Free Employee Well-Being and Business Resilience Survey: Solicit Feedback Now to Best Understand Employee Needs

 

During this time of rapidly shifting needs, OrgVitality is offering free access to a pulse survey that has been crafted to measure your employees’ needs, as well as their thoughts on your response to the COVID-19 crisis. Why Survey Now? HR professionals are in a unique position to contribute to their organizational response during the COVID-19 crisis. Employee feedback and measurement opportunities are critical as both individuals and organizations adjust to a radically different work environment. While surveying employees may seem small in comparison to the impact of COVID-19, people need to hear from their leaders more than ever. Now is a time for leadership to send the message that they care about their employees and their well-being both now and long-term. It’s also a time to listen and find out how they are handling this crisis. Helping employees feel secure, supported, and able to make a positive impact is critical. How did we design our survey? Our team of consultants relied on their experience and research from other times of great challenge to develop a core set of items that cover both symbolic and tactical areas of focus. Ultimately, the takeaways of our survey include the following: Show leadership cares. Ask questions around whether employees feel the company has their best interests at heart, and is prioritizing employee safety. By sending out these items, you are showing the organization that this is important to leaders. Results can be used to target employee segments who may not feel as appreciated or cared for in this trying time. Improve effectiveness of remote workers. Over the past few weeks, droves of employees have been sent home to work remotely. While this is a good move for health and safety, by necessity it was done quickly and often without the chance for training. Many employees struggle to do their work effectively from home, or to connect with peers in a productive way. Ask questions about whether employees have the resources, training, and clear direction needed to work effectively. Often, data reveals clear areas for improvement that can be targeted for quick intervention. Assess flexibility of systems in an unprecedented time. We are in a new reality. For many companies, the markets or customer needs are shifting along with the way employees must work remotely. Agility at an organizational level, and flexibility at an individual level are critical. For example, employees with school-age children are likely juggling work demands with homeschooling issues. Ask questions about whether employees have the autonomy to modify work processes and routines to be effective in meeting changing requirements. Ensure employees know where to go for help. In times of uncertainty, the need for information is paramount. Employees need information on how the company is handling the crisis, what is changing for their customers, how their job requirements change being remote, how their PTO benefits apply, what to do if they become sick – the list goes on. Ask questions about communications big and small to assess whether they are getting the information they need, and whether they know where to go should they need to request additional flexibility or assistance. HR professionals are at the heart of managing this crisis within organizations. A well timed, carefully crafted survey can arm them with data to target groups that need support immediately. Click here to learn about our survey crisis tool, ready for deployment immediately. You can send this to a sample of your population, or to everyone. Or, click here to connect with one of our consultants to discuss a more custom approach to fit your organization’s needs. As always, OrgVitality is here to support you in any way we can.

 

