GETTING STARTED

The Empuls Guide to Action for Strategic Connect offers well laid out suggestions based on the scores. This guide will help HR and managers act on employee feedback about your Organisational Strategic Connect effectively. You will now be able to effectively take action, since these results help with:

1. Identifying focus areas in Strategic Connect efforts that are most impactful.
2. Narrow down on the onward action to improve these focus areas.
3. Identify various means - through industry best practices to pursue solving the top focus issues.
4. Independently take action using the Empuls engagement platform to improve the engagement levers.
5. Actively receive feedback from the team after every action.

CHOOSING A FOCUS AREA

Once the engagement survey results are in, the most important step is to select one or many focus areas in Strategic Connect. For this, begin from selecting ‘Strategic Connect’ from the drop down in Questionnaire tab to view the question scores. Key observations to be made:

QUESTION SCORE

Overall Score

Lower the score, the more critical the focus area

Score Variation

A negative score variation indicates a focus area.

A positive (while actioning upon focus areas) or a zero (for a non-focus area) score variation is ideal.

SELECTING THE FOCUS AREAS

The dash board visually indicates the focus areas with warmer colors.

For example, in the below report snapshot, ‘Socially Responsible’ within Brand Image needs to be the focus area.

Note: 

Remember that focus areas could either indicate a structural issue - like a new manager, new group of team members, change in policy or an internal promotion or a functional issue - projects, new processes, task reallocations, or change in workflows. Understanding the root cause helps prioritize focus areas, if there are many present.

‍

DIAGNOSING STRATEGIC CONNECT

The ‘Strategic Connect’ of an organisation indicates its efforts towards creating an aligned organisational vision amongst their employees. It is an important dimension of an organization’s efficiency in prioritizing and allocating resources to ensure that everyone is working towards one common vision. 

The more employees feel connected towards the organization and its core values, the more engaged employees are. It becomes easier for them to get in sync with the strategy of the organization and generate meaningful results. The belief that ‘the work I am doing is meaningful’ fulfils the higher-order human/social needs of an employee.

The Strategic Connect engagement dimension has the following sub-dimensions:

1. Brand Image
2. Vision & Strategy
3. Leadership

BRAND IMAGE

The ‘Brand Image’ dimension measures the perception the employee has in the employer brand of their organisation. A higher score of this dimension indicates that the employee thinks highly of their employer brand, while a low score indicates a lower sense of pride.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~what employees of firms that have a positive employer brand image say~

80.5% 

feel good working with their employer

95.8%

will work with their employer for at least  the next 5 years 

Source: iiste

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brand Image Score: 1 to <3

‘NEEDS ATTENTION’

If the total score for the ‘Brand Image’ dimension is from 1 to less than 3 for an organisation or a department, there is considerable work that needs to be done towards improving the employer Brand. It is highly probable that almost all the engagement questions too would be in the red zone. Drill down to the engagement questions to understand the exact issues.

Brand Image Score: 3 to <4

‘GOOD’

If the total score for the ‘Brand Image’ dimension is from 3 to less than 4 for an organisation or a department, it means that many of the employer brand building efforts are paying off. A few of  the engagement questions might need attention and drill down to understand how you fare in these dimensions.  

Brand Image Score: 4 to 5

‘EXCELLENT’

If the total score for the ‘Brand Image’ dimension is from 4 to 5 for an organisation or a department, it means that the employer branding efforts are faring exceptionally well. You can further fine tune these results by evaluating the available second level issues. (please note: you will have fewer drill down options since many seem to have chosen ‘5’ for Brand Image. engagement questions will be collected only when the employee scores less than a ‘5’).

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE

Being socially responsible is increasingly becoming an essential part of organisations because of the evolving social conditions - one where citizens trust corporates to do more than even their governments. Even employees want their employers to reflect larger purposes and stand for values like inclusion, empathy and environmental preservation. Corporates are entrusted to exhibit social responsibility, humanity and impact.

This engagement question helps you understand how your employees perceive your organisation to be socially responsible.

Socially responsible Score: 1 to <3

‘NEEDS ATTENTION’

If the total score for the ‘socially responsible’ dimension is between 1 and 3 for an organisation or a department, then there is considerable work that needs to be done towards improving the employee perceptions of the organisation with social responsibility.

