growth. Our case studies of highly engaged employers who are building a culture that encourages and supports career development serves as our guide as work to help our clients. In fact, we have the organizational diagnostics and career management normative data that can help benchmark where client companies stand against other employers in their industry.
• We have extensive background in individual assessments that are often used as part of a career management initiative.We are often asked to assist in the review or design of assessments that would be used to help career management participants understand more about their interests, talents and current level of performance. If assistance in the review or design of competency models is required we can also offer expert counsel based on many years of designing and implement such models.Keeping the People has designed our own “Employee Self-Assessment and Career Self-Management” workbook that includes thorough assessments of strengths, values, interests, and work-environment preferences and gives employees the tools to take charge of their own career development.360-degree leadership assessment. We are certified and experienced in a wide range of career and personality inventories, and have authored our own Leadership 360 Competency Assessment (LCA 360).Our “Manager as Career Coach” manager’s guide to effective employee career coaching, organized around a process of three-way shared responsibility (employee, manager, and organization). Our manager and employee workshops both offer detailed train-the-trainer lesson plans and certification options.Our new guide, “Employee Self-Engagement”, which challenges employees to take full ownership of their side of the employee engagement equation, features an online self-engagement inventory and an inventory of 60+ action options.
• We incorporate state-of-the-art technology, including e-learning, career information data banks, and social networking into our solutions.

Criteria for Designing and Implementing a Comprehensive Career Management Solution:

• From our collective experience, here are key criteria for success:
• Begin by designing the initiative to support clear business objectives and the workforce needed to achieve the objectives.
• Survey all employees to assess specific learning and professional growth needs while focusing on the needs of targeted high-value talent that support key business objectives. Tailor the initiative to the needs of the four different generations and other diversity groups as appropriate.
• Ensure senior leader support and co-design the initiative with line managers so they will own the solution.
• Coordinate and integrate the initiative with human resources systems and policies, such as HRIS, performance management, job posting, social media, e-learning technologies, and succession management.
• Tailor the initiative to fit the organization’s culture.
• Take a long-term approach with short-term payoffs, using a manager-employee task force and pilot groups.
• Send the clear message to managers that “talent hoarding” and blocking internal growth moves will not be tolerated.
• Place a strong emphasis on hiring and promoting from within while emphasizing lateral movement and on-the-job learning/growth opportunities.
• Build the career coaching skills of line managers and evaluate all managers on this critical competency.
• Provide all employees with the self-assessment tools, informational resources, mentoring, and training they need to effectively take charge of their own career management.
• Require managers to partner with employees in creating individual development plans aligned with business goals and keeping them current.

To contact Leigh Branham about this consulting service: Call (913) 620-4645 or E-mail Leigh at LB@keepingthepeople.com.

Clients

Affymetrix, Inc.

Bibb & Associates Consulting Engineers

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

City of Lee’s Summit, Mo.

Degenkolb Engineers

Enturia, Inc.

Federal Home Loan Bank

George Butler Associates Consulting Engineers

Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy

J.E. Dunn Construction Co.

KIRA, Inc.

Kodak Corporation

KPFF Consulting Engineers

PSI Consulting Engineers

Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLP

University of Missouri-Kansas City

ZOLL Medical Corporation