____________________________________ We are also pleased to announce our upcoming free Virtual Conference: Employee Well-Being and Strategic Surveys April 23rd and 24th.  Please note, you need to register for each session individually,  or contact us if you’d like us to register you for the entire conference.   Schedule for Thursday, April 23rd Managing People Through Uncertainty  Presenter: Jeffrey Saltzman, CEO 12:00-12:30 EST Register here The Coronavirus has thrown the world into a tailspin; cities, offices, and schools are shutting down, global leadership is chaotic, and people are panicked. Yet there is much an organization can do to offset some of the fear and help guide employees through this difficult time. Please join OrgVitality CEO Jeffrey Saltzman as he kicks off our virtual conference with a welcome, overview of the current crisis, and offers tips for organizations grappling with a new reality. Mental Health: Reducing Stress in the Workplace Presenter: Dr. Walter Reichman, Partner and Vice President, OrgVitality 12:45-1:15 EST Register here Dr. Walter Reichman is an expert in the field of mental health in the workplace. During this half-hour webinar, he will provide organizations with the necessary information to help guide employees through the current crisis.   Case Studies: How Leading Organizations are Leading the Way Presenters: Dr. James Scrivani, Director, Global Talent Management COE, PepsiCo Jerry Seibert, Executive Consultant, OrgVitality 1:30-2:30 Register here PepsiCo and Jack in the Box have each recently received the Human Resource Management Impact Award for evidence-based HR, a competitive honor awarded by the Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology and SHRM. Dr. Scrivani will  describe PepsiCo’s Global Leadership Assessment & Development (LeAD) Program, which has helped PepsiCo accurately and consistently identify and develop internal talent, from early career to senior executives. Jerry Seibert will share the approach to human capital analytics that helped Jack in the Box achieve dramatic performance gains at the restaurant level, including retention, customer satisfaction, productivity and profitability.   Top 5 Survey Trends Presenters: Dr. Scott Brooks, Partner and Vice President Dr. Victoria Hendrickson, Partner and Vice President, OrgVitality 2:30-3:00 EST Register here Come learn about the latest trends in the survey industry. OrgVitality consultants Dr. Scott Brooks and Dr. Victoria Hendrickson will share the latest innovations, best practices, and client case studies.   Barriers to Open Feedback Presenter: Dr. Susan Kamin, Consultant, OrgVitality 3:15-3:45 EST Register here Organizations often administer surveys or feedback programs such as 360 or upward feedback assessments with the hope of learning how their employees feel about various issues. But how honest is this feedback? When employees do not feel that they can safely share their views or concerns, the downsides can range from issues such as dissatisfaction, turnover or unrealized potential to large-scale public scandals after a whistleblower goes public. This presentation will discuss some of the factors that impede open feedback as well as strategies to encourage and reinforce a more open culture.   Friday, April 24th Making HR Contributions More Strategic and Influential in Organizations Presenters: Bill Schiemann, CEO of Metrus Group Jerry Seibert, Executive Consultant, OrgVitality  11:00-12:00 EST Register here I-O Psychologists often conduct important work that is not fully understood or valued by executives. Please join OrgVitality Executive Consultant Jerry Seibert and the Metrus Group CEO Bill Schiemann as they address how to make I-O research more strategic and relevant to leaders by discussing key areas of impact including strategic positioning, business context, ROI, linkage to business outcomes, and packaging. By the end of this session, participants will have numerous strategies for communicating with executives, better positioning I-O work within the strategic business objectives, and creating high-impact people measures that drive business performance.   Bottom-Up, Top-Down, or Blended? Approaches and Lessons from Allstate and PepsiCo Presenters: Sachin Jain, Director of Talent Management, PepsiCo Dr. Jennifer Diamond Acosta, Manager, Executive Assessment & Development, Allstate 12:15-1:15 Register here Driving action from an employee survey is hard. It builds on a base of solid measurement and data mechanics. But ultimately, action requires that the right information lands in the hands of people who can do something about it, people who can make the changes that the organization needs. In this session, learn from PepsiCo and Allstate about their journeys to match the right reports and support with the right levels of leadership.   Artificial Intelligence: A Primer for HR Presenter: Dr. Victoria Hendrickson, Partner and Vice President, OrgVitality 1:00-2:00 EST Register here AI promises – and hype – are everywhere these days, from Hollywood blockbusters to venture capital investments to corporate jargon. Organizations are feeling the pressure to keep up with these quickly-evolving technologies, but it can be an overwhelming and confusing landscape. If you want to better understand AI – as well as learn how and when it can best apply to your work – join Dr. Victoria Hendrickson for a thorough look at uses and guidelines for AI in the corporate world.   Framing Your Survey: Tactics to Get Executives Excited Presenter: Dr. Scott Brooks 2:30-3:30 EST Register here There can easily be a bit of Black Box to top leadership’s framing of what surveys are and can do, which changes how they charter, digest, and use employee survey results to run the business. This webinar will draw on behavioral economic concepts of Decision Framing (how choices may be worded or structured to influence the decision) and psychological ideas of Growth Mindset (the belief that abilities can be developed, rather than being innate) to help diagnose whether top leaders see surveys merely as risks of bad news versus opportunities for development. Moreover, it also highlights the subtle implications that have dramatic consequences.   Privacy Legislation: Everything You Need to Know about GDPR and More Presenter: Dr. Victoria Hendrickson, Partner and Vice President 3:30-4:00 Register here It’s almost two years since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect in the EU. Still, many questions remain about how to best remain compliant, especially where HR data is concerned. Please join Dr. Victoria Hendrickson for an overview of what you need to know about GDPR and other impending privacy regulations, especially as they relate to survey programs.   You can view our full line-up here. Please be aware, this is a rapidly evolving conference, and subject to change. Register for any session to receive updates as the schedule changes. If you’d like to present a session, please let us know. Want to come to everything? Email us and we will take care of your registration.

