Winning ways with insight and action

In spite of the severe pressures imposed on many organisations by the current economic recession, recent evidence suggests a good number of these have recognised the importance of staying in touch with their people during these uncertain times, and of working closely with them to maximise the very real performance advantages that come from a workforce motivated to go the extra mile, being on the lookout for better ways of doing things, and doing everything possible to keep those customers coming back.

According to JRA managing director John Robertson, 2009 has seen near record numbers of organisations taking part in the 'JRA Best Workplaces Survey', the largest survey of its kind in Australasia. "With two weeks to go, over 210 organisations have registered, which is right up there with our best-ever numbers over the past 10 years," he says. "What's encouraging is that business leaders are now recognising workplace climate and engagement levels as a KPI measure just as important as those monitoring your financials, your market share, your IT systems performance and the like."

But of course measurement on its own is not enough. "The challenge for our survey participants now is how best to convert their survey information and insights into positive actions for change - done the survey, now what?" says Robertson.

While organisations may respond differently and adopt different processes according to their size, geographical spread, culture and the like, according to Robertson there are some basic best practice steps for successfully converting insight to action. "Firstly, the senior management team must be fully briefed on the survey results and champion follow-up initiatives with conviction. The SMT should identify a small number of critical organisation-wide issues (typically one or two only) and communicate these, together with the survey results, follow-up process and timeline to all staff.

Next, accountability for identifying further 'local' issues should be delegated, with the process at this point including full staff involvement as solutions to key issues are identified and improvement targets set," says Robertson. "It's then crucial to ensure planned initiatives are implemented, monitored, and successes widely communicated. Reporting progress is vital, and can ensure the survey will become the catalyst for a very powerful 'virtuous cycle' of performance improvement."

The 2009 JRA Best Workplaces Survey in association with the New Zealand Herald and sponsored by HainesAttract and the Auckland Chamber of Commerce is available until August 31.