Off the Beaten Path to Employee Engagement Wendy R. Lee Office of Workforce Effectiveness and Resources National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health IPMA-MCC Training and Development Forum May 9, 2017

Agenda Workshop charter What is engagement? Identifying engagement gaps through data analysis What does employee engagement cost? Exploring employee engagement strategies

Workshop Charter Participate! Allow others to also participate Be respectful and considerate of others’ ideas Be respectful and considerate of other organizational cultures and missions

Ice-Breaker Questions What has you jumping out of bed about work every morning? What has you pushing the snooze button about work every morning? Paired break-out; regroup with written list, contributed by audience.

Measuring Employee Engagement: The Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey

Other data gathering mechanisms Pulse Surveys Focus groups Onboarding check-ins Stay-in interviews Exit interviews Comment boxes Quick polls Manager-attained Progress review conversations 1:1s

Bucketing Themes Examples: Q: What benefit would make the organization a great place to work? A: x% of respondents said they would like the option of teleworking one day a week. y% of respondents said they would like more on-the-job training z% of respondents said they would like more senior-leadership and staff interaction opportunities Q: What work-life balance benefit would make the organization a great place to work? A: a) telework b) on-premises child care c) alternative work schedule d) lunchtime exercise clubs

Out of our control… Budget Salary Policy Benefits Physical location Mandates

Trust in management Organization values Career development Autonomy Within our control… Influencing our workplace culture Workforce diversity Career development Leadership styles Trust in management Organization branding Societal impact Skill development Job value Autonomy Customer service Mission focus Job challenge Organization values

How much does employee engagement cost? Which resource(s) can we leverage? What practices/tools/programs do we have in place that are under-utilized? could be refreshed? could be enhanced? What are other similar organizations doing?

Planning for Employee Engagement Activities 24) In my work unit, differences in performance are recognized in a meaningful way. FEVS 2016 Gov’t-wide positive response: 34.0% Non-monetary forms of recognition Time, energy Managers, leadership team, HR The new building’s location is so inconvenient to 495 and 270. The commute is horrible. $, energy, time(?) Managers telework Flexi-schedules Energy, time

Thank you! Wendy R. Lee leewr@niaid.nih.gov Challenge yourself to go off the beaten path! Leading your organization through change