 

Tips for Boosting Employee Confidence During COVID-19

Throughout the housing bubble burst of 2007/2009, and the resulting economic tailspin and recession, data was collected from 15,000 employees quarterly, from the twelve largest economies in the world at the time. The bottom of that event from our measurements was 1Q2009. We asked a series of questions related to the level of confidence that employees had in their organization and in their own personal situation. We took that data and compared to it a number of factors of employee behavior and organizational performance. The results were pretty astounding. Employee levels of confidence were a very good indicator of whether organizations were doing the right thing to survive during that trying time. And if organizations were doing the right things, employee confidence levels were higher. We found that employee confidence was a leading indicator of performance, for who better to know how the organization is performing than the people who are working inside of it day-to-day, if you ask them the right questions. Based on this research, we put together a whitepaper with tips to help organizations through this crisis. These are rough times, but the more we can help one another, the more we will not just survive, but thrive.

 

Download Report

 

 

Complimentary Webinar – Mental Health: The Business of Business

Join us for an upcoming webinar: Mental Health: The Business of Business Tuesday, June 11th, 12:30 EST Register here Here’s a staggering fact: mental health issues affect an estimated 1 out of 5 people at any given time; this includes your workforce. While mental health discussions may make some people uncomfortable, understanding the signs and symptoms of mental health issues in the workplace and adapting the workplace to support mental health is a win-win. It can improve the functioning and the bottom line of the organization, and it can greatly benefit its people. Curious how you can help your organization make better decisions and accommodations regarding mental health? Join a conversation with OrgVitality CEO Jeffrey Saltzman and OV Partner and Vice President Dr. Walter Reichman as they discuss the incidence rates of mental health issues in the workplace, organizational concerns, ways to help, and the ultimate payoffs for businesses in creating stable and supportive work environments.

 

Register Here

Visionary Ideas

What motivates an organization or a movement of any kind to persevere, even in the face of adversity? It is when the organization or movement is based on a concept or an idea of what it stands for or potentially can become. This holds true for very small organizations as well as the largest. It holds true for political, human rights, conservation, religious movements etc.

Ideas are powerful. They are more powerful than physical assets, more powerful than territory, more powerful than any one person. Having a powerful idea is a cornerstone that a successful organization or movement needs to be built upon.

The founder of a small family run restaurant has the idea of building a “go-to” restaurant for locals and something the founder can pass on to the next generation. That is a visionary idea, and as contained as it might be, it is powerful for that family. They will fight ferociously and work endlessly for that vision.

The USA Declaration of Independence stated “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” That is a visionary idea, an expansive one, and if fully implemented very powerful. And out of that powerful visionary idea sprang our institutions, our laws, our methods of governance with its checks and balances, all of which were intended to support and nourish the vision.

Taken from that perspective and at the risk of gross oversimplification, you could say that the outcome of WWII was preordained. For the Germans were rallying to and fighting for Hitler and yes, while he did have a vision of a new German and ethnically cleansed World Order, his apparent narcissism and megalomania made him central to that vision and put himself forth as the only one who could accomplish that vision. But the USA and its allies were fighting not for a person, but for an idea, a vision of how they were going to live their lives. A much more potent force.

People will dedicate their lives and under certain circumstances sacrifice them for a vision in which they believe. Jim Mattis, the highly respected and outgoing Secretary of Defense in his farewell note to Pentagon staff stated, “I am confident that each of you remains undistracted from our sworn mission to support and defend the Constitution while protecting our way of life.” A clear message of support for and direction to protect the vision of the USA and not any one person.

