Before heading off for the long Fourth of July weekend, members of the WashingtonExec MARCOM Committee met at Maggiano’s Restaurant in Tysons Corner for a roundtable discussion on employee engagement and insights from the Corporate Executive Board (CEB).
The event, sponsored by Matt McQueen of Northrop Grumman, featured keynote speaker Joni Renick, executive advisor of the CEB Communications Leadership Council.
Renick began the discussion highlighting the dramatic shift in today’s professional environment – where employees are expected to work across multiple time zones, cultures and be more interdependent. With this changed work environment, the ways of employee engagement and driving employee performance has evolved as well.
To show the changed work environment, Renick shared research findings of the CEB Communications Leadership Council, and how MARCOM committee members can use this research to their advantage in their own companies.
One of the research findings discussed was the increased value in employee network performance over individual task performance. In today’s industry, few employees are capable of demonstrating both types of performance. Renick suggests encouraging network performance by rewarding the sharing of great ideas, not just the creating of great ideas.
Another talking point of the night was the finding that an employee’s sense of pride for his or her company does not improve on his or her performance. Rather, it is when an employee understands company goals and the difference they make in the company that you see increased performance and commitment – what Renick calls “strategy alignment.”
Renick shared another finding that showed it is an employee’s commitment to co-workers that drives network performance, not necessarily a commitment to the company. Until recently, commitment to one’s co-workers was not seen as a factor in employee’s network performance, but now its significance is recognized in the workplace.
Andrew Bryden, Chief Marketing Officer of CSRA Inc., Sheila Blackwell, Chief Communications Officer of Decision Sciences International Corporation, and Alan Hill, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Government Relations at Serco Inc., are Chairpersons of the WashingtonExec MARCOM Committee.
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