Another theme that emerged from Communitelligence’s Employee Engagement conference in Chicago last week is what I would describe as “Moving from Process-centric to People-centric.” It seems that every organization has a robust set of process-oriented programs in place such as Six Sigma and Balanced Scorecard. These programs have helped organizations but people sense something’s still missing.
The next steps in the evolution of organizations will be focused on people and their values rather than additional process improvements. Organizations had lost their way in some respects by focusing so much on processes. By turning their attention to their core values, organizations were finding their way again, re-discovering their identities, who they are and what’s important to them.
Here are my observations from various presentations:
Category Archives: Employee Engagement
Communitelligence’s Employee Engagement Conference: Social Networking Tools Inside Organizations
Research Insights from Communitelligence’s Employee Engagement Conference
Communitelligence’s Outstanding Employee Engagement Conference
Last week I gave a presentation on Connection Cultures at Communitelligence’s Employee Engagement Conference in Chicago. While attended the conference I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the speakers who were for the most part responsible for internal communications at some of America’s leading companies.
Thank you John Gerstner, Communitelligence’s president, Rick Sauter, vice president for partnerships and community development, and Shelia Williams-Gerstner, vice president, for inviting me to speak and for orchestrating such a productive conference. I found your conference was especially valuable because the agenda included breakout sessions for participants to meet and learn from each other. This format was more stimulating than the traditional speakers-all-day format. I learned more about what other organizations were doing and met more people. It was a format that encouraging connection.
In the coming days, I’ll be posting fascinating insights shared by conference presenters. Here are a few tidbits of what I learned:
Chief Learning Officer Magazine Online: Employee Engagement Removes Knowledge Traps
In the current edition of Chief Learning Officer Magazine Online, Associate Editor Lindsay Edwards Wickman interviews me about how employee engagement and Connection Cultures remove knowledge traps in organizations. The interview is entitled “Connection Cultures Keep Workers Engaged.”
Wisdom in Starting on a Positive Note
It’s wise to begin your day on a positive note by saying “good morning” to your colleagues at work. Failing to recognize them is to communicate indifference. It’s also wise to begin every meeting with a positive comment. Research has shown that beginning a meeting with a positive comment makes group participants better listeners and makes the group more constructive. These benefits of starting your day and meetings off on a positive note are consistent with the findings of Professor Barbara Frederickson’s research on positive emotions.
I learned the foregoing from my friend Alex Kjerulf. Check out his Chief Happiness Officer blog and his book entitled Happy Hour is 9 to 5: Learn How to Love Your Job, Love Your Life and Kick Butt at Work.
Forgiveness as a Bridge to Unity
Nelson Mandela recently celebrated his 90th birthday. I’m grateful for this man and the wisdom of his example. When he entered Robben Island Prison he was known for confronting his enemies. When he was released 27 years later, Mandela stunned South Africans with his magnanimous behavior toward former adversaries.
Changing Values at The Wall Street Journal
Disconnection occurs when an acquiring company and the employees of its newly acquired company define excellence in different ways. In this month’s Atlantic, Mark Bowden writes about this issue in an excellent article entitled “Mr. Murdoch Goes to War.” The article, as you might guess from its title, is about how Rupert Murdoch is altering The Wall Street Journal.
One of the three elements of a Connection Culture is Vision, which includes an organization’s mission, values and reputation. Altering an organization’s identity is tricky business. This is especially true when the employees of an organization have a strong emotional connection to the organization’s identity. In such situations employee engagement can decline and quality of execution along with it.
This is a story I’ll be watching closely for possible inclusion in my next book. If you have any insights about changes at The Wall Street Journal, please post about them or email me at mstallard@epluribuspartners.com.
The Brain, Change and Connection Cultures
Consultant and blogger Michael DeWitt just posted an insightful video on his Spooky Action blog about how the human brain works and its implications for organizational change efforts. He concludes that leaders should create Connection Cultures to help members of organizations accept and implement change. Check out DeWitt’s blog. It’s one of the blogs I frequently read for its wisdom on topics such as leadership, organizations and employee engagement.
Vistage Course on Connection Cultures
Vistage, the world’s largest organization for chief executive officers, has established a course to help its members create Connection Cultures and increase employee engagement, productivity, innovation and profitability. E Pluribus Partners will conduct the course for Vistage.