employee engagement reveals real insights that then guide engagement strategies and action plans. This process repeats itself, because the opportunity to drive engagement should be an unending pursuit.
The Engagement Canvas is our answer to a troubling trend we noticed in the course of our work. We talked with many executives and HR leaders who told us that culture was a key aspect of their companies' future successes. They painstakingly explained how seriously they took employee engagement. Then, when we asked those same business leaders to describe their cultures (current and desired)…crickets. More troubling, when we asked how they were cultivating their workplace culture and driving employee engagement, we received blank stares.
Mind you, these business leaders are highly successful businessmen and businesswomen in their respective fields. They have mastered complex supply chain issues, cross-market campaign difficulties, technical security challenges, and more. But when it came to culture and engagement, they were comparatively dumbfounded. Try as they might, they did not understand how to construct an engagement strategy or measure success.
Engagement is too important for such widespread confusion. We are on a mission to provide the clarity organizations so desperately need. Alongside us on this journey are our guest contributors, both operational and strategic leaders, who provide their insights, commitment to, and appreciation for workplace culture and employee engagement. Spanning a variety of industries, company sizes, and geographies, these culture gurus prove that powerful engagement is not only achievable but well worth the effort.
We also provide our own insights gained from professional careers spent launching, forming, and perpetuating powerful company cultures. We originally met at ExactTarget, a fast-paced Midwest-based, technology company. ExactTarget epitomized a thriving culture with highly engaged employees. The culture was branded “Orange” after the company's primary brand color (Pantone 144). We experienced firsthand the importance of making culture a priority and saw the business impact of truly engaged employees. An exceptional culture was the driving force behind the company's successful initial public offering, listing on the New York Stock Exchange, and ultimate $2.5 billion sale to tech juggernaut Salesforce.com.
ExactTarget veteran and now Yext chief marketing officer Jeff Rohrs explained the experience this way:
I was involved in the initial conception of “Be Orange” at ExactTarget, an effort to give our culture, passion, commitment, talent, and energy a name. Having that effort tie into our core brand color – and having that color represent the best of who we wanted to be – helped everyone understand what culture meant within our organization.
Another key was not having Marketing or HR solely own culture. It was owned by our people, and they added so many great ideas and activities to the expression of our culture that every engaged employee felt a sense of ownership. Having the shorthand of what “Being Orange” meant even helped accelerate our hiring efforts by making it easier to evaluate people for key skills that were needed to work in an organization where change was a constant. (Rohrs, 2016).
Former ExactTarget vice president of global total rewards, talent, and HR operations and current Appirio senior vice president, human resources, Ellen Humphrey remembers the Orange culture with similar fondness:
We had an engaging and exciting culture at ExactTarget because (a) we were transparent about the business and its goals; (b) we empowered everyone to live out our culture; (c) our employees believed that our senior leaders lived out the culture; and (d) we were winning in our space. I think winning makes a big difference. Our employees were proud to be part of a company that was growing, landing the big customers, and opening new offices. The collective momentum attracted high-caliber talent, which led to more winning, which continued to engage employees, which kept the culture amped, which attracted more talent. Rinse and repeat. (Humphrey, 2016)
What we experienced at ExactTarget was so special that we wanted to help more organizations experience the power of culture and engagement to drive business results. So we joined forces and created a mobile-first employee engagement app software-as-a-service platform called Emplify. We help companies develop and implement engagement strategies through the use of native, branded, mobile apps. With our employee engagement platform, employers can finally foster a deeper level of employee engagement and measure their success in real time.
As you continue reading, remember that culture and employee engagement are components of – not replacements for – good ol' business results. Terri Kelly, president and chief executive officer of W. L. Gore & Associates, explains that “If you're not careful, the culture can become the outcome and become disconnected from achieving the desired business result. The culture needs to be the ‘how’ you achieve results, and you must continue to monitor and evolve your practices and values to ensure there is strong alignment to achieving the business outcomes” (Kelly, 2016).
Cheers to the start (or continuation) of your workplace culture and employee engagement journey. We are here to serve as your guides, and we look forward to helping you unlock the potential that comes from having truly engaged employees and a winning culture.
Part I
The Engagement Engine
Chapter 1
Engagement and Culture Redefined: (Or, Why Culture Belongs in the Boardroom)
Culture is the engine behind engagement. It is the power and the driving force, plain and simple. Employee engagement and culture get plenty of lip service in the business world, and plenty of books have been written on the subjects. We are not here to add hot air to the existing conversation. We are here to change the conversation completely.
This book is for those who are already convinced of and believe in the power of workplace culture. This book is for those who want to take action and transform culture and engagement in their organizations. This book is for those who believe culture should not be relegated to a back office, but rather invited with open arms (and a fistful of confetti) into the boardroom.
Supporting evidence abounds. It's widely accepted that positive cultures lead to more engaged employees, and more engaged employees sustain positive cultures. But it has also been proven that positive cultures and high levels of employee engagement drive tangible bottom-line benefits. An engaged workforce helps boost profits, increase employee loyalty and tenure, and heighten customer satisfaction.
Yet despite all the culture talk and widespread alarm around the engagement crisis in business, engagement levels remain stubbornly low. Why? Because most leaders are at an utter loss of how to affect real change in their organizations.
Before we dive too deep in the culture and engagement trenches, however, we should briefly define culture and engagement. Many books, articles, blogs, vlogs, podcasts, and academic pieces have been written about these topics, each with differing definitions. How many smart people does it take to define a pervasively common topic? A dizzying amount, apparently, for there is no public consensus.
For the purposes of this book, we studied hundreds of definitions and arrived at the following.
Defining Employee Engagement
We define employee engagement as an employee's emotional and intellectual connection with an employer, as demonstrated by his or her motivation and commitment to positively impact the company's vision and goals.
Not surprisingly, countless elements can impact positive or negative employee engagement, but we consider the most potent to be the following:
● Strategic Alignment. Employees can both verbalize and actualize the core business strategies.
● Understanding of Success.
