Sanoma Media Group conducted an extensive employee engagement survey involving 44 questions in 12 languages to better understand their employees and engage them. The survey had a high response rate of 75% and provided valuable insights into both strengths and areas for improvement. As part of efforts to engage employees and adopt new vision and values, Sanoma launched a cultural change initiative that top management was held accountable for through survey results being tied to incentives. The transformation is progressing well according to Jacqueline Cuthbert, and regular surveys will continue to track progress and discuss results alongside financials.

1. “The transformation from print to digital has
been perhaps the most significant megatrend
affecting our business so far”, Jacqueline
Cuthbert explains. “To survive and even
exceed that, we’ve had to grow and innovate
continuously. Ways to improve our overall
performance have been developed, and a new
kind of win-win culture is being created.”
Engaging people has been one of the corner-
stones. However, managing a process of this
magnitude in a multinational company that
operates in a constantly evolving industry is
by no means an easy task. For this particular
purpose, Corporate Spirit carried out an
extensive employee engagement survey for
Sanoma Media Group, involving 44 questions
in 12 languages.
“We wanted to do our best to engage people
in our Sanoma way”, Jacqueline Cuthbert
explains the background for the research.
“Getting feedback from employees is essential
in winning their hearts and minds – as is
listening and acting upon what they say. In
Sanoma’s case, the survey also helped us to get
valuable insight from both our strengths and
improvement areas.”
As part of Sanoma’s effort to win those hearts
and minds – and to help employees adopt
the Sanoma way – the company launched
its new vision and values. Their contents and
meaning were explained and discussed to
ensure that everyone would understand the
reasons behind the direction the company
was heading to.
According to Jacqueline Cuthbert, an employee
engagement survey is essential for any company
wanting to become a high performance
organisation. Furthermore, utilising the survey
in a way that makes the most of gathered data
needs to be the entire company’s responsibility.
Especially when a significant cultural change
needs to be established – as in Sanoma’s case –
the managers need to be held accountable for
turning results into tangible action.
“To be able to help the organisation improve
its performance, employee engagement survey
results need to be anchored into the management’s
incentives”, Jacqueline Cuthbert emphasises.
The achieved response rate of 75 % is a clear
sign of high engagement level at Sanoma
Media Group. People are committed and
motivated to express their opinions in a
constructive way to be able to contribute
to the organisation’s overall performance.
The progress is now being tracked on a
group-wide level, and the results are being
discussed in quarterly reviews, along with
financial results. According to Jacqueline
Cuthbert, the transformation is on a good
run, and the road towards that winning
culture is open. Then again, the journey has
just begun – a new survey has been booked
for the autumn of 2013!
Sanoma inspires, informs and connects
Sanoma is a leading European group focusing on consumer
mediaandlearning,andonbringinginformation,experiences,
education and entertainment to millions of people every day.
Employing over 10,000 professionals in six strategic business
units, the group’s net sales totalled EUR 2.4 billion in 2012.
Corporate Spirit CS Ltd | HR Intelligence to support business success. | 2/2013
“With engaged employees
change is a new opportunityto flourish”
Jacqueline Cuthbert, Chief HR & Communications Officer, Sanoma Media Group
Operating at the forefront of the constantly evolving media industry, Sanoma Media Group has recently gone through significant changes. According to
Chief HR & Communications Officer Jacqueline Cuthbert, Sanoma makes every effort to turn these changes into opportunities to further strengthen
one of the company’s core advantages: engaged people who are committed to reach the common goals.

2. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Today’s demands for employees to succeed
in high-performing organisations require
constant setting of targets and reviewing
achievement. How do organisations in turn
foster engagement – the will and the ability
to exceed expectations?
Now, I’ve been around.
I’ve worked for about ten different companies.
I’ve had close to twenty bosses and I’ve
had dozens of people reporting to me. I’ve
been able to observe what does and doesn’t
make me and my co-workers tick. It’s not
rocket science or brain surgery, but rather
straightforward, really.
It’s the little things.
