Relationships and Culture at Work

Workplace Relationships and Organization Culture: Human beings are social creatures, some less, some more. Given that we spend a third of our day at work, forging meaningful work relationships is important. According to Deloitte’s extensive research leading to the Simply Irresistible Organization model, a Humanistic workplace with an inclusive, diverse work environment is essential for good employee engagement and productivity. According to a Gallup Study, When employees possess a deep sense of affiliation with their team members, they are driven to take positive actions that benefit the business -- actions they may not otherwise even consider if they did not have strong relationships with their coworkers.

Culture is often defined as what people do when no one is looking. Defining and upholding cultural values help people feel connected and bind them together as a team with shared values and goals. Together, workplace relationships and organizational culture are important engagement drivers that influence the eNPS.

The absence of workplace relationships and organizational culture leads to people working in silos, divided and dysfunctional teams, unhappy employees with no connection to the organization, and increasing attrition. The Great Resignation, in fact, has been propelled by people seeking to work in organizations with good culture and hence leading to better work relationships.

In order to gain a holistic picture of the workplace relationships and organizational culture factors that impact employee engagement, it is important to understand the first dimension drivers that influence them (building blocks, as we call them).

They are: Team Relationships: Do the employees trust their teammates and feel that their team would help them in times of need? Managerial Relationships: Do employees feel that they can reach out to their managers for support? Are the managers coaching and mentoring their teams adequately? Organization Values: Is the organization ethical? Are there a set of values for which they stand for? Is there transparency in place? Organizational Culture: What kind of a culture does the organization embrace? Is there room for failure? How often do people get innovative?

In order to understand the impact of these first dimension drivers on Workplace Relationships and Organizational Culture, a deeper analysis of the underlying factors impacting each of these first dimension drivers is required. To facilitate this, The Empuls Pulse Survey model considers second dimension engagement drivers (sub-sub-dimensional drivers) that influence each of the sub-dimensional drivers of every engagement driver.

1. Team Relationships: According to Gallup’s research,team relationships impact team performance as well as employee engagement. The study further adds that if 6 in 10 people have a best friend at work or have friends at work, it would lead to: 36% fewer safety incidents 7% more engaged customers 12% higher profit

In the Empuls Pulse Survey, there are four second dimensional engagement drivers that impact the Team Relationships. They are: Committed team Relevant competencies (KSA) Team communication Team collaboration

1.1.Committed team: Do the employees believe that their team is committed to the goals of the team and organization?

Seeing is believing. What an employee sees in their team influences their opinions about the commitment levels of their team. An employee's perception of working in a committed team is a second dimension engagement driver in the Empuls Pulse survey, and it influences the team relationships.

1.1.1. Best Practices to improve the perception of working in a Committed team:

Plan: Conduct frequent team meetings to discuss about the team goals Do: Teams that meet often are more connected. Ensure that every team has frequent team meetings. Make it a mandate for every small team to have at least one team meeting every week- to stay abreast about what needs to be done and who is doing what.These meetings should also facilitate discussions on individual and team goals, how they can be achieved, and clarifying the role of each member. Larger teams/BU units should definitely meet once every fortnight. These meetings should aim to provide a larger picture of what is going on. Such regular meetings would go a long way in improving the team dynamics.

Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Conduct Tell Me Why sessions Do: Allocate a time to conduct weekly or fortnightly Tell Me Why sessions. The agenda is to simply answer all the whys that people have. This should be conducted by the team manager or BU head or other senior team leaders.Understanding the why for an action is important before understanding how to do it. It also helps in fostering a shared purpose and goal within the team. Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Add team praise as a recognition and a performance metric Do: Team Praise as a recognition and performance metric is often overlooked. Let the Leaders and function heads in your organization proactively appreciate and even reward teams collectively for their performances. Add team performance as a part of everybody’s KPI. These initiatives increase the bond and the desire to work well as a unit.

Time: >4 weeks to start

Plan: Conduct informal team AMAs or team chatters Do: Periodically ensure that every team conducts informal AMAs. They should promote equal participation from everybody. Anyone can ask another person anything related to work and outside of work, such as their hobbies and passions. Introduce a caveat that people are free not to answer a question. Such AMAs help people know more about their teammates as individuals. Time: 3 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? The HR and Team Leads should own this HR should guide the Team Leads to act as facilitators of meetings The initiatives should be a part of both their KRAs for the quarter, and have metrics to measure performance.

How to communicate?

Use internal communication channels to reach out to your teams and update them about your initiatives Invite discussions on what else can be done

Measure: The HR should run a small survey to seek feedback after implementing every initiative.

Act: The HR a should use the feedback to help the Team Leads improve on the action plan.

1.2.Relevant competencies (KSA): Do the employees believe that their team has the relevant competencies to achieve its goals?

Feeling one’s team has adequate knowledge and skills to discharge their responsibilities is an important factor that helps individuals forge better relationships with their team members. Employees should not feel that they may have to do the heavy lifting as their teams do not have the skills.

1.2.1. Best Practices to improve the employee belief that their team has the relevant competencies to achieve its goals:

Plan: Conduct once in a quarterly Know your team workshop Do: Create a quarterly activity called Know your team, where team members exchange notes on each other’s skills, knowledge, and experience. Also, they should add details of what new things/skills they did/ learnt in the last quarter and for what reasons. This way, every team member would know more about their team competencies.

Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Arrange for digital office blind dates and water cooler sessions Do: In a remote or hybrid workplace, physical interaction is limited or non-existent. Arrange for your team members to informally catch-up by organizing weekly blind dates and water cooler sessions.This will help them know about their teammates better. Time: 2-4 weeks to start

Plan: Conduct team skill building workshops (with internal and external SMEs) Do: First, ensure every employee creates a list of skills/training they would like to have. Start organizing training and skilling workshops for those skills that have high demand. You can involve other team members who are willing to sign up as trainers. This way, team members who possess advanced knowledge or skills can train others. Get external trainers whenever and wherever the need arises.

Time: >4 weeks to start

Plan: Creation of a team L&D resource Do: Have an L&D resource-building activity for every team. Each team should create an internal knowledge repository to help others know about the skills and knowledge they seek to learn. Have a senior person in the team lead this effort.

Time: >4 weeks to start

Plan: Conduct Intra-team Quizzes Do: Have this as a fun activity where a senior and junior team member get paired as a team. As long as there are a minimum of five members in a team, one person can be the quiz master. The teams can be quizzed on the techniques and knowledge of the skills that they use everyday. People can take turns to be the quiz master. This is a fun way to improve knowledge as well as team-bonding.

