Build an IT Employee Engagement Program
- IT’s performance and stakeholder satisfaction with IT services hinge on IT’s ability to attract and retain top talent and to motivate teams to go above and beyond.
- With the growing IT job market, turnover is a serious threat to IT’s ability to deliver seamless value and continuously drive innovation.
- Engagement initiatives are often seen as being HR’s responsibility; however, IT leadership needs to take accountability for the retention and productivity of their employees in order to drive business value.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Engagement is a two-way street. Initiatives must address a known need and be actively sought by employees – not handed down from management.
- Engagement initiatives are useless unless they target the right issues. It can be tempting to focus on the latest perks and gadgets and ignore difficult issues. Use a systematic approach to uncover and tackle the real problems.
- It’s time for IT leadership to step up. IT leaders have a much bigger impact on IT staff engagement than HR ever can. Leverage this power to lead your team to peak performance.
Impact and Result
- Info-Tech engagement diagnostics and accompanying tools will help you perform a deep dive into the root causes of disengagement on your team.
- The guidance that accompanies Info-Tech’s tools will help you avoid common engagement program pitfalls and empower IT leaders to take charge of their own team’s engagement.
Build an IT Employee Engagement Program Research & Tools
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to discover why engagement is critical to IT performance, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand how our tools will help you construct an effective employee engagement program.Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:
- Build an IT Employee Engagement Program – Phases 1-3
1. Measure employee engagement
Use Info-Tech's Pulse or Full Engagement Surveys to measure employee engagement.
- Improve Employee Engagement to Drive IT Performance – Phase 1: Measure Employee Engagement
- Engagement Strategy Record
- Engagement Communication Template
2. Analyze results and ideate solutions
Understand the drivers of engagement that are important for your team, and involve your staff in brainstorming engagement initiatives.
- Improve Employee Engagement to Drive IT Performance – Phase 2: Analyze Results and Ideate Solutions
- Engagement Survey Results Interpretation Guide
- Full Engagement Survey Focus Group Facilitation Guide
- Pulse Engagement Survey Focus Group Facilitation Guide
- Focus Group Facilitation Guide Driver Definitions
- One-on-One Manager Meeting Worksheet
3. Select and implement engagement initiatives
Select engagement initiatives for maximal impact, create an action plan, and establish open and ongoing communication about engagement with your team.
- Improve Employee Engagement to Drive IT Performance – Phase 3: Select and Implement Engagement Initiatives
- Summary of Interdepartmental Engagement Initiatives
- Engagement Progress One-Pager
Workshop: Build an IT Employee Engagement Program
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
1 (Preparation) Run Engagement Survey
The Purpose
Select and run your engagement survey prior to the workshop.
Key Benefits Achieved
Receive an in-depth report on your team’s engagement drivers to form the basis of your engagement strategy.
Activities
1.1 Select engagement survey.
1.2 Identify engagement program goals and metrics.
1.3 Run engagement survey.
Outputs
Full or Pulse engagement survey report
Engagement survey results interpretation guide
2 Explore Engagement
The Purpose
To understand the current state of engagement and prepare to discuss the drivers behind it with your staff.
Key Benefits Achieved
Empower your leadership team to take charge of their own teams’ engagement.
Activities
2.1 Review engagement survey results.
2.2 Finalize focus group agendas.
2.3 Train managers.
Outputs
Customized focus group agendas
3 Hold Focus Groups
The Purpose
Establish an open dialogue with your staff to understand what would improve their engagement.
Key Benefits Achieved
Employee-generated initiatives have the greatest chance at success.
Activities
3.1 Identify priority drivers.
3.2 Identify engagement KPIs.
3.3 Brainstorm engagement initiatives.
3.4 Vote on initiatives within teams.
Outputs
Summary of focus groups results
Identified engagement initiatives
Identified engagement initiatives
4 Select and Plan Initiatives
The Purpose
Learn the characteristics of successful engagement initiatives and build execution plans for each.
Key Benefits Achieved
Choose initiatives with the greatest impact on your team’s engagement, and ensure you have the necessary resources for success.
Activities
4.1 Select engagement initiatives with IT leadership.
4.2 Create initiative project plans.
4.3 Present project plans.
4.4 Define implementation checkpoints.
4.5 Develop communications plan.
4.6 Define strategy for ongoing engagement monitoring.
Outputs
Engagement project plans
Implementation and communication checkpoints
Further surveys planned (optional)
5 Additional Leadership Training
The Purpose
Select training modules that best address your team’s needs from Info-Tech’s modular leadership training program.
Key Benefits Achieved
Arm your IT leadership team with the key skills of effective leadership, tailored to their existing experience level.
Activities
5.1 Adopting an Integrated Leadership Mindset
5.2 Optimizing Talent Leadership Practices
5.3 Driving Diversity & Inclusion
5.4 Fortifying Internal Stakeholder Relations
5.5 Engaging Executives and the Board
5.6 Crafting Your Leadership Brand
5.7 Crafting and Delivering Compelling Presentations
5.8 Communication & Difficult Conversations
5.9 Conflict Management
5.10 Performance Management
5.11 Feedback & Coaching
5.12 Creating a Culture of Personal Accountability
Outputs
Develop the skills to lead resourcefully in times of uncertainty
Apply leadership behaviors across enterprise initiatives to deploy and develop talent successfully
Develop diversity and inclusion practices that turn the IT function and leaders into transformative champions of inclusion
Identify elements of effective partnering to maximize the impact of internal interactions
Understand the major obstacles to CEO and board relevance and uncover the keys to elevating your internal executive profile
Develop a leadership brand statement that demonstrates leadership competency and is aligned with the brand, mission, vision, and goals of the organization
Identify the components of effective presentations and hone your presentation skills
Gain the skills to confront and drive solutions from difficult situations
Develop strategies to engage in conflict constructively and reach a resolution that benefits the team or organization
Learn to identify the root causes of low performance and develop the skills to guide employees through the process of improvement
Adopt a behavior-focused coaching model to help managers sustain and apply effective coaching principles
Understand how and when to encourage autonomy and how to empower employees to take success into their own hands