Unconnected Employee Hurts Your Business-ContactsCount.com

“Connect, Converse, & Collaborate in The NOW”© 2013 www.ContactsCount.com
© Contacts Count LLC, 2013
How The
Unconnected
Employee Hurts
Your Business

In This Executive Summary…
● The Unconnected: who are they?
● 8 ways they hurt your business
● How training in connecting, conversing, &
collaborating has enterprise-wide benefits
● What is The Network-Oriented WorkforceTM ?
● 5 things you can do to increase connection,
conversation, and collaboration
● What’s next?

Who Are The Unconnected?
People who
● Say, “I feel shy & uncomfortable in business & social
settings.” (About 60% in the US)
● Gravitate toward the “quiet” careers
● Have more technological than interpersonal skills
● Must to take a larger role in business development &
client acquisition
● Need – as leaders & managers - much more robust &
diverse networks
● Haven’t realized that strategic networking is a “must-
have” tool that boosts organizational outcomes

Who Are We Talking About?
20% are “Naturals” – network-building comes easily
71% are “Neutrals” – willing to adopt a networking identity
& learn the skills, if given the chance
9% are “Naysayers” – “Sorry, it’s not my thing”

8 Ways The Unconnected
Employee Hurts Your Business

1. No Big Picture
Unconnected employees
don’t develop & use their
connections to support and
speed the execution of strategy.
“In high-growth organizations, 84% of employees know where the
organization is headed; in low-growth organizations only 52% do.”
In Momentum, Inc.
“Strategic networking to help uncover & capitalize on new opportunities for
the company puts the tools of networking in the service of business goals.”
“How Leaders Create & Use Networks”
Ibarra and Hunter, Harvard Business Review

2. No Top-Line Focus
don’t see themselves as part
of a business development team
or use their networks to attract
clients.
30% of the consulting engineers’ bonuses depended on uncovering new
business at client sites where they worked every day. Only 3 of the 35 engineers
earned their full bonus. - An Ohio High-Tech Firm
After attending a networking event with her 3 sales people and watching them
talk with each other, check their phones, and graze at the buffet, the manager
withdrew the team’s $50,000 budget, until she was assured that they had
learned how to connect and converse for business. - A Washington DC services
company.

3. Don’t Gather & Share Business
Intelligence
Unconnected employees spend your
money going to conferences &
meetings, but fail to gather & bring
back best practices & business
trends to help the organization.
“Even the most technology-savvy leaders rely on their
own personal networks to find the best resource quickly.
The human networks are what count.”
RosaBeth Moss Kantor, Harvard Business Review
“Determining the benefit & ROI to the conference provider is easy, & it isn’t new.
What is missing, however, is the ROI for those who make the conference
successful, particularly the participants & the organizations that fund their trip.”
Dr. Patti Phillips, CEO of the ROI Institute, co-author of Show Me The Money

4. Produce Less
Unconnected employees’ performance
& productivity suffer.
An MIT study found that employees with the most extensive personal digital
networks were 7% more productive than their colleagues. However, employees
with the most cohesive face-to-face networks were 30% more productive. “How
Social Networks Network Best”
Alex Pentland, MIT, Harvard Business Review
“Executives who consistently rank in the top 20% of their companies in both
performance & well-being have diverse but select networks.” “Managing
Yourself”
Rob Cross, Harvard Business Review

5. Are Out of the Loop
don’t know who to go to
or where to find resources
to get the job done.
“Being intentional about developing relationship excellence that comes from
connection is the key to unlocking corporate potential.” The Connection
Culture by Michael Lee Stallard
“Leaders who are skilled networkers have access to people, information, &
resources to help solve problems and create opportunities.” Center for
Creative Leadership

6. Don’t Work Across Boundaries
Unconnected employees don’t diversify
their networks with regard to geography,
age, gender, & function.
“86% of senior leaders say that working across boundaries inside & outside their
companies is extremely important. Just 7%, however, believe they are very
effective at it.”
“Working Beyond Borders,” IBM Report
“Bigger is not better. The magic lies in the new ideas and perspectives that can
come from connections into different networks.”
“The Most Valuable People In our Network” Rob Cross, Harvard Business Review