Time: 2-4 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? -Team Leads should own the initiatives -They should make the plan and do a part of their KRA for the quarter, and have metrics to measure performance.

How to communicate?

Use internal communication channels to reach out to your teams and update them about your initiatives

Measure: The Team Leads should run a small survey to seek feedback after implementing every initiative.

Act: The Team Leads should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

1.3.Team communication: Do the employees believe that they can communicate with their team with ease?

Communicating to one’s team and expressing one’s thoughts and opinions is important for an employee to feel comfortable in a team. Communication is the only way people can understand and seek to understand another person. When there is ease and openness in communication, people are less stressed out and do not carry unexpressed thoughts. Hence, team communication is a second dimension engagement driver that impacts team relationships.

1.3.1. Best Practices to improve team communication:

Plan: Conduct Active Listening Workshops Do: Active listening is the practice of preparing to listen, observing what verbal and non-verbal messages are being sent, and then providing appropriate feedback. Active listening is a skill that has to be acquired and honed. Involve an SME to conduct periodic active listening workshops for all your teams, especially the managers and the leaders. Time: >4 weeks to start

Plan: Conduct informal agendaless team meetings Do: Periodically ensure that every team conducts an agendaless team meetings. The aim of these meetings is to promote free-flowing conversations around anything that team-members want to discuss. Such meetings enable people to talk more with each other and also know each other better.

Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Conduct Monthly 1:1s Do: Ensure that all the managers in your organization have at least one monthly 1:1s to help their team members voice their concerns and help them express their thoughts. Let your managers announce the talking points for the 1:1s. They should be around the five broad topics: General Engagement: the current workload, projects they are working on, challenges in the role etc Team Dynamics: how comfortable are they with the way the team is functioning, do they want more time with someone etc Priorities at work: what task/projects are getting priority, do they need help in re-prioritizing etc Career aspirations/goals Feedback and inputs for the manager and organization The manager should spend at least 80% of the 1:1 listening to the employee Time: 2-4 weeks to start

Plan: Conduct Team Games Do: Create an overall games committee for every business unit or function. Every team should have a representative in the team. The aim of this committee is to create a repository of fun games that can be conducted within teams and across teams. The representative becomes the game's facilitator of their team. The representative can be rotated periodically. Games that focus on team communication like Pictionary or Dumb Charades can be played. This enables teams to talk to each other, losing their inhibitions.

Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Facilitate Team Knowledge Sharing Sessions Do: Pair a senior and junior as a part of a team to conduct knowledge-sharing sessions. Every such pair will host a knowledge-sharing session once a week. Every week the couple who host the session will be different. Once everyone has had a chance to host a session, the two people forming a team can be changed. This initiative will help individuals in a team connect and collaborate better.

Time: 2-4 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? –Team Leads should own this.

• They should make the plan and do a part of their KRA for the quarter, and have metrics to measure performance.

How to communicate?

Use internal communication channels to reach out to your teams and update them about your initiatives

Measure: The Team Leads should seek one on one feedback after every initiative is implemented.

Act: The Team Leads should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

1.4.Team collaboration: How do the employees perceive the extent of collaboration within their team?

Being able to collaborate with ease and efficacy with team members leads to good workplace relationships. Hence, Team collaboration is a second dimension engagement driver in the Empuls Pulse survey.

1.4.1. Best Practices to improve team collaboration:

Plan: Create Peer-to-peer learning program Do: Create smaller groups of 2s or 3s within teams, and let each group member teach a skill that they are good at. The smaller groups should present their group’s effort to the larger team. These skills taught can also be added to the knowledge repository. Time: >4 weeks to start

Plan: Conduct physical bonding events Do: Once every month or at least a quarter, let every team meet and do some fun activity- which goes beyond eating and drinking. It could be solving in a mystery room together or going for a hike- any activity where teams have to collaborate. Time: 4-12 weeks to start

Plan: Set team goals as KPIs Do: Setting goals for teams and making the individual members responsible for making progress is a way to nudge team members to collaborate and connect. By making them a part of the KPIs. individuals would be nudged to take ownership and work towards them. Time: 2-4 weeks to start

Plan: Team Community Building Do: Create a community for the team members to connect and collaborate on work and non-work activities. Mandate that every individual collaborate on some project or activity with their team members at least once a month. As a process, highlight and celebrate the collaborations, no matter how small.

Time: < 2 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? -HR and Team Leads should co-own the initiatives -It should be a part of their KRA for the quarter

• Metrics to measure performance should also be decided upon

How to communicate?

Use internal communication channels to reach out to your teams and update them about your initiatives

Measure: The Team Leads should run a small team survey and get feedback after implementing every initiative.

Act: The Team Leads should use the feedback to improve on the action plan, taking HR’s support

Actionable Insights on the Pulse Survey Results

Weak: Score less than 3.

Insight: A majority of your employees are not happy with their team relationships.

To improve the perception of working in a Committed team:

Conduct frequent team meetings (formal and informal) to discuss about the team goals Tell me Why sessions

To improve the employee belief that their team has the relevant competencies to achieve its goals: Introduction Workshop Arrange for digital office Blind dates and water cooler sessions

To improve team communication: Conduct fortnightly agendaless team meetings Team Games

To improve team collaboration: Team Community Building

Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken

At risk: Score between 3 and 4, showing a downward trend in the last 3 pulse runs

Insight: While more than 50% of your employees are happy with their team relationships, there is a negative trend and this is at risk of becoming a weakness.

To improve the perception of working in a Committed team:

AMA team sessions

To improve the employee belief that their team has the relevant competencies to achieve its goals: Arrange for digital office Blind dates and water cooler sessions Team Quizzes

To improve team communication:

Monthly One-on-ones Team Knowledge Sharing

To improve team collaboration: Set team goals Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken

Acceptable: Score between 3 and 4, showing no change in the last 3 pulse runs

Insight: More than 50% of your employees are happy with their team relationships; however this has not improved.

To improve the employee belief that their team has the relevant competencies to achieve its goals:

Adding team praise as a recognition and performance metric AMA team sessions

To improve feelings about the organization structure: Team L&D Team skill building workshops (with internal and external SMEs)

To improve team communication: Conduct Active Listening Workshops

To improve team collaboration: Conduct physical bonding events Peer-to-peer learning program

Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken

Improving: Score between 3 and 4, showing an increasing trend Insight: More than 50% of your employees are happy with their team relationships, and there is an increasing trend in this sentiment. Work on converting this to a strength.

