Many Nonprofits eagerly measure employee engagement only to discover that the most important determinant of employee engagement is staff’s perception of the senior leadership team. How do you tell colleagues that “we’re the problem”, and more importantly, how do you address and change leadership behaviours?

1. IMPROVING EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT WHEN SENIOR
LEADERSHIP IS THE PROBLEM
– A FOCUS ON NON-PROFITS
Specialty Sector Webinar Series
June 9, 2015

2. 2
Topic Agenda
Item Time
(min)
Introduction 2
The Importance of Senior Leadership in Not-
for-Profits Engaging Employees
5
What do the Best Not-for-Profit Leadership
Teams do Better?
15
Tips on Breaking the News 10
Q&A 5
Norm Baillie-David
SVP Engagement - TalentMap
Bernie MacNab
Director of Sales – Eastern Region
Agenda

3. 3
15 years in business
7,000+ employee engagement surveys
since inception
1,000,000+ employees surveyed
500+ employee engagement surveys
annually
Only 1 Focus
TalentMap by the Numbers

4. TalentMap = Engagement Experts to Nonprofits
4
We provide online survey technology, award-winning
project support and unparalleled survey expertise in the
nonprofit sector.
Measure Analyze Act

5. Sample Clients & Benchmark
• Copyright©2014, Talent Map. All rights
reserved.
Professional Services Public Sector Healthcare Sector Private Sector Clients
Association / Not-for-Profit Sector
March 2013

6. 6
Copyright©2014, Talent Map. All rights reserved.
• How engaged are your
employees?
• How effective are your
workplace dimensions?
TalentMap's Approach for Nonprofits
• What are the most powerful
drivers of engagement?
• Where should you focus your
workplace improvements?

7. 7
High
Performance
Management
Practices
Employee
Engagement
Employee
Retention
Employee
Productivity
External
Service
Value
Member
Satisfaction
Member
Loyalty
Member
Growth
• Service concept:
results for
customers
• Service designed and delivered to
meet targeted stakeholder needs
• Funding
• Referral
• Advocacy
Funding
Growth
Help Your Executive Connect The Dots

8. The Importance of
Senior Leadership in Engaging
Employees

9. • Governance and Accountability
• Competing For Talent With a Wealthy Private
Sector
• Retaining Talent – especially volunteers
• Changing Funding Models
• Clash between Business and the Mission
Specific Challenges Faced by Not-for-Profit
Leaders
9

10. Compensation
Work Environment
Performance Feedback
Professional Growth
Work/Life Balance
Information and
Communication
Teamwork
Innovation
Customer Focus
Immediate Management
Senior Leadership (ELT)
Organizational Vision
Strong
Engageme
DriverWeak
Engagement
Driver
Worse Than
Benchmark
Better Than
Benchmark
The Engaged Not-for-Profit
10
11
2
9
9
9
20
16
89
98
91
91
91
80
84
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Engagement
I am proud to tell others I work
for my organization.
I am optimistic about the future
of my organization.
My organization inspires me to
do my best work.
I would recommend my
organization to a friend as a
great place to work.
My job provides me with a
sense of personal
accomplishment.
I can see a clear link between
my work and my organization's
long-term objectives.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral
Favourable

11. The Engagement Challenged Not-for-Profit
11
Compensation Work Environment
Performance
Feedback Professional Growth
Work/Life Balance
Information and
Communication
Teamwork and
Community
Innovative Thinking
Customer Focus
Immediate
Management
Senior Leadership
Organizational
Vision
Strong
Engageme
nt Driver
Weak
Engageme
nt Driver
Worse Than
Benchmark
Better Than
Benchmark
12
6
14
11
15
12
14
24
23
23
25
20
21
29
65
72
63
63
65
67
57
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Engagement
I am proud to tell others I work for my
organization.
I am optimistic about the future of my
organization.
My organization inspires me to do my
best work.
I would recommend my organization to
a friend as a great place to work.
My job provides me with a sense of
personal accomplishment.
I can see a clear link between my work
and my organization's long-term
objectives.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable

12. Engaged....
12
3
2
4
2
4
97
98
96
98
96
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Senior Leadership
Sets ambitious, but realistic goals.
Clearly communicates their goals.
Acts consistently; they do as they
say.
I have trust and confidence in their
ability to achieve our organization's
goals.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable
26
34
23
23
25
32
30
38
27
33
42
36
40
50
42
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Overall Organizational Leadership
Sets ambitious, but realistic goals.
Clearly communicates their goals.
Acts consistently; they do as they
say.
I have trust and confidence in their
ability to achieve our organization's
goals.
% Frequency
Unfavourable Neutral Favourable
Not so much

13. 45%
60%
26%
Client 2013
Client 2014
Benchmark
13….guess which one has issues with senior leadership?
Are you looking for or thinking of accepting a
job with another employer (% Yes)?
6%
7%
24%