------Recommendations to improve socially responsible score ------

1. Start investing and believing in corporate social responsibility
2. Figure how your organisational values uplift the society - highlight this connect over your internal communication over Empuls town hall
3. Work with local communities for better impact and affirmative action
4. Involve employees in CSR activities by creating CSR communities in Empuls 
5. Encourage participation by continuously putting updates in Empuls CSR communities, on social issues that need addressing and brainstorming session to try supporting these
6. Monitor the impact of CSR initiatives by closely tracking Socially responsible Score after every pulse survey

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Socially responsible Score: 3 to <4

‘GOOD’

If the total score for the ‘socially responsible’ dimension is from 3 to less than 4 for an organisation or a department, it means that many of the employer's social responsibility efforts are paying off.

------Recommendations to improve socially responsible score ------

1. Leverage the prior investments made in corporate social responsibility through marketing and communicating the efforts further using Empuls town hall
2. Create CSR campaigns that align with the organisational values and extensively communicate these efforts to the local community and employees over CSR communities..
3. Launch employee matching programs that will ensure more employee participation- based on their capacities and interests and communicate using Empuls town hall.
4. Form CSR committees that even include thought leaders amongst employees and the communities..
5. Monitor the impact of the new CSR initiatives by closely tracking Socially responsible Score after every pulse survey

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Socially responsible Score: 4 to 5

‘EXCELLENT’

If the total score for the ‘Socially responsible’ engagement question is from 4 to 5 for an organisation or a department, it means that the current social responsibility efforts are faring exceptionally well. If the Score is a perfect 5, and if it seems doubtful , do check for the number of responses received - a higher response rate gives better confidence.

HIGH PERFORMING ORGANISATION

Being a high performing organisation denotes the financial credibility and profitability of the organisation. The employee perceptions of how financially credible their employers are, has a significant impact on the brand image perceptions.

High performing organisation Score: 1 to <3

‘NEEDS ATTENTION’

If the total score for the ‘high performing’ dimension is from 1 to less than 3 for an organisation or a department, then there is considerable work that needs to be done towards improving the employee perceptions of the organisation's performance

------Recommendations to improve high performing score ------

1. Start investing in PR efforts that discuss the organisation’s financial performance and communicate these efforts over Empuls town hall.
2. Create clarity/rethink the organization’s purpose, core abilities and values. Revised organisational values need to be communicated extensively over the Empuls.
3. Build capability by building internal trust and building resources such as funds, assets, tools, information and knowledge. 
4. Create work environments that foster creativity, collaboration and harmonious functioning. Use Empuls to create work groups and ideation groups.
5. Create a core team that is high on ownership, commitment for excellence and possess a passion to achieve the organization’s purpose.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

High performing organisation Score:  3 to <4

‘GOOD’

If the total score for the ‘high performing’ dimension is from 3 to less than 4 for an organisation or a department, it means that many of the employer's performance efforts are paying off.

------Recommendations to improve socially responsible score ------

1. Leverage the current success achieved in organisational performance by communicating the achievements over Empuls town hall.
2. Continue to create PR campaigns that highlight the organisational achievements and extensively communicate this information to the employees over Empuls town hall.
3. Ensure employee alignment to organisational goals using well defined OKRs that align to the mission.
4. Have external experts in the company advisory board - try including thought and business leaders.
5. Monitor the impact of the new high performance initiatives by closely tracking high performing organisation score after every pulse survey

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

High performing organisation Score:  4 to 5

‘EXCELLENT’

If the total score for the ‘High performing organisation’ engagement question is from 4 to 5 for an organisation or a department, it means that the current high performance efforts are faring exceptionally well. If the Score is a perfect 5, and if it seems doubtful , do check for the number of responses received - a higher response rate gives better confidence.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Overall aspects of how an organisation - through its products and services - is able to adequately satisfy a customer need or want has an important effect on how the employee perceives the organisation. Organisations with better customer satisfaction are more likely to have more gratified employees.

Customer Satisfaction Score: 1 to <3

‘NEEDS ATTENTION’

If the total score for the ‘customer satisfaction’ dimension is from 1 to less than 3 for an organisation or a department, then there is considerable work that needs to be done towards improving the employee perceptions of the customer satisfaction capable of the company.

