CMI's third expert is Wayne Clarke, an Employee Engagement, Internal Communications & Change Management professional with 10 years experience gained within three global professional service firms.
Wayne Clarke Answers
Janet Payne: I wonder if you can recommend any guidance, books, information that I can access on the process of instigating a culture change programme. I would like to start with a baseline staff survey and wonder if you can recommend any templates as a starting point.
Wayne Clarke: Well clearly I’m going to be a bit biased on this question, but our survey actually covers a number of questions which point to the culture of an organisation and the impact it has on employees.
You need to start by defining what your aims are for your culture survey, often they can be misleading and confused between engagement, climate or culture surveys. I would recommend taking a qualitative approach, interviewing a representative sample of your employees to get a good feel for that the culture of the organisation actually is.
Akintuyi Bernard Akinnubi : Where can i find models for change management?
Wayne Clarke: Google it! – Seriously, there is loads of information out there and it is difficult to tell which are good/ bad. Essentially, you need to find a model that works right for you, or even create your own model that fits within your organisations culture. Check the big successful consultancies like Capgemini, IBM, Accenture who handle change management projects. Some of the most complex change’s in the world. Have a look at their case studies, real life examples. You should find them really useful.
Peter Hughes: If an employer was to do one thing to start off the engagement process what would it be and why? Are there any tactics that would give them a quick win?
Wayne Clarke: Firstly, get you CEO’s buy-in to engagement. Secondly, kind of linked to the first point, make sure there is some sort of clear and defined strategy and organisational objectives, this makes the point of surveying a lot easier. And finally, shortcut the learning curve, speak to someone who knows what they’re doing (us).
Adrian Cable: I am working with a number of networks. Each network has a cluster of voluntary organisations, and have received development funding over a 3 year period. Each has a paid coordinator and management board. A key goal for them is to become self financing after the 3 years.
I am looking for a diagnostic that I can use with the coordinators and management boards that covers a range of leadership skills, but also business management skills.
I do need the tool to be foc/low cost. Are you able to point me in the direction?
Wayne Clarke: Hold a series of focus groups internally to understand what employees believe the issues are. Then use the output to design a series of questions that would illicit the right sort of feedback across the whole organisation. Find a website like survey monkey / boomerang to administer the survey. Make sure the questions are asked in the right way, as there’s a whole psychological discipline around asking the questions correctly. We may be able to help you with that.
Laura Long: It's often said that money isn't/shouldn't be a key factor in achieving employee engagement. Is this really the case or wishful thinking?
Wayne Clarke: This is really dependant on the leadership of the organisations, if they are driven for money and that’s what they strive to achieve, it will bleed down to become a fundamental part of the organisation’s culture.
For most organisations on the Sunday Times lists (the companies on these lists enter voluntarily, therefore this implies a good level of engagement) engagement is one of their key motivations rather than just making money.
In our experience, it’s more important to focus of the service we deliver / our customers experience than profit margins. If you want to see any more evidence on this, look up Jack Welch’s engagement model. He was the former CEO of General Electric (arguabley the best CEO of our time) and he surmised that employee engagement is intrinsically linked with performance, and performance with customer satisfaction.
So in summary, focus on your people and you’ll make even more money!
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