It’s about daily recognition and concern – a
simple “thank you” or “how are you” every
now and then, keeping mutual deadlines or
asking for a helping hand. It’s the knowledge
that I have the tools, the time and the mental
support of my colleagues to do my job well.
In short, it’s fostering common courtesy and
common sense for the common good.
It’s also the big things.
It’s about continuity and direction –
affirmation of the reason I’m doing my job,
and the link of my role to the vision and
strategy of my organisation. It’s also about
the state of leadership: Creating commitment
by setting an example, keeping promises and
communicating success. When that works,
employees follow suit.
I’ve been at my most content in organisations
that have respected the mutual agreement
of giving and receiving. Commitment and
engagement are two-way streets, and when
the traffic flows in both directions, the
prerequisites for outstanding performance
culture are there to be employed.
EXCHANGE
ECONOMY
HR PLANNING CYCLEEDITORIAL
TheOptimal
Frequencyof
HRDInitiatives
Mari Kaarnavaara-Puutio
Communications Manager
Companies with fast growth or major changes often
want to complement their annual engagement survey
with light pulse surveys. Those characterised by a more
stable business environment sometimes favour longer
intervals. However, almost two-thirds of all companies
conduct their HRD initiatives on an annual basis – and for
a good reason.
HRD initiatives are an integral part of a
company’s management systems. Nearly
all of those systems, such as performance
appraisals, work on an annual basis. To make
the most of soft people metrics in different
systems such as Balanced Scorecard or
leadership targets, an annual input that takes
place preferably at the same time every
year is clearly the most efficient. Regular
collection of feedback makes it possible
to create an organisation culture that uses
feedback actively to be able to learn, develop
and grow. To sum up, a systematic annual
cycle builds a solid platform for the efficient
utilisation of results.
Furthermore, cost savings in communication,
planning and running the survey can be best
achieved with annual initiatives as most
employees are familiar with the procedures
and know what to expect. Repetitiveness
also creates motivation as managers
understand they can’t forget about the
critical results – since they’re bound to
appear again next year.
The entire survey/assessment process should
be planned in a professional way, utilising
available experience and knowledge from
best practices. Together, the customer and
the supplier can compress the process
time from planning to implementation in
various ways:
• The planning and survey preparation
phase can be kept short with efficient
planning and organisation mapping tools
• No extra time for data collection will be
needed for units with low response rates,
as they can be handled during the process
with a good online data collection monitor
• The survey company minimises the time
between the end of data collection and
finalised reporting
• The customer has complete confidence
on the date when the survey reporting will
be ready. The first meetings to act on the
results can be pre-scheduled.
• The schedules for communicating and
handling the results are made well before
the reports are ready.
• The processing times for reporting, action
planning, action implementation and
follow-up are kept short.
When the entire process of annual HRD
initiatives is professionally planned and
implemented, employee engagement surveys,
360° assessments and performance appraisals
can all build on each other. This way, they all
contribute efficiently to enhancing leadership,
engagement and profitability.

3. HR PLANNING CYCLE
JanuaryDecember
July
Business planning helps organisations make better use of their resources
In today’s environment of complexity,
challenge and competition, it’s only
the consistent, focused and efficient
organisations that can survive. Ensuring
that the activities of everyone in the
organisation are properly connected to
the needs of the business is an important
ingredient of success.
Dr Richard Plenty has over 25 years of
experience in examining the relationship
between business planning and organisational
performance. According to him the ability
to connect HR to overall business strategy
is in fact the key to both business success
and successful people engagement. By
adopting a systematic annual process, the
link between what people do and what the
overall business needs remains clear at all
times.
“Business strategy is ultimately implemented
through the efforts and the know-how of
employees. An effective process ensures there is
a clear ‘line of sight’ between what the business
is trying to do and individual objectives”,
Richard Plenty emphasises.
When the process is carried out on a
regular, systematic basis it creates the ideal
environment for a learning organisation.
Expectations are set and met, habits are
formed, good performance recognised and
rewarded. It’s about aligning employees so
that they’re going to the same direction.