------Recommendations to improve customer satisfaction ------

1. Start extensive efforts in collecting customer feedback and invest in sorting the top issues.
2. Conduct focus groups for an open-ended chat and get deep insights of what is not working well and what is working well for you.
3. Analyse complaints to understand common trends - this could be the most pressing issue the customer faces with your organisation.
4. Until offerings stabilize, set up a customer hotline - so that customers get to immediately report a problem when it occurs.
5. Become a customer of your best competitors to continuously keep track of their offerings and to evaluate the major gaps of your offerings.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Customer satisfaction organisation Score:  3 to <4

‘GOOD’

If the total score for the ‘customer satisfaction’ dimension is from 3 to less than 4 for an organisation or a department, it means that many of the employer's customer satisfaction efforts are paying off.

------Recommendations to improve customer satisfaction score ------

1. Develop customer and  customer service communities to help volunteers navigate and solve common customer problems
2. Provide multi channel support to reach the customers across their devices. 
3. Offer proactive customer service with the use of predictive analytics on customer issues.
4. Slash waiting times with the smart use of technology
5. Strengthen and the ramp up the existing customer feedback processes

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Customer satisfaction Score:  4 to 5

‘EXCELLENT’

If the total score for the ‘customer satisfaction’ engagement question is from 4 to 5 for an organisation or a department, it means that the current customer satisfaction efforts are faring exceptionally well. If the Score is a perfect 5, and if it seems doubtful , do check for the number of responses received - a higher response rate gives better confidence.

VISION & STRATEGY

The ‘Vision & Strategy’ dimension measures the perception the employee has about the organisational vision and strategic effectiveness of their employer. A higher score of this dimension indicates that the employee thinks highly of their employer’s vision and strategy, while a low score indicates a lower approval of these aspects.

Vision & Strategy Score: 1 to <3

‘NEEDS ATTENTION’

If the total score for the ‘Vision & Strategy’ dimension is from 1 to less than 3 for an organisation or a department, there is considerable work that needs to be done towards improving the Vision & Strategy. It is highly probable that almost all the engagement questions too would be in the red zone. Drill down to the engagement questions to understand the issues further.

Vision & Strategy Score: 3 to <4

‘GOOD’

If the total score for the ‘Vision & Strategy’ dimension is from 3 to less than 4 for an organisation or a department, it means that many of the Vision & Strategy efforts are paying off. A few of  the engagement questions might need attention and drill down to understand how you fare in these dimensions.  

Vision & Strategy Score: 4 to 5

‘EXCELLENT’

If the total score for the ‘Vision & Strategy’ dimension is from 4 to 5 for an organisation or a department, it means that the Vision & Strategy efforts are faring exceptionally well. You can further fine tune these results by evaluating the available second level data. (please note: you will have fewer drill down options since many seem to have chosen ‘5’ for Vision & Strategy. engagement questions will be collected only when the employee scores less than a ‘5’).

STRATEGY ALIGNMENT WITH VISION AND MISSION

Employees who believe that their employer’s business strategies align with their vision and mission, better trust the organisation with faring well and have a higher organizational commitment.

Strategy alignment Score: 1 to <3

‘NEEDS ATTENTION’

If the total score for the ‘strategy alignment’ dimension is from 1 to less than 3 for an organisation or a department, then there is considerable work that needs to be done towards improving the employee perceptions of the organisation's strategy alignment with vision and mission.

------Recommendations to improve strategy alignment------

1. Talk to your employees. Get their perspectives on what's working and what's not working for them both within the organization and the leadership team.
2. Check in to see if your team is living their values and how those match with the organizational values. 
3. Ask your managers what the vision of your organization is and how this compares with their own individual visions. 
4. Do an environmental scan: What will your industry look like in 5 to 10 years? What sort of trends are happening now that might affect, change, or shape the future of your sector? 
5. Does your mission statement accurately describe what you do as an organization?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strategy alignment Score:  3 to <4

‘GOOD’

If the total score for the ‘strategy alignment’ dimension is from 3 to less than 4 for an organisation or a department, it means that many of the employer's strategy alignment efforts are paying off.

------Recommendations to improve strategy alignment score ------

1. What are your top three strategic priorities for this quarter or year? Do your managers know what they are? Do they have different strategic priorities?
2. Ask your team if they know what the KPIs are that support each priority area. Do they know which specific action items they (or their team) are accountable for? 
3. Ask your people if they know where they can review the strategic plan and the current progress of it.
4. What are the current risks and uncertainties for your organization?
5. Have a meeting to share the thoughts and feedback from all the above (or, quarterly strategic planning team meetings!)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strategy alignment Score:  4 to 5

‘EXCELLENT’

If the total score for the ‘strategy alignment’ engagement question is from 4 to 5 for an organisation or a department, it means that the current high performance efforts are faring exceptionally well. If the Score is a perfect 5, and if it seems doubtful , do check for the number of responses received - a higher response rate gives better confidence.