7. Are Invisible
Unconnected employees don’t
know how to make their expertise
known so it can be used.
“Employees have 3 choices: Intentional Disconnection, Intentional Connection,
or Unintentional Disconnection. People often choose the latter, mostly
because they don’t have the skill & they don’t have a connection culture.”
The Connection Culture by Michael Lee Stallard.
“The significant difference between high quality & poor quality decisions is
how the decision-makers engage stakeholders.”
Harvard Business Review

8. Turn Off Co-workers
make unsuccessful
managers & team mates.
“Successful managers spend 70% more time networking than their less
successful counterparts.”
“A Social Capital Theory of Career Success” Seibert, Kraimer, & Linden,
Academy of Management Journal
“In giver cultures, employees help others, share knowledge, offer mentoring,
& make connections without expecting anything in return.”
Give & Take by Adam Grant

HOW SUPPORTING THE
NETWORK-ORIENTED
WORKFORCETM
BENEFITS YOUR
ORGANIZATION

5 Benefits of Internal Networking
Fewer bureaucratic bottlenecks & silos
Increased innovation via collaboration
Maximum use of resources & expertise
Freer information flow
Stronger manager-employee relationships

5 Benefits of External Networking
Access to best practices & new ideas
Richer relationships with vendors & customers
Highly vetted referrals
Cross-pollination with diverse contacts
Shared responsibility for business development

The Story So Far…
● The unconnected employee hurts the organization in
critical ways that impact enterprise success.
● Concrete benefits come from teaching employees
the skills they need to claim their networking
identities in the Network-Oriented WorkforceTM.

What Is
The Network-Oriented WorkforceTM?
The NOW is made up of people
who, at their own discretion,
exchange information, resources,
support, and access. They
intentionally create new value with
others inside and outside the
organization by skillfully creating
purposeful connections, meaningful
conversations, and effective
collaboration.

How What We Do Links
To The Big Picture
Strategy
Execution
Innovation Engagement Competitiveness
Collaboration Connection Conversation
Key Business
Issues
Key People
Enablers
Commit to a Networking
Identity
Increase Social Acumen Engage People
Communicate
Expertise
Take a Strategic
Approach
Leverage Four
Networks
Develop Trusting
Relationships
Create Organisational Value
8 NOW
Competencies
From
Disconnected
to Connected
Employees

Five Things You Can Do NOW
To Build Networking Competency
in Your Workforce

1. Bring People Together
Encourage these stakeholders to collaborate
to power up The NOWTM:
o HR & Talent Management
o Learning & Development
o Business Development
o Sales & Marketing
o Career Management
o Diversity Initiatives & Affinity Groups
o Mentoring & Leadership Development
In a study of CEOs (1700+ CEOs across 64 countries in 18 industries) IBM found that to
draw out the best in their workforces, CEOs choose cultivating a “collaborative
environment” as one of the 3 most important attributes to focus on. “Leading Through
Connections” 2012 Global CEO Study by IBM

2. Make Networking
a Professional Competency
Teach your employees state-of-the-art
networking skills & tools.
“Conversation is what keeps the engine of value creation firing
on all cylinders.”
Talk, Inc.: How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power Their
Organizations by Groysberg and Slind
“What really distinguishes high performers from the rest of the pack is their
ability to maintain & leverage personal networks. The most effective create &
tap large, diversified networks that are rich in experience & span all
organizational boundaries.”
“The Social Side of Performance” MIT/Sloan Management Review

3. Cut Ramp-Up Time
Help new hires build relationships
with subordinates, peers, &
others throughout the organization.
“A comprehensive on-boarding process that identifies cultural values &
introduces key internal stakeholders . . . will significantly decrease ramp-up
time & can turn potential hiring mistakes into key contributors to the
leadership team.” Salveson Stetson Group

4. Give Leaders & Managers Tools
Teach them to model, coach, & mentor relationship
building as the way to create & reinforce the NOWTM
culture.
When given the choice, people choose to
work with people who are likeable and
competent. If they can’t have both, they
choose likeability over competence.
“Competent Jerks, Lovable Fools, & the
Formation of Social Networks,” by
Casciaro & Lobo, Harvard Business Review
“Top trend: Networking. Work will be increasingly relationship-based &
therefore managing the weaving of relationships even more essential to
outcomes.”
Association of Career Management Professionals International

5. Spark Meaningful Conversation
Encourage richer conversations & trusting relationships
that help get the job done by encouraging
“serendipitous,” informal meetings of people who
might not normally meet.
“70% of what people know about their
jobs they learn through everyday
interactions with colleagues.”
Center for Workforce Development
“Some of the best decisions and insights come
from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting
new people, and impromptu team meetings.”
Google’s explanation for the design of their new campus which maximizes
“casual collisions.”

