Finding ways to continue to engage employees without breaking the bank is a significant challenge facing today’s business leaders.   The economic downturn had left companies everywhere talking (and worrying) about Employee Engagement.   It seems common sense that a highly engaged workforce is more productive, effective and efficient and is more likely to stay with their employer.   Backing up this assumption, Towers Perrin, in their Global Workforce Study, recently quantified the importance of an engaged workforce to the bottom line.  They reported “striking data about the linkage between employee engagement and financial performance.  It found that firms with the highest percentage of engaged employees collectively increased operating income 19% and earnings per share 28% year to year.  Those companies with the lowest percentage of engaged employees showed year-to-year declines of 33% in operating income and 11% in earnings per share.”  Unfortunately, as businesses of varying sizes have been impacted by the economy’s downturn, the ability to focus on and deliver on their employee engagement goals has become increasingly more difficult, if not impossible.  The need to cut costs across the board has left many firms no option but to cancel existing engagement efforts. This has happened when employees need them most as the adverse effects of reductions in headcount hit the remaining employees.  So, just when employees need more support, they actually get less.  

Flynn Heath Holt Leadership, a leadership consulting firm based in Charlotte, NC, has become an expert in employee engagement in recent years.  We designed and delivered two significant employee engagement initiatives for one of our key clients, a “big 4” accounting firm.  For 5 years we have led a program to engage, retain and increase chances of promotion, for high-talent Senior Managers on the Partner or Director track.  The year-long program is nationwide in scope and has had impressive results.   Since the program’s inception in 2003, 92% of the 148 participants have stayed with the firm and since the attendees are the firm’s most highly rated Senior Managers, retaining them is most critical. 

After the success of this first program, Flynn Heath Holt was asked to develop a similar type program to engage and retain high-talent managers.   A significantly larger program was needed to satisfy the size of the employee base at the manager level.  Topics were different or approached from a different starting point. Again we came up with a winning design, one that included two different classroom sessions incorporating highly targeted content on career management, skill building sessions, video-taped role plays, peer networks and mentoring from senior leaders.  The two workshops were delivered regionally, but all participants were invited to attend a National meeting where they could attend key informational sessions, reconnect with their regional colleagues as well as network with other high-talent managers and partners supporting the initiative.  The results from this initiative have also been strong – 86% of these 550 most-highly rated managers have stayed with the firm.

When the downturn hit our client in October, one of their first cost cutting efforts was to stop all non-essential travel.  The next was to rein in meeting costs.  This meant that the National Summit for the manager’s program which was slated to bring approximately 300 attendees together in a central location would not be possible.  While the client was ready to simply cancel the event, we suggested they show their commitment to the attendees (many of their most talented managers) by doing at least part of session remotely.  We offered our help to ensure they worked through some key logistical issues we knew could impact their success.  Since we know how quickly technology problems can sink a remote meeting, we helped them see the need for an internal stage manager to orchestrate the various connections, feeds and transitions between sites, ensuring that the session and technology went off without a glitch.

The other area where we added value was in the actual design of the session.  Our advice here was based on our deep understanding of what contributed to the success of the in-person program and careful consideration of how we could replicate part of that in the remote session.  We identified the success factors that were critical to the results enjoyed from the initial programs:
• Using a variety of methods over a protracted period of time
• Orchestrating strong connections amongst the participant group and also the firm advisors to the program
• Creating a “high-touch” experience—one that feels very personal both in content (highly customized) and how the program was delivered.
You might wonder how we achieved this remotely.  The chart below describes many of the strategies we used to achieve each of the success factors identified which ultimately helped to make this virtual meeting a huge success:

Success Factor	Virtual Session Strategy
·        Using a variety of methods over a protracted period of time	·      Used a variety of activities at the 15 local/ in-person sites, and varied the broadcast activities to include:  Firm Chairman of the Board message about the times and challenges facing managers, key note speaker, interactive leadership practices session that built on a topic introduced in their first classroom session and a national Q & A period. ·       Used a panel discussion at each local site following the broadcast for local partners to address any questions, concerns and topics of local interest.
·         Orchestrating strong connections amongst the participant group and also the firm advisors to the program	·    Adjusted agenda to allow the participants at the 15 sites to arrive, have a meal (breakfast or lunch), spend time reconnecting formally before doing the national broadcast. ·    Formal reconnection had participants share what progress each had made, what help was needed and encouraged colleagues to support one another.
·         Creating a “high-touch” experience—one that feels very personal both in content (highly customized) and how the program was delivered.	·         Surveyed participants in advance to learn the topics that were most important to them at the time of the Summit. ·       Video conferencing allowed many sites to see one another as well as the broadcast site to connect the breadth of the audience. ·         Employed 1 group of participants at the main broadcast site that was seen by and acted as proxy for the virtual audience in those sessions where interactivity was encouraged .

The virtual meeting definitely hit the mark.  It may not have provided all the rewards that an in-person session for 300 managers would; however, the participants did get a gift of time – a full afternoon to focus on themselves and their career, the help and support of colleagues and firm leaders to deal with challenges they were facing, an opportunity to hear what others were doing locally and nationally, and, the unquestionable message that the firm was investing in them even though the travel dollars were not available. 

We at Flynn Heath Holt continue to help our clients find realistic yet meaningful alternatives to engage their most important resource – their people.  We have many ideas but targeting those ideas to a firm’s specific goals is the best answer.  We have learned a lot from the change in course brought on by the economic downturn.   Consequently, we offer the following recommendations to business leaders concerned about engaging their employees:
• Do something – Don’t assume you have to cut everything.  A well-crafted something is certainly better than nothing.
• Be creative – Think outside the box about what might be possible and then the best way to execute.
• Identify the factors that lead to success in the past and develop options that will replicate the essence of that success.
• Be relevant - Create connection by making sure your content is well-targeted to the audience and the situation at hand.  These are unprecedented times, so determine how you can acknowledge and build on that.
• Be aware that the simplest measures can often be the most powerful.  The effect of personal connection and a simple thank you from a firm leader are often overlooked. 

Jill Flynn is a Managing Partner and Candace Cleland a consultant with Flynn•Heath•Holt Leadership based in Charlotte, NC.  They can be reached at jflynn@flynnheath.com and ccleland@flynnheath.com.  Flynn•Heath•Holt is a leadership consulting firm dedicated to achieving results through improving the practice of leadership.  We believe all leaders can learn how to improve their own effectiveness and the effectiveness of their organizations.  We have an outstanding track record of developing high performing leaders, teams, and organizations through consulting, coaching and tailored learning solutions.