FUTURE BUSINESS STRATEGY

The organisation’s clarity of where they are headed and how well they are prepared for the future, contributes to the employee having a great trust of the vision and strategy of the company.

Future strategy Score: 1 to <3

‘NEEDS ATTENTION’

If the total score for the ‘Future strategy S’ dimension is from 1 to less than 3 for an organisation or a department, then there is considerable work that needs to be done towards improving the employee perceptions of the organisation's future business strategy.

------Recommendations to improve future strategy ------

1. Don’t depend on one part of your business for complete success
2. Rethink your Past strategies that may fail to engage new customers
3. Predict the future demands today
4. Identify & start managing future business risks
5. Listen to customers & observer their behavior

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Future strategy Score:  3 to <4

‘GOOD’

If the total score for the ‘future strategy’ dimension is from 3 to less than 4 for an organisation or a department, it means that many of the employer's future strategy efforts are paying off.

------Recommendations to improve future strategy score ------

1. Follow the trends in mature markets to predict what future looks like
2. Watch out for influencing factors surrounding your business that could offer a disruption
3. Create Favorable environment for innovation and ideation
4. Invest in futuristic technology
5. Invest yourselves in developing solutions and product that are sustainable and environment friendly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Future strategy Score:  4 to 5

‘EXCELLENT’

If the total score for the ‘future strategy’ engagement question is from 4 to 5 for an organisation or a department, it means that the current high performance efforts are faring exceptionally well. If the Score is a perfect 5, and if it seems doubtful , do check for the number of responses received - a higher response rate gives better confidence.

LEADERSHIP

The ‘Leadership’ dimension measures the perception of the employee about their organisational leadership team. A higher score of this dimension indicates that the employee thinks highly of their leadership team, while a low score indicates a lower approval of their leadership team.

Leadership Score: 1 to <3

‘NEEDS ATTENTION’

If the total score for the ‘Leadership’ dimension is from 1 to less than 3 for an organisation or a department, there is considerable work that needs to be done towards improving the Leadership perceptions.. It is highly probable that almost all the engagement questions too would be in the red zone. Drill down to the engagement questions to understand the issues further.

‘Leadership’ Score: 3 to <4

‘GOOD’

If the total score for the ‘‘Leadership’’ dimension is from 3 to less than 4 for an organisation or a department, it means that many of the ‘Leadership’ efforts are paying off. A few of  the engagement questions might need attention and drill down to understand how you fare in these dimensions.  

Leadership Score: 4 to 5

‘EXCELLENT’

If the total score for the ‘Leadership’ dimension is from 4 to 5 for an organisation or a department, it means that the Leadership efforts are faring exceptionally well. You can further fine tune these results by evaluating the available second level data. (please note: you will have fewer drill down options since many seem to have chosen ‘5’ for Vision & Strategy. engagement questions will be collected only when the employee scores less than a ‘5’).

LEADERSHIP INSPIRATION

The second level ‘leadership inspiration’ dimension measures how inspired the employee is of the leadership in a way that makes them more driven and enthusiastic.

Leadership inspiration Score: 1 to <3

‘NEEDS ATTENTION’

If the total score for the ‘Leadership inspiration’ dimension is from 1 to less than 3 for an organisation or a department, then there is considerable work that needs to be done towards improving the employee perceptions of the organisation's leadership inspiration.

------Recommendations to improve Leadership inspiration ------

1. Communicate to each of the employees (through managers) about how their individual tasks add to the larger goal of the organisation.
2. Refocus on organisational purpose and take strategic decisions to support it
3. Understand employee aptitudes and behaviors well-enough to best work with and motivate them.
4. Continuously coach employees and pay attention to their specific needs
5. Provide employees with tools and resources that can help them level up their performance

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leadership inspiration Score:  3 to <4

‘GOOD’

If the total score for the ‘Leadership inspiration’ dimension is from 3 to less than 4 for an organisation or a department, it means that many of the employer's leadership inspiration efforts are paying off.