And while a lawyer may claim that they would “take a bullet” for a particular client, when faced with the reality of prison for crimes committed, that sacrificial commitment to an individual rings hollow. As it turns out, many people are susceptible to and find authoritarians attractive, as they state that they will take care of all of your problems and that they alone can do it (the estimate is up to 30% of the USA population are attracted to authoritarians), but over the long-run belief in and support of a commonly-held and widely supported vision will beat an authoritarian figure. Articulating and getting buy-in to that vision is key.

Each organization out there, no matter your size, industry or location should examine the vision by which it operates. If the vision is not explicit to the organization’s members, consider making it so, for it is hard to buy into a rumored vision. And make it a vision in which each member can feel pride. Commitment and dedication will be the reward the organization can obtain.

OrgVitality Acquires Employee Survey Practice from The Metrus Group

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 22, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — OrgVitality, LLC today announced the acquisition of The Metrus Group’s employee survey practice. Effective immediately, OrgVitality will assume all of The Metrus Group’s existing survey work.

OrgVitality is a global management consulting firm founded by leading industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologists and technologists. The company is well-known for its science-driven approach to employee surveys, informed by the latest industrial organizational research and powered by cutting-edge technology. The Metrus Group is a New Jersey-based consulting firm that offers strategic employee surveys, talent management solutions, strategy design and execution and talent analytics. The acquisition leverages OrgVitality’s significant bespoke technology expertise, data-driven approach and proven track record of delivering high-touch business solutions.

“We are thrilled to welcome The Metrus Group’s Survey practice to the OrgVitality family,” said OrgVitality CEO Jeffrey Saltzman. “We have known the principals of The Metrus Group for years and greatly respect the thoughtful work they have done in this field. Not surprisingly, there is substantial alignment in our respective philosophies.”

Addressing the requirements of multinational workforces, driving transparency and data integrity and staying abreast of rapidly emerging regulations such as GDPR are continually increasing the role of technology in the employee survey business.  “We firmly believe that the most effective HR initiatives are grounded in science, customized to a client’s specific strategy and supported by a powerful technology platform that uses the latest advances in coding, machine learning, and artificial intelligence,” observed Saltzman.

“OrgVitality and The Metrus Group possess a shared vision and passion surrounding the work we do. It’s with great confidence that we entrust our survey practice in their care,” commented William Schiemann, CEO of The Metrus Group. “Our clients can trust that Valeria and I, along with Jerry Seibert, will remain involved with their projects, while enabling them to capitalize on the impressive resources that OrgVitality adds.” He noted that The Metrus Group will continue its consulting work in strategy, talent management and talent lifecycle.

Warranting a seamless transition for clients of The Metrus Group is a top priority for OrgVitality. Executive team members from the company will meet with all Metrus Group clients individually to better understand their business requirements and ensure continuity of high-quality services while migrating them to OrgVitality’s technology platform.

Saltzman concluded, “Companies generate competitive advantages through differentiation. What better place to start than a comprehensive understanding of how your workforce can support the fulfillment of short- and long-term business goals.”

OrgVitality was founded in 2009 and has offices in the United States, Israel and India. Financial terms of the agreement are not available.

The three types of people every organization needs

I wanted to share information on my upcoming Webinar, The Three Types of Individuals Every Organization Needs, on September 13^th at 12:30 EST.  During this webinar, I’ll take an in-depth look at three critical roles within the vital organization: That of explorer, executor, and boundary spanner. I’ll explain why each is important, and discuss how to identify employees who fit a particular type.

The research for the Webinar comes directly from Creating the Vital Organization: Balancing Short-Term Profits with Long-Term Success, which I co-authored with one of my partners and OV Vice President, Dr. Scott Brooks. Scott, along with our consultant Victoria Hendrickson, will join me for this webinar.

I hope you can join me next Tuesday.

Register for our upcoming complimentary Webinars:

The Three Types of Employees Every Organization Needs on September 13^th.

Organizations and the SDGs: Why Doing Good is Good Business on September 27^th.

Also check out Creating the Vital Organization, available in every online bookstore.

Evaluate your Vitality with free assessments and reports here.