Continue doing what you are doing, and use the Good practices document to incorporate new initiatives to turn this second dimension engagement driver into a strength.

Strength: Score above 4 Insight: More than 80% of your employees are happy with their team relationships. This is an area of strength for your organization. Keep up the good work!

Continue doing what you are doing, document your actions and share them with us. Also use the Good practices document to incorporate new initiatives to ensure that this second dimension engagement driver remains a strength.

1. Managerial Relationships: According to Gallup’s research, the manager alone accounts for 70% of variance in team engagement. This is driven by the manager's innate tendencies, the manager's engagement, and the employee's perception of the manager's behaviors. The relationships that each manager forges with their team becomes an important indicator of team and hence employee happiness.

In the Empuls Pulse Survey, there are five second dimensional engagement drivers that impact the Managerial Relationships. They are: Supportive manager Coaching & mentoring Taking opinions seriously Objective decisions Autonomy

2.1. Supportive manager: Do the employees perceive their manager as supportive?

Like the popular saying goes, people don’t quit organizations. They quit managers. When employees have supportive managers, they are less likely to quit.

2.1.1. Best Practices to improve support from the manager:

Plan: Conduct a GROW framework training for Managers to turn into Coaching Managers Do: Every quarter conduct an ongoing training session for all your managers on how they can progressively transform into excellent coaching managers. The training should provide actionable insights, role plays, and real-life examples to explain the GROW framework. Your managers should be trained to help your employees to establish a Goal, examine the current Reality, explore Options, and decide What they will do. Joseph Weintraub defines this type of coaching as “an ongoing dialogue with the goal of increasing learning and improving one’s ability to perform effectively now and in the future”. This managers should be trained to use the GROW approach that uses open-ended questioning combined with listening to lead employees to think about situations differently and to be open to new ways of acting all with the intent of bring out their best. Time: 4 weeks to start

Plan: Create a Mentor a Manager program Do: Create a program where senior managers and management leaders turn to mentors. Then allocate a mentor for every manager. The role of the mentor is to coach the managers on how to manage their teams by providing advice and insights. Mandate that every mentor and manager connect at least once a fortnight. Let them both periodically monitor progress by reviewing the feedback the manager receives. Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Create an Employee to Manager Feedback System Do: Create a feedback system where employees actively seek out their managers for any support that they may require. This feedback can be anonymous and the managers can be presented with a list to work on. The manager should also communicate to their team on what they have focussed on for the month- based on the feedback generated. Time: >4 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? -The HR should co-own it along with the Managers and Senior Leaders

• While HR should help in implementing the initiatives, the Managers and Senior Managers should ideate and come up with the plans and actions.

• The initiative and its outcomes should be the part of the KRAs of all the three owners and the outcomes should have metrics to measure the efficacy.

How to communicate?

The managers and senior leaders should let their teams know about the initiatives being taken to train the managers to be better.

Measure: The HR should run a small team-wise survey and seek feedback after implementing every initiative. The HR should also monitor the progress made by individual managers by looking at their individual scores given by their teams

Act: The HR and Managers should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

2.2. Coaching & mentoring: Do the employees feel that their manager acts as a coach and mentor to them?

In Gallup’s How Millennials Want to Work and Live report, one of the key findings was that millennials wanted coaches and not bosses or managers. The ability to coach is more important now than it has ever been, for managers to keep their teams happy. Coaching and mentoring is a second dimension engagement driver in the Empuls Pulse Survey

2.2.1. Best Practices to improve Coaching & mentoring from the manager:

Plan: Run a team-specific KYT (Know Your Team) Program Do: Every team should be having a KYE program. The aim of this program is to know an employee better. All details of every team member including their skill, experience, and aspirations should be captured. Managers should know all these details about their employees and be tested on them too. Time: 2-4 weeks to start

Plan: Conduct Art of delegation workshops Do: Let senior managers or members from the management team run a two hour workshop for managers on how to delegate tasks. The workshop should also cover how managers can enable their teams to handle their tasks efficiently. Delegation gives ownership and by enabling the team members to fulfill a task completely, coaching between the manager and their team member happens organically. Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Monthly and Quarterly 1:1 goal setting and tracking session Do: Managers should individually work with each of their team members to help them set their monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals. They should also have a 1:! session every month to just track the progress on the goals and to help their team members find ways to improve and stay on track. Time: >4 weeks to start

Plan: Begin with the leaders Do: Every leader and business unit head should be giving meaningful feedback and applause to their reportees frequently. They should also offer tips and hacks to help their teams improve. This creates an organization where mentorship and coaching happens as a part of the process and hence is easy to feel and perceive. Time: > 2 weeks to start

Plan: Conduct a GROW framework training for Managers to turn into Coaching Managers Do: Every quarter conduct an ongoing training session for all your managers on how they can progressively transform into excellent coaching managers. The training should provide actionable insights, role plays, and real-life examples to explain the GROW framework. Your managers should be trained to help your employees to establish a Goal, examine the current Reality, explore Options, and decide What they will do. Joseph Weintraub defines this type of coaching as “an ongoing dialogue with the goal of increasing learning and improving one’s ability to perform effectively now and in the future”. The managers should be trained to use the GROW approach that uses open-ended questioning combined with listening to lead employees to think about situations differently and to be open to new ways of acting all with the intent of bringing out their best. Time: 4 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do?

• The Leadership and Managers should co-own the initiatives

• It should be a part of their KRA for the quarter, and have metrics to measure performance.

How to communicate?

Use internal communication to let your team know what the initiatives are about. Measure: The Leadership and Managersshould run a small team-wise survey and seek feedback after implementing every initiative.

Act: The Leadership and Managers should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

2.3. Taking employee opinions seriously: Do your employees feel that their manager cares for their opinion and acts on any feedback?

Feeling that their voice matters to their manager is important for employees. It helps them feel empowered and hence motivated to work. Taking employee opinions seriously is a second dimension engagement driver in the Empuls Pulse Survey

2.3.1. Best Practices to improve your employees feeling that their manager cares for their opinion and acts on any feedback:

Plan: Periodic Engagement Surveys by Managers for Employees Do: Create a system where every manager runs customized engagement surveys to understand what their teams care about and want to be listened for. They should then collate the feedback and act on them, keeping their team know about both the survey learnings and action taken. Time: 2-4 weeks to start

Plan: Listening Court Do: Every team should have a listening court once every two weeks, where the manager’s only role is to listen. Employees are given a free hand to give feedback, complaints, and accolades about all aspects of their work and life. They should be encouraged to share their thoughts. Whenever there is a lull, managers can use pointers to initiate discussions around topics of employee relevance.

