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Marcy started at her company three years ago, right after leaving
college. She was excited about joining the company at first, but now
Marcy leaves frustrated at the end of the day. Her boss and coworkers
are nice enough, but things always seem to be harder than they need
to be and no one seems to really like being there. She often spends her
lunch scanning job boards, but she isn’t convinced that things would be
any different at another company.
Marcy’s experience is not uncommon. According to Gallup’s 2013
State of the American Workforce report, 70 percent of workers in the
United States are either not engaged or actively disengaged at work. In
addition to the costs of turnover, this lack of engagement leads to lost
productivity totaling between $450 and $550 billion dollars per year.1
Of course, many organizations attempt to increase employee
engagement through a variety of methods. But according to a Bersin
by Deloitte study, even though 71 percent of organizations include
an engagement metric on their scorecards, only 35 percent believe
that their engagement efforts led to positive business outcomes.2 This
may be in part because of a tendency to mistake perks and benefits
for true engagement initiatives.3 Instead of focusing on these efforts,
organizations that have been able to move the dial on employee
engagement tend to be “employee-centric.” These companies place the
employee experience at the heart of their business strategy and treat
their employees as if they were customers of both the management and
the processes of the organization.
1 Source: State of the American Workforce: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S. Business Leaders, Gallup, 2013, www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/163007/state-american-workplace.aspx. Note: Studies suggest that turnover cost can range from 30 to 50 percent of an entry-level worker’s salary to upward of 400 percent of a senior-level position’s salary once retraining and lost productivity are taken into account.
2 For more information, Implementing Employee Engagement to Drive Business Results: How Hellmann Worldwide Logistics Used Engagement as a Powerful Tool to Foster High-Level Employee Performance, Bersin by Deloitte / David Mallon and Brenda Kowske, Ph.D., February 2014. Available to research members at www.bersin.com/library.
3 Source: “Don’t Pamper Employees—Engage Them,” Gallup Business Journal / Susan Sorenson, July 2, 2013, http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/163316/don-pamper-employees-engage.aspx.
This type of strategy is based on a model in which companies
systematically invest in the employee experience to ensure that the
leading talent is hired, retained, and empowered. This can result in
exceptional customer service and, in turn, shareholder value. These
companies then reinvest in the employee experience to continue the
cycle (see Figure 1). In essence, an employee-centric model formalizes
the common mantra of “Our people are our best asset.”
Employee-centricity leads to “employee passion” (see Figure 2), which
drives employees to devote their time and energy to work, proactively
going above and beyond expectations to help their organization
achieve its business goals.4
4 For more information, 2014 Predictions: Talent, Learning and Human Resources – The Year of the Employee, Bersin by Deloitte / Josh Bersin, February 2014. Available to research members at www.bersin.com/library.
Source: Bersin by Deloitte, 2014.
Figure 1: Employee-Centricity Leads to Value for Customers and Shareholders, Reinvestment in the Employee Experience
Employee passion occurs when employees feel that they are valued as
individuals and can contribute to the success of the organization both
now and in the future; that they have a flexible and inclusive work
environment; and that they can trust their leadership.5
So how would Marcy’s story unfold differently if the company she
works for focused on building employee passion? This research bulletin
explores the strategies that employee-centric organizations use and the
key role of the HR function.
Characteristics of an Employee-Centric Organization
In the “age of the customer,”6 organizations are looking to understand
their customers’ needs and values and to collaborate with the customer
to develop products and services. This involves “meeting customers
5 For more information, 2014 Predictions: Talent, Learning and Human Resources – The Year of the Employee, Bersin by Deloitte / Josh Bersin, February 2014.
6 Source: Smarter Process in the age of the customer: Reinventing business operations for top line growth, IBM Software / Brian Safron and Vijay Pandiarajan, April 2013, ftp://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/uk/pdf/Smarter_Process_in_the_age_of_the_customer_April_2013.pdf.
Source: Bersin by Deloitte, 2014.5
Figure 2: More than Perks—Drivers of “Employee Passion”
8 For more information, 2014 Predictions: Talent, Learning and Human Resources – The Year of the Employee, Bersin by Deloitte / Josh Bersin, February 2014.
9 Source: Smarter Process in the age of the customer: Reinventing business operations for top line growth, IBM Software / Brain Safron and Vijay Pandiarajan, April 2013, ftp://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/uk/pdf/Smarter_Process_in_the_age_of_the_customer_April_2013.pdf.
Employee-centric organizations are willing to invest in not only the tools
employees need to do their jobs, but in creating the kind of environment
that helps employees love their jobs. Recently, Gallup found that only
22 percent of respondents who voluntarily quit mentioned pay and benefits
as a factor; instead, most responded that features of the work environment—
including manager quality, career development, and role fit—were key
contributors in the decision to leave.10 As the Cases in Point in this research
brief demonstrate, senior leaders in employee-centric companies are deeply
committed to helping employees feel passionate about their work, and they
are willing to design their organizational structures to support that vision.
