Employee EngagementIs your organization aligned to a common

direction?

white paper | May 2012

Shikatani Lacroix is a leading branding and design firm located in

Toronto, Canada. The company commissions assignments from

all around the world, across CPG, retail and service industries,

helping clients achieve success within their operating markets. It

does this by enabling its clients’ brands to better connect with

their consumers through a variety of core services including

corporate identity and communication, brand experience design,

packaging, naming and product design.

About the Author

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, R.G.D., President/Founder of Shikatani

Lacroix

Jean-Pierre (JP) Lacroix provides leadership and direction to

his firm, which was founded in 1990. He has spent the last 30

years helping organizations better connect their brands with

consumers in ways that impact the overall performance of their

business. Mr. Lacroix was the first to coin and trademark the

statement “The Blink Factor” in 1990, which today is a

cornerstone principle to how brands succeed in the

marketplace. JP has authored several papers, has been quoted

in numerous branding and design articles and, in 2001, he co-

authored the book “The Business of Graphic Design,” which has

sold over 10,000 copies. JP can be reached at

jplacroix@sld.com and you can follow his blogs at:

www.sld.com/blog and www.sldesignlounge.com

Other Articles and Books

The Belonging Experience

Managing Brands

Business of Graphic Design

white paper | May 2012 | Employee Engagement | 1

Employee, the true competitive advantage

Most organizations are realizing that to effectively deliver

sustainable and consist growth, a different approach is required

that will ensure every aspect of the customer’s moments of truth

is fully optimized. Organizations that have demonstrated top

performance, irrespective of the current economic challenges,

understand that employee engagement is a critical factor that

drives business success. As the pressures to maintain a

competitive advantage grow, and more complex business

models are needed to deliver differentiation, companies are

rediscovering that their most compelling point of difference is

their employees. Companies that constantly win the J.D. Powers

Customer Service Award for delivering outstanding customer

service also outpace the industry they serve.

In a recent Gallup study, it was noted that disengaged employees

erode an organization’s bottom line and contribute to more than

$300 billion in productivity losses in the U.S. alone. Our own

experience working with the retail and package sectors supports

these findings. We were recently retained to assist a large energy

organization in creating internal employee alignment and

support around a new brand position that would allow the retail

division to meet very challenging performance requirements. The

insights of the initial discovery revealed that each division

managed its employees differently, while the organization

promoted growth from within. By reducing the confusion and

inconsistency between the divisions, employees were better

aligned to the overall goals and direction of the company. This

reduced training time and ensured each employee felt valued,

respected and empowered.

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High-

engagement

firms had total

shareholder

return that was

19% higher than

the average in

2009. In low-

engagement

organizations,

total shareholder

return was

actually 44%

below average

Hewitt Associates, 2010

The triangulation of employee engagement

In reviewing the majority of our clients who have achieved

outstanding business results through engaged employees, there are

three codependent factors that this paper will explore. These three

factors are aligned to our firm’s “brand engagement triangle” model,

which incorporates a process, message and structure that ensures

strong brand affinity.

The three factors to ensuring a successful employee engagement

program are:

1. Process: Empowering Training

Most organizations pay little attention to training, and when

it’s required, it tends to be task oriented and not aligned to

the vision of the organization. Most successful organizations

put much emphasis in employee training throughout the

individual’s career.

2. Messaging: Clarity of Direction

A clearly defined vision and direction for the organization

that has been translated in actionable employee strategies at

all levels, in addition to visual metaphors that talk to the

aspirations of all involved. We define the intersection of

company vision with employee needs as the EVP (employee

value proposition) dimension.

3. Structure: Integrated Meritocracy

Key performance metrics that align the desired behaviour of

the employees with those of the organization and a review

process that allows for changes in behaviour.

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Defining the Challenge

Optimum employee engagement results when the employee’s

job satisfaction (doing what they enjoy and excel at) contributes

to the success and needs of the organization. Based on 20 years

of experience helping companies manage their brands across

retail, service, and consumer packaged goods sectors, we’ve

found the challenge for effective employee engagement occurs

when the following factors are not aligned within the

organization:

Company culture: The culture of the organization is either not

well or structured to embrace employee engagement. Conflicts

between all levels of the organization occur on a regular basis

and impede the company from initiating effective employee

programs.

Lack of clear direction: It’s hard to engage employees if the

organization is not clear on the direction the company is taking.

A clearly defined direction that is sustainable, with clearly

defined goals and metrics, ensures that everyone is focused on

the same needs.

Conflicting agendas: Some organizations may call it working in

“silos” while others define it as “fiefdoms,” those feudal turf wars

that align employees behind separate and divergent senior

management agendas.

Inconsistent meritocracy: Peter Drucker once said, “What gets

measured gets done and what gets rewarded gets repeated.”