Some examples of pointers to keep the discussion flowing: What do you think about the attendance policy? Did you see the recent policy change on payroll? Have any comments? Is the process flow in the new project seamless? Are there ways to improve them? Are there any new skilling programs that we can sign up for?

Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Seek quarterly feedback at every stage of an employee’s lifecycle Do: The HR, through the managers, should be seeking feedback through forms: on hiring to exit stages of an employee. These should be administered every quarter. They should encompass the following aspects: Workflow and organizational processes Remote work Day-to-day work life Employee and their family well-being

Feedback received should be incorporated and the changes made have to be conveyed to the teams. Time: >4 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? -The HR and Managers should co-own the initiatives -HR should help the Managers design and implement the initiatives -It should be a part of both their KRAs for the quarter, and have metrics to measure performance.

How to communicate?

Use internal communication to let your team know what the initiatives are about. Measure: The HR and Managers should run a small team-wise survey and seek feedback after implementing every initiative.

Act: The HR and Managers should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

2.4. Objective and transparent decision making: Do your employees feel that the decision making process adopted by their managers and your organization is objective and fair?

Transparency and objectivity in decision making goes a long way in the employees trusting their managers and respecting the decisions made. It is also an important influence on the employee-manager relationship.

2.4.1. Best Practices to improve your employees feeling that the decision making process adopted by their managers and your organization is objective and fair:

Plan: Adopt OKR framework in your organization Do: The Objectives and Key results goal setting framework not only helps your entire organization set goals that are aligned, but it also helps tracking and measuring them objectively. This way managers can measure, align, and track performance of their teams while at the same time team members also are aware that the entire process is transparent and not biased. Time: 2-4 weeks to start

Plan: Create an Organizational Decision Making Philosophy Do: The Leadership should work together to create a framework for decision making which explains how all kinds of decisions are taken in the organization. This framework should be published and circulated across the organization. The Leadership should then conduct periodic training session for managers on how to use this framework. The Leadership should give real examples and do role-plays to explain the framework practically. Managers should be tested after every training session is conducted. Time: 4 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do?

• The Leadership team here should own the initiatives

• It should be a part of their KRA for the quarter

• One of the metrics for measuring the performance would be the manager approval ratings

How to communicate?

The Leadership should use emails and Empuls Town hall to educate and communicate to everyone about the initiatives taken.

Measure: The Leadership and Managers should run a survey and seek feedback after implementing every initiative. Another measure would be looking at if the manager approval ratings are improving or not

Act: The Leadership should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

2.5. Autonomy to employees: Do your employees feel that they can autonomously take decisions?

Autonomy is one of the key pillars of employee engagement according to Daniel Pink. According to Pink, autonomy serves as an intrinsic motivator which results in employees having more creativity and ownership.

2.5.1. Best Practices to improve the feeling of autonomy in your employees:

Plan: Define clear cut goals, processes, and roles Do: To enable autonomy for your employees, the first thing is to ensure that they are aware of their role, the goals that they are seeking to achieve, and the processes that you have in place. Have a clear dos and don'ts list to ensure that your employees know what is acceptable and what is not. Time: 4 weeks

Plan: Improve internal communication Do: Communication is the key to developing autonomy. Internal communication channels should enable two-way communication between the employees and their managers/leaders. This way any hitch that employees face can be quickly communicated and removed. Time: 2 weeks to start

Plan: Get out of the way! Training for managers and leaders Do: Leaders and managers should be trained to stop micromanaging and learn to move out of the way after telling their teams what they want. This ensures that the leaders and managers are consciously staying away from influencing decisions that individuals can take by themselves. To conduct this training, have an external SME or a senior leader who is appreciated for being a great manager. The training should help managers: Delegate tasks and set meaningful goals Assess and gauge the time needed by their team to complete the tasks Be able to check without stressing out the employees Help managers assist their teams to prioritize and be on track

Time: 2-4 weeks

How to manage the above Plan and Do?

• The Leadership team should own the initiatives

• It should be a part of their KRA for the quarter, and have metrics to measure performance.

How to communicate?

The leadership should use emails and the Empuls Town hall to announce and communicate about the initiatives taken.

Measure: The Leadership should run a small team-wise survey and seek feedback after implementing every initiative.

Act: The Leadership should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

2.6. Actionable Insights on the Pulse Survey Results

Weak: Score less than 3.

Insight: A majority of your employees are not happy with their managerial relationships.

To improve support from the manager: Mentor a Manager program

To improve Coaching & mentoring from the manager: Art of delegation workshop Begin with the leaders

To improve your employees feeling that their manager cares for their opinion and acts on any feedback: Listening Court To improve your employees feeling that the decision making process adopted by their managers and your organization is objective and fair: Adopt OKR framework in your organization

To improve the feeling of autonomy in your employees: Improve internal communication

Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken

At risk: Score between 3 and 4, showing a downward trend in the last 3 pulse runs

Insight: While more than 50% of your employees are happy with their managerial relationships, there is a negative trend and this is at risk of becoming a weakness.

To improve support from the manager: Training for Managers

To improve Coaching & mentoring from the manager: Run a team-specific KYE (Know Your Employee) Program

To improve your employees feeling that their manager cares for their opinion and acts on any feedback: Periodic Engagement Surveys by Managers for Employees

To improve your employees feeling that the decision making process adopted by their managers and your organization is objective and fair: Adopt OKR framework in your organization

To improve the feeling of autonomy in your employees: Get out of the way! Training for managers and leaders

Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken

Acceptable: Score between 3 and 4, showing no change in the last 3 pulse runs

Insight: More than 50% of your employees are happy with their managerial relationships; however this has not improved.

To improve support from the manager:

Employee to Manager Feedback

To improve Coaching & mentoring from the manager:

Monthly and Quarterly one-on-one goal setting and tracking session

To improve your employees feeling that their manager cares for their opinion and acts on any feedback: Feedback forms for every stage of an employee’s lifecycle

To improve your employees feeling that the decision making process adopted by their managers and your organization is objective and fair: Create Organizational Decision Making Philosophy Adopt OKR framework in your organization

To improve the feeling of autonomy in your employees: Define clear cut goals, processes, and roles

Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken

Improving: Score between 3 and 4, showing an increasing trend Insight: More than 50% of your employees are happy with their managerial relationships, and there is an increasing trend in this sentiment. Work on converting this to a strength.