Further, they are willing to continually make investments in the employee
experience to move beyond traditional satisfaction and engagement
(see Figure 5). While these efforts take time, organizations that maintain a
highly skilled, highly engaged workforce have been shown to have higher
revenue, innovation, and customer satisfaction than those that don’t.11
10 Source: “Turning Around Employee Turnover,”Gallup Business Journal / Jennifer Robison, May 8, 2008, http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/106912/turning-around-your-turnover-problem.aspx.
11 Source: State of the American Workforce: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S. Business Leaders, Gallup, 2013, www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/163007/state-american-workplace.aspx.
Source: Bersin by Deloitte, 2014.
Customer Expectations “Employee as Customer” Expectations
Mobile• I can compare and shop for products and
services wherever I am and with whatever device I am using.
• I can be productive in my role wherever I am and with whatever device I am using.
Personal / Contextual
• Products and services are offered to me based on an understanding of my history and preferences.
• The company cares about me as an individual.
• I have the information and tools I need, and they are specific to my role and experience.
• My company cares about me as an individual.
Social • The opinions and experiences of friends and
others like me inform my preferences. • The knowledge and experience of my
coworkers and experts inform my business decisions.
Accessible
• I can find the information I need when I need it.
• I can access my own information and act on it.
• I can find the information I need when I need it.
• I can access my own information and act on it.
Figure 4: The Effect of Today’s Technologies on Customer and Employee Expectations
The Implications for HR in Creating an Employee-Centric Culture
As the “people” arm of an organization’s business strategy, HR’s
role in an employee-centric organization goes beyond managing
traditional people processes. It requires rethinking key processes
from the perspective of the employee experience and then adapting
the organization to those needs. This may call for new skills and
technologies, or even, as the Texas Roadhouse Case in Point shows,
a significant restructuring of the HR role itself.
HR is not historically known for speed or transformational change,
so HR organizations that are committed to developing an employee-
centric organization need to develop agility. HR departments need the
data analysis skills to both understand their current employee base and
the workforce they are developing. HR should also partner with areas
such as finance, strategic planning, and IT to identify ways to integrate
changes into the fiber of the organization through compensation,
Source: Bersin by Deloitte, 2014.
Figure 5: Evolution of an Employee-Centric Organization
Employee Satisfaction
Company Actions: Perks and benefits Employee Philosophy: “Happy employees provide better customer service.” Employee Goals: Contentment Measures: Formal or informal measures of morale
Employee Engagement
Company Actions: Discrete engagement initiatives Employee Philosophy: “People are our greatest asset.” Employee Goals: Discretionary effort Measures: Formal tracking of company engagement levels
Employee-Centricity
Company Actions: Integration of systems and structures Employee Philosophy: “Our people are customers of our management.” Employee Goals: Passion and loyalty Measures: Business results
Research Bulletin | 2014
Wooing the Workforce: Creating an Employee-Centric Organization Katherine Jones, Ph.D. | Page 11
totals nearly 1,800 employees, and the company is headquartered
in Houston, Texas. As of July 31, 2014, Camden owned interests in
and operated 169 properties containing 59,641 apartment homes
across the United States. An S&P 400 company that is traded on the
New York Stock Exchange, Camden has received numerous awards
for workplace excellence. The company was recently named as one
of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE
magazine for the seventh consecutive year (placing 11th on the list).
12 For more information, The High-Impact HR Organization: Top 10 Best Practices on the Road to Excellence, Bersin and Associates / Stacey Harris, January 2011. Available to research members at www.bersin.com/library.
helps new employees feel they are valued and important, and
allows them to see that the culture they observed during their
interview is an ongoing aspect of working at Camden.
The goal of the Camden culture is to create a work environment
in which its employees understand that the company cares
about them and their families. In addition to the impact on
customer service, this type of culture helps build trust and
loyalty to the company. Camden feels that its employees
are open to changes in processes and strategy because the
company treats them with candor and respect. For example,
during the recent recession, the CEO‘s transparency about
upcoming strategy changes was perceived as a catalyst for
higher employee satisfaction because the organization was
encouraged to pull together as a team. The impact of the
company’s employee-centric strategies can also be seen in its
employee retention numbers. In an industry characterized by
young, early career employees, Camden’s 21 percent employee
turnover in frontline roles is considered low compared to the
industry average of 31 percent.13 Camden is committed to
further reducing its employee turnover by using tools such as
the UltiPro Retention Predictor, which helps managers take
proactive actions when top talent may be at risk of leaving.
By personalizing the work environment and encouraging
employees to create and maintain a fun workplace, Camden
has won a place on the “Great Places to Work” list for seven
consecutive years. It has also generated almost 6 percent
revenue growth from 2010 to 2013 (one of the highest in
the industry) and provided shareholder value that outpaced
companies in the S&P 500 (see Figure 7).14 e
13 Source: “Turnover Rates Are Inching Up - Good News for Job Seekers,” apartmentcareers.com, October 8, 2012, http://blog.apartmentcareers.com/apartment-jobs-and-careers-blog/bid/55869/Turnover-Rates-are-Inching-Up-Good-News-for-Job-Seekers.
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