Organizations with inconsistent evaluation methods and reward

systems create tension within the organization and drives a

lower lack of recognition by employees.

Inconsistent and outdated training: Employees need to be

supported to succeed. Providing them with the right training is

paramount. However, training is one of the first line items to be

eliminated during yearly budget planning sessions, or not fully

funded to remain current and relevant to the direction of the

company.

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Fewer than

one in three

employees

worldwide (31%)

are engaged.

Nearly one in

five (17%) are

actually

disengaged.

BlessingWhite Employee

Engagement Report 2011

Process: Empowering TrainingOne of the most effective approaches in employee engagement

is demonstrating that employees are valued by investing in their

training and continuing development, and by applying it

consistently throughout the career of the employees. The

training program must be integrated at all levels of the

organization’s chain of command to build a strong culture of

engagement.

At its foundation, the training program must have a clear

understanding of the key tangible and emotional drivers required

to ensure employees work effectively. The training material and

its delivery must align with the given employee’s career stage

and aspirational needs. We have noted programs that leverage

employees’ capabilities, abilities, and aspirations with those of

the organization tend to generate the best results in

understanding and application of learning. In the case of one

client, the training formed part of the employees’ career path and

supported a strong understanding of the gaps in the employees’

current capabilities versus the desired state.

Other strong platforms for engagement are training programs

that tier the information, starting with the organization’s overall

goals, vision, and mission, then align it with the employee’s

capabilities to fit within the greater context of the organization’s

direction. Unfortunately, I have found that employee training on

the brand promise and vision of the organization is greatly

lacking, as the majority of training programs focus on task and

discipline oriented needs and do not consider the greater

context of the organization. This leads to a siloed learning

process that does not support an understanding of the greater

context of the company.

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Message: Clarity of Direction

How do employees know what role they play in achieving company

success if there is not clarity of direction? Very often, the brand

vision and mission have lost relevancy or were developed as part of

a tactical advertising campaign with very little regard to how it will

be lived within the organization. Employees also tend to be skeptical

of such initiatives as they are perceived as a marketing initiative.

Employees often have very little understanding of how the vision of

the company impacts their daily job functions. Such gaps in

understanding and lack of clarity lead to a dysfunctional

organization that has short-term tactical goals versus an aspirational

long-term vision of where the organization can effectively succeed,

and how employees can play a critical role.

Great market leaders understand that it’s not only imperative to

develop a meaningful vision and mission, but it’s equally important

to match these aspirational goals to those of their employees. We

define this bridge between the company’s aspiration and that of the

employee’s as an employee value proposition or EVP. EVP programs

create a sustainable link between the direction of the company and

the aspirations and job performance of the employees, at all levels of

the organization.

A second factor to ensure employees are engaged and aligned to

the corporate direction is to convert much of the corporate speak

into visual metaphors that capture the aspirational needs of the

organization in succinct images and words that are easy to grasp

and understand. Only through the combination of a well-crafted

vision and mission statement supported through an EVP program

that has been visually translated can an organization ensure a higher

engagement level of its employees.

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Structure: Integrated Meritocracy

A key opportunity to leverage the intersection of an organization’s

direction with the actions of its employees is through a well thought-

out meritocracy program. Rewarding good behavior that is aligned

with the organization’s needs is the foundation of any employee

engagement program, as it speaks to the fundamentals of

relationships and the need for recognition.

A well integrated meritocracy program clearly identifies both the

soft and hard tangible metrics defining success for both the

individual, the division and the organization. We have found that

although each organization has a structured evaluation and

compensation program, how these are aligned to the capabilities

and abilities of the individual throughout their career path is not well

thought out. The rewards systems that motivate new and younger

hires may be quite different from those that drive employees who

are in the middle of their careers. An integrated performance

evaluation program needs all types of employees into consideration

if the company wishes to retain the best and motivate them in

relevant ways.

We have worked with organizations that have created employee

career intranets that allow each individual to review past

performance evaluations, training programs, reference material and

a range of job postings for advancement. It allows each employee to

have access to the most relevant information for their career growth

within the organization.

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Conclusion

The economic climate continues to challenge even the best

organization and this environment is fraught with distractions to

ensure employees are aligned with what matters. With

organizational layoffs and restructuring in response to the

unpredictability of the market, companies will need to put greater

emphasis on employee engagement at a time where budgets are

being cut on everything but the most critical needs.

Companies who understand the importance of an engaged

employee base will continue to strive and create greater

differentiation in both revenues, margin and market share. The

opportunity for most is to up their game in employee engagement

through a thorough application of our engagement model, ensuring

an integrated and cohesive approach to aligning the needs of the

organization with the aspirations and capabilities of the employees.

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For more information, contact:

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, President

Shikatani Lacroix

387 Richmond Street East

Toronto, Ontario

M5A 1P6

Telephone: 416-367-1999

Email: jplacroix@sld.com

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