 

Organizations and the SDGs: Why Doing Good is Good Business

 

By Walter Reichman

The world’s humanitarian crisis is rapidly growing, with billions of people around the globe lacking basic necessities like clean water, nutritious food, and access to education and employment opportunities. Last September, the United Nations (UN) addressed this crisis by identifying 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at improving the lives of people and the health of our planet over the next 15 years. Some of these goals include giving people access to clean water, nutritious food, education, and employment opportunities.

These goals are bold and ambitious, and will take more than just the United Nations to make them happen. Thankfully, practicing sustainable business habits often makes good business sense as well, and more organizations are already investing in the health and well-being of the global community.

MasterCard is working to make the financial system more accessible to more than 150 million people around the world. Merck is developing programs to reduce deaths of women during pregnancy and childbirth. Microsoft is developing cost effective connectivity to the internet for schools and communities in Africa. Walmart is providing opportunities for small businesses with less than 10 million in annual revenue that aim to empower women, and IBM is helping to develop a scorecard that measures a city’s resilience to a natural disaster.

This is just a small sample of corporations that are actively working to improve the lives of people around the world through smart business practices. To better understand the importance of this work, OrgVitality is sponsoring a panel Webinar entitled Organizations and SDGs: Why Doing Good is Good Business on Tuesday, September 27^th at 12:30 EST. The Webinar will present representatives of four organizations that have made an active commitment to the achievement of these goals: The United States Council for International Business, Dow Chemical, DuPont, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

In this webinar, executives of these four organizations will describe their programs, explain how and why they were initiated and are promoted within their organization, and discuss the benefits to the organization and to the world at large.

OrgVitality has been supportive of the activities of the United Nations since the inception of the firm. I have been the main NGO representative to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN from the International Association of Applied Psychology since 2004. At ECOSOC, I, along with other representatives, are tasked with presenting position papers that are based upon psychological theory, research, and practice for commissions, committees, and deliberations. The position papers are translated into the various member languages and distributed to the delegations involved in the deliberations. Additionally, we hold “side events” during commission meetings where psychologists present their information. Finally, we also work to share information about the UN and its activities with our own organizations and members, which I aim to do through this Webinar discussion.

As psychologists, we have a responsibility to help fulfill the SDGs. The people most affected by this work are extremely vulnerable. Psychologists worked with the UN to develop the list of SDGs, and will continue to play a role, especially in regards to helping to change government activities, as well as monitoring and measuring the implementation of the goals. We have submitted papers to the Statistical Division of the UN with our suggestions for measuring the implementation, and we are contributing to the determination of the “indicators” of the implementation. Over the next 15 years, the UN will be issuing reports on the level of implementation worldwide, within regions, and within nations. Hopefully, the success of the implementation will motivate countries to progress even further.

At OrgVitality, we believe that part of our counsel to clients must incorporate a sense of their place in the larger global community, and we are proud of our work helping many clients fulfill their missions. This Webinar is a follow-up to an event we co-sponsored at the UN during the annual Psychology Day meeting; at this event, 40 OrgVitality clients and staff members toured the UN and attended discussions on the global migration crisis.

The achievement of the SDGs will improve the lives of all people and reduce the probability of conflict among people and nations. The goals can only be realized with a strong commitment to global partnership and cooperation among governments, business organizations and not -for-profit organizations. Please join us for the webinar which will describe how the partnership and cooperation can be achieved. Register Here.

You are invited to Creating the Vital Organization book launch party

Employees at Work: Myths vs. Reality – Complimentary Webinar

Employees at Work: Myths vs. Reality

Tuesday, May 10, 2016 12:30 PM EST at:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2374684905288884483

Assumptions. We all make them. Sometimes they help us navigate the thousands of daily decisions we make (like choosing to grab your coffee at the out-of-the-way shop because it’s less likely to have a long line). But our assumptions can also steer us wrong, especially when it comes to the big decisions, like choosing which employee is right for a specific job. OrgVitality’s CEO Jeffrey Saltzman will walk you through some common misconceptions and distorted perceptions that may be influencing you.