14. 14
From the foreword
to The Pogo Papers,
Copyright 1952-53

15. What do the best leadership teams do
better?
15

16. Among employees providing positive comments:
“Overall I am very satisfied with the culture and think this is a great place to work. The organization
has fostered a team environment and is supportive of its employees.”
“ORGANIZATION is a great place to work. Strong communication of our mission and vision is what
drives and motivates employees to continue performing their best.“
“Stay transparent with the organization's objectives and developments. “
“The Executive group is a large reason why I am still employed with ORGANIZATION. I feel they walk
the walk and are supportive in most everything we do.”
“The culture at ORGANIZATION is unlike anywhere else I have ever worked. It really is like one big
family.”
EXAMPLE POSITIVE COMMENTS

17. Visibility, Connectedness and Empathy
“Need more confidence that the organizational leadership is truly listening and doing everything
within their power to support us”
“They make decisions in a vacuum. They have no idea what’s going on the front-lines. We never see
them”
Set, Communicate and Follow-up Clear and Realistic Goals:
“Ambitious goals; perhaps not realistic - involve staff when establishing goals that impact practice
rather than deciding and telling them”
Decisiveness on Clear Priorities
“Improve priority setting, as it seems everything is a priority.”
“I would like to see more decisiveness. Projects are being delayed because either a decision is not
made or work is being completed by the wrong person.”
Articulate and Communicate a Clear and Compelling Vision
“I can't say that leaders of the organization have painted a picture of the future of our agency. Most
of their actions seem to be reactive to issues/funding changes that come up. It doesn't seem like
there's a proactive approach to planning the future of the organization from my perspective.”
EXAMPLE COMMENTS: REQUIRE IMPROVEMENT

18. LEADERSHIP PRACTICES THAT ENGAGE
18
Building trust and honest communication
• Transparency, especially in difficult times
• Frequent and forthright – answer employee
questions
• Admit when you don’t know
• Senior Leaders take ownership of the people
agenda (as opposed to it being “HR’s” problem)
• People priorities are clearly embedded in
business strategy
• People take precedence, sometimes over short-
term gain
• Talent is more built than bought (75% internal,
25% external)

19. • Effectively communicate the
organization’s goals and objectives
• Consistently demonstrate the
organization’s values in all behaviours
and actions (“they walk the talk”)
• Appropriately balance employee
interests with those of the organization
• Consistently demonstrate empathy and
caring for employees
• Ensure presence and visibility – in person
or virtually
Connected with Employees
19

20. • Effectively communicate goals and objectives
• Ensure goals and objectives are aggressive, yet attainable
• Empower managers and employees and instil a culture of
accountability
Performance Focused
20

21. • Fill employees with excitement for the future of the
organization
• Ensure employees understand how they contribute to the
organization as a whole
• Consults widely, but decides quickly. Inclusive decision-
making
Genuinely future and development oriented
21

22. Tips on “Breaking the News” to Senior
Leadership
22

23. UNDERSTAND STAGES OF RESULT
ACCEPTANCE
23

24.  Meet with CEO alone first (if possible).
Discuss how to broach the subject with the
executive team.
 Sometimes, leaving them the report and
having them come to their own conclusion is
most effective.
 Avoid any comparison/contrast between VP
areas of responsibility. Position it as a
common issue – not isolated to certain
executives only.
 Are you the best placed to deliver the
message? A good survey provider can help
ensure no loss of face.
 Avoid inclination for “told you so” or
vindication.
 Understand that many execs are probably
not aware of how they are truly perceived.
Some Practical Tips
24

25. • Allow the leadership (as a group) to come to the
acceptance stage. Facilitate conversations if possible.
Allow for introspection.
• Focus on helping them identify specific behaviours.
• Bring forward other experiences/best practices (e.g. this
presentation). What have other senior leadership teams
done? What do they do that we don’t?
• Objective: commitment to behaviour change and
accountability.
Moving to Action
25

26.  Trust, confidence and positive perception of senior
leadership is crucial for high levels of engagement.
 Behaviour change will yield a positive ROI.
 Anticipate stages of result acceptance, particularly denial
and rationalization.
 When ready, facilitate the move to action. Focus on
emulating positive behaviours.
Final Thoughts
26

27. Event Format Topic Date
TalentMap Monthly
Webinar Series
Live Webinar
with special
guest
How Edmonton International Airport
Improved Employee Engagement – from
Survey to Implementation and Beyond
June 25th
12:00pm EDT
TalentMap Monthly
Webinar Series
Live Webinar Engaging your Employees through a
Compelling Organizational Vision
July 30th
12:00pm EDT
Upcoming TalentMap Learning Sessions

28. THANK YOU!
QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION
28
Monica Helgoth
VP Engagement – TalentMap West
mhelgoth@talentmap.com
1-888-641-1113, x515
Norm Baillie-David
SVP Engagement
nbaillie-david@talentmap.com
1-888-641-1113, x504