Continue doing what you are doing, and use the Good practices document to incorporate new initiatives to turn this second dimension engagement driver into a strength.

Strength: Score above 4 Insight: More than 80% of your employees are happy with their managerial relationships. This is an area of strength for your organization. Keep up the good work!

Continue doing what you are doing, document your actions and share them with us. Also use the Good practices document to incorporate new initiatives to ensure that this second dimension engagement driver remains a strength.

1. Values: The values of an organization determine the way their people are treated, and made to feel. A research report states that Shared organizational values provide comfort to employees as well as meaning and purpose to work, which ultimately brings better performance.

In the Empuls Pulse Survey, there are sox second dimensional engagement drivers that impact the Values engagement driver. They are: Ethics Transparency Trust Equity Belongingness Caring

3.1.Ethics: To what extent do the employees believe that their organization will adhere to the highest standards of ethics?

Quoting from a research report: Employee engagement is influenced by business ethics, as business success is strongly influenced by ethics nowadays. Organizational ethics are important indicators of the organization’s values and so they are a second dimension engagement driver in the Empuls Pulse survey.

3.1.1. Best Practices to improve the perception of working in an ethical organization:

Plan: Create an Ethics Manifesto and publish it Do: In case the ethics of your organization are not documented or published, create an Ethics Manifesto for your organization and print, publish, and share it. The Leadership should be directly involved in this initiative. One member from the Leadership team should oversee the process of creating the manifesto and publishing it. This manifesto should be available on public domain and should be individually shared with every employee as well. Time: 2-4 weeks

Plan: Conduct periodic training on your organizational ethics Do: While your employees might have access to your ethics manifesto, they need to be proactively trained on them. At induction and afterwards, senior leaders should conduct a one-two hour session on your organizational ethics. They should cover the following: Give an overview about your organizational ethics Elucidate why each one of them is important Give examples of scenarios where possible circumstances of breach might occur and how such scenarios can be addressed

Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: AMA sessions on ethics Do: Senior leaders should conduct periodic AMA sessions to clarify on the ethics code and to proactively help the employees adhere to them. Time: 3 weeks to start

Plan: Create an ethics committee to address any breach of ethics Do: The leadership should create an ethics committee to which any breach can be reported. This committee will aso address, and correct any breach of ethics. The committee should also create suitable redress mechanisms and punishments for any breach, depending on the severity of the breach. This committee should comprise a heterogeneous mix of employees. Time: 4 weeks

How to manage the above Plan and Do? -The Leadership team should own the initiatives -It should be a part of their KRA

How to communicate? Publish the Ethics Manifesto on your website, employee handbook, and also as a part of your customer resource center. Other initiatives can be announced on the company email channels and The Empuls Town Hall

Measure: The Leadership should conduct quizzes to measure understanding of the ethics manifesto.

Act: The performance in the quiz is indicative of the understanding and should be used as feedback to improve on the action plan.

3.2.Transparency: To what extent do the employees believe that your organization is transparent?

Transparency in an organization is important for employees to feel motivated and engaged. Deloitte’s research also points to the same. In the Empuls Pulse Survey, Transparency is a second dimension engagement driver that influences an employee’s opinion on the values of the organization.

3.2.1. Best Practices to improve transparency in you organization:

Plan: Conduct a transparency audit for all processes Do: Create a process audit committee comprising employees of different designations from different departments. The committee should audit and evaluate the transparency in existing processes, department-wise. Each process should be able to answer the 5Ws and 1H for your employee. If it does not, then make a note of it to improve it. Seek feedback from the stakeholders using the process to understand how it can be made better and then take actions to improve it. Time: > 4 weeks

Plan: Enable periodic communication and discussion between Leadership and the employees Do: Host AMAs, Town Halls , and also make your leadership members send periodic emails to your employees to clarify any queries or concerns regarding anything related to the organization. Time: < 2 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do?

• The Senior Leaders and HR should own the initiatives together. -The initiatives should be a part of their KRA, on a continuous basis.

How to communicate? Initiatives can be announced on the company email channels and in the Empuls Town Hall

Measure: Send surveys to get feedback on the initiatives taken.

Act: The Senior Leaders and HR should use feedback to improve on the action plan.

3.3.Trust: To what extent do the employees believe that your organization is transparent?

Quoting a Forbes article, Trust is a cornerstone of work relationships and a key component of organizational effectiveness. It’s also a fundamental requirement in creating a great place to work. For employees usually their employers are the most trusted organization and hence it becomes an important second dimension engagement driver.

3.3.1. Best Practices to improve trust in you organization:

Plan: Conduct an audit and remove punitive practices Do: Create a committee to evaluate all the policies and practices in place. Remove any practice which takes punitive measures. For example, offering a wellness program which penalizes smoking or a mandatory attendance policy which monitors the hours an employee is logged in and deducts from the PTO when the hours fall below a minimum threshold. Instead the focus should be on bringing in practices that empower your employees.

Time: < 4 weeks

Plan: Create norms of trust Do: Organizations can create norms and cultures of trust by weaving care into the daily interactions of their employees. HR should identify trust-building opportunities such as: Providing spaces and events for employees to develop interpersonal relationships Advocating and acting on inclusive practices Providing work flexibility Incorporating policies and procedures that include employees in organizational decision-making.

They should then work with the leadership to incorporate the trust-building activity in the company’s DNA. When trust and positive social exchanges are encouraged, it then becomes an expectation and a norm among employees. Time: < 2 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? -The Senior Leaders and HR should co-own the initiatives -The initiatives should be a part of their KRA, on a continuous basis.

How to communicate? Initiatives can be announced on the company email channels and The Empuls Town Hall

Measure: Send surveys to get feedback on the initiatives taken.

Act: Used the feedback to improve on the action plan.

3.4. Equity: To what extent do the employees believe that your organization treats everybody fairly? Does everyone get access to the same opportunities of growth and have the same resources to achieve them?

Equity theory is based on perception, however: what we perceive to be fair and just. Equity, in today’s work environment, is also used in the context of diversity and inclusion, and plays an important role in the employee’s opinions about the organization’s values.