Join us, and become a better decision maker!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Respect and Dignity

 

Asking an employee population whether they are treated with respect and dignity has been part of employee surveys for a long time. Those two words are so often used in conjunction with one another that they have become joined at the hip as a unified concept not only in the world of surveys but also in our day-to-day conceptual thinking as well. Respect and Dignity. While some argue that it is a double barreled concept, it would be really impossible to treat someone with dignity, but without respect, and likewise if you are being respectful, dignity would, it would seem by necessity, tag along. As a gestalt, respect and dignity are two sides of the same coin.

I will deal with the dignity side of the coin here. The concept of dignity has a long history and interesting origins. As a constitutional right, dignity today is often defined as a “person’s freedom to write their own life story”. [i] Freedom to create one’s life story requires freedom from oppression, and has within that notion both rights and obligations. One right is of control over oneself and one’s body and an obligation would be to take responsibility for your behaviors and actions – for your future.

Maintaining dignity in the world of work, using that definition, will be a balancing act. If dignity is about the right to choose, as one enters an employment situation one is giving up at least some dignity, in that you are working not necessarily to your own ends, on your own initiatives, but on organizationally defined goals and often on an organizationally defined schedule.

While the emphasis and enshrinement of dignity in the modern age largely was the result of the horrific abuses of human dignity in WWII, and today the only constitution that defines human dignity as an unassailable absolute right is the German Constitution in reaction to those abuses, the sense that humans have and should be treated with dignity is an ancient precept. The ancient Greek and Roman philosophers spent time with the notions of dignity, assigning human’s dignity because of their ability to think and choose. Dignity in Buddhism is based on the idea that humans can choose a path leading to self-perfection and hence are dignified[ii]. Judaism and Christianity believe that mankind was made in god’s image and because of that, mankind, as a reflection of god’s image has dignity. There are religions that do not believe that mankind was created in god’s image, but because mankind was created by god, and given the ability to think, we have a dignified (rank) special place. In Islam for instance because mankind is a creation of god a person should not be harmed, for if you harm another human you are harming god. The major religions of the world do not have a corner on defining and rationalizing the need for dignity. Ubuntu for instance is a Bantu term that is often translated as “humanity towards others”, treating others with a humanness or dignity with which they deserve.

Needless to say the concepts and definitions surrounding human dignity have been around almost as long as mankind’s abuses of that dignity. Dignity is a social term – a societal definition. You are treated with or without dignity only in relation to how others in society are treated. If you are enslaved your dignity is measured against those that are free. If you have no access to clean water, food, shelter, health care etc. your dignity in your society is measure against those that do have access to those items. If you were a solitary individual on an island the concept of dignity is meaningless, as there is no one else to treat you with or without dignity, its meaning and your relative standing being solely derived from the society in which you are embedded. Organizations are nothing more than encapsulated mini-societies.

From an organizational measurement and performance perspective that is where the concept of dignity gets interesting. People in organizations are rarely if ever treated the same. And it would be easy to argue that some of the differences are there for motivational purposes, to give people something to strive for – more money, a promotion, access to training and developmental experiences. As a relational variable when you ask someone “are you treated with respect and dignity” their response is in relation to how they see others being treated both within and external (those referent points can be teased out) to the organization. And across a large number of people you will in all likelihood receive a range of responses, if the question is asked the right way and your scale is sensitive. You can take that range of responses and throw them against absolute business metrics such as turnover, customer satisfaction (depending on how measured can be relative or absolute), sales success etc. to determine which of the metrics are impacted by the relative treatment of people. And inferentially within your organization you can determine which specific policies, practices and processes are enhancing people’s sense of dignity, which are decreasing it and which simply have no bearing on the matter. And ultimately you can determine how to best impact people’s sense of being treated with respect and dignity, a human fundamental, and the financial benefit or cost of doing so.

Note: New blog postings from me have been few and far between this year. The reason is that I have been writing a book, co-authored with Scott Brooks, titled “Creating the Vital Organization; Balancing Short-term Profits with Long-term Success.” It is due out in mid-2016 by Palgrave.

[i] 2015, Barak, A. Human Dignity: The Constitutional Value and the Constitutional Right, Cambridge Press.

[ii] Soka Gakki International website. 12/09/2015, http://www.sgi.org/about-us/buddhism-in-daily-life/buddhism-and-human-dignity.html