An annual business planning cycle helps
improve motivation and engagement as
employees realise how they are able to
contribute to the organisation’s goals. At the
same time, development programmes can
be efficiently aligned, creating opportunities
for both sales increase and cost reduction.
Any organisation that introduces such an
annual performance management process in
a systematic way is likely to see improvements
in both productivity and profitability.
As every employee is aware of both personal
and organisational goals – as well as of the
available means to achieve them – strategy
can be efficiently executed. To ensure that
everyone is pulling to the same direction,
regular monitoring is required.This takes place
in the context of overall business performance
evaluation.
Richard Plenty points out that successful
performance evaluation depends on
encouraging good dialogue between
employees and their supervisors at all levels
of the organisation. “Having meaningful
and relevant targets in place helps these
performanceconversationstobemoreobjective
and useful as part of an effective performance
management system.”
According to Richard Plenty, a well-planned
and implemented business planning process
provides a straightforward way of translating
strategy into action.
Reviewing
and rewarding
performance
Monitoring and
communicating progress,
giving feedback and
adjusting performance
Business planning and
the setting of strategic
objectives
Translating strategic
business objectives
into departmental and
individual goals and targets
Planningthe
Next Cycle
Action
Implementing
360°
assessments
Action
Planning
Performance
Appraisals
Employee
Engagement
Survey
Personal Action
Planning &
Implementing

4. Valkjärventie 7 A, 02130 Espoo, Finland, ☎ +358 9 452 0730
Läntinen Pitkäkatu 33, 20100Turku, Finland, ☎ +358 2 274 3100
Birger Jarlsgatan 2, 5 tr, 114 34 Stockholm, Sweden, ☎ + 46 8 505 65 171
Dronning Eufemias Gate 16, 0191 Oslo, Norway, ☎ +47 2 389 8880
20 Broadwick Street, Soho,W1F 8HT, London, UK, ☎ +44 870 366 93 35
employee surveys
360°assessments
managementteam assessments
solutions for utilisingthe surveys
and assessments
www.corporatespirit.eu
Editor-in-chief:JukkaPohjola | Editor:MariKaarnavaara-Puutio | Layout:MainostoimistoDynastia | Printedby:TEMA-TEAM11116-13 | Circulation:7000
Corporate
Spirit
CSLtd
Faces & Places Corporate Spirit has appointed the following specialists:
Marianna
Väre
Researcher
Espoo
Mari
Kaarnavaara-Puutio
CommunicationsManager
Turku
Niina
Lallukka
ProjectAssistant
Turku
Corporate Spirit’s traditional Back-to-Basics seminar was held this year in Innopoli’s
inspiring setting in Espoo, Finland. A recognised group of speakers shared their
insights and opinions about trends in talent management and engagement to the
audience of leading HR professionals. Corporate Spirit would like to thank everyone
for participating – we are already looking forward to seeing you at our next seminar!
Smiles from the speakers after the conclusion of Back-to-Basics 2013: Chief HR &
Communications Officer Jacqueline Cuthbert, Sanoma Oyj, Senior Manager Esko
Piekkari, Corporate Spirit, Managing Director Jukka Pohjola, Corporate Spirit, Senior
Consultant Soile Brushane, Corporate Spirit, Country Manager Helena Fernström,
Corporate Spirit and Dr. Richard Plenty, This Is ... Ltd.
Corporate Spirit’s new website is up and running – and available to everyone at
www.corporatespirit.eu. To make the user experience even more enjoyable,
this version features a bit lighter and fresher appearance combined with accurate
highlights on the knowledge and experience of a true expert organisation. Articles,
observations, ideas and developments – everything you need to know about HR
intelligence in a convenient, yet comprehensive package.
Corporate Spirit would like to wish its customers and cooperation partners a relaxing
and highly empowering summer! Most of us taking it a bit easier in July, we’ll be
back in business and running at full gear again in August.
HRprofessionalsgatheredat
CorporateSpirit’sspringseminar
CorporateSpirit
launchesitsnewwebsite
Hooray!It’saholiday!