So what’s the next step?
Tap into the expertise you need
with Contacts Count,
the international consulting & training firm
specializing in developing & supporting
The Network-Oriented WorkforceTM
.

We Collaborate With Clients
Let us help you enrich your programs for
oOrientation of New Hires
oLeaders & High-Potentials
oBusiness Development & Sales
oManagers & Supervisors
oDiversity & Mentorship
oIndividual Contributors
oProfessional Development

Our Licensure Program
Builds your in-house capability with
● Licensure of Contacts Count training materials &
reinforcement tools
● Train-the-Trainer workshops
● Consultations with your leaders & managers
● Kick-off keynotes & workshops
● Executive Coaching
● Webinars & podcasts

Contacts Count’s Expertise
● The premier consulting & training firm for
business & professional networking since 1990
● An international team of Certified Presenters who are
experts in the Contacts Count approach to building
enterprise-wide success
● The best “how-to” guide on business networking
authored by founders & thought leaders Anne Baber &
Lynne Waymon. Make Your Contacts Count:
Networking Know-How for Business & Career Success
(AMACOM, 2nd edition)
● Featured magazine articles by Baber & Waymon in the
ASTD’s T & D Magazine, the ASAE’s Associations Now,
& North Carolina SHRM’s NCHR Review

Contacts Count’s Track Record
● Corporations
KPMG, eBay, Corning, DuPont, Lockheed
Martin, Raytheon, Microsoft, Sapient,
Bank of America, HSBC Bank, Kraft,
U.S. Cellular, Decorating Den, Sir Speedy
● Professional Services
Deloitte Financial Advisory Services; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Ernst &
Young; Keiter CPA, Booz-Allen Hamilton; Lee Hecht Harrison; Right
Management Associates; Hazel Thomas; Grant Thornton; Bates White;
Polsinelli, Shalton, Flanigan, Suelthaus; Snyder, Cohn, Collyer, & Hamilton
● Non-Profits
Smithsonian, National Geographic Society, United Way, Brookings
Institution

● Associations
National Business Incubation Association, Consumer Electronics Association, Women in
Technology, American Institute of Architects, National Association of Home Builders,
American Council of Engineering Companies, Edison Electric Institute, Property
Management Association, Pan Asian Women’s Association, Society of Black
Professionals, American Society of Association Executives, Public Relations Society of
American, Medical Librarians Association, National Association of Colleges & Employers,
American Society of Plastic Surgeons, California Society of CPAs
● Government Agencies
Treasury Executive Institute; the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, U.S. Departments
of State, Agriculture, Commerce, & Defense; National Institutes of Health; Presidential
Management Fellows Program; National Technology Transfer Center; Nuclear
Regulatory Commission; Canadian Embassy
● Universities
Georgetown, Marquette, Arizona State, George Mason, Catholic, Friends, Carnegie-
Mellon, George Washington, Missouri, Nebraska
Contacts Count’s Track Record

Contacts Count LLC
Australia
India
Asia
US
Europe
Portugal
Brazil
Angola
Other
Global
Regions
André
Alphonso
Will
Kitchen
Valter A
Barreira
Lynne
Waymon
Todd
Waymon
Anne
Baber

Talk to us…
Set up a conversation with us.
We’d like to learn more about your needs & plans.
Contact:
● US and Europe:
 Will Kitchen, WKitchen@ContactsCount.com
● Australia, India, Asia:
 André Alphonso, Andre@ContactsCount.com
● Portugal, Brazil, Angola:
 Valter Barreira, Valter@ContactsCount.com
● Other Locations:
 Lynne Waymon, Lwaymon@ContactsCount.com

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