3.4.1. Best Practices to improve equity in you organization:

Plan: Create and publish a DE&I policy and strategy document. Do: Involve a heterogenous group of your employees in creating, documenting, and publishing your DE&I policy and strategy document . This group should be a fair representation of all the diverse sets of employees in your organization. The aim of your DE&I policy document is to (if need be) create and capture your organization’s DE&I policy. It should also elucidate the strategy in place for DE&I, capturing:

• The current status with respect to the current employee ratio across various diversity dimensions

• The plan for the future, including a 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, 1 year and 3 year plans

• The metrics to measure performance

• The ways in which the DE&I initiatives will be monitored

Time: 4 weeks

Plan: Conduct periodic DE&I Trainings Do: Involve internal and external resources to conduct DE&I trainings. The aim of these trainings is to: Sensitize your employees on various aspects of diversity and inclusion Clarify any questions they may have Help address and escalate any challenge faced

Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Create employee resource groups (ERG) Do: Involve senior leaders in your organization to create and run employee resource groups that address employee concerns and foster their growth. Each ERG would be affiliated to a particular cause/community of people such as ethnic minorities, women etc. These ERGs should be employee-led groups that allow employees from a variety of backgrounds to find a community of like-minded individuals within the organization, fostering feelings of acceptance and future shared experiences. ERGs are particularly helpful for remote workers, as a remote structure can make it more difficult for employees to build community and experience inclusion inside their organization. Time: 2-4 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? -The Senior Leaders and HR should co-own the initiatives -It should be a part of their KRA, on a continuous basis.

How to communicate? The various initiatives can be announced on the company email channels and The Empuls Town Hall

Measure: The Senior Leaders and HR should send periodic DE&I surveys to get feedback on the various initiatives taken

Act: The Senior Leaders and HR should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

3.5. Sense of Belonging: Do your employees feel that they belong to your organization?

A sense of belonging to an organization is important for employee loyalty and motivation. It plays an important role in the employee’s opinions about the organization’s values. A study found that Employees with a high sense of belonging take 75% fewer sick days than employees who feel excluded. The Empuls Pulse Survey considers belonging as a second dimension engagement driver.

3.5.1. Best Practices to improve the sense of belonging in you employees:

Plan:Create an ally network for your employees Do: Invite employees to form an ally network. The first step in forming an ally network is to involve senior leaders and employee volunteers to form a group that seeks to answer the following questions: What challenges and obstacles do under-represented colleagues face in our organization How can we remove them? The answers can be found by having discussions with under-represented employees and new-joinees. The ally network then proactively engages with the employees and the organization to try and eliminate exclusion. The ally network should also open up communication channels for employees to reach out when they experience exclusion.

Time: 4 weeks

Plan: Create a Dos document to handle circumstances of exclusion Do: There may be times when a team-member is excluded for unavoidable reasons. In order to mitigate the impact of exclusion on the employee, create a Dos document to help them. Time: 2-4 weeks

Plan: Have periodic celebrations and recognitions

Do: Celebrations and recognitions increase bonding and the feeling of equity. Encourage teams to celebrate together by going out for dinners and outings. Also promote a culture of recognition in the company. Time: 2 weeks

How to manage the above Plan and Do? -The Senior Leaders and HR should co-own the initiatives -The initiatives should be a part of their KRA, on a continuous basis.

How to communicate? Initiatives can be announced on the company email channels and The Empuls Town Hall

Measure: The Senior Leaders and HR should send surveys to get feedback on the initiatives taken.

Act: The Senior Leaders and HR should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

3.6. Caring: Do your employees feel that your organization cares for them? The feeling of being cared for boosts security and happiness, leading to more engaged employees. The Empuls Pulse Survey considers belonging as a second dimension engagement driver.

3.6.1. Best Practices to improve the of being cared for in your employees:

Plan: Invest in wellbeing programs Do: Offer physical and mental health wellbeing programs to your employees as a part of their benefits packages. Work stress and the pandemic stress have led to a lot of fatigue in the workplace. Offering wellbeing programs and benefits will go a long way in making employees feel cared for.

Time: 4 weeks

Plan: Meet the Extended Employees aka Family Event Do: Periodically conduct events that involve the employee families also. With WFH becoming the norm, the family of employees have become a part of the workplace. Involving them in events is a great way to engage and know your employees better. Time: 2-4 weeks

Plan: Offer Family benefits

Do: Offer benefits that are tailored for the entire family of the employee: these can include medical care, childcare facilities, child education support etc. Such benefits make the employees feel that their organization cares for them. Time: < 2 weeks to implement.

Plan: Impromptu Check-ins Do: Encourage the managers and senior staff to check-in with their colleagues spontaneously. Discuss about their health and their families. Time: < 2 weeks

How to manage the above Plan and Do? -The HR should own the initiatives -They should be a parr of their KRA, on a continuous basis.

How to communicate? Initiatives can be announced on the company email channels and The Empuls Town Hall

Measure: Send surveys to get feedback on the initiatives taken.

Act: Use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

3.7. Actionable Insights on the Pulse Survey Results

Weak: Score less than 3.

Insight: A majority of your employees are not happy with your organization values.

To improve the perception of working in an ethical organization: Create an Ethics Manifesto and publish it Ethics training

To improve transparency in you organization: Enable periodic communication and discussion between Leadership and the employees

To improve trust in you organization: Create norms of trust Audit and remove punitive practices

To improve equity in you organization: DE&I Trainings

To improve the sense of belonging in you employees: Have periodic celebrations and recognitions

To improve the of being cared for in your employees: Offer Family benefits Impromptu Check-ins

Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken

At risk: Score between 3 and 4, showing a downward trend in the last 3 pulse runs

Insight: While more than 50% of your employees are happy with your organization values, there is a negative trend and this is at risk of becoming a weakness. To improve the perception of working in an ethical organization: Create an Ethics Manifesto and publish it Ethics training To improve transparency in you organization: Enable periodic communication and discussion between Leadership and the employees Audit and embed transparency in every process and share all organizational information

To improve trust in you organization: Create norms of trust Audit and remove punitive practices

To improve equity in you organization: Create employee resource groups (ESG)

To improve the sense of belonging in you employees: Create Dos to handle circumstances of exclusion

To improve the of being cared for in your employees: Meet the Extended Employees aka Family Event Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken

Acceptable: Score between 3 and 4, showing no change in the last 3 pulse runs

Insight: More than 50% of your employees are happy with your organization values; however this has not improved.

To improve the perception of working in an ethical organization: AMA sessions on ethics A mechanism to address any breach of ethics

To improve transparency in you organization: Audit and embed transparency in every process and share all organizational information

To improve trust in you organization: Audit and remove punitive practices

To improve equity in you organization: Create and Publish DE&I policy

To improve the sense of belonging in you employees: Promote creation of ally network for your employees

To improve the of being cared for in your employees: Invest in wellbeing programs

Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken

Improving: Score between 3 and 4, showing an increasing trend Insight: More than 50% of your employees are happy with your organization values, and there is an increasing trend in this sentiment. Work on converting this to a strength.

