Redesigning your Culture to Increase More Engaged Employees

Dear HR , Training and Learning & Development Heads,

Since we launched our learning technology division, my team and I was very hungry to find out more on how to engage employees before or after a learning session.  Last week, we attended Leaderonomics talk at Menara Star.  They invited the CEO of Citibank to give his thoughts on Employee Engagement.  We have taken notes of what he said for to the HRians, Training Department and L&D Department audiences whom attended. Joseph Tan from Good Monday had also given a great view on Culture.  Do read on.

Talk by CEO of Citibank, Mr, Lee Lung Nien on Employee Engagement:

As a leader:

1.      You need to continue to evolve on your ‘engagement strategies’

2.      You need to know that the younger workforce are here to stay and they have a different thinking, not like us baby boomers

3.      You need to know that they are in the ‘disruptive wave’ of learning.  Example:  Majority of them shop online.  Majority of them love ‘the new stuff’ , meaning, wassup, watching movies on ‘you tubes’, listening to songs, playing games, chit-chatting on twitter etc.

4.      Our current business model needs to change.  Whether its training/ its culture etc.

5.      In conclusion: If you don’t want to adapt, you are not going to attract or retain the ‘Right Talent’. People resign/ leave a company not because of the People but mostly because of the culture.

What we do in Citibank each year:

1.      We have a Voice of People Survey - This survey is given to all employees.                      Department Heads will tabulate. I will get the final report.  If I see the % below 70%   I will call the Department Head personally and ask him for his explanation.

2.      I also sit at staff canteen during lunch.  -  I am ready assessable at any time.  This is    how I know what is going on with my employees. 

3.      I study the Resignation Rate all the time, whats missing, why and how to do better.  – I divide to 2. (1. Statistics on general population.  2. Statistics on Top Talent Grade 1 & Grade 2 ).

4.      I ensure we have a good People Development Plan.  (e.g. in 2 years, what is the plan of this talent?, if there are challenges of this talent, will there be another successor identified?)

5.      I ensure we Celebrate Successors (Not needed to use Money.  I always recognize my people when I have meetings , I say ‘Well Done’, ‘Good Job’, ‘You Have Done me Proud’

Gallup studies says:

Only 13% are engaged, 63% disengaged and 24% actively disengaged.

So as a leader, which will be your top priority to work on? 

Answer:  the Actively Disengaged.  These are the people who can be your leaders.  These are the people who have many followers. These are the people who talk bad about the company, gossip, create rumors, make things not right.  Your focus is to find out how to make leaders out of this people.

Talk by Consultant, Joseph Tan from Good Monday on Redefining Culture:

Culture must be designed through :

Ø  Key Results (Clarity)

Ø  Key Resources (Capacity)

Ø  Key Rituals (Consistency)

Culture must have expiry date:

Ø  Vision (Why)  must be stable

Ø  Mission (What) must be stable

Ø  Values (How) must be stable

E.g. use C1, C2, C3 (Culture 1, Culture 2, Culture 3 etc)

Culture must be deployed with the right Managers – Invest in the right ‘Champions’ to drive your Culture.

Hope you can learn through this sharing.