------Recommendations to improve leadership inspiration score ------

1. Empower employees to take their own decisions, and let them know the significance of their contribution.
2. Measure the significance of exceptional individual performances and reward them
3. Respect the employee contributions and recognise them
4. Ensure the employee is personally advancing while giving him/her additional responsibility
5. Provide employees transparent feedback that constructively betters their performance and efficiency.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leadership inspiration Score:  4 to 5

‘EXCELLENT’

If the total score for the ‘leadership inspiration’ engagement question is from 4 to 5 for an organisation or a department, it means that the current Leadership inspiration efforts are faring exceptionally well. If the Score is a perfect 5, and if it seems doubtful , do check for the number of responses received - a higher response rate gives better confidence.

LEADERSHIP FAIRNESS & INTEGRITY

The second level ‘leadership fairness and integrity’ dimension measures how the employee trusts their leaders to behave with fairness and integrity. This kind of trust helps create a psychologically safe environment in the organisation for employees, that helps employee retention and engagement.

Leadership fairness and integrity Score: 1 to <3

‘NEEDS ATTENTION’

If the total score for the ‘Leadership fairness and integrity dimension is from 1 to less than 3 for an organisation or a department, then there is considerable work that needs to be done towards improving the employee perceptions of the leadership fairness and integrity.

------Recommendations to improve Leadership fairness and integrity ------

1. Be open and transparent in communicating important issues with the employees.
2. All leadership communication needs to be aligned with the larger goal, vision and purpose of the organisation.
3. Establish, document and communicate new strategies, plans, processes and rules.
4. Ensure that there is now leeway for personal bias to get in the way of good business and management decisions.
5. Follow and insist every employee to follow the fairness etiquette in every sale, partnership, or an employment agreement

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leadership fairness and integrity Score:  3 to <4

‘GOOD’

If the total score for the ‘Leadership fairness and integrity’ dimension is from 3 to less than 4 for an organisation or a department, it means that many of the employer's Leadership fairness and integrity efforts are paying off.

---Recommendations to improve Leadership fairness and integrity score ---

1. Reaffirm that everyone will receive an equal opportunity to be recognized.
2. Create a sense that promotions are handled fairly.
3. Add transparency and a commitment to equity to the paycheck.
4. Offer a fair appeals process. It is critical for employees to understand that they have a fair opportunity to have grievances heard by management.
5. Provide very clear expectations, job role definitions and OKRs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leadership fairness and integrity Score:  4 to 5

‘EXCELLENT’

If the total score for the ‘Leadership fairness and integrity’ engagement question is from 4 to 5 for an organisation or a department, it means that the current Leadership fairness and integrity efforts are faring exceptionally well. If the Score is a perfect 5, and if it seems doubtful , do check for the number of responses received - a higher response rate gives better confidence.

LEADERSHIP COMPETENCE

The second level ‘leadership competence’ dimension measures how the employee trusts their leaders to be well-equipped and competent to take the right decision for the company’s well-being.

Leadership competence Score: 1 to <3

‘NEEDS ATTENTION’

If the total score for the ‘Leadership competence’ dimension is from 1 to less than 3 for an organisation or a department, then there is considerable work that needs to be done towards improving the employee perceptions of leadership competence.

------Recommendations to improve Leadership competence ------

1. Assess the Strengths and Developmental Needs of the current leadership and managerial team
2. Have extensive leadership training and development sessions and implement succession planning
3. Train your managers to implement S. M. A. R. T. goals
4. Have leadership rewards and recognition

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leadership competence Score:  3 to <4

‘GOOD’

If the total score for the ‘Leadership fairness and integrity’ dimension is from 3 to less than 4 for an organisation or a department, it means that many of the employer's Leadership fairness and integrity efforts are paying off.

---Recommendations to improve Leadership competence score ---

• Focus on developing core leadership competencies for your managerial team like interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, conflict management and influence skills
• Create opportunities for managers to continuously learn
• Have sufficient opportunities to collect feedback from employees, customers and other stakeholders.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leadership competence Score:  4 to 5

‘EXCELLENT’

If the total score for the ‘Leadership competence’ engagement question is from 4 to 5 for an organisation or a department, it means that the current Leadership competence efforts are faring exceptionally well. If the Score is a perfect 5, and if it seems doubtful , do check for the number of responses received - a higher response rate gives better confidence.