Continue doing what you are doing, and use the Good practices document to incorporate new initiatives to turn this second dimension engagement driver into a strength.

Strength: Score above 4 Insight: More than 80% of your employees are happy with your organization values. This is an area of strength for your organization. Keep up the good work!

Continue doing what you are doing, document your actions and share them with us. Also use the Good practices document to incorporate new initiatives to ensure that this second dimension engagement driver remains a strength.

1. Culture: Borrowing the definition of Culture from Deloitte: “Culture describes “the way things work around here.” Specifically, it includes the values, beliefs, behaviors, artifacts, and reward systems that influence people’s behavior on a day-to-day basis. It is driven by top leadership and becomes deeply embedded in the company through a myriad of processes, reward systems, and behaviors. Culture includes all the behaviors that may or may not improve business performance. Today, culture is a CEO-level issue and something that can be measured and improved to drive strategy.” Elaborating on the connection between culture and employee engagement, Deloitte states that when culture is aligned with the business strategy of an organization, it attracts talent who are comfortable with the culture and hence are highly engaged at work.

In the Empuls Pulse Survey, there are five second dimensional engagement drivers that impact the Organizational Culture. They are: Collaboration Attitude towards failure Learning culture Risk taking Innovation

4.1.Collaboration: To what extent do your employees feel that they can collaborate across all functions in your organization?

A Stanford study pointed out that employees who get to collaborate with their colleagues or even perceived to be collaborating on a task were more productive, reported less fatigue, and also had higher engagement levels. In the Empuls Pulse Survey, Collaboration features as a second dimension engagement driver.

4.1.1. Best Practices to improve Collaboration:

Plan: Incentivize collaboration Do: One reason why people do not collaborate is because there is no incentive to collaborate. Incentivize collaboration by making collaborative assignments a part of everyone’s KRA. Every single employee should be having at least one task which requires collaboration with other team members. Time: 4 weeks to start

Plan: Think out of the box sessions Do: Hold fortnightly team sessions titled Think out of the box. Here the team lead should be putting forth a real or imaginary problem faced by the team/organization and team members should pair up as teams to solve the problem. The solutions can be documented and everytime a suggestion has been used- even if for another problem, credit the employees behind it. Time: 2-4 weeks to start

Plan: Fortnightly team chime-ins and shout outs Do: Teams should have a fortnightly meeting where every individual has a 3 minutes to talk about three things: Tasks that they collaborated on Folks they collaborate with 3 things that that went well and 1 thing that did not go well

Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Publish POCs list for inter-team collaborations Do: Create a POC list which is accessible to every employee. This way any employee can get in touch with the person on the POC list to collaborate with other teams/functions.

Time: < 2 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? The Team Leads should own these initiatives They should be a part of their KRA for the quarter They should have metrics to measure performance.

How to communicate?

Use internal communication channels to reach out to your teams and update them about your initiatives Invite discussions on what else can be done

Measure: TheTeam Leads should run a small survey and seek feedback after implementing every initiative.

Act: The Team Leads should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

4.2.Attitude towards failure: Do your employees feel that they can try new things and fail without fear of any retribution??

Research has repeatedly pointed out that when when supervisors strongly believed the organization was trustworthy in risk situations, their reporting employees’ trust on perceived organizational support for any failure related was higher, leading to better performance and trust. It becomes pertinent for organizations to let their employees know that it is alright to fail.

4.2.1. Best Practices to improve your employees’s feeling that they can try new things and fail without fear of any retribution:

Plan: Celebrate an unsuccessful attempts day Do: Once a month or once a quarter, hold a day to celebrate unsuccessful attempts at solving problems. This can be held both at business function levels as well as a company-wide level. Have leaders speak about their unsuccessful attempts at solving some problem. Invite managers and employees to share their experiences around this. Make it a fun gathering by cheering them for trying and also recognizing or rewarding them for it. Time: 4 weeks to start

Plan: Fail to succeed document Do: Create a team-wide fail to success document which is publicly available. The document should contain the following: What was the problem which the attempt was solving? What went wrong? How was the solution evaluated in the first place? At what point did the person find out that something went wrong? What was the damage and how was it handled? What are the learnings and how are they/will they be used? Time: 2-4 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? One person from the HR and every Team Lead should co- own these initiatives They should be a part of their KRA for the quarter, and have metrics to measure performance.

How to communicate?

Use internal communication channels to reach out to your teams and update them about your initiatives Invite discussions on what else can be done

Measure: HR should run a small survey and seek feedback after implementing every initiative.

Act: The Team Leads should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

4.3.Learning Culture: Do your employees feel that you nurture a learning culture in your organization?

Deloitte’s extensive research has pointed out that the single biggest driver of business impact is the strength of an organization’s learning culture. A learning culture is what enables organizations to identify and solve the problems in their products, services, and business processes. It is an important second dimension driver in the Empuls Pulse Survey.

4.3.1. Best Practices to foster a learning culture in your organization:

Plan: Create rewards and recognition to incentivize learning Do: Your R&R strategy should also incentivize learning by appreciating and applauding team members who learn to acquire new skills, clear certifications, or enroll into educational programs. HR, in collaboration with the leadership, should discuss how this can be enabled and implement it. Time: 4 weeks to start

Plan: L&D as a KRA Do: HR should work with the leadership to create a policy where L&D can be seamlessly incorporated within the organization’s DNA. They should make L&D as a part of every employee’s KRA covering the following: Skills and knowledge to be acquired every quarter. Work scenarios and projects where they will use them after learning them On the job situations where their knowledge would be practiced Certifications/examinations/on-the-job tests to measure the knowledge gained Seniors/colleagues whom they can reach out to for learning help Time: 2-4 weeks to start

Plan: Internal L&D repository Do: HR with Leadership should embark on creating an internal repository. This internal repository should be created as both, an organization-wide document, as well as a team-specific one. Every team member should be involved in contributing to this. The plan to create or make it better should contain the following: Team-wise spocs who are responsible for contributing to their team’s L&D Timelines to complete the entire exercise A standardized framework to go about creating the L&D resources Volunteers to contribute as well as test the resources The repository where it will be published

Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Offer L&D training on specific topics and skills Do: Create a budget, tie-up with external partners, and offer training on specific topics and skills for employees. The topics can be chosen based on popular demand or based on industry trends. Time: 2-4 weeks to start

Plan: Offer L&D reimbursement as benefits Do: As a part of your benefits package, you can offer to reimburse or partly fund any L&D program that employees take. Time: 4 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? HR and one Leadership team member should co-own these initiatives They should be the core members of the L&D committee. The implementation should be a part of their annual KRA and have metrics to measure performance. More members from other departments can be added as per need.

How to communicate?

Use internal communication channels to reach out to your teams and update them about your initiatives Initiate discussions on Empuls

Measure: The L&D committee should run a small survey and seek feedback after every initiative implementing every initiative

Act: The L&D committee should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

4.4. Risk Taking: Does your organization encourage employees to take risks?

Extensive research has often pointed out to the fact that an employee’s ability to take risks, promoted by the organization’s culture towards risk taking, leads to enhanced creativity in the employee. This, in turn, results in more creative outcomes. Hence it is an important second dimension engagement driver in the Empuls Pulse Survey

4.4.1. Best Practices to encourage employees to take risks:

Plan: Create a smart risks framework Do: Involve all the function heads and create a framework. The framework should contain the following: Define what kinds of risks are smart What kinds of risks can be taken The trade-offs that happen How to do a SWOT analysis to evaluate the risks Define the limits for sticking to these risky actions and risk mitigation tactics to be deployed How your employees can go about taking them How to keep their managers in the loop When the managers should escalate the risk

A defined framework and process will help your employees not only know what kind of risks are promoted but also help them align with what your organization can advocate and handle.

Time: 4 weeks to start

Plan: Identify models of risk taking within the organization Do: In order to help define and emulate risk takers, identify the ideal risk takers in your organization and showcase them and their behavior. They are your model risk takers because they subscribe to your organization’s perception of ideal risk taking. Have them speak on what they did and how they went about it. Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Yes to risk taking, yes to rewards! Do: Use rewards and recognition to applaud risk takers for their efforts and also talk about their accomplishments. Time: 2-4 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? A Leadership member should co-own the initiatives with the Managers It should be a part of their annual KRA and have metrics to measure performance

How to communicate?

Use internal communication channels to reach out to your teams and update them about your initiatives Use Empuls and other communication tools to broadcast about the outcome of the initiative taken

Measure: The Leadership member should run a small survey and seek feedback after every initiative is implemented. Act: The Leadership member should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

4.5. Innovation: Do your employees think that your organization encourages innovations?

If we don’t innovate, we stagnate is a popular saying. Organizations which foster innovation, grow rapidly, create new product and service lines, and also have happy employees.

4.5.1. Best Practices to encourage innovation:

Plan: Create a digital suggestion box Do: Create an email account where employees can mail in suggestions or innovations for any product or process or any other aspect of your organization. Periodically remind your employees to mail in. Time: < 2 weeks to start

Plan: Creative Hour/retreats Do: Allocate time, team-wise for employees to brainstorm ideas around specific team goals and challenges. This should happen periodically. Encourage them to think out of the box, and use design thinking principles wherever need be. Time: 2-4 weeks to start

Plan: Conduct Innovation tournaments Do: Host an Innovation tournament every quarter or half year. You can go about hosting it in the following way: Specify the challenges and areas of your organization for which you seek innovative solutions Your employees can pick one or more challenge Ask your employees to give an end-to-end solution document including the solution, how it should be measured, and how it should get implemented Employees can go beyond what is listed and add on to offering their out of the box solutions for other challenges as well. Let the Leadership award the best ones, implement some and give feedback too! Time: 4 weeks to start

Plan: Document every idea Do:Create an ever growing repository that documents every idea that has been suggested, whether implemented or not. Let your employees have view access to it. Time: 4 weeks to start

How to manage the above Plan and Do? One Leadership member should own the initiative They should work together with Managers for implementing the initiatives The initiatives should be a part of the Leadership member’s annual KRA and have metrics to measure performance.

How to communicate?

The Leadership member should send mails to the group email and also initiate conversations on Empuls regarding the initiatives being taken

Measure: The leadership member should run a small survey and seek feedback after implementing every initiative Act: The leadership member should use the feedback to improve on the action plan.

4.6. Actionable Insights on the Pulse Survey Results

Weak: Score less than 3.

Insight: A majority of your employees are not happy with your culture.

To improve Collaboration within your organization: Publish POCs list for inter-team collaborations Fortnightly team chime-ins and shout outs

To improve your employees’s feeling that they can try new things and fail without fear of any retribution Fail to succeed document

To foster a learning culture in your organization: Internal L&D repository

To encourage employees to take risks: Identify models of risk taking within the organization Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken

To encourage innovation: Create digital suggestion box

At risk: Score between 3 and 4, showing a downward trend in the last 3 pulse runs

Insight: While more than 50% of your employees are happy with your culture, there is a negative trend and this is at risk of becoming a weakness. To improve Collaboration within your organization: Think out of the box sessions To improve your employees’s feeling that they can try new things and fail without fear of any retribution Fail to succeed document Celebrate unsuccessful attempts day

To foster a learning culture in your organization: Offer L&D training on specific topics and skills

To encourage employees to take risks: Yes to risk taking, yes to rewards!

To encourage innovation: Creative Hour/retreats

Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken Acceptable: Score between 3 and 4, showing no change in the last 3 pulse runs

Insight: More than 50% of your employees are happy with your culture; however this has not improved.

To improve Collaboration within your organization: Incentivize collaboration

To improve your employees’s feeling that they can try new things and fail without fear of any retribution Celebrate unsuccessful attempts day

To foster a learning culture in your organization: Create rewards and recognition to incentivize learning Offer L&D reimbursement as benefits

To encourage employees to take risks: Create a smart risks framework

To encourage innovation Innovation tournaments Document every idea

Overall: Focus on communicating about the actions taken

Improving: Score between 3 and 4, showing an increasing trend Insight: More than 50% of your employees are happy with your culture, and there is an increasing trend in this sentiment. Work on converting this to a strength.

Continue doing what you are doing, and use the Good practices document to incorporate new initiatives to turn this second dimension engagement driver into a strength.

Strength: Score above 4 Insight: More than 80% of your employees are happy with your culture. This is an area of strength for your organization. Keep up the good work!

Continue doing what you are doing, document your actions and share them with us. Also use the Good practices document to incorporate new initiatives to ensure that this second dimension engagement driver remains a strength.

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